[e_resolu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know the diameter and length can be used to tune the sound, but I forget which change does what. Someone at Westone told me once, but I was distracted.

I can try to remind you how it works.

I’m an engine engineer and in one of my previous job I was dealing with a software that aim at tuning the pressure waves to improve the quantity of air that goes inside the cylinders at a specific engine speed. This is done trough adjusting the distance between the cylinder and a sudden diameter enlargement.

What could be the link between engines and IEMs?

What’s the physical?
The driver obviously creates acoustic pressure waves which travel trough the earphone canal and then arrive in your ear canal (hope it’s not a scoop

). Because of the sudden enlargement from the earphone canal to your ear canal, one part of the wave is transmitted in the direction of your eardrum (which is what we want I suppose

) and the other part is reflected in the opposite direction back to the driver. This reflection has to be controlled and can be used to tune the sound. The length of the IEM canal deals with the time for a wave to go back to the driver and the diameter ratio between the earphone canal and the ear canal deals with the intensity of that reflection.

How can it change the sound?
Depending on the time to come back to the driver, the reflective pressure wave can arrive in phase or in the opposite phase than other (new) pressure waves. The combination of the reflective and other pressure waves in the IEM canal could modify the original sound signal (in a controlled or uncontrolled way).

Hope it is clear enough (English is not my mother tongue). This is probably a simplification of what can occur in an IEM and I will not risk to give more explanations since I’m not a sound engineer (we should also take also into account the interactions between drivers, frequencies…)

I’ve red a few pages backward that a Head-Fier (perhaps you Headphoneaddict?) has enlarged the outer diameter of his IEM canal (not his ear canal

) doing a kind of cone shape and then found it has reduced a concern he has with the mids…

 

[doggiehowser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know the diameter and length can be used to tune the sound, but I forget which change does what. Someone at Westone told me once, but I was distracted.

I meant if FREQ has done anything to help

If they've gotten a fix, I'd send mine in too (plus get the braided cables as well).

 

[dakkar]

Yeah, I do think I have very small canals (I guess short too), that's one of the reason I'm going custom. I cannot get a seal from any rubber tips. Right now, I'm using T-400 comply tips.

The technician that did the impression is "supposed" to know what she is doing. She is the "recommanded" specialist for my city, according to the UE website.

So you think I should ask for a bit thicker canal?

 

[e_resolu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dakkar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, I do think I have very small canals (I guess short too), that's one of the reason I'm going custom. I cannot get a seal from any rubber tips. Right now, I'm using T-400 comply tips. The technician that did the impression is "supposed" to know what she is doing. She is the "recommanded" specialist for my city, according to the UE website. So you think I should ask for a bit thicker canal?

You should at least check with her why you don't have a second bend on your impressions (perhaps you really don't have this ear pattern)

FYI, for having the second bend, my audiologist had to insert deeply the foam before injecting the yellow material which was really uncomfortable and made me wanting to cough (he told me that's normal)

 

[e_resolu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggiehowser /img/forum/go_quote.gif I meant if FREQ has done anything to help If they've gotten a fix, I'd send mine in too (plus get the braided cables as well).

You just killed me

I've spent 20 minutes to try answering your post.
At least it was a good excercise to train my english

 

[rhyx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dakkar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Here's my ear impression. Does it seem like the canal part is kind of short? The technician has experience with UE mold, but I tought it would be longer than this. Will this be good enought? [/url][/IMG]

Those do look very short. Only way to know is to send it in and find out. Perhaps email a pic to the FreQ?

 

[doggiehowser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by e_resolu /img/forum/go_quote.gif You just killed me I've spent 20 minutes to try answering your post. At least it was a good excercise to train my english

How did you answer my question?

I asked if FREQ would be doing some modification to the SuperFREQs/FREQShow where the midrange has been over boosted and causes shrillness.

I am not interested in DIY mods. I'd expect FREQ to have better ways of modelling the changes in soundtubes and provide a better design that me scraping the tubes (and doing what sort of problems in the interim).

 

[e_resolu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggiehowser /img/forum/go_quote.gif How did you answer my question?

You're right... I made a confusion between you and Headphoneaddict
My appologies for the mistake...

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggiehowser /img/forum/go_quote.gif I asked if FREQ would be doing some modification to the SuperFREQs/FREQShow where the midrange has been over boosted and causes shrillness.?

That's a possibility. Hope they didn't do that because I based my choice on the early reviews. Let's see if other have the same complain.
I should be fixed in about one or two weeks (estimated time for shipment to France)

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by killkli /img/forum/go_quote.gif To Headphone Addict: Man, I just got my Livewires back (send back for maintenance again >_<.) Now I have both Freq Show with Maker crossover and Livewires at the same time. My Livewires is already burned in enough and I've put about 120 hours on my FreQ Show. So the Burn-in factor would be fair enough. Both of my LW & FreQ Show have no fit issue. They fit perfectly. To much of my surprise, the FreQ Show with MM crossover sound more like Livewires than SuperFreQ!! Also, the sensitivity seems to be in the close range with LW, instead of SuperFreQ. SuperFreQ (Lover crossover) is far more sensitive than both of FreQ Show(MM crossover) and LW. I tried them both on the same DAP with the same volume setting. The FreQ Show's sound stage is a bit wider than LW, BUT NOT very much. Also, sound separation is better with FreQ Show. Their are nearly identical on treble, while FreQ show's mid is a little more prominent, with more forward vocal presentation. All in all, the FreQ Show is so much like Livewire in sound signature that I'm really surprised by this outcome. Hope this would some opinion for choosing between Maker & Lover crossover.

One of the things that I commented on in my comparison review is that with what I could hear (when ignoring the resonance in my ears or by listening to the right music that lessened the problem), that the Freq Show were similar enough to the Livewires sound sig that I would question the need to spend the extra $100 on the Freq Show.

I am hoping the resonance problem is just the loose fit. I sent them back and they arrived last Tuesday, but Freq have not called me with any upates. I called Friday and they said FedEx tracking was wrong and they only got them the day before on Thursday. Hmmmm...

 

[powertoold]

Quote:

Originally Posted by e_resolu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can try to remind you how it works. I’m an engine engineer and in one of my previous job I was dealing with a software that aim at tuning the pressure waves to improve the quantity of air that goes inside the cylinders at a specific engine speed. This is done trough adjusting the distance between the cylinder and a sudden diameter enlargement. What could be the link between engines and IEMs? What’s the physical? The driver obviously creates acoustic pressure waves which travel trough the earphone canal and then arrive in your ear canal (hope it’s not a scoop ). Because of the sudden enlargement from the earphone canal to your ear canal, one part of the wave is transmitted in the direction of your eardrum (which is what we want I suppose ) and the other part is reflected in the opposite direction back to the driver. This reflection has to be controlled and can be used to tune the sound. The length of the IEM canal deals with the time for a wave to go back to the driver and the diameter ratio between the earphone canal and the ear canal deals with the intensity of that reflection. How can it change the sound? Depending on the time to come back to the driver, the reflective pressure wave can arrive in phase or in the opposite phase than other (new) pressure waves. The combination of the reflective and other pressure waves in the IEM canal could modify the original sound signal (in a controlled or uncontrolled way). Hope it is clear enough (English is not my mother tongue). This is probably a simplification of what can occur in an IEM and I will not risk to give more explanations since I’m not a sound engineer (we should also take also into account the interactions between drivers, frequencies…) I’ve red a few pages backward that a Head-Fier (perhaps you Headphoneaddict?) has enlarged the outer diameter of his IEM canal (not his ear canal ) doing a kind of cone shape and then found it has reduced a concern he has with the mids…

Hmm, that is interesting, but doesn't this mean that the reflective wave depends on the ear canal shape and size? It's possible that one canal produces reflective waves that are in phase and another in opposite phase since the wavelength of a 10hz sound wave is pretty small.

But yes, I was the one who changed the outer diameter of my FreQ. It has reduced the problem a lot. The odd thing is that I've heard it on every other IEM I've tried, so I thought it was a basic limitation of IEMs - I guess not.

 

[powertoold]

Quote:

Originally Posted by killkli /img/forum/go_quote.gif To Headphone Addict: Man, I just got my Livewires back (send back for maintenance again >_<.) Now I have both Freq Show with Maker crossover and Livewires at the same time. My Livewires is already burned in enough and I've put about 120 hours on my FreQ Show. So the Burn-in factor would be fair enough. Both of my LW & FreQ Show have no fit issue. They fit perfectly. To much of my surprise, the FreQ Show with MM crossover sound more like Livewires than SuperFreQ!! Also, the sensitivity seems to be in the close range with LW, instead of SuperFreQ. SuperFreQ (Lover crossover) is far more sensitive than both of FreQ Show(MM crossover) and LW. I tried them both on the same DAP with the same volume setting. The FreQ Show's sound stage is a bit wider than LW, BUT NOT very much. Also, sound separation is better with FreQ Show. Their are nearly identical on treble, while FreQ show's mid is a little more prominent, with more forward vocal presentation. All in all, the FreQ Show is so much like Livewire in sound signature that I'm really surprised by this outcome. Hope this would some opinion for choosing between Maker & Lover crossover.

This excites me as I've always wanted a LW in the back of my mind

 

[Hayduke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mazz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also wonder if there's a physiological change from day to day or during the day, or a burn-in or psychological adjustment phase (and/or a source dependency, as someone else posted)? The flat EQ out of my laptop doesn't sound as objectionable today as it has on other days (but the EQ does improve things). I think I need to find half a dozen test tracks that I have the worst response to and try some more combinations of variables against those tracks...

I didn't see anyone respond to this question...

Based mostly on personal experience, I do think there is a physiological change over time. It seems like my ears adjusted a little to accommodate the device being inserted. This is also based on something I read that recommended only wearing the new customs a couple hours a day for the first couple of weeks. This could relate to a psychological adjustment to the presence of the earpieces, but I suspect your ears also adapt somewhat. When I first got my SFs, there was a sharp spot that was hurting the inside of my ear. My audiologist fixed it somewhat, but there was still some moderate discomfort if any pressure was applied to the headphone (ie pushing on it with a finger). Over time however, this went away and I was able to press on them without any pain or discomfort at all. Our bodies adapt like this all the time. Braces for your teeth are a common example, but I've also seen devices to change the back/spine, special shoes to change your feet and I'm sure there are others. Why wouldn't our ears change in response to these devices as well? Let's just hope they change for the better instead of adjusting in a way that ruins the seal and negatively affects the sound

 

[Hayduke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by powertoold /img/forum/go_quote.gif This excites me as I've always wanted a LW in the back of my mind

They go in your ears silly!

 

[dakkar]

Well, I sent them in anyway. The audiologist is supposed to know what she is doing, as she does it quite often for UE customers. I guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks...

I guess I just have tiny ear canals. Hope I'll still enjoy the Freq...

 

[wquiles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggiehowser /img/forum/go_quote.gif How did you answer my question? I asked if FREQ would be doing some modification to the SuperFREQs/FREQShow where the midrange has been over boosted and causes shrillness. I am not interested in DIY mods. I'd expect FREQ to have better ways of modelling the changes in soundtubes and provide a better design that me scraping the tubes (and doing what sort of problems in the interim).

I am with you on this one - hopefully as the FreQs become more experienced they will do a better job.

Will