I recently went through this process....
I purchased a pair of the new Wireless Bose SoundSport earbuds solely for working out at the gym. With the design of the StayHear+ tips, the soft silicone flange seals around my ear canals perfectly, and the sound is amazing for what I need it for. Rich, low ends....that's what I was after.
Well, never allowing myself to be happy with anything, I am always looking how to make something better, or tweak it.... so I decided to order a custom set of molded eartips from www.averysound.com. Upon their recommendation, I had full-ear, deep-canal impressions made locally and then sent them to the lab to have the molds made.
When I received the molds, and fitted them onto my SoundSports, i was initially impressed with the sound quality. Well, it turns out that the sound was only decent in a COMPLETELY isolated, quiet room.
When I went to the gym, or anywhere else there were people or noise around, that ambient noise seemed to actually be amplified and totally drowned out my music. That being the case, the music, at BEST was muddy, flat, and had ABSOLUTELY no low end bass....
I went back and forth with several dozen emails and they said they never had problems with the particular set of Bose earbuds, and they even made a set of tips there for them to try - and they had no issues. They also said that hey have made these tips for Soundsports for many other people, and they were all happy.
When i replaced the custom tips with the stock Stayhear tips, the music was back to the rich, beautiful sound that it was initially. The issue was clearly with the new custom tips.
They agreed to remold them with a slightly larger canal so that the seal would be better. I received the new re-done set of tips. Same crap. Flat, no seal, no bass.
They say that they can't help me out and that the problem is not with their eartips.
Again, i put the stock tips back on and the sound goes back to being amazing.
So, here's my question - are my expectations too high in thinking that custom molded eartips would provide better seal, sound, and isolation?
Perhaps it's my fault that I didn't know better.
I just thought that for $150, I was getting custom tips that actually worked.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Matt!