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Hey Joe,
I've been considering getting my Miracles remolded to have a longer tip. If this is possible, would it affect sound? How about isolation? Comfort? Bone conduction? I'm trying to prevent my CIEMs from losing seal whenever I make a facial expression or turn my head.
Also, how would you compare a silicone CIEM's bone conduction to that of an acrylic?
Thanks.
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in my opinion, one of the better things you can to do help you get that seal that doesnt break when you move your mouth is to get your impressions made with your mouth almost fully open.
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I'm not Joe, but basically, the better the isolation, the greater the bone conduction (or rather, your perception of the bone conduction, which no CIEM actually changes). In my experience, silicone isolates better, which leads to greater bone conduction.
The first step to making sure you have a proper fit is a good set of impressions that need to be deep. I do all my own impressions these days and I get the ear dam (oto block) as deep as possible and make sure I have enough pressure when plunging out the material. I have moved from a less viscous material to a more viscous material with better results, although I really don't have any issues. Professionals should use kits that have more viscous material (softer and flows better).
While I could easily tell when the harder material, such as the material that is included with the Kozee impression kit, is going in my canal, the new material I use applies much less pressure in my canal. And I do sometimes make multiple impressions to make sure it is done the right way. However, I really don't recommend people make their own impressions, especially the first time since someone should examine your ears first, and you should watch how it is done and what they should look like.
OK, enough about that. A longer canal will provide a better fit if the impressions are good. Any reshell may change the sound, but if you have UM do the reshell, they should be able to get the sound they way it was intended regardless of the canal length. Of course, there will be some changes to the sound, but the overall sound signature should be fine.
As far as how you have your impressions taken, I have found that biting on the thinnest part of a 1" bite block, which is about 1/2" works fine for me and I don't lose a seal no matter what. With silicone shells I take closed mouth impressions. Of course, if the company wants my impressions a different way, I will do them that way. To me, it sounds like your impressions might not have been deep enough.
A temporary fix is you can use lubrication and that might help keep the seal. Or, you can add material to the shell such as
non-toxic nail polish for a longer term fix.
Bass is conducted primarily in the air, so a seal is important for bass. And I am not the expert in bone conduction, but I believe it the larger the surface area, the more bone conduction you get, so the entire shell that contacts your ear will contribute, but if there is no seal it will be very weak as that is not what the driver was designed to do. The effect isn't too large, but does contribute to the experience.
