More IEM questions. But really...

[s0c9]

Also it’s my intention to bash the manufacturer. They have LOTS of satisfied users and the brief moment I heard how (I imagine) they should sound, they sounded incredible.

But it is frustrating to research and follow, as best one can, the instructions provided by the manufacturer and have it come up short.

Yes, it is frustrating, no doubt. VERY!
My point was it's not really fair to bash the vendor given that they can ONLY work with the impressions they receive.
If it can be proven they messed up the shells, then by all means have a them.

PS: I have zero affiliation w/ the company your ordered your IEM's from. Just saying.

 

[Turn Em Loose]

Yes, it is frustrating, no doubt. VERY!
My point was it's not really fair to bash the vendor given that they can ONLY work with the impressions they receive.
If it can be proven they messed up the shells, then by all means have a them.

PS: I have zero affiliation w/ the company your ordered your IEM's from. Just saying.

I agree and wasn’t trying to bash. My apologies if it sounded like that. I am frustrated, though. I was excited to get the IEM’s and start using them.

 

[s0c9]

I agree and wasn’t trying to bash. My apologies if it sounded like that. I am frustrated, though. I was excited to get the IEM’s and start using them.

Oh.. I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND!!!
I wasn’t trying to be difficult either.. and I agree with your frustration!!
Best of luck getting it resolved.

 

[Turn Em Loose]

Oh.. I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND!!!
I wasn’t trying to be difficult either.. and I agree with your frustration!!
Best of luck getting it resolved.

Thanks!

 

[Devnor]

he IEM's do kinda seal? But not that well. I had The Wife push on them while I had them inserted and I was like "WOW! THIS is how I imagined them working!!" When she pushed on them the seal was, well....Sealed! And the tone was magnificent. But sadly, The Wife did not seem to eager to accept my request for her to repeat this procedure on all my gigs. Email has already been sent to Sensaphonics.

I just received my 3 driver sensaphonics and experiencing the same issues. My audiologist checked my fit and says it's correct. She stressed the need for the IEM to seat correctly in your ear, so it remains locked into place. Cable management is important. She also recommended the westone ear lube which they just happen to sell for $5 but sensaphonics suggests KY jelly or astroglide.

None of this is working for me. The sound quality is very poor and inconsistent. $1200 down the drain.

 

[two fingers]

I just received my 3 driver sensaphonics and experiencing the same issues. My audiologist checked my fit and says it's correct. She stressed the need for the IEM to seat correctly in your ear, so it remains locked into place. Cable management is important. She also recommended the westone ear lube which they just happen to sell for $5 but sensaphonics suggests KY jelly or astroglide.

None of this is working for me. The sound quality is very poor and inconsistent. $1200 down the drain.

Most of the pro singers I've worked with literally put the tips in their mouths to get them wet before inserting them. Sort of a self-inflicted wet Willy.

(Of course, they clean them between uses.)

 

[Geri O]

I just received my 3 driver sensaphonics and experiencing the same issues. My audiologist checked my fit and says it's correct. She stressed the need for the IEM to seat correctly in your ear, so it remains locked into place. Cable management is important. She also recommended the westone ear lube which they just happen to sell for $5 but sensaphonics suggests KY jelly or astroglide.

None of this is working for me. The sound quality is very poor and inconsistent. $1200 down the drain.

First, and sorry, but forget the jelly.

You have two options, thankfully. One should give you better results.
The easiest and quickest thing to do is to get some Comply Comfort strips and try them. The are small foam strips that have an adhesive backing and you literally wrap the strip around the tunnel part of the mold (the part that goes in the ear). They make an extra flexible layer of seal on the tunnel. Here’s a pic….

Obviously, that set of strips is on its last use, but you get the idea.

When I got those molds 6 years ago, I noticed that the seal would deteriorate when I smiled or laughed causing my jaw to move. I called 64 Audio and they were happy to make adjustments if I returned then. Nooo, I wanted to get on with using them. So the 64 tech suggested the comply strips and I have used them ever since. I love them! I order them from Amazon.

The second option. Find another audiologist. Period. Then get new impressions and have adjustments made to your molds. Good luck this time around.

 

[s0c9]

Most of the pro singers I've worked with literally put the tips in their mouths to get them wet before inserting them. Sort of a self-inflicted wet Willy.

(Of course, they clean them between uses.)

In 10 yrs of using IEM's I've NEVER needed to use wet/lube to insert the buds into my ears.
A slight twist and in they go.
Can (and have) worn them for 5 hours straight with zero discomfort, perfect seal, and ALWAYS keep the volume LOW!

 

[s0c9]

The second option. Find another audiologist. Period. Then get new impressions and have adjustments made to you molds. Good louche this time around.

+100% on this one. No matter how good the vendor is at making shells and IEM's they work off the impressions they receive.
I can't imagine an audiologist saying "oh yeah, it totally messed up your impressions" when your buds don't fit.. but that is 99% of the reason they don't!
I'm thankful I've not had to deal with this issue myself.. both sets of 64Audio ears I own have been a perfect fit!
Same audiologist, different sets of impressions!

 

[Geri O]

+100% on this one. No matter how good the vendor is at making shells and IEM's they work off the impressions they receive.
I can't imagine an audiologist saying "oh yeah, it totally messed up your impressions" when your buds don't fit.. but that is 99% of the reason they don't fit!
I'm thankful I've not had to deal with this issue myself.. both sets of 64Audio ears I own have been a perfect fit!
Same audiologist, different sets of impressions!

I mentioned a good bit of ear canal movement when I smile, laugh, or otherwise, make a stupid look (the biggest cause…), causing the seal to loosen. The 64 tech back then mentioned that they could expand the diameter of the tubes (I think I called them “canals” in the last post) for a tighter fit, but they might be uncomfortable at times. That’s when he suggested the comfort strips.

I’m not sure how the “bite block” affects the making of the impressions.

(And no one asked what a “louche” is!…. Don’t even know myself. It’s fixed now…)

 

[Joe Nerve]

UPDATE wedding #2:

I take back the, "I may have just thrown $1300 out the window," but only if I can get a proper seal.

After fiddling with them considerably last night I was able to work a good seal into the right ear. Only problem was the same as with @Geri O . If I smiled, laughed, or even moved too much, it was a done deal. And then it took a bunch of fiddling again to get it to sit right.

Why I now feel they're worth the money is that when they WERE working properly, it sounded awesome. I hardly heard the horns at all, and everything else sounded crystal clear.

@two fingers I will look into the wraps, but honestly - I want to do that only as a last resort. For the price, I want these monitors to do what they're supposed to. And I don't think adding them to the comply tips is going to make a whole lot of difference. It seems like I get as good as seal as I can already from them, and I'm not sure they'll even fit in my canal with any extra heft added.

IMPORTANT QUESTION::::

JH offers tips for proper fit. I emailed them to my audiologist after the first molds were bad, and she claimed to have read them. Because I don't sing she suggested not doing the molds with my mouth wide open (as suggested in their recommendations). It made sense to me, but now obviously I'm thinking she may have goofed on that one. It also doesn't explain why the left is more than perfect. I pop it in my ear in 2 seconds. Half a twist and its not moving, with a perfect seal. I didn't open my mouth for that one, either?

I dunno. I REALLY want to get them both perfect and my guess is they're not going to try this 10 times. Feel like we have this one shot left to get it right...

Any suggestions?

I will consider another audiologist, but I'd rather not pay. They have several working in the place I went to which is the most popular one in my area. Maybe I should request the owner who has been working there for over 40 years?

 

[Turn Em Loose]

UPDATE wedding #2:

I take back the, "I may have just thrown $1300 out the window," but only if I can get a proper seal.

After fiddling with them considerably last night I was able to work a good seal into the right ear. Only problem was the same as with @Geri O . If I smiled, laughed, or even moved too much, it was a done deal. And then it took a bunch of fiddling again to get it to sit right.

Why I now feel they're worth the money is that when they WERE working properly, it sounded awesome. I hardly heard the horns at all, and everything else sounded crystal clear.

@two fingers I will look into the wraps, but honestly - I want to do that only as a last resort. For the price, I want these monitors to do what they're supposed to. And I don't think adding them to the comply tips is going to make a whole lot of difference. It seems like I get as good as seal as I can already from them, and I'm not sure they'll even fit in my canal with any extra heft added.

IMPORTANT QUESTION::::

JH offers tips for proper fit. I emailed them to my audiologist after the first molds were bad, and she claimed to have read them. Because I don't sing she suggested not doing the molds with my mouth wide open (as suggested in their recommendations). It made sense to me, but now obviously I'm thinking she may have goofed on that one. It also doesn't explain why the left is more than perfect. I pop it in my ear in 2 seconds. Half a twist and its not moving, with a perfect seal. I didn't open my mouth for that one, either?

I dunno. I REALLY want to get them both perfect and my guess is they're not going to try this 10 times. Feel like we have this one shot left to get it right...

Any suggestions?

I will consider another audiologist, but I'd rather not pay. They have several working in the place I went to which is the most popular one in my area. Maybe I should request the owner who has been working there for over 40 years?

Hmmmm....Not sure what to recommend. You DID get a good impression with the audiologist on the left ear. So with that in mind I'd be inclined to use that same audiologist again.

I'm glad there is improvement for you, @Joe Nerve! I'm going to try again alter today (After cleaning and a quick work out. And maybe a little URB practice. And that dinner won't make itself?!)

I have a small bottle of that lube stuff from Westone and I'll give it a shot. And of course, good ol' fashioned spit will be applied at some point.

 

[Turn Em Loose]

I just received my 3 driver sensaphonics and experiencing the same issues. My audiologist checked my fit and says it's correct. She stressed the need for the IEM to seat correctly in your ear, so it remains locked into place. Cable management is important. She also recommended the westone ear lube which they just happen to sell for $5 but sensaphonics suggests KY jelly or astroglide.

None of this is working for me. The sound quality is very poor and inconsistent. $1200 down the drain.

Ugh. Don't give up and contact Sensaphonics. That's my route. I DO think they will try and make it right.

View attachment 4479497

First, and sorry, but forget the jelly.

You have two options, thankfully. One should give you better results.
The easiest and quickest thing to do is to get some Comply Comfort strips and try them. The are small foam strips that have an adhesive backing and you literally wrap the strip around the tunnel part of the mold (the part that goes in the ear). They make an extra flexible layer of seal on the tunnel. Here’s a pic….

View attachment 4479497
Obviously, that set of strips is on its last use, but you get the idea.

When I got those molds 6 years ago, I noticed that the seal would deteriorate when I smiled or laughed causing my jaw to move. I called 64 Audio and they were happy to make adjustments if I returned then. Nooo, I wanted to get on with using them. So the 64 tech suggested the comply strips and I have used them ever since. I love them! I order them from Amazon.

The second option. Find another audiologist. Period. Then get new impressions and have adjustments made to your molds. Good luck this time around.

I'm not sure, but I think the Sensaphonics are silicone and the Comply Comfort Strips won't work on silicone?

In 10 yrs of using IEM's I've NEVER needed to use wet/lube to insert the buds into my ears.
A slight twist and in they go.
Can (and have) worn them for 5 hours straight with zero discomfort, perfect seal, and ALWAYS keep the volume LOW!

This is what I, and many others in this thread are hoping for!!

 

[DJ Bebop]

UPDATE wedding #2:

I take back the, "I may have just thrown $1300 out the window," but only if I can get a proper seal.

After fiddling with them considerably last night I was able to work a good seal into the right ear. Only problem was the same as with @Geri O . If I smiled, laughed, or even moved too much, it was a done deal. And then it took a bunch of fiddling again to get it to sit right.

Why I now feel they're worth the money is that when they WERE working properly, it sounded awesome. I hardly heard the horns at all, and everything else sounded crystal clear.

@two fingers I will look into the wraps, but honestly - I want to do that only as a last resort. For the price, I want these monitors to do what they're supposed to. And I don't think adding them to the comply tips is going to make a whole lot of difference. It seems like I get as good as seal as I can already from them, and I'm not sure they'll even fit in my canal with any extra heft added.

IMPORTANT QUESTION::::

JH offers tips for proper fit. I emailed them to my audiologist after the first molds were bad, and she claimed to have read them. Because I don't sing she suggested not doing the molds with my mouth wide open (as suggested in their recommendations). It made sense to me, but now obviously I'm thinking she may have goofed on that one. It also doesn't explain why the left is more than perfect. I pop it in my ear in 2 seconds. Half a twist and its not moving, with a perfect seal. I didn't open my mouth for that one, either?

I dunno. I REALLY want to get them both perfect and my guess is they're not going to try this 10 times. Feel like we have this one shot left to get it right...

Any suggestions?

I will consider another audiologist, but I'd rather not pay. They have several working in the place I went to which is the most popular one in my area. Maybe I should request the owner who has been working there for over 40 years?

Look in the mirror.
One side of our bodies is different than the other.
One eye is bigger, one cheek bone is higher or more defined. So it would seem that would carry over to the ear canal. You may need two different sizes to get a better fit. A medium and a small tip or something like that.



PS I now see you had molds made.
I've got nothing then.

I don't sing (thank God) so my IEM work fine with the OTC Comply tips.

 

[Geri O]

I'm not sure, but I think the Sensaphonics are silicone and the Comply Comfort Strips won't work on silicone

Eek! Good point! My guess is, not likely. Bummer.

 

[two fingers]

UPDATE wedding #2:

I take back the, "I may have just thrown $1300 out the window," but only if I can get a proper seal.

After fiddling with them considerably last night I was able to work a good seal into the right ear. Only problem was the same as with @Geri O . If I smiled, laughed, or even moved too much, it was a done deal. And then it took a bunch of fiddling again to get it to sit right.

Why I now feel they're worth the money is that when they WERE working properly, it sounded awesome. I hardly heard the horns at all, and everything else sounded crystal clear.

@two fingers I will look into the wraps, but honestly - I want to do that only as a last resort. For the price, I want these monitors to do what they're supposed to. And I don't think adding them to the comply tips is going to make a whole lot of difference. It seems like I get as good as seal as I can already from them, and I'm not sure they'll even fit in my canal with any extra heft added.

IMPORTANT QUESTION::::

JH offers tips for proper fit. I emailed them to my audiologist after the first molds were bad, and she claimed to have read them. Because I don't sing she suggested not doing the molds with my mouth wide open (as suggested in their recommendations). It made sense to me, but now obviously I'm thinking she may have goofed on that one. It also doesn't explain why the left is more than perfect. I pop it in my ear in 2 seconds. Half a twist and its not moving, with a perfect seal. I didn't open my mouth for that one, either?

I dunno. I REALLY want to get them both perfect and my guess is they're not going to try this 10 times. Feel like we have this one shot left to get it right...

Any suggestions?

I will consider another audiologist, but I'd rather not pay. They have several working in the place I went to which is the most popular one in my area. Maybe I should request the owner who has been working there for over 40 years?

Oh I absolutely agree you should pursue the perfect fit. I only suggested the Comply wraps at a temporary seal solution.

 

[s0c9]

After fiddling with them considerably last night I was able to work a good seal into the right ear. Only problem was the same as with @Geri O . If I smiled, laughed, or even moved too much, it was a done deal. And then it took a bunch of fiddling again to get it to sit right.

Yep.. goes back to impressions not being accurate!

JH offers tips for proper fit. I emailed them to my audiologist after the first molds were bad, and she claimed to have read them. Because I don't sing she suggested not doing the molds with my mouth wide open (as suggested in their recommendations). It made sense to me, but now obviously I'm thinking she may have goofed on that one. It also doesn't explain why the left is more than perfect. I pop it in my ear in 2 seconds. Half a twist and its not moving, with a perfect seal. I didn't open my mouth for that one, either?

Get the most experienced guy to do another set and INSIST on a bite block. I'm going with that is why they don't fit properly! Whether you sing or not, you should always do impressions using a bite block as it opens the ear canal so when you sing, open your mouth, turn your head, you don't lose the seal!
No seal = no bass!

I'm NOT claiming to be an expert on the topic, but have been thru this a few times and read plenty online [multiple forums including headfi.org] about the challenges with fit!

 

[buldog5151bass]

1. You have significant hearing issues. Thats a valid reason to ask BL to put you on a quieter part of the stage.

2. I don't know if you have any interest in a DIY solution/experiment, but I spent time with a six piece band that went full IEM . I didn't have the interest for customs, but I got some of the putty shooters use to make custom ear plugs. Pu the putty in your ears and press the IEMs in and you can make a custom mold (several videos on YouTube). Just a thought if you want to try.

 

[buldog5151bass]

If you paid $1300, and they aren't working properly, they should make it right, at their cost. This isn't the Dollar Store...

 

[s0c9]

If you paid $1300, and they aren't working properly, they should make it right, at their cost. This isn't the Dollar Store...

To the best of my knowledge, it's NOT that they "aren't working properly", it's that the seal/fit is not correct! Different issue!
That goes back to faulty impressions, and in @Joe Nerve's case.. they did not use a bite block when taking the impressions!
I suggested they get redone [with bite block] and send buds and new impressions to vendor for a refit!