Quote:
Originally Posted by kevman /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Thanks for the advise. I always assumed the "seal" would be either complete or not ! In other words i get no bass or the full amount possible. The 50/500Hz test suggested here has got me thinking my seal is not good enough. The 500Hz sound is, for sure, louder. This is confusing as it is also louder (to the same extent) using non IEMs (PX200s). I also get very good sound isolation (which I previously thought suggested a good seal). To be clear, the bass is there so I assumed the seal was good. The 50/500 hz test sugests otherwise. Any comments ?
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I also thought the bass was very weak in my e4c until I read this thread. I had the same experience - the 50hz was present, but dramatically quieter than the 500hz. I thought I had a pretty good seal with the soft flex sleeves because I was getting a little suction every time I removed them, but after the alternating tone test, I started to look for a better fit. After I found a good seal, the 50hz was much more present than it had been before. Also, just a note, I found a louder overall volume helped comparison using the alternating tone track. Anyway, here are a few options that worked for me:
1) soft flex tips with the earphones upside down (so the cable goes straight down instead of over the ear). this was super easy to insert, and I got a good seal with a little wiggling back and forth to corkscrew the tip into my ear. still very comfortable. The only problems - the earphones stuck out from my ear so I couldn't lean my head on anything and the microphonics were terrible.
2) hard clear flex tips with the over the ear routing, using the opposite hand to pull my ear open during insertion. I.e. left hand pulling on the top-back portion of my right ear to allow slightly deeper insertion. This was when I realized how much bass I was missing from a poor seal. Unfortunately, not the most comfortable, and silly looking during insertion. Still fairly easy though.
3) the same procedure as #2 but using the soft flex tips. maybe not as good a seal as I got with the clear tips, but more comfy and it gives me the ability to use #1 for quick insertion.
I was surprised that the yellow foamies didn't give a good seal, as I usually have good results with foam tips. The tri-flanges were just plain uncomfortable and not that great. I haven't tried the olives yet, but it seems they can't be beat. If you don't have any luck with the above methods, or have already tried them all, maybe go for the olives.
I was listening to professor murder - free stress test, robyn - konichiwa bithes and lupe fiasco - kick push (rock, pop and hip hop) in addition to the alternating frequency track to guage the bass. I also played around with foobar's eq and found that when I had a bad seal, I wanted to bump up the bass - which made it seem pretty muddy. When I had a good seal, I prefered the balance of the e4c's without any eq.
