se535 lover looking into CIEMs...need some advice

[morph2k4]

I'm looking to take the dive into CIEMs, but I have a lot of options in front of me. I had a pair of se535s for a few years and I adored the sound, but the comfort of an UIEM always bothered me. I finally sold them, but always wanted get a CIEM some day. If I could get the se535 sound in a CIEM, I'd be thrilled.

These are my fears:
1. I won't be able to really test the sound, so I have to go by reviews
2. A lot of CIEM companies seem boutique, and I have a hard time trusting boutique companies to produce something really good
3. I don't want to accidentally buy something with low end sound quality for a lot of money because the shelling is expensive.
4. I want to be able to get them recast if they don't end up fitting well
5. My price cap is 800, but I'd rather spend a little less if I can get away with it

I've got a pair of triple fi 10s sitting around that I bought a long time ago and never use, so these are my options as I see it:
1. Pay inearz 125 to reshell the TF10 for me so I can try CIEMs out
2. Buy a new se535 and pay inearz to reshell it. That will come in around 600.
3. Buy a low-mid range CIEM from inearz, noble, etc

If I could guarantee the 535 would perform as good as it's UIEM form in a custom shell, I'd probably just jump on that. From what I've read though, reshelling universals is not a great plan.

Here are my questions after looking through the noble products:
1. Will a custom reshelled UIEM compete with a comparably priced custom?
2. Do I absolutely need 3+ drivers to get a good final result?
3. For Noble specifically, they seem to sell UIEM and CIEM versions of each product. Why would these be better than a normal UIEM with a custom reshell?
4. For Noble specifically, why do the CIEMs scale up cost compared to the UIEMs? As you go up the chain, the price gap continues to rise.
5. Can anyone recommend something that just sounds like the 535 in CIEM form?

Thanks so much for any help you can offer!

 

[Fixxer6671]

It sounds to me like you have half the battle figured out in that you already like the 535. Why don’t you go to sensaphonics. This will help you retain the shelling of the 535 and fat the custom feel with a silicone tip.

My recommendation get the 535 back and do that.

 

[blkmegaman]

Where did you hear that reshelling universals wasn"t a great plan????? I reshelled my tf10 with inearz about 2 years ago. As universals the fit was horrible. After the reshell they fit perfectly, but more importantly they sounded exactly the same. If you want the sound of the 535 then get the 535 reshelled. Since your budget is 800 you should get the 535 and the tf10 reshelled. You won't regret it.