[Kuroda Tsubasa]

 
Quote:

thanks for bringing that up. I guess it's fair enough... (sucks if the IEM dies, but if UM have first reshelled it/driver upgraded it 2-3 years ago, it's not exactly up to them if the drivers degraded or failed over their useful life (which I'd hope is about 4-5 years))...or is it really fair enough, in a sense 'what if UM made a defect when reshelling it'?
The question is then, how much do they charge for sending IEMs in for service (parts aside)

 
Hard to say since I don't hold any UM customs in my hands right now and I didn't hear any complaints to justify this practice.
 
 

 

[soalexx]

really wish they could add dynamic driver upgrades
 
 
(need some feeling to the bass on my SE530's, without forking out 900 for merlins/MG6pro's)

 

[AnakChan]

Although the idea of upgrading an existing pair of IEMs sound more cost conscious approach, in the end I found getting a complete IEM to be more rewarding audio-wise.
 
I went through both routes :-

1) Back in August upgrading my SE530 to 8-drivers (SE530x8) thinking not to waste my Shures
-and 3 months later-
2) in November participate in UMs Global Promo with their Merlins
 
The Merlins sonically are a lot more rewarding than the SE530x8. Now, 8 months later, my SE530x8 have gone back for re-tuning  - meanwhile I've been enjoying my Merlins.
 
Just because they add drivers (and in some cases remove 1xBA) to the existing Universal IEMs it doesn't mean it sounds the same or better than UMs product offerings. What I've learnt along the way is that that the cross-overs for those kinds of upgrades vary considerably from the off-the-shelf offerings. As such my SE530x8 going back for their cross-over re-turning. Whereas the off-the-shelf offerings (Merlins, Miracles), their cross-overs are tuned just right.
 
My 2 yen worth

 

[soalexx]

i've read this to be the case. i like the sound sig, it suits me perfectly, my only drama is with the feeling down low, and it's not the 530's fault i dont think. I've narrowed it down to BA vs DD. 
 
i'd get it reshelled with a DD added in an instant if it was possible, but i'm not really interested in adding extra BA drivers, even though im sure it would improve it in different ways. (i'd do as you did, get a merlin )
 
i'd be interested to know how the bass changed in your SE530x8 though!
 
EDIT : actually another curious question if i can, how are the mids vs the 530's on  your merlin?

 

[AnakChan]

I have to go by memory 'cos my SE530x8 broke maybe around July. Then I only got my SE530x8 back in late Sept of which I had to send it back 'cos there was distortion which wasn't fixed until Dec (i.e. 5 months between the SE530 & a proper SE530x8). The basic SE530 signature remained. The bass was extended somewhat but I found the highs still lacking. Overall, I wasn't very impressed with the straight SE530x8 - luckily UM allows re-turning charging only for shipping costs.
 
The Merlin's aren't as mid forward as the SE530(x8). But the bass extends even lower, naturally. And highs sparkle more.

 

[svyr]

> luckily UM allows re-turning charging only for shipping costs.

i'd very much encourage people to think upfront of what they want to get (hard to do without anchoring to say an existing UM demo unit though/correspondence between demo and custom - although the latter well may be placebo related).

I quite like the mage and miracle tuning, but there's no way I would've liked my SM3x6 or 8.

 

[ProjectDenz]

 
Quote:

Objection! I have contacted Stephen from custom-iem.com and asked about whether the warranty will be voided or not if we reshell UM customs from second hands. He has told me that the remaining warranty will be remained. So no worries about that.

 

Thought he meant if he reshelled any other iem with UM.

 

[ProjectDenz]

It's a good thing I went down the JH13 reshell route than the TF10x6/SE530x6 route. The cost difference to me wasn't too much apart for either way and I'm loving the JH13.

 

[Kuroda Tsubasa]

 
Quote:

 
 

Thought he meant if he reshelled any other iem with UM.

 
 
 

Hi all
Does getting your UM customs re-shelled void the warranty? Or if I bought some preowned with some warranty left, could UM re-shell them for my ears & the warranty keeps on?

Obviously reshelling other IEMs will void the warranty.

 

[AnakChan]

 
Quote:

> luckily UM allows re-turning charging only for shipping costs.
i'd very much encourage people to think upfront of what they want to get (hard to do without anchoring to say an existing UM demo unit though/correspondence between demo and custom - although the latter well may be placebo related).
I quite like the mage and miracle tuning, but there's no way I would've liked my SM3x6 or 8.

 
Well, that' the catch isn't it? I think most ppl are already familiar with the "try before you buy" concept but these days the bricks 'n mortar business is slowly being seen as old-school and expensive vs online shopping. I highly doubt businesses like UM, Rooths, JH Audio etc would ever make enough to set up a bricks 'n mortar business.
 
Similarly, most products don't have distributors in every country to hold the demo range. Japan doesn't seem to have a Unique Melody distributor, for example.
 
i.e. it's hard to encourage something almost impossible. Us as "risk takers" can only share our subjective viewpoints and if potential buyers can relate to our sentiments, then they can decide if the product suits them or not. That's why I usually write most things here coming from my perspective (using "I" a lot). Hopefully readers can see that I'm sharing my experience rather than to coerce readers otherwise.

 

[svyr]

Well, that' the catch isn't it? I think most ppl are already familiar with the "try before you buy" concept but these days the bricks 'n mortar business is slowly being seen as old-school and expensive vs online shopping. I highly doubt businesses like UM, Rooths, JH Audio etc would ever make enough to set up a bricks 'n mortar business.

Similarly, most products don't have distributors in every country to hold the demo range. Japan doesn't seem to have a Unique Melody distributor, for example.

i.e. it's hard to encourage something almost impossible. Us as "risk takers" can only share our subjective viewpoints and if potential buyers can relate to our sentiments, then they can decide if the product suits them or not. That's why I usually write most things here coming from my perspective (using "I" a lot). Hopefully readers can see that I'm sharing my experience rather than to coerce readers otherwise.

some people do see audio as an adventure. unfortunately adventures can turn sour quite quickly turning into perpetual nightmares.

buying on someone else's impressions without anchoring to anything is a very adventurous idea.

 

[ProjectDenz]

 
Quote:

some people do see audio as an adventure. unfortunately adventures can turn sour quite quickly

turning into perpetual nightmares.
buying on someone else's impressions without anchoring to anything is a very adventurous idea.

 

My life must be one great big voyage then. Wait what?

 

[AnakChan]

 
Quote:

some people do see audio as an adventure. unfortunately adventures can turn sour quite quickly

turning into perpetual nightmares.
buying on someone else's impressions without anchoring to anything is a very adventurous idea.

 
Well buying based on one person's impressions would be highly silly indeed. I read 187 pages of this thread (and other UM oriented threads in Head-fi) before going for UM. But risks can be mitigated by reading a lot, patching up various pieces of information before making a final conclusion.

 

[Promethus]

I did my reshelling with Rooth audio, said to share the facilities with UM.
 
There were some bubbles in the case, but it didn't bother me and it fits like a glove.
 
 

 

[kuutee]

Tomorrow is the day! My baby is coming home! 
I send my Miracles to China over 11 weeks ago and due to unfortunate circumstances (I forget to put order form inside package) they were lost for while.
Luckily they identified iems and contacted guy who originally ordered those. I want to thank Stephen who was always helpful and without him I would be totally lost.
These ciem are my first touch to good iems, I commonly use these Koss phatfinder plugs for music and podcasts and hopefully those Miracles change my world view. 

Hopefully this isn't "throwing pearls to the pigs"
 
-k