[charonme]

how far do typical CIEMs go into the ear canal?
When trying to estimate it from photos of CIEMs it looks to me some of them don't even go past the first bend, but it's hard to tell without being able to physically measure it

 

[Seyley]

Hi ya..... this falls into the category of 'How long is a piece of string'. Sorry to be obtuse . The fact that they are customised specifically to your ears, means that the depth will vary from user to user. More so, like in my case, the depth is slighly different from left and right ear. The cheap way to find out for your personal needs is to get a hearologist to take a moulding of both ears. Once removed, you will be able to ascertain if the depth is overwhelming or comfortable enough for short and medium periods. You will also have to consider if the CIEM has a pressure release valve that will alleviate some of the discomfort.

 

[LFC_SL]

Where manufacturers ask for impressions past the second bend it is to capture the full information as they shave the canal length during the build. If the impressions length are short that risks an imperfect fit as the canal tip is crucial to lock in the fit

The manufacturer, retailer or audiologist should be happy to answer any questions or concerns if it is your first custom impressions

There is a very good sticky thread about obtaining impressions that is highly recommended pre reading. Knowledge about the process is helpful. It is also important to be able to recognise sub par impressions on the spot to tell the audiologist to redo the impressions without allowing you to leave

Digital impressions rather than physical are also a thing - Ultimate Ears have been using the digital impressions for a number of years in USA locations

I tried to ask 64 Audio about digital impressions recently but got no answer ha. My suspicion is digital impressions do not distend the canals so the manufacturer just has to compensate for that

 

[charonme]

thanks, I already had impressions taken twice. The first time it was just for silicone earplugs and when I received the plugs finished from the manufacturer they weren't going deep enough (probably not even reaching the first bend), so the manufacturer offered to fix it, which they did to my satisfaction, but it's still not extremely deep. The plugs are relatively comfortable, but I probably couldn't handle deeper ones.
The second impressions are new ones for ciems and the manufacturer already received them and verified they are correctly made, but when I compared the new impressions to my earplugs (see attached photos: new impressions vs. earplugs made according to old impressions) I can see there's a substantial difference in the depth, so I was wondering if CIEMS with depth comparable to my plugs would be too short

 

[LFC_SL]

With the caveat I am not an expert, it is for the manufacturer to clarify if impressions are good enough

With this further information, it makes sense custom earplugs and in ear monitors are cut differently

Earplugs can be for sleeping, live music, swimming, land physical sports, Motorsports or all number of workplace applications. I would not expect custom earplugs to be created the same for each application nevermind in comparison to CIEM. And even CIEM manufacturers have different ideas on the tightness of the fit and canal length that should be discussed 1:1 with each client. Ta