[aangen]

I used my Etymotic ER-4Ps for many years and was very happy with them. I used them with the tri-flanges and could never listen to them for more than a couple of hours before pain set in. After four hours they had to come out. I was always sad about that. The sound was very nice, but a bit lacking in bottom unless they were really planted deep. Of course that made them more painful, sooner. The Shure E500s that I first bought were much warmer, and with the yellow foam tips much more comfortable. When they failed and were replaced with the 530s they came with the olive style tips. That was a nice plus. I no longer dreaded taking them off to speak to someone as I could very easily put them back in and get a decent seal. After two years of using the midsized olives I recently switched to the smallest sized olives. Whoa, what a difference! I did not stick the smallest sized olives very far onto the stems, and now I can plant them deeper and still have comfort. The seal is tenuous at best, but the high end really comes alive. I use the 530s in this way when I am at the gym and I am slightly annoyed that I went two years before trying the smallest tips.
 
Now my 535s are here and they came with the mid-sized olives on. I have left them on so far and I think the 535's are a tad less comfortable than the 530s with small tips. But for now, I'm going to stay where I am at. Has anyone here tried the 530s or 535s with the tri-flange tips, similar to what the Etys use? I am afraid to try it....

 

[MacedonianHero]

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I don't want to rant, and I'm not going to (right now at least). But I've listened to my SE535s for many, many hours now and I can't understand how people can consider them unbalanced.... I just don't hear it....
 
*shrugs*

Bingo...to my ears they are the most balanced universal IEMs I've head to date. Their FR graph helps support this too. The bass from 10Hz is flat right up to the mids....ruler flat. I wonder what other IEMs "those people" would suggest is more balanced?

 

[MacedonianHero]

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Becuase everyone's ear canals are different, so some people get a better fit than others. Preferences also come into play of course, but to a much lesser extent IMO.

Ear canals would definitely make a difference, but I would think personal preferences play the biggest role.

 

[MaxwellDemon]

Quote:

 
Now my 535s are here and they came with the mid-sized olives on. I have left them on so far and I think the 535's are a tad less comfortable than the 530s with small tips. But for now, I'm going to stay where I am at. Has anyone here tried the 530s or 535s with the tri-flange tips, similar to what the Etys use? I am afraid to try it....

I use triple-flange for my Ety's. So, when I got my SE425, I naturally tried the triple flange on it to see how it goes.
 
I find it that I can't stand it for more than 5 minutes because of the angling of the SE425. So, now I sit with the medium size Shure olives for perfect comfort and tip. Not as good isolation, but it is great.

 

[Spyro]

In my experience with virtually every IEM I have ever owned or heard, siloce tri-flanged tips seem to create a bit more congested, in the head sense of feeling and a smaller soundstage.  I find complys/olives to show a more open and natural sound with a slightly larger soundstage.  Just my opinion.
 
While I think SE535 is a fine IEM I find the midrange a bit too forward for my tastes.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

In my experience with virtually every IEM I have ever owned or heard, siloce tri-flanged tips seem to create a bit more congested, in the head sense of feeling and a smaller soundstage.  I find complys/olives to show a more open and natural sound with a slightly larger soundstage.  Just my opinion.
 
While I think SE535 is a fine IEM I find the midrange a bit too forward for my tastes.

 
I don't think the mids are that forward, just not as recessed as other IEMs can be. The FR charts show a very flat response. YMMV.
 

 

[Skullbox]

Make UM56 a tried! you will see a huge difference!
 

 

[Skullbox]

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I was expecting the difference to be in the sparkle and the bass, judging from their frequency graph. Glad to see that the reality isn't too far off.

I tried a molded triple-flange tip last night, and I think I prefer these IEM with the medium size Shure olives. They fit perfectly into my ear... listening to them in the train at the moment.

Lucky you!  They are so much more comfortable over the triple whites especially for lengthy use.

 


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I'm a proud owner of SE535 for about 2 weeks now, got my friend interested and he got a set tonight as well.  First impression he said was too much bass and rolled off highs!  Could the tips make too much bass?  In my case, when I had the wrong tips, it actually sounded tiny and no bass, kinda completely opposite of what he described.

Make UM56 a tried!   

 

[Skullbox]

 
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Could you elaborate on your opinion of the UM3X vs Shure?. I'd stay with my 420's if it wasn't for 500 Bucks that i won on a bet at the office. Since it is a not expected money i wanted so spend it on a 3 way IEM which is something i would not have bought with hard earned money. Was i more patient i would sit on the money till the 2011 iPhone popped out (To upgrade my 3GS) but patience and myself don't mix well

Tried both of them for your self judgment ! 

Different signatures.. different ears...

 

[TheGomdoRi]

For the tri-flanges just do the bi-flange mod and it's perfect, I remember seeing it on head-fi just search for it

/\             <-- cut this off
/\
/\
| |            <--- cut half of the length of the stem

 

[Skullbox]

Salut a tous... ça parle un peut francais ici ?
 
 

 

 

[JessJackson]

I just brought a clear pair and threw them on the ipod nano... not sure if i'm a big fan though... i was looking for a flat earphone and there seems to be a decent bump in the lower mids around 200hz, there is also a bump around 10k where ess's in vocals pop out at you, after that the top end begins rolling off. the upper mids are well balanced but I feel that they dont have much presence. a tiny little bump around 3.8khz and 5.8khz would fix this.
 
Thinking about selling up on to someone who would appreciate them more and getting the UE Capitols. hmm

 

[MacedonianHero]

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I just brought a clear pair and threw them on the ipod nano... not sure if i'm a big fan though... i was looking for a flat earphone and there seems to be a decent bump in the lower mids around 200hz, there is also a bump around 10k where ess's in vocals pop out at you, after that the top end begins rolling off. the upper mids are well balanced but I feel that they dont have much presence. a tiny little bump around 3.8khz and 5.8khz would fix this.
 
Thinking about selling up on to someone who would appreciate them more and getting the UE Capitols. hmm

 
I'd keep playing around to get the right tip. There is no bass hump to my ears or FR graph:
 
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=2731
 
These are the most balanced universal IEMs I've heard to date. The FR graph is the closest I've seen to the LCD-2s.

 

[JessJackson]

Wow look at that graph, exactly what i stated... I ain't a producer / mix engineer for nothing. Theres that 10k bump creating all that harsh in your face sibilance and theres that missing 3.8 and 5.8k that would give vocals and upper mids the presence thats missing. and I guess that bump on the lower end is the lower mids (not bass bump) i'm talking about which could definately be enhanced by the tips im using (med olives) but i feel i have a tight comfortable seal with them.
 
These are definately not flat mate... flat to me is a monitor that sounds like Yamaha NS10 or beyer dynamic DT770's or KRK VXT4
 
 
Quote:

Quote:

I just brought a clear pair and threw them on the ipod nano... not sure if i'm a big fan though... i was looking for a flat earphone and there seems to be a decent bump in the lower mids around 200hz, there is also a bump around 10k where ess's in vocals pop out at you, after that the top end begins rolling off. the upper mids are well balanced but I feel that they dont have much presence. a tiny little bump around 3.8khz and 5.8khz would fix this.
 
Thinking about selling up on to someone who would appreciate them more and getting the UE Capitols. hmm

 
I'd keep playing around to get the right tip. There is no bass hump to my ears or FR graph:
 
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=2731
 
These are the most balanced universal IEMs I've heard to date. The FR graph is the closest I've seen to the LCD-2s.

 

[maverickronin]

That's what flat sounds like when something is inside your ears.  There are a whole lot of confounding factors to measuring headphones.  There's no standard test at 1 meter in an anechoic chamber like there is for speakers.  There are problems directly comparing IEMs to full size 'phones but there isn't any version of the DT770s that could be described as flat.