[posnera]

OK, I am new to high-end iems.  I was perfectly happy with Sony Fontopias for a decade.  I bought the TF10 on sale and now I am hooked.  They sound incredible and I doubt I would be interested in an upgrade purely for audio quality for a long time (if ever).  I am not a serious audiophile and don't spend hours a day using iems.
 
My main issues are comfort and isolation.  I tried the flipflop and I get a better seal with the standard positioning using the Sony hybrids.  They are comfortable for an hour or so, then I start to get some pressure inside my canals (flipflopped gave me a pressure point on the upper/posterior part of my outer ear).
 
I'd like to be able to wear these comfortably for travel, leaning on a pillow if possible.
 
So, are custom shells likely to make me unhappy?  I'm concerned that the hard acrylic may be uncomfortable if I lean on them.
 
Are there customs made from softer materials (silicone)?
 
Thanks for all the help this forum has given me already!

 

[aleki]

I wont go out of my way to talk you out of it!
I'm thinking about doing this myself as I also have fitment issues.
As far as sound and isolation goes, I think it all comes down to the competence of the company. I hear fisher hearing is decent, but they dont specialise in tuning, so you may not get the same sound(reviews seem to be inconsistent, I can only assume they dont pay attention to tube length, driver placement, etc). UM on the other hand, is known for their quality, and prints out a frequency chart of the IEM's. I think these will end up being a better bang/buck for me, since for $180 + shipping, they come with the null-audio enyo cables(they go for $70), case and cleaning tool. Not to mention, UM has unsurpassed quality when it comes to making an air-bubble free mold.

 

[posnera]

One time only bump.  Guess the consensus is all in favor of custom shells?

 

[o0oo]

Seeing as I'm in the same dilema as you, I'm not going to talk you out of it. I just moved up from Image S4i and I love it except for the fit. It takes me a bit to get a good seal and even then it gets loose so I'm thinking of just getting some custom molds.

 

[blur510]

Quote:

I wont go out of my way to talk you out of it!
I'm thinking about doing this myself as I also have fitment issues.
As far as sound and isolation goes, I think it all comes down to the competence of the company. I hear fisher hearing is decent, but they dont specialise in tuning, so you may not get the same sound(reviews seem to be inconsistent, I can only assume they dont pay attention to tube length, driver placement, etc). UM on the other hand, is known for their quality, and prints out a frequency chart of the IEM's. I think these will end up being a better bang/buck for me, since for $180 + shipping, they come with the null-audio enyo cables(they go for $70), case and cleaning tool. Not to mention, UM has unsurpassed quality when it comes to making an air-bubble free mold.

where do you see that it comes with the null audio cables? I checked their website and it says that cables are sold separately.
http://www.custom-iem.com/reshell-only-p-622.html

 

[aleki]

Quote:

Quote:

I wont go out of my way to talk you out of it!
I'm thinking about doing this myself as I also have fitment issues.
As far as sound and isolation goes, I think it all comes down to the competence of the company. I hear fisher hearing is decent, but they dont specialise in tuning, so you may not get the same sound(reviews seem to be inconsistent, I can only assume they dont pay attention to tube length, driver placement, etc). UM on the other hand, is known for their quality, and prints out a frequency chart of the IEM's. I think these will end up being a better bang/buck for me, since for $180 + shipping, they come with the null-audio enyo cables(they go for $70), case and cleaning tool. Not to mention, UM has unsurpassed quality when it comes to making an air-bubble free mold.

where do you see that it comes with the null audio cables? I checked their website and it says that cables are sold separately.
http://www.custom-iem.com/reshell-only-p-622.html

You're doing it wrong

I got a quote from custom-iem, and I wasnt too thrilled about it. For the price, I feel null provides the best bang-buck route

 

[Sil3nce]

Stick with stock.
It's not worth it imo to spend 90 dollars plus 50 dollars on the cable and then impressions.
Might as well get a pair of 1964 Duals or Livewires T1 which now only take 10 days to turn-around.
Sound is inconsistent with stock.
And I've talked to people who said the customs are worse.

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

Stick with stock.
It's not worth it imo to spend 90 dollars plus 50 dollars on the cable and then impressions.
Might as well get a pair of 1964 Duals or Livewires T1 which now only take 10 days to turn-around.
Sound is inconsistent with stock.
And I've talked to people who said the customs are worse.

wow,customs ending up sounding worse than the universals they were derived from...may i ask whom they chose to do the conversions?

 

[posnera]

Stick with stock.


It's not worth it imo to spend 90 dollars plus 50 dollars on the cable and then impressions.


Might as well get a pair of 1964 Duals or Livewires T1 which now only take 10 days to turn-around.


Sound is inconsistent with stock.


And I've talked to people who said the customs are worse.

Interesting. I can get the impressions cheap (or free - friend is an ENT), and was planning in using the stock cable. This whole project will cost me $95 for the TF10 + $90 to Fisher Hearing. Should I really be considering the dual 1964s for $275?

 

[Sil3nce]

Yes, the Triples have the same sound signature as the duals.
The triples are supposedly equal to or almost as good as the westone es3x and even has been compared to the jh-13's (King of Iems)
I've done plenty of research on whether I should reshell my tf-10's and the final answer is no.
Until I break the universals, I won't consider reshelling them.
The money just can be spent much much better.
 

 

[posnera]

Now I'm confused. I don't like the fit of the TF10. If the sound is comparable to the top rated iems then reshelling sounds pretty appealing. I do have to point out that these are my first serious quality headphones and if they were more comfortable I would probably be permanently satisfied.

 

[Sil3nce]

Quote:

Now I'm confused. I don't like the fit of the TF10. If the sound is comparable to the top rated iems then reshelling sounds pretty appealing. I do have to point out that these are my first serious quality headphones and if they were more comfortable I would probably be permanently satisfied.

I am referring to the 1964-T customs.
Not the tf-10.
Don't be getting me wrong.
The tf-10 are amazing for universals but nowhere near the level of the Jh-13 of the 1964-T

 

[Sil3nce]

Quote:

Quote:

Stick with stock.
It's not worth it imo to spend 90 dollars plus 50 dollars on the cable and then impressions.
Might as well get a pair of 1964 Duals or Livewires T1 which now only take 10 days to turn-around.
Sound is inconsistent with stock.
And I've talked to people who said the customs are worse.

wow,customs ending up sounding worse than the universals they were derived from...may i ask whom they chose to do the conversions?

Unique melody.
Fisher is apparently good at reshelling tf-10s though.

 

[aleki]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Stick with stock.
It's not worth it imo to spend 90 dollars plus 50 dollars on the cable and then impressions.
Might as well get a pair of 1964 Duals or Livewires T1 which now only take 10 days to turn-around.
Sound is inconsistent with stock.
And I've talked to people who said the customs are worse.

wow,customs ending up sounding worse than the universals they were derived from...may i ask whom they chose to do the conversions?

Unique melody.
Fisher is apparently good at reshelling tf-10s though.

Actually, I've read the opposite. Seems like Fisher doesnt take the time to SPL balance them. Sounds to me like they just toss the drivers into the shell and expect it to sound the same

UM will, they even print out a frequency chart and send it to you when they're done.

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Stick with stock.
It's not worth it imo to spend 90 dollars plus 50 dollars on the cable and then impressions.
Might as well get a pair of 1964 Duals or Livewires T1 which now only take 10 days to turn-around.
Sound is inconsistent with stock.
And I've talked to people who said the customs are worse.

wow,customs ending up sounding worse than the universals they were derived from...may i ask whom they chose to do the conversions?

Unique melody.
Fisher is apparently good at reshelling tf-10s though.

Actually, I've read the opposite. Seems like Fisher doesnt take the time to SPL balance them. Sounds to me like they just toss the drivers into the shell and expect it to sound the same

UM will, they even print out a frequency chart and send it to you when they're done.

i've heard stereo in singapore does a very good job with the westone 3's...I think you can even convert them into 16 driver IEMs