Ok, after owning this sleeves for a while, I have since modified the length of the tube so it is not as intruding into the ear canal, which means they are easier to take in and out (just like a normal ear tip), is more comfortable and brought some air back. I have to conclude they are really the best tips for your SE846 and I am a big fan of westone star tips and comply foam but the silicon blew them apart and here's why;
Notice that its way shorter now- easy in and out.
1) Before using these silicon, Comply and Weston star tips are about the best I can pull the sub bass out of SE846, now with this silicon thing, the sub bass becomes very obvious (at least +2 or more) and the mid bass (+2). The impact is so awesome, so good I can feel the vibration of the drums slamming into me.. u know that kind of impact when you stand next to a floor standing speaker, it felt like that.. I have turn the SE846 more into the TG334 bass qty but still maintain the lovely Sub woofer that we all came to love in the first place.
2) The treble is slightly reduce, but now with a shorter bore, the treble came back a little, I decided to cut away some tip after careful studying of other CIEM. The original one is too long, it stick deep into the canal and take too much effort to pop in and out. With a shorter bore, its more airier and pop in and out is as easy as using comply now. I can now chit chat with people without getting all frustrated. I have always stick to white filter, so for people who find it slightly treblely, the silicon completely cut off all sibilance yet still have more treble than blue filter. Its like in between white and blue. very very nicely balance on the treble. I suspect lot of people will love it.
3) With comply, its about the most comfortable tip I can find, now with this modified silicon tip, the comfort level goes beyond comfort, as one cannot feel the silicon anymore after 15mins. The silicon becomes your skin and your skin is the silicon, you can't distinguished them apart after a while. To bring the feeling back, I need to physically touch the tip. That is really really awesome..
4) The vocal which is already so lush and romantic, is now even more so with silicon. It feels even more body and intimate now. Male vocal sound more chesty and female is so intimate now. The effect can best be describe like this. Put on an ibud stock earphone (old version) and then push them deep into your ear canal, the vocal and bass start to get heavier and treble reduce slightly. The comply to Silicon felt exactly like that.. very nice. Dun try to push the 846 with comply deeper to experiment it, it wont work as there is not much diff, it needs to be a loose seal and a solid seal differences.
5) The Se846 with comply offer about the best isolation, I can still hear rubbing fingers next to my ears. With Silicon, I can't hear any rubbing fingers .. none. Its a very quiet world with silicon, I dun think you can hear baby cry in airplane at all even at low volume. Don't get me wrong, you can still hear people talking perfectly well when music stop, it just more quieter than comply foam.
6) With silicon, I have no fear of it wearing off like comply.. we all know comply dun last long, especially in hot weather, this little silicon withstand much daily wear and tear very well. Look at the above pic, its like new and all I did was to rinse it in the basin with water
7) I find that adding some hand moisturizer on the silicon facilitate easy in and out of my ear, there is less twisting up and down when putting on, with a shorter bore, I align the opening and twist it in once and then push inward alittle.. the seal is solid.
8) Sound stage becomes a bigger bubble overall. It feels a little taller (like church tall) but the width (left and right) remains unchanged. Experiment it yourself with stock Ibud, push in with finger into your ear canal and the sound stage has more "music per sq inch"
9) The fit is perfect and seal will not break if you eat, walk, yawn, talk, smile. Super solid.
10) Bad thing now is it had a vacuum effect, pop in too fast, eardrum immediately felt the pressure.- NOt good..
Ok, I have list 10 reasons on the pros and cons. One caution note, I am not responsible for modifying the silicon if you over cut it and loose the seal. Its a risk in any DIY project and you may stand to loose the entire tip. Cut at your own risk.. for me, its worth the cut. I will not use it in its original form as it too much hassle to take in and out, and I dun like that feeling of having something so long pushing deep into the ear canal... never get used to it. So I cut it and it works perfectly now.
