[NewMexiCat]

I love the HD800S for home listening and have gone through a lot of IEM's, including IE800 and IE900 in an effort to replicate the HD800 sound signature for portable use, but I seem to have recurring issues with fit and comfort, so I want to give customs a try. I always lean toward "best bang for the buck", but I'm not afraid to go TOTL if that's what it takes. Given these parameters, what would the CIEM users on this forum recommend?

 

[NewMexiCat]

I love the HD800S for home listening and have gone through a lot of IEM's, including IE800 and IE900 in an effort to replicate the HD800 sound signature for portable use, but I seem to have recurring issues with fit and comfort, so I want to give customs a try. I always lean toward "best bang for the buck", but I'm not afraid to go TOTL if that's what it takes. Given these parameters, what would the CIEM users on this forum recommend?

Any recommendations out there?

 

[hungryewok]

if by sound sig we mean resolution and micro details, I'd start with a second hand anole vx or a new aur neon pro. That is if we're being budget conscious.

 

[NewMexiCat]

These are universal? I'm wanting to go custom.

 

[Santamaria]

Final A8000

 

[NewMexiCat]

Again, if I'm not mistaken, the A8000 is a universal fit IEM, and I'm looking for recommendations from the CIEM field.

I will throw out two that I am considering, and the CIEM crowd can tell me if I'm on the right track: UERR or, if I want to spend a little more, Noble Audio Kaiser Encore. Are these good candidates for high detail, high soundstage CIEMs?

 

[KinGensai]

It's difficult to understand what you are asking for. Headphone preferences don't really translate to IEMs because of how much of your HRTF is being ignored. What you hear out of the HD800s is likely going to be quite different from others, especially given how big the interior of the driver housing is.

I'll tell you this right off the bat. Soundstage will never be the same at our current level of tech. It's just impossible given how intricate and subtle the cues are for our brains to interpret localization cues. You would have to put a lot of work in with professional acoustics engineers to measure your HRTF in detail, then tune whatever IEM you get to match it.

hungryewok mentioned the Anole VX, I own the Anole V14 which IMO is better tuned, and it is certainly exceptionally clean, but it lacks the SPL to feel natural with the bass response. Most high end manufacturers like QDC will offer a custom version of their universals, you have plenty of options.

To better help people understand what you want, describe your experience with the IE900 and IE800. What did you like? What are problem areas with the sound?

https://alexiy.nl/eq_chart/

Use this to point out what frequency bands don't feel right to you. That will help a lot.

 

[NewMexiCat]

Maybe I didn't explain too coherently in my original post. I have no issues with the sound of either the IE800 or IE900. Love them both. My issue is with the fit and comfort of universal IEMs, so I am trying to determine what custom IEM would most closely replicate the sound qualities of the IE800/IE900, which, to my ears, are close in-ear approximations of the HD800 sound signature,

 

[KinGensai]

Ok, that's a lot more helpful.
https://www.adv-sound.com/collections/custom-fit/products/eartune-fidelity-custom-fit-eartips

If you like those, you could order custom silicone tips for them. I ordered a set of tips from ADV, they require a bit of water or petroleum jelly to get positioned well, but they are quite comfy because they are flexible. The con is that they bulk up the profile a bit and change the sound slightly (adds a bit of resonance to the bass & mids just due to sitting further away from your eardrums), but I actually kind of prefer the change because it gives the sound a bit of room to breathe.

 

[NewMexiCat]

Ok, that's a lot more helpful.
https://www.adv-sound.com/collections/custom-fit/products/eartune-fidelity-custom-fit-eartips

If you like those, you could order custom silicone tips for them. I ordered a set of tips from ADV, they require a bit of water or petroleum jelly to get positioned well, but they are quite comfy because they are flexible. The con is that they bulk up the profile a bit and change the sound slightly (adds a bit of resonance to the bass & mids just due to sitting further away from your eardrums), but I actually kind of prefer the change because it gives the sound a bit of room to breathe.

Thank you for the tip (pun intended)! This may solve my issue and allow me to keep the Sennheiser sound signature!

 

[KinGensai]

Glad you found it useful, I hope it works out for you. I had no problems dealing with ADV, but there are others just in case you want to shop around.