[dkpaul]

I have a set of TF10. I was using medium sized Shure olives with some discomfort.
So I bought smaller size and the comfort is there....

The only problems is that the smaller olives does not offer a good seal as the medium sized ones.
I feel that the bass has gotten thinner with smaller ones.

Is this correct? Does seal affect the sound quality a lot?

 

[Al4x]

i find that it does, quite significantly

 

[TSi]

Seal affects sound quality A LOT, and i mean A LOT as in... A L O T.

It doesnt matter which IEM u are using, if you do not have a proper seal, it iwll degrade the sound quality. (usually causing u to lose bass or lower + higher end of the spectrum)

 

[dkpaul]

Yeah... I was under the impression that the bass has less presence than before.

So, it comes down to comfort or SQ.

 

[milkpowder]

No seal, no bass.

Sensaphonics / Seal Test

 

[Joelc87]

Yeah the seal doesn't really affect bass it just removes it altogether.....basically seal = bass. Thus lack of seal = lack of bass. Esp with IEMs driven by balanced armature drivers. These drivers move a very small amount of air unlike conical dynamic drivers. The the entire airmass between the driver and your ear drum must be like a cylinder completely isolated from the outside world. That way when one diaphragm moves (the one in the iem) the other one (your eardrum) moves in exactly the same way. This is why IEMs are so accurate and articulate. This is also why sealing them in your ear canals is so important to sound quality. With the triple.fis you may want to try holding your mouth open while inserting them and then closing your mouth. This opens your ear canals a little so that when you close your mouth again the seal may be a little tighter. Another method would be trying the mediums again but moving them to a slightly different angle. Sometimes the entry angle can affect comfort a lot more than you'd think.

 

[milkpowder]

I actually took advantage of the "seal=bass" rule to make the E500 listenable. With slim-size Comply foamies, the seal was only just right, allowing a bit of the bass to 'leak away'.

 

[wquiles]

Yes, absolutely, the seal is "key" to make them sound good. Not only that, the seal needs to be good on "both" ears for them to sound as they should.

I basically gave up on universal tips, and I am working with custom tips for my UE TF10's:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/cus...ysound-286841/

Right now the left custom top is "slightly" undersize - not much at all, but enough not to get a perfect seal. Even in a quiet room, the sound is "off" since the seal in the left is partial and since the seal in the right is perfect. When I took them in the plane trip, the difference was a HUGE detriment to the sound quality. If I pushed "in" the left piece just a little bit, the seal comes back and they sound amazing again. In fact, I get much better isolation with these than I ever got with my old (now gone!) Bose Noise canceling Headphones.

The good folks at AverySound are re-doing the left piece this week to fix this (the right one is perfect). I am looking forward to getting the new left piece

Will

 

[ph0rk]

this is pretty much the case with and IEM. no seal, no bass.

 

[dkpaul]

That is tempting... $125 for a set of custom ear-plugs...

I might do it.

 

[dcstep]

X2 for the Comply foamies.

I just got mine this weekend. You twist them into you ears and then hold them for 30-seconds while they slowly re-expand. There's no undue tightness and the seal is fantastic. I don't know what they're made of, but they're entirely different from any other foamies I've tried.

Dave

 

[Joelc87]

The comply foam tips will have to be modified to fit the UE's. They're the same size as the shure SE series because the Complys fit directly onto the SE530s. The UE's on the other hand are significantly larger because of their dual bore design. While this does a good job of improving the soundstage and tonal blending you will have to cut the complys a little to get them to fit over the Triple.fis.

 

[dcstep]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joelc87 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The comply foam tips will have to be modified to fit the UE's. They're the same size as the shure SE series because the Complys fit directly onto the SE530s. The UE's on the other hand are significantly larger because of their dual bore design. While this does a good job of improving the soundstage and tonal blending you will have to cut the complys a little to get them to fit over the Triple.fis.

Mine fit my T.fis with no modification.

Dave

 

[dkpaul]

Opening mouth a bit as I insert the IEM helps me a lot.