[tresenddrums]

I have had Shure SE-530 for almost two years, using almost exclusively triple flange sleeves (shortened stem but triple flanges). I had been using one set of triple flange sleeves for about a year and a half and noticed that my SE-530s were sounding better and better as time went on. I ordered a new pair because my old ones had turned a not so pleasant yellow color after a year and a half of being lodged in my ear canal. As I was waiting for them to arrive I did some modifications to my old sleeves (making them bi-flange) which definitely does not provide as good of a soundstage or bass response as the triple flange.
 
However, when the new sleeves came they seem completely different. The older sleeves are much softer (almost rubbery) and the flanges on the old sleeves are larger. This softness and large flange size has given me the best seal and soundstage of any sleeve and I want it back! Is it possible that the triple flange sleeves really softened and expanded over time? Or did Shure change their triple flange size? Has anybody else experienced this? Are there sleeves comparable to this size and texture other than Shure's triple flange or do I have to wait a year and half to regain this perfect seal?
 
 

 

[pasan]

I have not used triple flange tips, but I have used triple flange ear plugs, and my experience has been that yes, they do soften up over time, and rather than expanding, the material may have stretched instead.