[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Choral_Inc /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've got some SE 530's coming to me in the next few days. People here talk about getting Comply tips. Are they really much better? How would they compare to the olives or the triple flanges? I always imagined the triple flanges having the best isolation, but I don't really know much about this stuff yet (which tips offer the best SQ, like silicon or foam, etc...)

Well I did mention the advantages before, but here we go again. as far as isolation if you get a good seal the tri flanges will actually give you better isolation; but not everyone can get a good seal properly and it isn't very comfortable either. plus any time you open your mouth to speak, eat or whatever it cdan often loose the proper seal and therefor the bass drops out badly. as for the foams the shure black foamies (some people call them olives but thats actually not correct, the olives were a previous foam from shure)they do offer ever so slightly better isolation than the comply tips, but IMO they have a few caveats: they have a tendency to give good quantity of bass, but not such good quality. they can muddy the sound and overwhelm the lower mids with badly presented low bass; as well as worsening the already slightly rolled off highs; not the IEM's fault but the tips. they also have the same problem as the silicones because they can also loose the seal when you move you jaw. the pros are that they isolate better, are easier to clean and more durable (I still have a set from many months ago that are still totally useable, along with a whole other bag of 5 pairs because I never went back after the comply

The Comply are more comfortable IMO; they offer very good isolation, but maybe 1db less than the black foams. but what they do to the bass is great. te bass still has great slam and presence, but with much more texture and detail. the lower mids and mids become much more accurately portrayed and placement is better.Separation of individual vocals or other lead parts becomes more realistic and sweeter. The highs are improved as well taking less of a back seat because the midrange isn't so congested and overwhelming; they still don't sparkle liek etys or have quite as much extension as the triple-fi but definitely very good and I actually prefer the highs on the SE530 (yes i've owned both) nowhere near as fatiguing or piercing; just NICE

. the soundstage is more defined, wider and deeper; doesn't have such great height but IEMs dont really do that really well ever, at least when compared with speakers and good fullsize cans anyway. But as far as IEMs go the SE530 has quite a large 'headstage' the best ive tried (dont have customs....yet

)

keep in mind that all of these comparisons are IMO and were taken while using a DIYMOD 5.5G IPOD->DIY Crystal Cables piccolino w/blackgate 47uf NXhiQ LOD->pico-Shures->ME

and the HP out on my RME fireface; a semi pro 32/192khz firewire multichannel semi pro I/O interface. So your results may vary,

but it is significant enough to be an upgrade in any situation IMO.

thats about as many words as I can muster on the subject of 2 little pieces of foam

hope this helps

 

[Arjisme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif as far as isolation if you get a good seal the tri flanges will actually give you better isolation; but [...] any time you open your mouth to speak, eat or whatever it cdan often loose the proper seal and therefor the bass drops out badly.

This has not been my experience at all. I think the thing with tri-flanges is they are somewhat tricky to get a good fit/seal. They have to be inserted deeper than other tips and that may feel too weird and/or lead to discomfort. Occasionally I have found them uncomfortable, but that has been because they way I inserted them caused them to fold slightly so they weren't lying smoothly against my ear canal. Normally though I can go for quite long periods of time with them in.

And the seal does not break for me ever (eating, talking, whatever). The seal is so good that it is almost hard to remove them.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arjisme /img/forum/go_quote.gif And the seal does not break for me ever (eating, talking, whatever). The seal is so good that it is almost hard to remove them.

That doesn't sound very appealing at all yuk. well everyone has different ears I have the PTH and like to have mine in almost 24/7 IO work from home mostly so this isn't an issue. I basically put my foams in as far as the shape of the IEM will allow so I dont mind things in my ears but the tri-flanges just didn't do it for me. too uncomfortable I ended up snipping one of the flanges off too to turn it into a double flange. was better but I still prefer foams for comfort

 

[Choral_Inc]

On another unrelated, but still Shure note, does anyone use any EQ while listening with these guys? If so, what sorts of styles of music do you find it helps/doesn't help?

 

[jinx20001]

there is no break in for the se530 and you wont need an amp, the ipod will power them fine and you will find distortion a thing of the past.

however an amp will improve most earphones but this is really for those that want perfection, most people think its perfection without an amp.

check the date on the earphones cable. found in the centre on the mini to mini joint. hopefully you get a fairly up to date set as these have much less chance of hardening cables. anything past mid 2007 should be fine, my first pair were made in november 2006 and they got a cracked cable. i got a replacement and specifically asked for a 2008 product and the ones i have now were made in june 2008 and the cable is showing no problems at all, deffinately feels different aswell, less plasticky...so yeh check the date on the joint when you get em to be sure you have a recent pair, you should have, there isnt many places selling the early models nowadays.

where did you purchase them from?? make sure its a reputable seller as shures are becoming targets for conterfit copiers lately.

give the earphone housing a wipe now and then and they shine like a brand new penny. wipe down the cable after every 3 uses or so to keep them free from grease.

use the case to store them as its a hard case and is so for a reason, you dont want to sit on these baby's.

go steady with the volume, they are extremely loud without any noticeable distortion which means you will turn it up louder and louder because they dont show any sign of struggling, but your ears will pay after a while so go steady. and finally enjoy the sound, they respond very well to EQ's but the ipod EQ is rubbish so dont ruin these things with bass boost rubbish. for those that hear about these not having very good treble just treble boost it, they are some of the best EQ'ing earphones available, they respond very well and dont hurt the sound quality at all.

the only genres that may need a bit of a treble boost is classical music as this can sound a little flat, everything else shines beautifully, especially jazz, reggae, hip hop, rap, pop, rock, most metel sounds good but maybe reducing bass a little helps this genre. acoustic music is very nice and certainly is special, any vocal driven music again shines as the midrange on these is very forward and strong making the detail in voices very special indeed.

hope these tips help you enjoy them and look after them as they can last many years if you take care of them.

 

[darkninja67]

I would not worry about burning them in. They sounded great OOTB to me.
You can amp them but I do not as I find their sound absolutely killer with good rips and source material.

For tips I am using the Shure olives which offer the best isolation to me but are not as comfortable as the Comply tips I also use. If I am going out then the Shure olives get the nod.

Overall a great set of earphones. Just enjoy them.

 

[Arjisme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Choral_Inc /img/forum/go_quote.gif On another unrelated, but still Shure note, does anyone use any EQ while listening with these guys? If so, what sorts of styles of music do you find it helps/doesn't help?

yes, I use the EQ that comes with Rockbox. I boost, slightly, at 100Hz and more aggressively at 12KHz and use those settings for all music. The settings work well for most things, but early rock/pop recordings, like from the 60s don't fair as well since the top end becomes too boosted.

But EQ settings are a personal thing. I don't hear as well at the high end as I did when I was 20.

 

[Eternalmetal]

I got them and love them so far, but how the hell do I remove the tips without destroying them? I want to try the triple flanges and the other tips they offer, but I feel like im breaking them apart. Any advice with this would be great.

Thanks for all the good suggestions so far

 

[myinitialsaredac]

O yea,
The original tips are ON THEIR. Twist and pull, you will need to get a bit aggressive with them, I was holy surprise on how much effort you needed to get them off.
Have at em soldier.
Dave

 

[Eternalmetal]

Im scared that im going to break them, lol. Damn, I really hope I dont break my new investment.

 

[myinitialsaredac]

Twist, dont push in too hard. They are young, they can take it =P. Compres the foam then grab it towards the bottom and twist and kind of lift, there is a groove they slide over that they are kind of locked in by. Once you clear that, youre golden.

Dave

 

[Eternalmetal]

Heh, thanks. After much effort and practically destroying the original foam tips, I got them off.

Am now going to test out the triple flanges and see how I like them. I can already see they wont be quite as comfortable

 

[Nicolas2305]

They indeed are tough to remove those original tips. As other said, go slowly yet firm, try to twist them both ways with little strokes to try to loosen em. when you can spin them 360°, pull while spinning to get them off. This is the anxiety of the first time.

for the triple-flange, you might need to customize them to get the better out of it. I cutted the smaller flange and reduced the "connecting tube" to get best fit and sound.

 

[Eternalmetal]

I got the triple flanges hooked up, and I think they sound better. But unfortunately they arent as comfortable.

Does the general consensus agree that the triple flanges sound better? Im just curious what other people tend to find sounds better

 

[toughnut]

triflange is known to bring out more treble which otherwise being muffled by the foamies. So what u hear is more sparkle which make the sound more engaging.