[mistermfive]

Hi Guys,
 
I have a very unfortunate circumstance where yesterday I got a message from my audiologist stating that Westone has informed him that upon receiving my ear molds, they can't make the custom ES5's for me. I am more than devastated as I've been doing my research for a more than 2 months along with saving up my hard earnings to get one of the world's most sought after IEM's. Since growing up with music listening to a wide range of genres: hiphop, alternative, r&b, vocal trance, jazz, I've gone through life thick and thin by using music as my drug and motivation. I don't have very big ears and throughout my life, I have NEVER EVER found a pair of earbuds that would fit. I hate walking around with headphones as my head isn't that big and I always look like I'm wearing a helmet. In addition, working out at the gym or snowboarding with a pair of headphones makes life difficult as it tends to suffocate my ears and makes my head really hot. I've always wanted the clean look of wearing earphones but everything I've worn has either fallen out the moment I've put it in or fallen out in a few minutes. Anyways bottom line is, I've tried a wide selection of earbuds from Etymotic to Shures and even using the smallest ear-foam adapter, nothing works. I finally stumble onto custom IEM's where as "custom" would go, allow people to adapt their in ear monitors to the shape of their ears. How convenient and awesome is that right? Ultimate Ears UE18 Pros were out of my budget so I finally settled on Westone ES5s after raves of positive critic reviews. I neglected to think that if I went custom, even those have a limit for accommodating small ears.
 
They told me that the "bowl" of ear was too small and that since the 5 armatures will be held in that area, it wouldn't be possible. I am wondering if anybody has any suggestions as I am willing to pay for the best and just don't want to sacrifice sound quality because of the size of my ears... I called Ultimate Ears today and they told me that they may be able to make the UE18Pros for me as a lot of smaller eared customers have been successful. However, this doesn't make much sense as UE18Pros will be using 6 armatures instead of 5 and that would require more space, no? He told me "just send over your ear molds and we'll go from there" and I had told him that according to Westone, my ears are only big enough for ES1s which only have 1 armatures. I live in Canada and since the ear molds are in Westone, I would have to pay for addition shipping to get them to send it to their competitors and most likely get a no answer due to "small ears". I am very frustrated as I don't know where to go from here and am not interested in headphones. My direction is strictly IEM's and I have worked really hard to hopefully buy the best in the industry if my ears are not small enough for customs. This is frustrating because I wish that these sound engineers had consider the possibility that there would be people with small 'ear bowls' like me and if this is not accounted for, then what is the definition of "custom ear monitors"?? 
 
Any advice would be grateful.
 
Thankyou

 

[rmappita]

What do you think about JH5 PRO? They are great IMO!! Don't subestime a custom with "only" two drivers of BA  

 

[Eric_C]

Your situation is unfortunate, but I don't think it's fair to blame the engineers who created customs like the ES5 for "not considering the possibility" of a circumstance like yours. There was no way they could have known just how small the 'bowl' of your ears were prior to receiving the moulds.
 
Since the moulds are still at Westone, have you considered any of their other customs? The ES3X perhaps?

 

[kckc]

@ Eric. OP stated that Westone said his ears are only big enough for the ES1. 

Your situation is really unfortunate as I've seen similar situations in the past. I've only recently purchased my first pair of customs also so I have no experience in this category, but maybe you can ask Average_Joe. He's heard a lot of customs and could possibly recommend a "top" custom that he's had which has a smaller housing and may fit in your ears. And remember more drivers isn't always better, although I think that there are significant differences between a single BA and multiple BAs. 

 

[Eric_C]

^ Ah yes, you're right. Sorry didn't see that.

 

[mistermfive]

@ Eric_C: you're right, I shouldn't blame the sound engineers, it's not their fault. I just really wish that someday, technology would be advanced enough to allow even smaller armatures to fit in any 'tiny-sized' ear bowls. I am indeed aware of the rest of Westone's ES lines but am not willing to settle for anything less than the flagship model since I'm planning to fork out over 1K to get one of the best in the industry. At this point, as an audiophile, it's "all in or go home". The funny thing is I checked the line of Artists in Westone's list who had ES5's made and some of them just don't seem to have really big ears (like Christina Aguilera) but yet, they were able to get it done! The process I believe is just the same for a non-artist to get them done.
 
@kckc: thanks for the understand, it really sucks to be me right now. I will definitely contact Average_Joe and see if there are any other top of the line IEM's at the ES5/UE18Pro level that will accommodate my small ears. I definitely don't feel that more BA's = better but will definitely not settle for an ES1 just because Westone told me it fits. I just can't.
 
To All: My apologies for writing with shoddy English. It's been a long day and my brain is starting to malfunction. If anyone has other suggestions/advice, please keep them coming. I am really grateful for your help.

 

[Kanashimu]

Hrm, check out the UERM and the aud-5x, both are pretty decent for triple driver configs. Average joe reviewed them both in his custom iem thread.

 

[IMAWolf]

Have you considered universals with a seperate custom tip?

 

[dyl1dyl]

Hey, why not consider a UERM, it's a great flaship iem (probably better than the UE18s) and it has "only" three drivers so it should be easier to fit for you,

 

[Eric_C]

Quote:

Hrm, check out the UERM and the aud-5x, both are pretty decent for triple driver configs. Average joe reviewed them both in his custom iem thread.

 
 
Quote:

Hey, why not consider a UERM, it's a great flaship iem (probably better than the UE18s) and it has "only" three drivers so it should be easier to fit for you,

Westone has stated that they can only do single driver customs for OP. Given that UE's shells are acrylic--same as Westone, and yes I am aware of the heat-sensitive tips but that section of the IEM is not the issue here--it does not look likely that a triple driver UERM will fit.
 
OP: maybe contact Sensaphonics? They use soft-gel silicone to build their IEMs, so perhaps this can accommodate your ears better.
http://www.sensaphonics.com/?p=328

 

[kckc]

Quote:

 
OP: maybe contact Sensaphonics? They use soft-gel silicone to build their IEMs, so perhaps this can accommodate your ears better.
http://www.sensaphonics.com/?p=328

Can you explain the difference between silicone and acrylic shells? Silicone sounds more comfortable but does it effect sound and durability in any way?

 

[Eric_C]

Mm, I'm afraid I don't know how silicone is more or less durable than acrylic, or at least not from experience.
 
Here's what I can postulate though:
Silicone is softer, so it might spread and dissipate the impact of a fall better. Perhaps it's impossible to break? I've read stories (on other forums) of acrylic shells cracking on impact; this does not seem that common, but it remains a possibility when the shell is made of a hard material.
 
I doubt either affects the sound much. As far as I know, BA-based IEMs are affected by the length of the tube, the number of bores, and where/when the sound from all the bores mix...note that this has nothing to do with the material of the shell. By way of explanation: see some of the customs in this thread (http://www.head-fi.org/t/579433/what-sorcery-is-this). The shells are all acrylic but have different materials encased in some of them for aesthetic reasons; presumably the sound is the same in all of them from the same manufacturer, so this should be further proof that the housing material is, well, quite immaterial where sound is concerned.

 

[ArrigoShred]

Quote:

Can you explain the difference between silicone and acrylic shells? Silicone sounds more comfortable but does it effect sound and durability in any way?

Acrylic Shells are harder and more stiff, in a sense you can say its more durable. However the drawback is that if the process of making the IEM isnt good enough, or your ear impressions are lacking in quality, great isolation may be hard to achieve/

Silicone shells are softer and heat sensitive, atleast the ones offered in Westone's ES models, they expand within your ear towards a certain extent, giving you better isolation.

Sound wise, from owning numerous custom IEMs I havent found a difference except for a weaker isolation in Acrylic shells, however it was easily fixed with a refit.

 

[kckc]

 

Mm, I'm afraid I don't know how silicone is more or less durable than acrylic, or at least not from experience.
 
Here's what I can postulate though:
Silicone is softer, so it might spread and dissipate the impact of a fall better. Perhaps it's impossible to break? I've read stories (on other forums) of acrylic shells cracking on impact; this does not seem that common, but it remains a possibility when the shell is made of a hard material.
 
I doubt either affects the sound much. As far as I know, BA-based IEMs are affected by the length of the tube, the number of bores, and where/when the sound from all the bores mix...note that this has nothing to do with the material of the shell. By way of explanation: see some of the customs in this thread (http://www.head-fi.org/t/579433/what-sorcery-is-this). The shells are all acrylic but have different materials encased in some of them for aesthetic reasons; presumably the sound is the same in all of them from the same manufacturer, so this should be further proof that the housing material is, well, quite immaterial where sound is concerned.

You're right, sound probably isn't affected as some company even gives you the option of both. I'm curious though, as to why it is that most companies choose to use acrylic shells and that they are generally considered "better". I've also read stories of acrylic shells cracking so wouldn't silicone shells be a better option in general?

Acrylic Shells are harder and more stiff, in a sense you can say its more durable. However the drawback is that if the process of making the IEM isnt good enough, or your ear impressions are lacking in quality, great isolation may be hard to achieve/

Silicone shells are softer and heat sensitive, atleast the ones offered in Westone's ES models, they expand within your ear towards a certain extent, giving you better isolation.

Sound wise, from owning numerous custom IEMs I havent found a difference except for a weaker isolation in Acrylic shells, however it was easily fixed with a refit.

Maybe it's just me, but acrylic shells seems to  have more drawbacks than silicone. Given that silicone shells are softer (more comfortable?) and offers better isolation while the sound stays consistent. 

 

[Eric_C]

ArrigoShred: I've never read that the material Westone uses for the canal portion is silicone. Where did you read that?
 
kckc: Custom IEMs started out as tools for stage musicians. Notice how vocalists (Kelly Clarkson is one notable example lololol) will pop the earpiece out, while on stage? And then they might do so again later on in the set? It's apparently easier to do that with acrylic; silicone shells supposedly require 2 hands to do so. Also bear in mind that stage musicians want some isolation but not full isolation; see JHA's website for the option to include an ambient vent, so that the user can better hear the audience.