[Tone Seeker]

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Well the seal is mainly because of the AS-2 needing the right amount of air pressure inside your ear to give you the impactful bass and crisp and sweet trebles you'll grow to love about the AS-2's if you own them. Not sure how the ambient air effect this as its not entirely changing the amount of air behind the driver or anything, but somewhere in between where it might not have as much of an effect.

 
Since there is both a port to tune the bass and one for ambient sound I'm hoping that relatively little quality is lost when the ambient port is opened. However, like you I suspect that may not be the case. Either way, it's a good question to raise with Aurisonics.
 
Terry.

 

[mgohler]

I think that adding an AS-2 ambient port would be a good idea, providing that there would be no compromise to the original sound when fully closed. Although Andy had mentioned it, I'm not even 100% sure that they actually offer the option (and how much extra it would cost)... Kenman had mentioned that perhaps Aurisonics didn't feel it was needed in their flagship IEM and it would be interesting to get Dale in on the conversation .

 

[kenman345]

I thought I specifically wrote in my review the ambient port can be added by request. They didnt add it as they felt it was an unnecessary cost for most of the purchasers. That's why it can be added by request. They took it out to save on costs because the market they were targeting is less likely to need it. I'll take a look and see if any of the email exchanges between Dale and I talked about this topic, but i don't know if i'll be able to find anything. 
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I think that adding an AS-2 ambient port would be a good idea, providing that there would be no compromise to the original sound when fully closed. Although Andy had mentioned it, I'm not even 100% sure that they actually offer the option (and how much extra it would cost)... Kenman had mentioned that perhaps Aurisonics didn't feel it was needed in their flagship IEM and it would be interesting to get Dale in on the conversation .

EDITL Gmail has terrible keyword search. I've apparently talked about the ambient ports through the initial purchase phase and throughout to the point its really hard to find anything. Maybe I can get Dale to weigh in on the situation later today or early this week

 

[Kunlun]

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Since there is both a port to tune the bass and one for ambient sound I'm hoping that relatively little quality is lost when the ambient port is opened. However, like you I suspect that may not be the case. Either way, it's a good question to raise with Aurisonics.
 
Terry.

 
 
I might be the only one here to have heard an Aurisonics custom with an ambient port, so I'll chime in with my foggy memories. It's been a while since I've had the AS-1b as I sent it back to Dale months ago, but the review of the AS-1b I wrote is here.
 
I didn't put too much about the port system in my review, but I will say that the ambient port didn't change the bass in a way I would have imagined it would. You know when you don't get a good seal with an iem or custom iem it reduces the bass dramatically? That's what I expected and it didn't happen! It was interesting that way. There might have been some minor changes to the sound but my main memory is that the ambient port did what it was supposed to in terms of letting in external sound without effecting the bass overmuch.

 

[Tone Seeker]

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I didn't put too much about the port system in my review, but I will say that the ambient port didn't change the bass in a way I would have imagined it would. You know when you don't get a good seal with an iem or custom iem it reduces the bass dramatically? That's what I expected and it didn't happen! It was interesting that way. There might have been some minor changes to the sound but my main memory is that the ambient port did what it was supposed to in terms of letting in external sound without effecting the bass overmuch.

 
Cool! That's exactly what I was hoping it would do.
 
I recall reading somewhere that the ambient port option was $100.
 
Terry.

 

[mgohler]

I do appreciate that Aurisonics offers a "bare bones" custom AS-2 and I wonder if the ambient port can be added as a retrofit...?
 
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Cool! That's exactly what I was hoping it would do.
 
I recall reading somewhere that the ambient port option was $100.
 
Terry.

 

[kenman345]

Why dont people read my posts and my review? I said that it can be added by request. Please contact Aurisonics about adding the ambient port, their shouldnt be much of a reason they cant
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I do appreciate that Aurisonics offers a "bare bones" custom AS-2 and I wonder if the ambient port can be added as a retrofit...?

 

[Kunlun]

Man, I wish kenman would post in this thread.
 
He should also do a review.

 

[jpmilner]

I have been auditioning a set of ASG-2s for the last week and I cannot recommend them enough.  I cannot compare these to a lot of high end headphones, but versus the EQ-7s I can definitely say that these are the best sounding headphones I have ever put in my head.  Mind you, it's not a giant step up because I am still having fit issues with my left ear; which is why I'm turning to customs.  Compared to the EQ-7s, the AS-2s have just as luscious mids, but they fill out the spectrum with spectacular response and clarity.  It was enlightening to me to hear bass that was full with such impact and yet the voice was still focused and clear.  No part of the range sounds under powered or unrepresented.  And the space... oh my god.  I have recordings of live operas from the 50s and 60s where I can hear the audience talking and coughing and folding programs.  I can hear conductors singing along with the stage.  The subtle clarity is a revelation.
 
My only two complaints are the fit issue with my left ear and the ambient ports.  I understand how the ambient ports can be useful for many, but for me they are more of a distraction.  I will not be ordering mine with ambient ports.

 

[penguinicus]

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My only two complaints are the fit issue with my left ear and the ambient ports.  I understand how the ambient ports can be useful for many, but for me they are more of a distraction.  I will not be ordering mine with ambient ports.

 
Ambient ports on the ASG-2s? O.o  Are they adjustable?  Are there (adjustable?) bass ports too?

 

[jpmilner]

Honestly I don't know.  These are just demos for the AS-2.  They are generic fit so that I can hear what the AS-2s sound like.  Who knows if these will be the ASG-2 final build.
 
I'm not sure that the ambient port on these are adjustable.  I could be wrong.  It could be the bass port.  Its a giant vent with a black filter in it.  There is no screw or mechanism of any kind in the vent.  All I can really tell you is that these did their job of getting me to buy a pair of customs.

 

[kenman345]

ASG-2's are not an official product. What you must be demoing now is a set of generic AS-2's or as some would say, demo AS-2 units. 
 
I have no idea about that vent you speak of. Where is it located? If it is indeed a vent, I would assume it would be to mimic the bass port on the full set. It sounds like if it is, it's not a functional implementation. I haven't seen the demo units, so I have no idea myself. 
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Honestly I don't know.  These are just demos for the AS-2.  They are generic fit so that I can hear what the AS-2s sound like.  Who knows if these will be the ASG-2 final build.
 
I'm not sure that the ambient port on these are adjustable.  I could be wrong.  It could be the bass port.  Its a giant vent with a black filter in it.  There is no screw or mechanism of any kind in the vent.  All I can really tell you is that these did their job of getting me to buy a pair of customs.

 
EDIT: Forget to say, Welcome to the Aurisonics family. cookies are on the table in the back. Cake will be out soon...(just having some fun, but seriously, welcome and I can't wait to have another member of the Head-Fi world have a pair and be able to comment on how amazing the AS-2's are.)

 

[jpmilner]

Sorry.  I meant to be clear that these are generic AS-2s.  I assumed that these would be the basis for the ASG-2 that might or might not exist.
 
The vent is definitely functional.  If you hold your right ear piece by the memory wire with the AS logo perfectly level, the vent is near the bottom screw at 2 o'clock in relation to that screw about 2 mm away.  It is also slightly larger than the screw.  My guess is ambient because even with the good seal on my right side I still get plenty of exterior sound but the music is front and center without being washed out by ambient noise.  For instance, I'm typing this while listening to music and if I listen very closely I can hear the click of my keyboard and it is not muted in tone the way it would be with ear plugs.  Does that make sense?
 
Thanks for the welcome.  It was your comparison to the UERM that did it for me... that and getting to hear these amazing headphones.

 

[kenman345]

You're lucky you got to hear them in advance. If the port is at the bottom of the IEM then I dont think it's either of the normal ports. Doesn't make any difference though, you liked them and that's the important part. I really wish I had the demo AS-2's on me when I did that comparison. It would've been a better comparison but also, I think if I did the comparison now I'd be able to understand the differences a bit more. I definitely still think I got it right in my comparison, but I feel like I was only just hitting the surface of the AS-2's ability, and I have grown to love so much more about it since then.
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Sorry.  I meant to be clear that these are generic AS-2s.  I assumed that these would be the basis for the ASG-2 that might or might not exist.
 
The vent is definitely functional.  If you hold your right ear piece by the memory wire with the AS logo perfectly level, the vent is near the bottom screw at 2 o'clock in relation to that screw about 2 mm away.  It is also slightly larger than the screw.  My guess is ambient because even with the good seal on my right side I still get plenty of exterior sound but the music is front and center without being washed out by ambient noise.  For instance, I'm typing this while listening to music and if I listen very closely I can hear the click of my keyboard and it is not muted in tone the way it would be with ear plugs.  Does that make sense?
 
Thanks for the welcome.  It was your comparison to the UERM that did it for me... that and getting to hear these amazing headphones.

 

[JackKontney]

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Great!
 
 
Another approach that some IEM vendors use is to build a small microphone into the IEM (e.g. Sensaphonics 3D Active Ambient). The IEM is fully sealed but you can blend in ambient sound captured by the IEM microphone using a belt pack. You don't loose any isolation so hearing protection is retained and the ambient sound is essentially the same as what you would hear without IEM's since the microphones are in your ears. Having one in each ear means you receive a binaural signal giving your brain directional information. As you move your head to look across the stage or at the audience, the ambient signal changes. This approach seems much better to me than using a stationary, mono, ambient mic. That said, I've never used an in-ear solution like this.

Great to see a stage monitoring discussion here! Thanks for the mention of the 3D Active Ambient, Tone Seeker.