[kurochin]

Originally Posted by AnakChan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
On a more serious note, I had a few ppl PM me last month if Fujiya would consider taking overseas customers who are visiting but can provide local Japanese addresses. I did actually talk to the manager and the answer is (and expected) "No".
 

 
An acquaintance of mine (Malaysian, but lives here in Singapore) was in Japan late last year. He walked into FitEar with a Japanese friend and was allowed to take impressions and everything. If I remember correctly, he used his Japanese friend's details (name, address, etc) for the order-form and whatnot, but the impressions were of his own ear canals. Has something changed since then?

 

[Mimouille]

Also, Beijing prices charge the same numerical values that HK charges, but in RMB instead of HKD.
$2300? At Shanghai? At Beijing it's $2600

Yep...Shanghai originally quoted 16,800 RMB which is insane, and now they said 14,000 RMB. Might be a mistake on their part. Anyways, one or the other is plain stupid....

 

[EveTan]

Yep...Shanghai originally quoted 16,800 RMB which is insane, and now they said 14,000 RMB. Might be a mistake on their part. Anyways, one or the other is plain stupid....

Though, for the Beijng one, it's really not strict. I called and they said you bring your own ear impressions to them.

So.... It's not fitear trained ear impression makers....


I'm curious, does the FitEar method work better than the conventional method?

 

[EveTan]

An acquaintance of mine (Malaysian, but lives here in Singapore) was in Japan late last year. He walked into FitEar with a Japanese friend and was allowed to take impressions and everything. If I remember correctly, he used his Japanese friend's details (name, address, etc) for the order-form and whatnot, but the impressions were of his own ear canals. Has something changed since then?

Maybe it's a formality thing. That they can't "officially" say you can do that, but in reality you can.

 

[Kazenagi]

  Hmm actually... ALO Audio should get in on that if they can. I'm pretty sure they'll get alot of interest here in the states, including me.
 
That way I won't have to go to HK + pay ... an extra $500-600 in mark up price. (although when it comes to that, I will most likely go this route)

I'd love if ALO could get in on customs. It'd save me a trip to HK too

 

[AmberOzL]

 
I'd love if ALO could get in on customs. It'd save me a trip to HK too

The question is, if ALO accepts ciems, would they allow European customers to buy FitEar ciems by sending their ear impressions to ALO? That would make hell of a difference because apparently you can't use this method with other FitEar dealers.

 

[kurochin]

I'm curious, does the FitEar method work better than the conventional method?

 
FitEar's method of taking impressions is a bit different from that of other CIEM manufacturers. Some manufacturers require your mouth to be open for impressions, some want it closed, some want you to bite down on some stub or your finger. I'd wager there's probably some esoteric manufacturer somewhere that'll make you do a baby thumb-sucking action as well. =P
 
FitEar trained personnel will start with a closed mouth, but they'll have you do a combination of jaw movements. Jaben staff (at least the ones here in S'pore) were supposedly trained by Suyama-san's gang to perform the "proprietary" FitEar method of impression taking.
 
Afaik, you can't just take any impression for any CIEM brand. I assume many of top manufacturers have their own methods mostly because their CIEMs fit your ear canal in different ways (some deeper, some shallower). I can't really comment on the exact differences since the 335DW is my first ever CIEM and I don't own any other brands right now.

 

[Mimouille]

The Fitear Method is not sorcery. It is just doing it one ear and than the other, not both at the same time, and while taking the print, doing vertical and lateral movements with your jaw. I would honestly rather have my audiologist do it with these instructions, as he is a trained medical worker, than a guy who sells earphones, no offense meant. For instance, detecting sensibilities and irritations, properly inserting the cotton at the right depth, etc is best done by a professional.

 

[kurochin]

^ ... and thats why I put the word "proprietary" in quotes. All I know is that the FitEar method they used on me and the JH Audio method they used for a friend was different. Haven't seen any other brand's impressions been made in person yet.
 
As long as your audiologist has FitEar's method on paper, it should be pretty straightforward.

 

[EveTan]

 
The question is, if ALO accepts ciems, would they allow European customers to buy FitEar ciems by sending their ear impressions to ALO? That would make hell of a difference because apparently you can't use this method with other FitEar dealers.

By the way, Jaben Beijing, when I called them, said to "bring the impressions with me", thus, I assume that they don't care where the impressions are from. So theoretically, you could send impressions to a friend to get them for you in Beijing (although not recommended because they markup the Jaben HK prices).
 

  ^ ... and thats why I put the word "proprietary" in quotes. All I know is that the FitEar method they used on me and the JH Audio method they used for a friend was different. Haven't seen any other brand's impressions been made in person yet.
 
As long as your audiologist has FitEar's method on paper, it should be pretty straightforward.

Oh? If it really is straightforward... I might just try them with an audiologist. Is there a FitEar method on paper? Perhaps from some backdoor source?

 

[AnakChan]

   
An acquaintance of mine (Malaysian, but lives here in Singapore) was in Japan late last year. He walked into FitEar with a Japanese friend and was allowed to take impressions and everything. If I remember correctly, he used his Japanese friend's details (name, address, etc) for the order-form and whatnot, but the impressions were of his own ear canals. Has something changed since then?

 
Did he declare to Fujiya that the actual person taking the impressions doesn't live in Japan or that the CIEM is destined to leave Japan shores?

 

[AnakChan]

  ^ ... and thats why I put the word "proprietary" in quotes. All I know is that the FitEar method they used on me and the JH Audio method they used for a friend was different. Haven't seen any other brand's impressions been made in person yet.
 
As long as your audiologist has FitEar's method on paper, it should be pretty straightforward.

 
Somehow I don't think it's that straight forward. It is my understanding from these forums that Fitear traveled around Asia to train their distributor staff on taking impressions. It's not just a matter of "getting it right" but on who takes the impression too.
 
So for the folks overseas, can you walk into Jaben with your impressions and say you want a Fitear CIEM or will Jaben insist that the impressions must be taken by them only?

 

[kurochin]

@ AnakChan
You raise an interesting point. My response was mainly intended for Mimoulle, since he seemed adamant on only allowing his audiologist fondle his ears, which is fine in my book. I'm still pretty new to this whole CIEM thing and lack the experience of having multiple points of reference, but I realize it's a very personalized process and some folk would only feel confident in people they trust.
 
As for my own experience getting my 335DW, I never really enquired with the Jaben-SG people about external audiologists. Them being authorized by FitEar was enough for me. Heck, even if I was married to an audiolologist, I'd probably still have let the Jaben guys do it anyway. If I used my own people, it would just give FitEar a "but it was your side that botched it" excuse if something went wrong, which would just lead to more inconvenience for both sides, and possibly even more money spent by me. If Jaben gets it wrong, then it's between them and FitEar to resolve. That's my reasoning.
 
Fwiw, the chap at Jaben who did my impressions was the one that told me that I couldn't use a JHAudio or Ultimate Ears mold for FitEar. Whether that's actual fact or just orders imposed by his boss, I do not know.

 

[hkppl]

From my understanding, Jaben, Mingo and DMA are the only authorized dealers for Fitear in HK. And only Jaben will take the Fitear impressions by their staff. Mingo and DMA ask their customers to go to other audiologists to take the impressions and give that to them for order. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[pekingduck]

Yep...Shanghai originally quoted 16,800 RMB which is insane, and now they said 14,000 RMB. Might be a mistake on their part. Anyways, one or the other is plain stupid....

For RMB 16800 one could buy both Roxanne AND K10 on BF