[The-One]

For the same money or less say, you could get FreQ or Livewires which are custom made. Not that i'm heard either 2, but customs are certainly much more affordable now and it's pretty much the end of an iem journey imo.

So why not go straight there?

 

[synaesthetic]

You can sell universals when you get tired of them. Not so much with customs.

 

[GreatDane]

I for one have no interest in customs. Maybe I'm too lazy but it's not worth my time when my ER4 sound great and fit great. I recently read a reply from a UE11 user who prefered his ER4(unless I was dreaming)...yeah, imagine that.

I wanted the Westone 3 and then decided against them. Now I have moderate interest in the Audéo PFE (Perfect Fit Earphones).

 

[rawrster]

yeah..u cant sell customs

also, i find it awesome upgrading from one iem to another. going to customs from the beginning wouldnt be as fun for me and i would miss out on the experience of a new iem everytime i buy one

 

[EFN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatDane /img/forum/go_quote.gif I for one have no interest in customs. Maybe I'm too lazy but it's not worth my time when my ER4 sound great and fit great. I recently read a reply from a UE11 user who prefered his ER4(unless I was dreaming)...yeah, imagine that. I wanted the Westone 3 and then decided against them. Now I have moderate interest in the Audéo PFE (Perfect Fit Earphones).

Spot on buddy. I am not too keen either to replcace my customs molds when I lost/misplaced a piece sometime ago. Custom molds don't necessarily have better seal and isolation even if they do offer some improvement in wearing comfort. But after perfecting the art of foam insertion

, the seal is superior and so does the sound fuller.....and comfy too

 

[ClieOS]

For the same money or less, who said a custom must sound better than an universal IEM?

 

[PixelSquish]

with complys, i have zero problem in getting a perfect seal with my IEM anytime at all.

so im worried more about the quality of the sound vs a custom ear mold. im not saying the freqs are worse than my trips. im just saying i havent placed a custom ear mold at the top of my why to buy list.

 

[qusp]

several reasons
1. you cant sell them if you dont like the sound
2. you cant try them out before you buy them to see if you like the sound
3. entry level customs like those are unlikely to sound any better than a high end universal anyway.
4. I have UM56 custom tips that I can put on all of my universals for equal comfort and SQ
5. see answer 1

 

[wuwhere]

Customs are not the end of the line IMO. As IEM technology advances, so do universal IEMs. I think a lot of the cost on custom IEMs is in the mold. And the mold improves mostly isolation and fit.

 

[Spyro]

With the invention of Complys and Shure Olive type tips I can't see why anyone would go custom. If you have achieved a good fit, the rest is up to the IEM itself (??). Why pay so much for the fit?

With complys on my Westone 3 the housing is literally (and comfortably) snug right up against my entire ear cavern. It couldn't come dislodged in the slightest against any activity.

 

[shigzeo]

i know one company however who actually uses a completely different driver afaik in their customs than their universal line: futuresonics. it is not the same driver and one that i really want. for dynamics, the housing is very important to the sound. the atrio are great but their flaw was their soft plastic housing. the em series uses a harder plastic that might have better echo characteristics.

but i would not consider a different company for cutoms

 

[nsx_23]

Universal IEMs make it easier to switch between different models if you want to try something different. Also, more often than not you can't really "try" customs to see if the sound is going to be to your liking, and demo pairs aren't often representative of the end result.

Having said that, I will be getting custom tips for my IE8, and I'm considering getting my SF5pros put into a custom housing whilst I'm at it just for experimentation since its not too expensive to do so.

 

[montell]

1) Customs look like hearing aids. I mean universal IEMs already look ugly as hell. Customs make you look like a freak in public. Especially if you get one with all those fancy colours. Some customs are even uglier with the weird placement of the cable and a huge cable connector.
2) The whole process of getting your customs done is a pain in the arse, takes a long time and you have to deal with customer service. Universal IEMs are much easier to purchase.
3) You can just get custom sleeves for your universal iems. Basicly you will get all the advantages of a custom.


Also the shape of your ear changes everytime. I dont know how much of a factor this is and at what rate your ear changes but its still something. And I dont know about the SQ either.

 

[uberburger101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif i know one company however who actually uses a completely different driver afaik in their customs than their universal line: futuresonics. it is not the same driver and one that i really want. for dynamics, the housing is very important to the sound. the atrio are great but their flaw was their soft plastic housing. the em series uses a harder plastic that might have better echo characteristics. but i would not consider a different company for cutoms

Likewise.

 

[shigzeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uberburger101 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Likewise.

did i really write cutoms?