[penbat]

On http://www.sensaphonics.com/soft2x.html It says that:

"Benefits of the new soft silicone dual driver in-ear monitor over traditional plastic in-ears.........Maintains perfect seal to prevent bleed-ins during excessive jaw movement"

I have never seen any mention of Sensaphonics requiring "open mouth" impressions from an audiologist like Ultimate Ears do. Here the implication is that the soft materials make "open mouth" impressions unneccessary.

Any comments ? Surely "open mouth" impressions wouldn't give ideal impressions anyway.

 

[John Reeves]

Hi Penbat,

My audioligist told me he had been trained to always take open mouthed impressions. This was not for canal 'phones but for specialist hearing aids etc.

As an aside, how do you find the isolation. Mine is much worse than ER4's and I am wondering if they are not a tight enough fit. Yesterday I found that slight pressure using a finger on the UE earpiece increased the volume, leading me to think that I may not have a good enough seal. Strangely though, later that evening after listening at fairly high volume for 2 to 3 hours this disapeared leading me to think the seal had improved.

I find that with the TV at fairly normal listening levels, or if someone speaks to me, then I can hear the TV/them if no music is playing. What are your expeiences?

John

 

[penbat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Reeves Hi Penbat, My audioligist told me he had been trained to always take open mouthed impressions. This was not for canal 'phones but for specialist hearing aids etc. As an aside, how do you find the isolation. Mine is much worse than ER4's and I am wondering if they are not a tight enough fit. Yesterday I found that slight pressure using a finger on the UE earpiece increased the volume, leading me to think that I may not have a good enough seal. Strangely though, later that evening after listening at fairly high volume for 2 to 3 hours this disapeared leading me to think the seal had improved. I find that with the TV at fairly normal listening levels, or if someone speaks to me, then I can hear the TV/them if no music is playing. What are your expeiences? John

I think some do open, some closed. Mine actually wanted to do both open and closed. i would need to get claification from Sensa.

My UEs seem like a good tight fit. Yes isolation isnt very high. If i press a finger against the ear piece i get very satisfying low frequency bass reverberation into the bone of my skull which i don't normally get. Normally my UE-10s are bass shy. Not sure if i could ever get a better fit through getting UE to adjust them but don't fancy shunting them to and thro across the atlantic to get the adjustments done.

Are you tempted to get Sensa's ? I may in a few months time. With new girl Julie they seem more email savvy. In another thread there is a UK Head-Fier who has now ordered Sensas.

 

[John Reeves]

Hi Penbat,

Yes I could well be tempted in a few months time to get some Sensas. I just posted a message on the Rio site about listening experiences. Basicaly, I found that the bass was fuller on a Rio Karma than a Zen Xtra using the same codecs, max. bitrate in each case to eliminate artifacts. The overall sound was also better.To go on from that I then found that ogg files sounded better than MP3 on the Karma. I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that the player has a bigger influence on the sound due to the way it decodes files and the quality of the sound output stage than I had previously thought. All this is on limited testing and comparisons so far. I have heard that 3g Ipods are a little bass light, but since I don't have one this is pure heresay.

I'm also starting to agree with Lindrone that the UE's need to be at a reasonably volume level rather than a low one to get good bass.

I also tried tests using a Porta Corda 2 on the Karma. Maybe I was getting burn out at this stage, but I found improvements to be negligible.

I also found that stage width,depth and imaging were horrible on some MP3 tracks, but I have now discovered that this was due to using MP3 gain, probably incorrectly.

Thanks for putting me in the picture about fitting, yours seem the same as mine.

Despite nit picking since we are none of us ever satisfied, I would like to say that I love the UE-10's and they are a great improvement on ER4's

Cheers

John

 

[lindrone]

Open mouth impression should be the requirement, not closed mouth. As experienced by Tyson before, the one he took with closed mouth impressions didn't fit properly at all. Yes, the soft silicone material will provide you with a good seal and move with you more, but it won't compensate for the difference your ear shape takes on when you open your mouth versus closed.

My audiologist explained to me that why an open mouth impression was needed the first time I went to her. So that was never a question. If there's a good audiologist in your area that worked with IEM's often, they should know as well. Audiologists that only worked with hearing aids might not know.

 

[Tyson]

Yeah, my first set of impressions were closed mouth and they did not seal well at all. Open mouthed impressions fit and sealed much, much better.

One thing my audiologist mentioned is that with the soft sensaphonics, if you impression is too small and needs to be made "bigger" in order to get a better, tighter seal, you can send them back and they can be re-coated with another layer of silicon material, so that it keeps the same impression, but makes it thicker for a tighter fit. Not necessary for me with my set, but good to know that it's an option if it was needed.

 

[lindrone]

Hm.. thought I should just chime in with a little more detail, in case anyone needs clarification or might be confused.

When you open your mouth, your ear canal expands into a slightly larger size. So if you take a closed mouth impression for IEM's, which needs a tight seal, you will break that seal when your mouth opens up. This will happen regardless of the material, because the material will not "expand" to fill up the empty space.

So when you take an open mouth impression, you are taking that impression at the largest point of the ear canal expansion (which is why you should open your mouth as wide as possible). The IEM will get a nice and snug fit, and when you close your mouth, your ear canal contracts to its "closed size" and squeezes down on the IEM just a tad. Of course, it doesn't sound as dramatic as described... it's less than few mm of difference, but that's what will make or break the seal.

Of course, over a long duration, your ear canal in its closed state is squeezing down on the IEM ever-so-slightly, so the soft silicone material is much more comfortable, where hard acrylic will causing more fatigue over time. To be truthful, I don't think I've ever had a problem with "fatigue" as far as using the UE-10 versus the 2X-S... however the 2X-S does feel more comfortable regardless of the duration of time I'm wearing them. The seal is also fuller and more snug. Like I said before, and I'll say it again for the sake of it, UE-10's material feels like they're sitting against my ears, while 2X-S is "hugging" (or maybe even cuddling) my ears