How do I know if my IEM seal is tight/deep/good enough?

[GregBe]

Brand new to IEMs and got a pair of Shure E4c. Obviously there are a lot of different tip options. How do I know if the seal is good enough? How would you describe the sound/ or lack of sound with a good seal and no music playing. Should I be able to hear someone talking to me in a normal voice at all? Should I be able to hear me clapping my hands? Should I be able to hear me snapping my fingers?

Any thoughts would be great
greg

 

[Dominat0r]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregBe Brand new to IEMs and got a pair of Shure E4c. Obviously there are a lot of different tip options. How do I know if the seal is good enough? How would you describe the sound/ or lack of sound with a good seal and no music playing. Should I be able to hear someone talking to me in a normal voice at all? Should I be able to hear me clapping my hands? Should I be able to hear me snapping my fingers? Any thoughts would be great greg

When i used IEMs i found that once i hit the deepest bass..i was in deep enough. Also...i could not hear a person talking next to me with them in that far. I mean i can tell they talking, but no way i can make it out unless they yell.

Another thing...i noticed this and i think about everyone thats uses IEM notice this. If you walking or lightly jogging you can hear a low thump...Also, once you get a good seal...you should be able to hear when your headphone cord hits something...a light tapping noise can be heard through the phones.

Once you have a good seal you will know what i mean.

 

[gmckay]

Sensaphonics has an audio seal test to ensure that your IEM's are providing the full frequency range.

Click here http://www.sensaphonics.com/audio/alt_tones.mp3

I've loaded this file on my iPod to test every now and again after inserting my E4's...just a bit of tweeking to ensure I'm getting the high and low frequencies at the same level and I'm good to go!

 

[ucrags84]

I'm using the senaphonics frequency test and getting the full rumbling lows, and the high parts too, but I can still hear things.. for example I dropped the toilet flushing ( sorry for TMI) or if I put a glass down on the table. I can still hear the sound, when I take off my IEMs, naturally those sounds are much louder.

The seal I'm getting is just reducing noise not eliminating anything. I can still hear myself typing for example, such distinct noises still come through. Fortunately, the hum of my PC is almost gone, I really have to try to hear to it.

All this is w/o music playing of course, just testing the earphones with the seal.

 

[sourced]

I put it in, twist a bit. Hold your hand 8 inches straight out from your ear, and snap your fingers. You should find the snap muffled into a thib/thub/thud kind of sound. If it still sounds like 'snap', take it out and try again. Often it takes a couple tries.

When it's not sealed, you can't really hear them w/o blasting the music, unless you have a silent listening room. It'll be very tinny, at the least, since you can't expect a tiny driver to fill your room with slammin bass.

 

[AstroTurf]

Great Test...

But shouldn't this be in the IEM Section?

Tap tap tap, any Mods out there?