Alrighty guys! Big news (and lots of it so get ready)! So my CIEM S8's came in the mail while I was finishing a big assignment. To be honest, the thought of coming home to
my first set of custom IEMs really motivated me to finish my work. Right when I got back, I dropped everything and went off to unbox them. However, as soon as I took them out from the case, two things seemed a bit off. They were huge and the color of the left face plate looked nothing like in the pictures. I shrugged this off and then proceeded to admire how beautiful the transparent body was with the drivers inside. Not long after, I plugged them in and popped them in my ears. I was still unsure at the time since this was my first set of customs, but I knew something was wrong. In the two pictures below, you can see how much they stick out (they should be flush). The wire isn't even resting against my face.
Right side. Left side.
As I struggled, I found it
difficult to get a good seal. Every movement of my head or even making facial expressions would cause the body of the IEM to separate from my ears, letting sound in. Even when I did achieve a seal, the
isolation was subpar. Usually wearing CIEMs and taking them out require twisting them backwards and forwards. However, I was able to pull them out laterally (and very easily) which meant they were
not in securely. It was quite difficult to get sound impressions since my OCD didn't let me concentrate on the music while I felt that something was wrong with the fit. After some listening, I can conclude that the sound is absolutely wonderful as expected, but let's dive deeper into the root of these problems.
As you guys can see, the set really is a stunner. Too bad I don't have my macro lens with me so I just improvised with a wide angle and some cropping.
With these complaints in mind, I contacted my dealer, Thomas from Mingo Headphone in Hong Kong. I sent him a barrage of photos and descriptions of my problems and he jumped on the case as soon as I let him know. Props to him. My worries were continuing to build since I am staying in the United States. If I needed to get a second set of impressions done, I would have to deal with an audiologist and all of the hassle here. He reassured me that Moondrop would take responsibility for this and that a problem like this has happened before where a customer lived in the US. After some diagnosing and brainstorming, I hypothesized that it must have been the short nozzle and thick body that was messing with the fit. Looking at pictures online and asking friends who also own CIEMs, they said that the tragus of the ear plays a part in holding in the IEMs. However, since these extend past my tragus, they can't grip my ears and almost fall out with little disturbance. Since it is the weekend, he says that Moondrop won't be able to respond until Monday. However, he says that the plan will most likely be as follows...
Moondrop engineers will see the pictures sent to them of the fit of the IEMs in my ears and remodel the driver placement such that the shell can be much smaller (and hopefully flush fit). They will then 3D print an empty shell with the new shape and send it to me in the US. I will then wear them and see if they fit well. If they do, I will have to get a new set made and send my old ones back. According to Thomas, they will cover the costs of all the shipping (which is to be expected). Another worry of mine is that they physically shape the ear impressions before scanning them which means that if they cut off the ear canal portion of the impression, they would not have the shape required to extend them in the new set. I am guessing that this process will take quite some time so hopefully Moondrop addresses this in a professional manner (I will definitely let you guys know if they aren't).
Moving on to the last problem. When I chose the faceplate for the right ear, I chose the design on the lower left hand corner. As you can see, it resembles a dark blue marble with small grain size. If you look at the pictures from earlier, they are clearly a much lighter blue with a simple glitter texture. This is a poor match with the wood on the right side and I am honestly not very happy with it. The problem is, when I was deciding on face plates, the only reference I had was a very low quality set of images that had poor resolution and color accuracy. When I asked Moondrop on Facebook to send me better pictures either from what they had or from the factory, they simply said that it couldn't be done. So much for making an informed decision am I right?
All in all, not a great experience as of now. The universal S8's were much more comfortable than these but let's see if the next set will allow me to regain confidence in both customs and Moondrop. I'm sure that the process of getting them fixed will be a hassle. The wait for these was already quite long so it seems it will be even longer until I can enjoy audiophile bliss. I will keep you guys updated as I try to get them fixed!