ZimmerX
Member of the Trade: Frogbeats
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2010
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So I recently purchased the ACS Custom Fit Earphone Sleeves for my Westone 2s.
As ACS had never done them for the Westone 2s before, I had to send in my earphones along with my impressions to get them specifically done for the Westone 2s.
They came a couple of days ago, and I thought I'd put up a small review of what I think they're like.
Sources used:
Cambridge Audio DACMagic -> Cambridge Audio Azur 550A Amp -> Westone 2s
Zune HD -> Westone 2s
I was planning on getting an amp for the Westone 2s, but they're not high end enough to warrant a large expense on a good portable amp for them.
Basically, my ears ain't the biggest and normal silicon tips have never worked for me. I prefer over-ear because I feel it's a more secure fit, and the likelyhood of them falling out is pretty much zero. I owned Etymotic ER6i and even with them they could pop out. My ears are just stupidly problematic (No, I do not look deformed, just putting that out there
).
So, here are a couple of pictures of them on and off the earphones, and the packaging:
Packaging and Contents
The ACS Sleeves came in a box with a little tag saying "Custom made for XXXX" which I thought was pretty nice. The sleeves were inside the leather pouch, and the Comfort Cream and the Wax Pick were outside it. Simple packaging, really doesn't make a different to me how they came, as long as they worked (which we will get on to later one)
Build quality
So I had a feel of the silicon tips... and I must say, they felt lovely. Not too soft (like the Westone dark grey tips) and not too hard (like the white tips for the Westone) and they felt pretty nice. The left sleeve has a blue ACS icon to indicate it's for the left ear and the right has a red one. I customised them and asked for the left to be black and the right to be white... Just for fun. If I'm going to pay £100, I might as well have exactly what I want.
I gotta be honest, I felt that they were a bit on the small side. They didn't look like they would go very deep, but then again, that would be the impressions fault (which I will get on to) and therefore not ACS's fault.
The leather pouch is actually a lovely touch - I can put my earphones in there when carrying them around and it's small and lean enough to just slip into my pocket.
Comfort and isolation
This is where I am going to be very nitpicky about these:
Once inserted, which actually took a while because of my ears, they felt secure... but not extremely comfortable. Granted, it was the first time I'd put them in, but the right ear didn't feel like it was a "flush" fit. I was kinda pissed at this, but I'm going to put this down to the impressions and brush it aside as I can't do much now.
I feel that the isolation is just slightly better than the Comply Tips that came with the Westones (the P series, not the small ones). I was honestly expecting better isolation, but I'll (again) put that down to the impressions.
After prolonged use, I could barely feel them (note barely, I still could, but they didn't bother me).
Ease of insertion in comparison with the Comply Tips is about the same. With the Comply tips you have to roll them so they can expand in your ear, and with the ACS Custom Sleeves you need to move them around a bit until they fit totally into your ear - naturally this is the case, as our ear canals aren't totally straight (well mine aren't anyway).
I'd say I give comfort and isolation a 7/10. They're comfortable, but not the epitome of comfort, and isolation isn't perfect. Still, better than my comply tips.
Sound quality
This is where the ACS shine. I could instantly notice there was something brighter about my W2s. On both my AMP and through the Zune, the difference was noticeable. Now, £100-worth-noticeable? I'm not sure about that, but there was certainly a difference.
General thoughts
I think that I may have had some poor impressions taken, which is why you should take this review with a pinch of salt. I can't go back on the impressions now, and I certainly wont shell out another £100 in case the impressions were done correctly. I feel that they could have gone deeper into my ears, and the seal on my right ear is too tight, whilst the left ear is slightly loose. It doesn't bother me once I'm into the 4th track or something, but it most certainly is noticeable. The fact remains, that I probably wont find the perfect earphones or fit unless I go completely custom. I'd love to try the SM3s and that, but I know that the casing of them alone wouldn't fit in my outer ear. I thought this could help with the fit and the comfort, and they most certainly did - don't get me wrong, I don't regret paying £100 for them... I just wouldn't do it again in a rush.
I certainly feel that with other earphones - specifically the Etymotic range, the Klipsch X5s and X10s and the Audio Technikas... but the rest it's definitely hit or miss. Most people get flush seals with normal silicon tips anyway, but if you don't... I do recommend you look into this, as you could be a much happier person if you had a nice silicon seal, instead of a foam one.
Overall rating - 7/10. I feel that if the impressions had been better (I'll avoid David Ormerod centres next time) then they could have gotten a 9 or 10 out of 10 for these sleeves... but what I currently have isn't disappointing, but it most certainly isn't an incredible improvement or the best investment I've made.
As ACS had never done them for the Westone 2s before, I had to send in my earphones along with my impressions to get them specifically done for the Westone 2s.
They came a couple of days ago, and I thought I'd put up a small review of what I think they're like.
Sources used:
Cambridge Audio DACMagic -> Cambridge Audio Azur 550A Amp -> Westone 2s
Zune HD -> Westone 2s
I was planning on getting an amp for the Westone 2s, but they're not high end enough to warrant a large expense on a good portable amp for them.
Basically, my ears ain't the biggest and normal silicon tips have never worked for me. I prefer over-ear because I feel it's a more secure fit, and the likelyhood of them falling out is pretty much zero. I owned Etymotic ER6i and even with them they could pop out. My ears are just stupidly problematic (No, I do not look deformed, just putting that out there
).So, here are a couple of pictures of them on and off the earphones, and the packaging:
Packaging and Contents
The ACS Sleeves came in a box with a little tag saying "Custom made for XXXX" which I thought was pretty nice. The sleeves were inside the leather pouch, and the Comfort Cream and the Wax Pick were outside it. Simple packaging, really doesn't make a different to me how they came, as long as they worked (which we will get on to later one)
Build quality
So I had a feel of the silicon tips... and I must say, they felt lovely. Not too soft (like the Westone dark grey tips) and not too hard (like the white tips for the Westone) and they felt pretty nice. The left sleeve has a blue ACS icon to indicate it's for the left ear and the right has a red one. I customised them and asked for the left to be black and the right to be white... Just for fun. If I'm going to pay £100, I might as well have exactly what I want.
I gotta be honest, I felt that they were a bit on the small side. They didn't look like they would go very deep, but then again, that would be the impressions fault (which I will get on to) and therefore not ACS's fault.
The leather pouch is actually a lovely touch - I can put my earphones in there when carrying them around and it's small and lean enough to just slip into my pocket.
Comfort and isolation
This is where I am going to be very nitpicky about these:
Once inserted, which actually took a while because of my ears, they felt secure... but not extremely comfortable. Granted, it was the first time I'd put them in, but the right ear didn't feel like it was a "flush" fit. I was kinda pissed at this, but I'm going to put this down to the impressions and brush it aside as I can't do much now.
I feel that the isolation is just slightly better than the Comply Tips that came with the Westones (the P series, not the small ones). I was honestly expecting better isolation, but I'll (again) put that down to the impressions.
After prolonged use, I could barely feel them (note barely, I still could, but they didn't bother me).
Ease of insertion in comparison with the Comply Tips is about the same. With the Comply tips you have to roll them so they can expand in your ear, and with the ACS Custom Sleeves you need to move them around a bit until they fit totally into your ear - naturally this is the case, as our ear canals aren't totally straight (well mine aren't anyway).
I'd say I give comfort and isolation a 7/10. They're comfortable, but not the epitome of comfort, and isolation isn't perfect. Still, better than my comply tips.
Sound quality
This is where the ACS shine. I could instantly notice there was something brighter about my W2s. On both my AMP and through the Zune, the difference was noticeable. Now, £100-worth-noticeable? I'm not sure about that, but there was certainly a difference.
- Bass was punchier. I could "feel" it in my head. Definitely a deeper sounding bass and with a bit more texture. Silicon tips will always have a better bass sound if you have a flush seal due to the reverberations coming back through your ears - With Comply tips some of the vibrations are lost through the foam, whilst I'd say the silicon tips retain it much better. Songs like Teardrop - Massive Attack and the **** Buttons album was used to test this. Flight Of The Feathered Serpent sounded wonderful with the ACS tips on.
- Treble was definitely more prominent. Songs like Float On by Modest Mouse just sounded a lot brighter with the ACS tips on in comparison with the P-Series Comply tips.
General thoughts
I think that I may have had some poor impressions taken, which is why you should take this review with a pinch of salt. I can't go back on the impressions now, and I certainly wont shell out another £100 in case the impressions were done correctly. I feel that they could have gone deeper into my ears, and the seal on my right ear is too tight, whilst the left ear is slightly loose. It doesn't bother me once I'm into the 4th track or something, but it most certainly is noticeable. The fact remains, that I probably wont find the perfect earphones or fit unless I go completely custom. I'd love to try the SM3s and that, but I know that the casing of them alone wouldn't fit in my outer ear. I thought this could help with the fit and the comfort, and they most certainly did - don't get me wrong, I don't regret paying £100 for them... I just wouldn't do it again in a rush.
I certainly feel that with other earphones - specifically the Etymotic range, the Klipsch X5s and X10s and the Audio Technikas... but the rest it's definitely hit or miss. Most people get flush seals with normal silicon tips anyway, but if you don't... I do recommend you look into this, as you could be a much happier person if you had a nice silicon seal, instead of a foam one.
Overall rating - 7/10. I feel that if the impressions had been better (I'll avoid David Ormerod centres next time) then they could have gotten a 9 or 10 out of 10 for these sleeves... but what I currently have isn't disappointing, but it most certainly isn't an incredible improvement or the best investment I've made.
