[sari0n]

So I was cleaning my triple.fi 10 filters and on my left monitors I seem to have accidentally pushed the squishy green and red things inside the metal hoops down like a third or half of an millimeter... somehow that makes the left side significantly quieter which is a pretty big problem.  Anyone know what I can do about that?  

 

[sari0n]

Well, I actually managed to pull my entire filters out with my etymotic filter removal tool, which is basically like a small self-taping screw on a stick.
I forgot to mention that these are remolded TF10's.  When I initially compared them to brand new TF10's I thought that the sound changed a lot but now I believe that it's because of the filters.
 
I'm trying to decide if it would be alright to use different filters from other brands or if I should just stuff the TF10 filters back in.  Unfortunately UE doesn't seem to sell any replacements so I can't get new ones.

 

[sari0n]

They are the original filters.  I'm sort of liking the sound without any filters... I was going to try out some other filters but they definitely don't seem to like being stuffed in and pulled out a lot.
Ety filters aren't solid, they're tubes with a tiny flat filter inside.  The TF10 ones are pretty much the same.
The highs seems to have diminished greatly after remolding, but removing the filters seems to have restored them.  I used to have the highs eqed up quite a bit but now I don't need to.  I think that my filters were just a little messed up. 
 
Remolding shouldn't change the sound but it often does.  I have found that the positioning of the drivers does affect the sound significantly, even if it's only slight changes in distance to your ear or angle.  For this reason, I would say that if you don't have to reshell then don't.  I would recommend saving up for real customs rather than reshelling or getting a real quality job done by UM.  I haven't actually used UM before, but I've heard good things about them  I personally wouldn't really recommend Fisher Hearing anymore.... they're very nice people, respond to messages quickly, and have a great turn-around time but I've been having more trouble than I should with my remolds.
I've noticed that my left ear monitors have the drivers positioned slightly farther back so that the sound tube is maybe 1mm longer than on the right one.  The entire nozzle that goes into your ear is about 1mm longer as well.  This makes the left side slightly quieter than the right side and I feel like the music isn't as pronounced.  I have heard that UM has some procedures that they take to balance the two earpieces which might prevent issues like this.  At any rate, I don't know if I got unlucky, but it really doesn't seem worth the trouble to reshell universal headphones.  Back when I was ordering mine, I remember some guy here on head-fi saying that it wasn't really a good idea because the companies put a lot of time and effort into designing their IEM shells and you can't just throw drivers into a shell and have it sound good.  I now believe that he is mostly right...
 
And back to the filters - I've actually adjusted the heights of the filters and I hope that I've balanced out the sound.  At any rate they're sounding as good as ever so hopefully that has fixed the issue.  

 

[Stix]

@sari0n - thanks for the reply mate...just going off-topic a bit...
 
How did you find the stock TripleFis?  Did you get them remolded because they did not fit?  I am expecting mine in the mail and hoping they fit.
 
In case they don't, I have been researching custom molds and since I am in Australia, custom reshelling from Fisher would be about US$170 all up with shipping.  
 
On the other hand, I received an email from Unique Melody Australia with these costs:
 

1. Reshell TF10 (including domestic postage) - $200
2. Artwork - $20
3. Cable - $35 (modified and improved version of the Westone cable)
4. Additional Mid driver (highly recommended for the TF10 which has recessed mids but great highs and lows) - $110

 
So basic cost without artwork or additional driver would be $235 AU (Australian dollar is pretty much on par with US dollar)
 
If I wanted to get custom molds, I would probably go with UM because if I needed a refit, shipping will be a LOT cheaper.
 
But are you happy with your customs from Fisher?
 
 
Here's what UM also said about themselves in the email:
 
------------------------------------------
 
Thanks for your email.  We'll be pleased to help you out.  Whilst we don't want to blow our trumpets too hard, we should let you know that Unique Melody is heralded as having the sole best build quality for our acrylic shells amongst all custom manufacturers.  Our shells are clear, without bubbles, defects etc and we are very proud of it.  Furthermore, whilst we don't want to 'diss' any other company in particular, we are aware that there are many cheaper options in the USA, however many don't bother building their customs with the rigor that we do. 
 
We check each individual driver and cross over and add in the correct sound filter when we build your IEM.  Just last week we had to replace a Left hand low driver in a UE SF5Pro because it was reading 3db lower than the right hand side.  Unfortunately most other companies do not offer these services, they merely remould your IEM. Additionally, we are happy to add 1, 2 or even up to 3 drivers to your IEM should you so choose.
 
Now that thats all out of the way have a look at this basic cost break down.  It should work out roughly similar especially because of the postage costs and the fact that we have dedicated audiologists who are familiar with our requirements and charge us directly.  If you are Adelaide, Melbourne or Perth, our dedicated audiologists will send your TF10's and impressions directly to us on your behalf.
 
Also, one other thing to bear in mind is that if you need a remould because your customs don't fit the first time round (rare occurrence with us), you will only need to send them back to us (Melbourne) rather than the U.S.A

 

[sari0n]

Quote:

 
How did you find the stock TripleFis?

You mean what I thought about them?  I guess I have a sort of unique case because I actually bought a pair of used Triple.fi 10's that had a crushed nozzle for cheap.  Although they were functioning (and actually sounded fine) when I received them I had the intention of reshelling them even before ordering.  Later, I happened to catch the Amazon deal so I got another pair of new Triple.fi 10's. 
I was personally able to get a very good seal with the stock triple.fi 10's.  They do take some getting used to and are pretty large and awkward, but I didn't feel like it was a huge design flaw and the shape did work fine for me.  
The brand new triple.fi 10's had very sparkly highs and nice bass as expected (V-shaped sound).  Some people find the treble harsh but I personally like very pronounced highs so they were great for me.  I didn't find the mids particularly recessed - they don't pop out in your face but I don't think it was too bad.  They were more detailed than my HF5's and I felt like the sound was very full and not airy.  I was actually very impressed by them, I feel like for $100 they are an absolute steal and even for ~150-200 they are still very good performers.  I guess their downfall is that some people really just seem to be unable to get a good seal no matter what they try.
 
If you end up wanting to remold, I have confidence that UM will do a good job, they seem to be very reliable and know what they're doing. I'm hoping to get some real UM customs eventually...

 

[Stix]

Quote:

You mean what I thought about them? 

Yeah, that's what I meant...thanks again for the reply.
 
I'm hoping the TripleFi's will fit since I don't have the cash for a reshell at the moment.
 
I also hope they don't look stupid in my ears. 

 

[matto]

Quote:

@sari0n - thanks for the reply mate...just going off-topic a bit...
 
How did you find the stock TripleFis?  Did you get them remolded because they did not fit?  I am expecting mine in the mail and hoping they fit.
 
In case they don't, I have been researching custom molds and since I am in Australia, custom reshelling from Fisher would be about US$170 all up with shipping.  
 
On the other hand, I received an email from Unique Melody Australia with these costs:
 

1. Reshell TF10 (including domestic postage) - $200
2. Artwork - $20
3. Cable - $35 (modified and improved version of the Westone cable)
4. Additional Mid driver (highly recommended for the TF10 which has recessed mids but great highs and lows) - $110

 
So basic cost without artwork or additional driver would be $235 AU (Australian dollar is pretty much on par with US dollar)
 
If I wanted to get custom molds, I would probably go with UM because if I needed a refit, shipping will be a LOT cheaper.
 
But are you happy with your customs from Fisher?
 
 
Here's what UM also said about themselves in the email:
 
------------------------------------------
 
Thanks for your email.  We'll be pleased to help you out.  Whilst we don't want to blow our trumpets too hard, we should let you know that Unique Melody is heralded as having the sole best build quality for our acrylic shells amongst all custom manufacturers.  Our shells are clear, without bubbles, defects etc and we are very proud of it.  Furthermore, whilst we don't want to 'diss' any other company in particular, we are aware that there are many cheaper options in the USA, however many don't bother building their customs with the rigor that we do. 
 
We check each individual driver and cross over and add in the correct sound filter when we build your IEM.  Just last week we had to replace a Left hand low driver in a UE SF5Pro because it was reading 3db lower than the right hand side.  Unfortunately most other companies do not offer these services, they merely remould your IEM. Additionally, we are happy to add 1, 2 or even up to 3 drivers to your IEM should you so choose.
 
Now that thats all out of the way have a look at this basic cost break down.  It should work out roughly similar especially because of the postage costs and the fact that we have dedicated audiologists who are familiar with our requirements and charge us directly.  If you are Adelaide, Melbourne or Perth, our dedicated audiologists will send your TF10's and impressions directly to us on your behalf.
 
Also, one other thing to bear in mind is that if you need a remould because your customs don't fit the first time round (rare occurrence with us), you will only need to send them back to us (Melbourne) rather than the U.S.A

Waaaw that really makes me want to get a pair :O
 

 

[palinetes]

i have the same problem, but have no warranty anymore and the logitech says they don't have a tech team to fix it! i really don;t know what to do, should i take the other filters too?

 

[sari0n]

I ended up pulling out all the filters and replacing them with the ones that etymotic research makes for the HF5, which fit in fairly well...  You can pull the filters out with the filter removal tool that ER also carries.  If you don't have fischer remolds they might not come out as easily though.
I actually don't use my triple.fi's very much at all anymore.

 

[palinetes]

yeah, i'm in that way too, i'm thinking to replace them for the westone 4! or a custom brazilian brand Xtreme Ears! by the way tks by that tip! i think the filter will resolve my problem! but i'm really disapointed with UE support! when they don't bellong to logitech the service was WAY betther!