[unclejr]

Naturally after reading extensively about the UM56, I had no really clear expectations about what it would do. It's very clever: it took me 1,000 posts to figure Head-Fi out. The more you read, the crazier you get until your curiosity gets the best of you and you try things for your own damn self!

Here was what I kind of was hoping the UM56 would do for my UM3X:

1. Comfort. Custom earpieces should feel perfect always, right? Intuitively, I thought what many said that there would be fewer points of pressure since the mold conforms to the ear canal.

2. Isolation. Since these things went deeper into the canal, this might provide additional isolation versus universal ear tips.

3. Due in part to better isolation and due to the vinyl material of the customs, I would have more low frequency detail and possibly more high frequency detail.

Additionally, I assumed that the earpiece would continue to sit flush in my ear, as the comply foams all did, irrespective of length.

So I've only been listening with these things for about ... 5 hours or so. I'm finding them fatiguing. The earphones stick out of my ears more with these in properly than when I had complys. I felt like the isolation wasn't better but slightly worse. I measure this very scientifically ... or rather by how much noise I hear on the train. I get a sense of greater low frequency detail, actually, but I'm not hearing it on the higher end. I think these differences are subtle, generally, and might require comparisons in order to tease them out some, but if there's a difference in the high frequencies, it's not night and day to my ears. This all seems counter to many (but not all) of the reports I've read about the UM56.

Just figured I'd throw this out there. Thoughts?

 

[jinp6301]

Well, I dont have any other thoughts then thanks for the impressions. There are very few people with the um56 here and its always good to hear what people think about them

 

[Il Mostro]

Thanks for this thread. It is much appreciated since I was thinking about UM56 for my UM3X's. I am also considering a re-case by Fisher. I have settled in on Tx100's after a year or so -- they work well, but I really prefer something more permanent. Maybe a full re-case is the way to go.

 

[dj nellie]

I was also initially somewhat disappointed with my UM56, but I also knew immediately that I wasn't getting a proper fit.

Is this your first set of tips? Don't be afraid to send them back for a re-fit: You paid pretty good money for them, and the least they should do is seal properly and feel comfortable (they are, after all, a mold of your ear canal).

I think the bass response is clearly the biggest improvement I got for my W3s--not necessarily more, but cleaner and richer. The mids and vocals are still somewhat recessed compared to UM3x and SE530, but they did come forward a bit. Treble sounds seem a bit brighter compared to Complys, but generally not harsh unless I crank up the volume or I'm listening to a harshly-recorded track.

Overall, once I got tips that fit me the way they should (and this took several refits and new impressions with the bite block further back in my jaw), the level of detail and transparency just improved immensely over Complys and tri/bi-flanges.

Having said that, I still have some discomfort when I remove the tips and sometimes when I wear the tips for 4+ hours. I may be wrong, but I think this is somewhat expected when you're dealing with hard casts of your canals that don't give and take the way foams or universal silicones do. I'd say that if you really don't think the isolation or comfort is right, try requesting another refit and point out specifically what should be re-shaped.

 

[cristi1848]

Hi all,
 
I got the UM56 3 months ago but I didn't really used them until about 2 weeks ago.
First, they are more comfortable that the shures that I was using before, and the mids are more clear, but I find that the isolation is not as good and the base is weaker. I wonder if I have a proper seal, because if I press them harder in the ears and keep them like that everything is better - isolation and base - once I stop applying pressure it's the same as before.
It might be the normal behavior since it's a hard mold and there is nothing that can expand inside the ear to create a seal.
Is anyone having a similar experience ?    
 
Thanks 
 

 

[TCD1975]

You may have left it too long but I would have recommended a refit if you felt that they didn't isolate as well as universal tips.
 
I got some ACS custom sleeves for my UM3x, which in principal are similar to the UM56, but they are sleeves rather than moulds. I think they are one of the best personal audio investments I've made other then the UM3x themselves. They cost me £100 but I found them far better value than other things I've tried (such as various portable amps).
 
I found them a lot more comfortable than universal silicon tips and isolation is a bit better than foam tips. In terms of SQ I felt that the treble became more pronounced and bass was deeper and more detailed.
 
ACS (in the UK) stopped making sleeves for the UM3x so if I ever lost my pair I would probably get a pair of UM56 instead.

 

[cristi1848]

So I called and asked for a remold, which they agreed to do without any extra cost. I am now back to the shure olives that I was using before - good isolation but somewhat muffled mids. 
 
Thanks all for contributing.
 
P.S. when she did the impressions, I felt a pressure - almost painful - inside the ears, which I didn't felt the first time, like that substance that she was using was in too deep, is this normal ?

 

[davidcotton]

Quote:

You may have left it too long but I would have recommended a refit if you felt that they didn't isolate as well as universal tips.
 
I got some ACS custom sleeves for my UM3x, which in principal are similar to the UM56, but they are sleeves rather than moulds. I think they are one of the best personal audio investments I've made other then the UM3x themselves. They cost me £100 but I found them far better value than other things I've tried (such as various portable amps).
 
I found them a lot more comfortable than universal silicon tips and isolation is a bit better than foam tips. In terms of SQ I felt that the treble became more pronounced and bass was deeper and more detailed.
 
ACS (in the UK) stopped making sleeves for the UM3x so if I ever lost my pair I would probably get a pair of UM56 instead.

On a side note theheadphonecompany.co.uk now have an order page for the 56's for £109 plus impression costs.
 
Cheers.