[motorider]

ive received my new IEM's...
 
however im having troubles getting a good seal. they did not come with the double flange ear pieces that the box says they should have. I did email soundmagic's customer support to see if they can send me some.
 
question is do you think they will help with the seal.  just as reference I have no problems with the skullcandy's making a great seal and having good isolation. I never used a double flange, just the medium stock tip.
 
I believe that the poor seal is the cause for the poor bass performance. overall so far I think they sound great, just very lacking in the bass department. I can get better bass if I force them into my ear canals further to get a better seal.
 
What are my options or do any of you have any suggestions?

 

[hatefulsandwich]

Have you tried using the skull candy tips on your new IEMs?

 

[motorider]

yes i did. it helped, however the housings seem to be flush in my ear before i get a seal. im hoping to get soundmagic to send me the double flange tips or buy myself something better. maybe a foam tip? comply's i think is a brand i have read about here

 

[Mani ATH 87]

Quote:

yes i did. it helped, however the housings seem to be flush in my ear before i get a seal. im hoping to get soundmagic to send me the double flange tips or buy myself something better. maybe a foam tip? comply's i think is a brand i have read about here

Foam tips are nice and Comply makes some of the best. Keep in mind that you cannot clean them though, so once they are dirty or loose that foam "sponginess" you need to replace them. Foam tips are much less durable then silicone stock style tips. 

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

I am a new member, however i have been lurking for a while researching a better sounding IEM. In my search I have found a lot of hate about certain manufacturers equipment.  I find it to be a serious turn off. I truely believe that there is alot of useful information here and im sure many sincere people on this forum, however it bugs me that several members can be very degrading to someone looking to upgrade.
 
in fact i asked a question in the IEM forum about upgrading from my skullcandy's. my question was ignored so i reposted and it was once again ignored. I am willing to bet it was igonored because i posted that i had a pair of skullcandys. 

 
Or possibly it was ignored because it was a generic "What sounds good and costs X?" question that you should be able to answer for yourself from the reviews available, especially ljokerl's shootout threads. The only posts worth making asking for recommendations are the rather odd and specific ones like "What IEM sounds like an HD600?" For everything else there is a search facility.

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

ive received my new IEM's...
 
however im having troubles getting a good seal. they did not come with the double flange ear pieces that the box says they should have. I did email soundmagic's customer support to see if they can send me some.
 
question is do you think they will help with the seal.  just as reference I have no problems with the skullcandy's making a great seal and having good isolation. I never used a double flange, just the medium stock tip.
 
I believe that the poor seal is the cause for the poor bass performance. overall so far I think they sound great, just very lacking in the bass department. I can get better bass if I force them into my ear canals further to get a better seal.
 
What are my options or do any of you have any suggestions?

 
Another reason you might not get replies is that your posts lack useful details - I'm not saying this to annoy you but to help you get help. For example, you should say what iem you are talking about instead of relying on people to go back through the thread. And give details like what tips your iems came with and whether you tried them. You bought e30s, so it looks like they should have come with s/m/l tips in foam and silicone. Did they? Did you try the large size in both? Were the silicones single flanged if they were there? Have you tried using EQ to turn the bass up - what player are you using? And when you say poor bass do you mean that it lacks volumes or that it is loud but boomy? The more details you give, the better the replies.

 

[motorider]

I apologize. I see now what you are talking about.
 
the e30's come with 6 pairs of silicone tips. s/m/l with a large barrel opening and a s/m/l with a large barrel opening all silicone single flange. they are supposed to come with a pair of double flange silicone tips as well; however, they were not in the box.
 
not sure what difference the barrel hole makes, but I tried the largest with the smaller hole and actually got a better seal.
 
my problem was that the bass level was barely audible due to a lack of seal. volume was very low on the low end. in fact I could hear no sub bass at all. Using the large tips with the small opening gave me a good seal. I also didn't insert them as far and I think that helped as well.
 
with the large tips with small holes the bass is good. sounds like I gave up a little clarity in the mids and now the highs don't quite have the sparkle that they did with the large tip with large opening
 
if pics are needed I will get some.
 
thanks for the advice

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

I apologize. I see now what you are talking about.
 
the e30's come with 6 pairs of silicone tips. s/m/l with a large barrel opening and a s/m/l with a large barrel opening all silicone single flange. they are supposed to come with a pair of double flange silicone tips as well; however, they were not in the box.
 
not sure what difference the barrel hole makes, but I tried the largest with the smaller hole and actually got a better seal.
 
my problem was that the bass level was barely audible due to a lack of seal. volume was very low on the low end. in fact I could hear no sub bass at all. Using the large tips with the small opening gave me a good seal. I also didn't insert them as far and I think that helped as well.
 
with the large tips with small holes the bass is good. sounds like I gave up a little clarity in the mids and now the highs don't quite have the sparkle that they did with the large tip with large opening
 
if pics are needed I will get some.
 
thanks for the advice

 
Ok: it sounds like you're right about the cause of the problem. If you can get double flanges, great. Otherwise why not try EQing your player with the different tips? This might easier if you Rockbox your player:
 
http://www.rockbox.org/
 
To be honest, getting good bass on IEMs is a pain. Reviews are very subjective and subject to the placebo effect, fit matters a lot, and a lot of people are committed to silliness where they never adjust their EQ...
 
You could have tricky to fit ear canal, I suppose. If you can't finds suitable tips (Comply 400s?) then you might try buying some good earplugs (the orange 3M ones maybe) and modding them. You freeze them and melt a hole for your IEM stems with a hot needle. Otherwise you could try those bass heavy JVC earbuds that don't require a deep insert, the FX35 Marshmallow and FX67 Aircushion. A lot of people - but certainly not all - think these sound very good when they are EQed just right, and they are a similar price to e30s. And because they don't require a deep insert but seal well in the outer ear you shouldn't have seal problems. (But my idea of a deep insert is an Ety with a gilder tip, and the e30s may not be like this?) Eg
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/553590/fx67-review-a-hidden-gem
 
I found these worked really well for me - the bass isn't just strong(in fact I EQed it down) but high quality, ie punchy and well defined with good attack so you get eg sharp drumshots. I'd still use them if I hadn't switched to HD25 headphones.

 

[motorider]

Quote:

 
Ok: it sounds like you're right about the cause of the problem. If you can get double flanges, great. Otherwise why not try EQing your player with the different tips? This might easier if you Rockbox your player:
 
http://www.rockbox.org/
 
To be honest, getting good bass on IEMs is a pain. Reviews are very subjective and subject to the placebo effect, fit matters a lot, and a lot of people are committed to silliness where they never adjust their EQ...
 
You could have tricky to fit ear canal, I suppose. If you can't finds suitable tips (Comply 400s?) then you might try buying some good earplugs (the orange 3M ones maybe) and modding them. You freeze them and melt a hole for your IEM stems with a hot needle. Otherwise you could try those bass heavy JVC earbuds that don't require a deep insert, the FX35 Marshmallow and FX67 Aircushion. A lot of people - but certainly not all - think these sound very good when they are EQed just right, and they are a similar price to e30s. And because they don't require a deep insert but seal well in the outer ear you shouldn't have seal problems. (But my idea of a deep insert is an Ety with a gilder tip, and the e30s may not be like this?) Eg
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/553590/fx67-review-a-hidden-gem
 
I found these worked really well for me - the bass isn't just strong(in fact I EQed it down) but high quality, ie punchy and well defined with good attack so you get eg sharp drumshots. I'd still use them if I hadn't switched to HD25 headphones.

I only have an ipod nano 4g. not supported by rockbox. any recomendations?

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

I only have an ipod nano 4g. not supported by rockbox. any recomendations?

Your could take a look at this thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/644735/w-pics-basshead-budget-fi-headphones-comparative-test-with-comparison-to-expensive-audiophile-gear-sony-mh1-jvc-ha-fx101-philips-she3580-soundmagic-e10-sennheiser-hd555-hd598-cx300-cx870-hifiman-re0-etc/60#post_9164841
 
Well, there's a cheap JVC that I haven't tried that is supposed to be the Beast Of Cheap Bass, the [size=small]HA-FX101X, and it has what looks to be a similar cushioning system. And the next time you change players, you could get a Sansa Clip+. About $50, sound quality probably as good as any player available, can take take Rockbox, accepts at least a 32GB card (and according to recent reports a 64GB card!), 5 band EQ, plays one of the widest ranges of formats, and has a full track/album/playlist based interface instead of being limited to shuffle.[/size]
 
[size=small]In fact you can get the 4GB one for $30 on Amazon - probably because people think 4GB is too small, but with a card slot, who cares? I'm not sure what aac support is like though, so if your music files are in this format (like a lot of Apple owners) then you might want to some research:[/size]
 
http://www.rockbox.org/
 
Or of course you could run a conversion program if you were really determined. 

 

[motorider]

I have finally found the sound I want. I tried the large silicon tips with the small holes. seal is much better and so is the bass. clean, deep, and low.
 
I checked out the sansa clip+ and I may use it. I cannot get the rock box mod on my ipod nano 4g. All of my music is in ALAC. so I may purchase one if the sound quality will be noticeably better.
 
how well can I hook up an external amp/ dac if I use the sansa clip+

 

[Aaron94]

Possibly look into the Klipsch Image X10s available at a huge discount on Amazon. I have a full review of my impressions of them linked into my siggy,.

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

I have finally found the sound I want. I tried the large silicon tips with the small holes. seal is much better and so is the bass. clean, deep, and low.
 
I checked out the sansa clip+ and I may use it. I cannot get the rock box mod on my ipod nano 4g. All of my music is in ALAC. so I may purchase one if the sound quality will be noticeably better.
 
how well can I hook up an external amp/ dac if I use the sansa clip+

 
That's good: there's nothing like solving a problem without spending any more money!
 
The main things you'd get from the Clip compared to the Nano are non-shuffle play, ability to boost the memory to say 68GB with a card, and a decent 5 band equalizer instead of pre-sets. The "advanced" EQ in Rockbox is especially good imo.
 
Re. an external amp: as long as the iems you are using aren't clipping (ie distorting the loudest parts from inadequate power even when volume is maxed) there is no advantage to one. People here will tell you otherwise, but this is just bs indoctrinated by people selling amps. (People have been unable to tell the difference between expensive amps and cheap ones in blind tests for decades: as long as power is adequate for the volume required, eq set correctly, and noise meets a very low standard, all amps sound the same.) However, the Clip's signal is very pure, so it's a good source eg for speakers if used with an amp. I'd be surprised if you ever need an amp to drive headphones with the Clip - the ones it won't drive are a tiny % of the market and notmeant for portability.
 
Re. a DAC: the Clip only provides audio output.
 
Re. ALAC: no one can hear the difference between any lossless format and something like 320 mp3/aac/ogg, and using low cost IEMs you might as well use  192 or maybe 240 br files. You could keep the ALACs as masters and get a free tool that will make eg AACs of all your files and use these on your DAPS - the obvious benefit is you'll get far more music on.
 
..But none of this is urgent now you have your tip problem sorted out!

 

[FlatNine]

Quote:

Possibly look into the Klipsch Image X10s available at a huge discount on Amazon. I have a full review of my impressions of them linked into my siggy,.

 
x2.

 

[FlatNine]

Quote:

I have finally found the sound I want. I tried the large silicon tips with the small holes. seal is much better and so is the bass. clean, deep, and low.
 
I checked out the sansa clip+ and I may use it. I cannot get the rock box mod on my ipod nano 4g. All of my music is in ALAC. so I may purchase one if the sound quality will be noticeably better.
 
how well can I hook up an external amp/ dac if I use the sansa clip+

 
Before you spend money on an amp, you should have a goal in mind. To start, ask yourself - what is lacking in how I am hearing my current setup, or, what is it specifically you would like to improve? I like to say - if you don't have a clear goal in mind, a sonic goal in this case, you can never know when you get "there". Once you can clearly understand the gap between current state and desired state, you can make better choices for new gear. It will also save you money!   It is not enough to say - "I want my music to sound better". It is better to say - "These highs are too harsh, and the bass is muddy. I want a sound that has rolled off highs and clean tight bass."  Hope this helps.