[Mython]

 
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Hi, I'm new to custom IEMs, am currently halfway through ordering some UM Miracles (already paid), here in the UK, and have some questions, which I'd be most grateful if anyone can enlighten me with answers for (I did ask AmpCity but they seem to be too busy to answer me):
 
 
1) I had some impressions done today - the audiologist seemed bemused and amused, in equal measure, by the specificity of the impression instructions provided by UM (which, I notice, are virtually identical to those provided by JH Audio). One of my impressions is comprised of significantly less silicone than the other, and I'm nervous that it may, just possibly, not be an adequate impression (for IEM purposes) - he injected the silicone well, but on the other hand, he didn't 'massage' it into the external portion of the ear, as I've seen other audiologists doing on IEM-specific Youtube clips. There are some small areas where the silicone appears to have been marginally away from the skin, rather than in direct contact, and since this is my first time, I'm unsure whether this will suffice or wether it will cause problems. The canals are moulded well on both moulds; it's small areas of the ear, e.g. near the anti-tragus, that are concerning me. How accurate does this part need to be?
 
2) On the Unique Melody side of things, how do I actually SPECIFY accurate colours for tips, main body, and faceplates? I'm not looking for military precision on colour choices but I  would like to specify colours fairly accurately - will I have to provide several gallery photographs, saying, for example, 'can I have the yellow that was used for the tips in this picture used for my faceplates?' and so on, for each colour and each component, or is there a proper colour chart available, with reference codes? Westone provide such a chart, as does UE, but I've not seen anything similar from Unique Melody and, unless I've overlooked it, this seems a glaring omission from UM's ordering process, particularly since they are so renowned for the craftsmanship of their IEM shells:
 
http://www.westonemusicproducts.com/custom-monitor-color-chart
 
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/earphones/galleries/custom-colors
 
 
3) I like a fairly neutral presentation, but I notice some reviewers have mentioned that UM crossovers can be tweaked a couple of dB for each driver. In the (admittedly-unlikely) event that I might wish to do this at some point, how would I go about having it done? Do they need to go back to China, or can the local distributor do it, or..??
 
4) Do UM keep a record of my ear impressions, or would I have to have new impressions made every single time I deal with them?
 
5) Can UM accept a digital scan file of an impression (e-mailed to them) or must I send a silicone impression via snail-mail? (albeit C/O my local distributor)
 
6) Although comfort is always a factor, I am concerned that one of the primary reasons I wish to use IEMs is for the reduction of external background noise. I've read that UM opt for a shorter IEM shell than, for example, JH Audio, and that this means they do not reduce external noise as much as other manufacturers' IEMs. Since this is important to me, can I request a slightly longer IEM shell?
 
 
Thanks for any input, anyone!
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[UniqueMelodyAus]

a) You should be fine.
b) Please download our Lineup Guide 2012 and have a look at the design page for our color palette.  LINK
c) We do not allow for custom tuning.  Any talk of anything otherwise is a myth.
d) Yes we keep your impressions on file, however we recommend that you get new ones if more than 6 months has passed since your last build.
e) Not at this stage.
f) The amount of passive reduction is dependent on the fit around the canal as has little to do with depth.  The trade off is simply not worth it.  We have sound engineers on our IEM's perfectly happy using them in 120dB environments regularly with no issues.
 
Apologies for UMUK's no reply, they're a bit flooded at the moment.

 

[yais29]

Apologies from UMUK for the delayed response. You should have received a reply to your email by now.

 

[Mython]

Thankyou both for your replies; much appreciated.
 
 
'UniqueMelodyAus'; re' colours, I've viewed the link you posted, but I was really thinking of something more like the Westone link I posted above, which shows what the various translucent colour schemes look like, in 'real life', as it were. In terms of solid colours, 'Yais29' directed me to:
 
http://www.ralcolor.com/
 
which is quite useful.
 
I can't imagine it would be too difficult for someone at UM to photograph a totally transparent example of one of their models (e.g. a Miracle) and then (accurately) colour-match each of their stock translucent colours to tint the transparent picture appropriately, multiple times, in turn, just as appears to have been done for the Westone gallery. This would hugely improve the simplicity of the ordering process, don't you think?
 
 
'Yais29', I've now received your e-mail (thankyou) and replied to it.
 
 
 
 
 
Regarding impressions, 
 
Since UM are taking orders globally, I'd really like to see them accommodate submission of digital impression files, particularly as the postal service to their laboratory in China appears (judging by quite a number of posts here on Head-fi) not entirely reliable. That's in no way a criticism of UM, of course, it's just an unfortunate external variable which it would be nice not to have to contend with. 3D printing gear at their end would not be cheap; I understand that, but it's the way the industry is going, anyway, and there are relatively small labs here in the UK (e.g. Minerva) already using this technology, just as Ultimate Ears do.
 
 

Anyway, thanks again, both of you, for your support. I'm really, really looking forward to hearing my Miracles - if reviews and feedback are anything to go by, UM have really nailed it where it ultimately counts the most - quality and performance of their IEM products!
 

 

[Mython]

 
Quote:

 
 
.......Regarding impressions, 
 
Since UM are taking orders globally, I'd really like to see them accommodate submission of digital impression files, particularly as the postal service to their laboratory in China appears (judging by quite a number of posts here on Head-fi) not entirely reliable. That's in no way a criticism of UM, of course, it's just an unfortunate external variable which it would be nice not to have to contend with. 3D printing gear at their end would not be cheap; I understand that, but it's the way the industry is going, anyway, and there are relatively small labs here in the UK (e.g. Minerva) already using this technology, just as Ultimate Ears do.
 

I just stumbled across an article from last year, about ACS (who, like Minerva, are also UK producers of custom IEMs). Also, like Minerva, they use laser-scanning of impressions and subsequent 3D printing of moulds. If you read the following article, it's interesting to see the enormous difference in production efficiency (up to that stage of the IEM manufacturing process) that 3D scanning and printing yields, and that's before one considers the time-saving in not having to ship physical ear impressions halfway across the globe, as is often the case where international purchases are concerned:
 
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-10/19/europe-deafness-pandemic

 

[FullCircle]

Your proposal would cost UM a tremendous amount of money.
 
Beyond that, the SLA machines doing hearing aids can not do multi colors, such as teal green, midnight black, lipstick cherry red etc etc. 
 
They can do clear, red, blue, and skin tone.  Phonak (a hearing aid company) reportedly has one that can use white UV material.
 
The best case scenerio, is that the scanned image is sent to China, printed in clear, and then re-cast to make the color specified by the customer.
 
Meaning, that is still ultimatley a hand made, hand crafted product.
 
Then you have "man power" training, employment costs, and maintainence problems that an SLA machine would require.
 
Scanned images are still "tweaked" at the manufactures end once the immage is recieved and that takes a developed skill set as well. But even then, because they are tweaked, a margin of error is also introduced into the manufacturing process.
 
Hearing aid companies are adopting this technology, but they have volumes & margin levels that would make UM shed tears.
 
 
Folks, CIEMs are a piece of art, and art can not be mass produced or homogenized, the moment it is, it is no longer art. It is just a mass produced piece of plastic.
 
 
Wizard
 
 

 

[Mython]

 

I know you are very accomplished at hand-crafting custom IEMs, so I genuinely respect your viewpoint, and I'll also add that, for my part, I used to handcraft top-quality traditional solid timber furniture (the very highest-end), so I assure you I thoroughly appreciate hand-craftsmanship in all it's many forms, and the various pros and cons of hand-made vs. machine-made; synthetic materials vs. natural...etc. etc.
 
With that said, I think you slightly misinterpreted my previous post - I didn't mean to imply 3D printing of the IEM shells, but rather 3D printing of a negative mould/cast within which to then hand-produce the IEM shells in the conventional manner.
 
As you rightly pointed out, the 3D printing must be preceded by adjustment, smoothing, and 'virtual waxing', of the laser-scanned virtual impressions (which, indeed, is partly demonstrated in UE's 'Behind the Scenes' video), and yes, this process does require its own skill set (though even some of this can be programmed, according to various algorithms, to be done automatically), but my point was simply that, like it or not, this is the way the industry is moving, and UM (who I merely happen to be discussing by way of continuation of this existing thread I started, including this particular topic, last month) are making a very proactive push for global recognition and sales. If they really do intend to grab a major share of the market (and there is every reason to suspect that they're capable of accomplishing this, since their products seem to be of competitive quality and price), then it seems self-evident that they're going to need to embrace 3D laser scanning and printing at some point - and lest anyone think I'm picking on UM in some way, I'm absolutely not - not at all - to the contrary, the same applies to any custom IEM company, in the second decade of the 21st century, that wishes to become a market leader. Minerva, ACS, UE, (and I presume Westone) already clearly understand this. They won't wait around for their competitors to join them in increasing their levels of technological automation.
 
I do, however, take your point about volume and initial investment, and, of course, some of the aforementioned companies do, indeed, have other parts of their business producing hearing aids and associated custom mouldings, which affords them certain economical advantages. That's just the way of it, and that's one reason why venture capitalists have a viable place in this world.
 
Time (and along with it, one's competition) marches on, just the same, though...
 
Quote:

 
Folks, CIEMs are a piece of art, and art can not be mass produced or homogenized, the moment it is, it is no longer art. It is just a mass produced piece of plastic.
 

Another good point, but... perhaps a little romantic? (I say that in a measured manner, with complete respect, and as an artisan, myself, so please don't misunderstand where I'm coming from)
I'm not saying I disagree with you, as such, but neither can I completely agree with you. The time is coming (and let's not permit ourselves the luxury of denial; it will not be long) when custom IEMs will indeed be mass-produced, in spite of being uniquely tailored to each individual customer. The industry is already remarkably close to that precipice, just as my own industry (high class traditional furniture) is. Neither have been entirely eclipsed by machines yet, but it's coming. I've personally had to witness the gradual erosion of society's respect for my traditional skillset, along with the associated change in market forces, favouring consumption of mass-produced, more 'disposable' furniture products, for example.
 
Where custom IEMs are concerned, your artistry naturally leads you to view IEMs as 'art' (a laudable viewpoint, close to my own heart), but, aside from a bit of personalisation in the form of a graphic or colour choice here and there, for many potential customers, they're more utilitarian (relatively-speaking). Ultimately, audio performance is very replicable on a mass-scale, given sufficient research, computer modeling, understanding and accommodation of the variables introduced by differing ear canal shapes, and, fundamentally, a custom IEM is first and foremost about audio reproduction, just as someone can sit and eat their dinner from a $40 Ikea dining table every bit as easily as they can from a beautiful hand-crafted mahogany dining table costing several thousand dollars. "Would that it weren't so", the artisan in me is tempted to think, but that's just resisting reality, and resisting reality does no one any favours in the longrun  

 

[FullCircle]

at the end of the day, it is all about volume

 

[Mython]

Quote:

at the end of the day, it is all about volume

Since we're both speaking of audio gear, yes, on that point we both can agree - it is about 'volume'  

 
Seriously, though, one needs to speculate to accumulate - I suppose smaller IEM makers will need to borrow, seek investment, or consider mergers, in order to step up to the newer technologies, or otherwise remain niche vendors to a very small percentage of the market. It occurs to me that there might be some interesting merger opportunities between companies on opposite sides of the world, which would potentially yield unique advantages, in terms of serving the global market.
 
BTW, congratz on the contents of your 'Woodies' thread; you've done some beautiful work there.

 

[FullCircle]

"smaller IEM" they are all small. Last I heard UE employs 15 people in their lab, Westone, around 10 or so  1964, looks like 6 at the most & as for UM, their photos looks like they rent an apartment for their lab.  The CIEM industry is a cottage industry...  as well as most true bespoke industries are.
 
 
 
 

 

[Mython]

Sure, but UE have Logitech behind them
 
Minerva are a relatively small lab (but they do deal with moulds for hearing aids as the bulk of their business, so far as I can ascertain). (BTW, Lee's a nice guy to chat to, if one contacts Minerva)
 
Both of these companies have laser scanning and 3D printing gear.
 
You may be right about UM, but it seems rather amibtious to seek a global share of the marketplace if one intends to stick with less than 10 staff (for example), and no larger financial backing, unless I'm underestimating how much throughput such a small team can achieve with manual methods. I'd realy love to spend a day in a commercial IEM lab as I find it all very interesting, and I'd be interested to see how they maintain sufficent production efficiency.
 
I can certainly understand why you find it enjoyable to produce custom IEMs on a small scale, as I've thoroughly enjoyed the creative process of designing and building my own loudspeakers over the years.
 
If I wished to go commercial with this sideline, though, I'd really struggle to be competitive with batch production techniques, in the face of competitors using CNC gear.

 

[AnakChan]

I'm new to custom IEMs this year (been using universal IEM for years Shure E5c, EC500, 530PTH, & TF10's, etc.) and in August I decided to upgrade my SE530 to SE530x8 with UM via Stephen Guo of custom-iem.com. In November I participated in the UM Global Japan Promo (UM Merlins).
 
I've not received my Merlins yet but I've had some trouble with my SE530x8 upgrade. My left IEM had been having distortion problems and I've sent it to them twice. The first time they didn't find anything wrong and for the 2nd time it required me to take a recording of the distortion sent to Stephen before UM in China took notice my complaint more in-depth. Each time my SE530x8 went back it's taken on average 5-6 weeks and keeping in regular touch with Stephen regularly, I can more or less gauge that UM only starts working on my SE530x8 on the 4th or 5th week, and gets shipped out on the 5th or 6th week respectively. Meanwhile they've continued on with their global promos from country to country in addition to group-buys.
 
This is entirely my experience and therefore the following is entirely my opinion. Aside from the distortion of my left IEM I think UM actually makes good quality products, especially from reading, their off-the-shelf Miracles, Merlins, Mages, etc. As for their upgrades aside from my IEM I've not read of others having such problems. And cosmetically my SE530x8 were well constructed and in reading reviews from other UM customers, their IEMs appear to be very well constructed too.
 
In addition their product customisation offering options are outstanding - not only offering differing colours, or personalised images, but different plate inserts. There's little to fault UM about this too.
 
Similarly with UM's distributors, (Stephen in US, or Matt in Aus), there's little to no complaints about these guys. They are brilliant distributors constantly in touch with their customers, both potential and post sales support.
 
I think the biggest complaint about UM though (and to me at least, is a rather significant one), is their turnaround time. That they're growing faster than they can output by having the global promos, that their post sales support seem to suffer along with their ability to deliver the products to their customers. The distributors are trying their best to manage customer expectations but their hands are tied at the mercy of the manufacturer themselves. But I think UM themselves need to reconsider their business model and organisational structure.