[tarjan]

So here is the "package"

The plugs

The hole for the er4p.

How they mount together

Left

Right

The reason I went custom. While it is pretty much impossible to tell from a picture with no reference, those ear canal parts are pretty darn small. My ears have never been fully comfortable with regular soft plugs or the ety flange pieces due to their size. They work but are downright painful.

Look at that shape a bit more, you will notice not only are they small they are far from round. Big problems there with the smaller non-custom fits.

As for how they work in the ear, they are fine. The seal is the same as when I would shove the triple flangers in to he point of a bit of pain. Sound quality is very high and the response curve is flat across the board.

Comfort is interesting, my ears don't hurt but they definitely feel full.

As for the process of getting my earmolds done. Holy crap was it painful. Most people don't have pain at all, but unfortunately my ears are tiny (inside) and extremely sensitive. That was a hard 10 minutes.

Also, the material is NOT the optiblast or pure silicone some people here have suggested, rather the formula 2 in black. I would strongly caution you on forcing your audioligist on the material, more expensive is NOT always better. This material is pliable and long lasting, but not as soft as the pure silicone units. That being said they are right for the way my ear canals are created and go in fairly easily, where silicon would actually grip on my ears a bit more and tug (causing enormous pain) while going in and never being "comfortable".

I have only had them for a day so far, but will update later as I have more time with them. If you want more or higher res pictures, let me know and I will put them up. Also, the close up pic makes the mold look like it is covered in scratches. In reality it is quite smooth with no visible scratches. That is just some of the lubricant reflecting oddly.

 

[Ansel]

Very interesting. I keep going back to this idea because I want customs for the comfort and I want ER-4 for classical. Is it possible to see a pic of you wearing them?

 

[Nirmalanow]

For some more perspective I posted my initial experience with the Westone molds for the Ety here:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/rec...d-fine-322527/

There are some things I did wrong at first, but now they work for me, so be sure to read down the entire thread. However sometimes it still takes 5-10 minutes for the seal to take hold. I think they warm up as I use them and expand a little.

Unfortunately after spending the $150, I am finding that I almost always go back to my full size phones, even after also springing for the Apuresound S cable. So the Etys with recable are up for sale here on head fi, and my custom earmolds have become very expensive sound reducing earplugs with something stuffed into the holes to seal them off.

 

[tarjan]

Here you go.








BTW: since this are formula 2 and not octoblast they are very hard (in comparison at least). They do not take time to fill up your ear, at least not for my ears. Just put em in and play a bit on the bottom to make sure it is fully in.

 

[Ansel]

Thanks for the info, lots of good stuff in the other thread as well.

 

[tarjan]

So far so good. The sound quality is pretty much awesome, without the overloaded bass of so many. Comfort is pretty much spot on. There is no pressure in my ears, yet the molds are solidly in there.

At the same time as I had these molds made, I had two other pairs made. One for plane and loud environment (style 47) use where I want to reduce background but still hear and the other for sleeping and motorcycle (4rt).

Before anyone says it, motorcycles need major noise reduction. The wind noise is the biggest problem, and if you can use earplugs to reduce that the rest of the sounds become clearer and easier to pick out the stuff you need to hear, even if all sounds are reduced.

The style 47 is interesting, it definitely reduces background sound by quite a bit but once it is in, it is hard to tell if it is reducing sounds or not. Hard to describe but it really does work. Fit is very easy.

The 4rt on the other hand is a fully sealed, if in ear design. It has the deepest setup of the three plugs and when you put it in, you KNOW it is in. Not painful or anything, but sounds are greatly reduced and your ear feels full. Sleeping is great, nothing disturbs me any more and I am a very very light sleeper.

 

[faichiu]

how much?

 

[tarjan]

between 80-90 each pair since I used formula 2 for each one (harder is better for very sensitive ears). That includes the molding and office visit.

 

[ting.mike]

hmmm... very very good..

I really enjoy the Ety4S, but find that often the phones are not "shooting" to the right direction, and the sound quality is not optimum.

 

[tarjan]

I am a very picky listener. I want flat and neutral. The simpler the design the better and so far so good. I get great, natural/flat bass all the way up to perfect highs. No crossovers, no odd phase crap.

Yep, I am happy so far. They were totally awesome on my last plane trip as well. Was like having my magnepan 3.5s in the cabin with me (ok maybe not quite that good, but way up there.) Only issue is the 10 seconds it takes to get them out when trying to talk to people. Honestly, on a plane you CANNOT hear what the steward/stewardess is saying. Otherwise when you are just trying to nap and listen to some tunes for the next couple hours, you cannot go wrong.