[bluestorm1992]

For the M5 reshell, I am debating between reverting it to be the universal fit or to use my own ear impressions. Normally I would just go with the ear impression option, but I am not sure how long I will keep the M5, and having it custom-made seems to be a huge disadvantage in the resell market. Plus, the universal fit seems to be very comfortable and delivers the same level of sound quality as well.

Any suggestion will be much appreciated!!

 

[mvvRAZ]

For the M5 reshell, I am debating between reverting it to be the universal fit or to use my own ear impressions. Normally I would just go with the ear impression option, but I am not sure how long I will keep the M5, and having it custom-made seems to be a huge disadvantage in the resell market. Plus, the universal fit seems to be very comfortable and delivers the same level of sound quality as well.

Any suggestion will be much appreciated!!

For any IEM that you aren't absolutely crazy about always go universal, simple as that

 

[mvvRAZ]

Some thoughts about the ranking...

I’m actually considering having each ranking chart only be valid for a specific year - the current one for example would be 2019/2020, next year’s will be 2021 etc etc

Several reasons why that might be a good idea:

- it means I only rank things that I’ve heard in that year. Comparing next year’s IEMs to things that I haven’t heard in over 2-3 years will be increasingly unreliable and it’ll only get worse with the years

- accounts for tech getting better with time - I was looking at the chart the other day, and some of the differences in sound quality are becoming quite big within the same tier. For the most part that is happening as a result of new releases that provide either exceptional performance, or exceptional value

- reflects my current preferences and standards as opposed to what I thought was good or what I enjoyed some time ago. Over time I’ve become way more critical of IEMs, and I’m sure that if I re-listened some of the stuff I heard at the canjam in 2019 I’d give them much lower ranks.

- more consistency when it comes to DAPs used. I generally tend to use a DAP for long periods of time, so if the ranking only covers a given year, it’s most likely that everything will have been listened to with the same DAP

Any thoughts? I’d love some counter arguments, as the idea sounds pretty good in my head

 

[Beh0lder]

Plus, the universal fit seems to be very comfortable and delivers the same level of sound quality as well.

You can also get custom eartips - fits like a glove and the IEM can still be resold any time.

 

[chickenmcnug]

For the M5 reshell, I am debating between reverting it to be the universal fit or to use my own ear impressions. Normally I would just go with the ear impression option, but I am not sure how long I will keep the M5, and having it custom-made seems to be a huge disadvantage in the resell market. Plus, the universal fit seems to be very comfortable and delivers the same level of sound quality as well.

Any suggestion will be much appreciated!!

You can customise your ‘universal custom’ like I did

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Some thoughts about the ranking...

I’m actually considering having each ranking chart only be valid for a specific year - the current one for example would be 2019/2020, next year’s will be 2021 etc etc

Several reasons why that might be a good idea:

- it means I only rank things that I’ve heard in that year. Comparing next year’s IEMs to things that I haven’t heard in over 2-3 years will be increasingly unreliable and it’ll only get worse with the years

- accounts for tech getting better with time - I was looking at the chart the other day, and some of the differences in sound quality are becoming quite big within the same tier. For the most part that is happening as a result of new releases that provide either exceptional performance, or exceptional value

- reflects my current preferences and standards as opposed to what I thought was good or what I enjoyed some time ago. Over time I’ve become way more critical of IEMs, and I’m sure that if I re-listened some of the stuff I heard at the canjam in 2019 I’d give them much lower ranks.

- more consistency when it comes to DAPs used. I generally tend to use a DAP for long periods of time, so if the ranking only covers a given year, it’s most likely that everything will have been listened to with the same DAP

Any thoughts? I’d love some counter arguments, as the idea sounds pretty good in my head

Sounds good. It will force you to re-listen to a lot of IEMs every year. Burden will be on you.

Can you do us a favor and purchase 10 of the TOTL DAPs and test all IEMS with all combinations? LOL. Just kidding. But, we do need to consider proper pairings, cables and ear tips. I am finding that it matters a lot when getting to the rarified air of TOTL.

While you are at it. How about a column for best suited for which genres of music?

 

[bluestorm1992]

You can customise your ‘universal custom’ like I did

This looks really nice! I will definitely get a custom design for the reshell

 

[mvvRAZ]

Sounds good. It will force you to re-listen to a lot of IEMs every year. Burden will be on you.

Can you do us a favor and purchase 10 of the TOTL DAPs and test all IEMS with all combinations? LOL. Just kidding. But, we do need to consider proper pairings, cables and ear tips. I am finding that it matters a lot when getting to the rarified air of TOTL.

While you are at it. How about a column for best suited for which genres of music?

DAPs... yeah they make a very big difference - the closest I can come to “adjusting” for that is the LPGT - dead neutral and powerful enough to drive any IEM. Realistically that doesn’t do justice to IEMs that are designed to be driver by a warmer or brighter source, but it’s also a sort of Jack of all trades solution

The re-listening part - yeah that’s the main concern but with trade shows coming back hopefully it should be pretty doable

 

[xenithon]

How are the new cables turning out? And how is lil’ sis finding her KC and Graphene cables?

 

[mvvRAZ]

How are the new cables turning out? And how is lil’ sis finding her KC and Graphene cables?

I haven't gotten the KC yet as there was a little mix up in the cables that they sent me - should have it early next week!

The three IEM cables are all pure silvers, and they're sounding really good! A rather warm tonality from what I'm hearing at the moment, will make an impression/photo post soon

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

You can also get custom eartips - fits like a glove and the IEM can still be resold any time.

Where can you get custom ear tips? I am interested in that option.

I got custom ear sleeves from Sensaphonics for my Shure SE846s. They work great. I wish they did more than just Shure IEMs.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Where can you get custom ear tips? I am interested in that option.

I got custom ear sleeves from Sensaphonics for my Shure SE846s. They work great. I wish they did more than just Shure IEMs.

Custom Art does them but I'm not a big fan of how they make the IEMs stick out in your ears

https://www.adv-sound.com/products/eartune-fidelity-custom-fit-eartips - I've been really curious about these but haven't gotten any yet

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Custom Art does them but I'm not a big fan of how they make the IEMs stick out in your ears

https://www.adv-sound.com/products/eartune-fidelity-custom-fit-eartips - I've been really curious about these but haven't gotten any yet

Thanks for the tip. This company does good work based on the pics. I'm going to give them a try. I can at least have them make some for my airpod pros. that will be tricky because these IEMs have technology.

I am not concerned about sticking out of the ear. The Sensaphonics stick out, but it looks worse than it is.

 

[tommir]

Thanks for the tip. This company does good work based on the pics. I'm going to give them a try. I can at least have them make some for my airpod pros. that will be tricky because these IEMs have technology.

I am not concerned about sticking out of the ear. The Sensaphonics stick out, but it looks worse than it is.

I already bought custom tips for Khans form Custom Art and they work well. Maybe they're not absolute perfect but work fine enough. Just ordered second pair for KSE1500.

 

[mashuto]

Custom Art does them but I'm not a big fan of how they make the IEMs stick out in your ears

https://www.adv-sound.com/products/eartune-fidelity-custom-fit-eartips - I've been really curious about these but haven't gotten any yet

If you already don't like how custom art custom tips will make your iem stick out of your ears, the advanced tips are not going to be any better and may actually be worse since they are a full concha fit vs just a canal fit for the custom art.