What IEM's are you currently using?

[Fun Size Nick]

Some folks (like me) have small ear canals and CANNOT use universal fit buds aa they don’t seal or stay in my ears - even after trying the variety of 3rd Party tips/sleeves and types of tips, including the smallest available.I have a set of KZ 16Pro’s that I bought earlier this year. The sound bore (even with no tips attached) was still TOO LARGE to fit in my ears!
I wish that were not the case, but customs are my only option!
I’m sure I’m not the only bassist with this challenge!

Yeah those 5mm bores really limit things! I use a set of KZ AS10s for general listening, I have a medium size comply tip in my right ear which is fine, but a small in my left and while it fits, there’s not a lot of foam around the rubber core so it’s not the most comfortable thing to have shoved in my ear.

 

[ivanthetrble]

64 Audio A4s custom molds. Love them but I think if I had to do it over I may have gone with the N8s.

 

[micguy]

Shure 425’s with triple flange sleeves - those stay in my ears, nothing else does.

 

[prndltech]

Some folks (like me) have small ear canals and CANNOT use universal fit buds aa they don’t seal or stay in my ears - even after trying the variety of 3rd Party tips/sleeves and types of tips, including the smallest available.I have a set of KZ 16Pro’s that I bought earlier this year. The sound bore (even with no tips attached) was still TOO LARGE to fit in my ears!
I wish that were not the case, but customs are my only option!
I’m sure I’m not the only bassist with this challenge!

I tried different kinds of tips on my kz’s and there’s a reason I got the 64’s now. I shoulda done custom from the beginning… life changing!

 

[turcmic]

Unity Dynamic IEMs

A fresh take on class tech and setting a new standard for budget-friendly IEM performance thanks to the dynamic driver and proprietary tuning.

plungeaudio.com

Or if you want to spend more of better separation try these. Unity Stage IEMs

Just ordered these ones. Can’t wait to hear them when I get home next week! Buying from a Canadian company is also a huge satisfying plus!

I bought these as a replacement for my UE Reference Remastered IEM. My left IEM broke in 2 while removing it from my ear last week. The repair cost including shipping is not worth it. Also, a random break is not something I consider acceptable especially at this price point.

 

[Runnerman]

I had molded Alien Ears units which I've used for probably 7-8 years. The connections finally wore out to the point that I had to use duct tape to keep the wires in. Then finally, I stepped on one of them and totally destroyed it. I replaced them with a non-molded Weston Pro X30 at the recommendation of another player and pretty happy with them. Sound wise they are excellent (I also do bass and vocals) and the T2 snap in connectors are far superior to the old gold two pin connection.

I would say I still prefer the fit of a molded monitor after using one for so long but I'm happy enough with the Westones for now.

 

[acid bass]

I have the following custom IEMs:

• Alclair Spire
• JH Audio JH11
• 64 Audio A4s

The JH11s are the best combo of sound quality and comfort/fit. Slightly above your $1K range, but they often run a Black Friday sale. I won't go into exhaustive detail about my reasons, but if you want to hear them I'll spill.

 

[erayser]

Lot of 64 Audio custom users in this thread. Another 64 Audio user here. Love my A12t's... purchased them during 64's yearly Black Friday sale. My first customs were Alclair Tours... which are now my backup CIEM's. The church I played for at the time paid for the Alclair Tours, and that's when I found that customs worked best for me and my ear canals.

 

[GTHintz]

Currently rethinking my iem situation. I've had kz zstx for years and they have held up great at home getting regular practice through the pile of pedals I have. Recently tried Shure se215 and they are great for those who don't need harsh treble and just want a thick tone coming through. I'm going to try another chifi brand and hopefully things go well. I've only tried cheap ones and this time I went with more of a mid grade spec. Dual driver with balanced armatures. Hopefully I can bridge the gap between beefy low end and enough presence everywhere else to balance out my sound in the mixes which are typically mastered music and more raw pieces that I try to get creative with.

 

[Fun Size Nick]

Currently rethinking my iem situation. I've had kz zstx for years and they have held up great at home getting regular practice through the pile of pedals I have. Recently tried Shure se215 and they are great for those who don't need harsh treble and just want a thick tone coming through. I'm going to try another chifi brand and hopefully things go well. I've only tried cheap ones and this time I went with more of a mid grade spec. Dual driver with balanced armatures. Hopefully I can bridge the gap between beefy low end and enough presence everywhere else to balance out my sound in the mixes which are typically mastered music and more raw pieces that I try to get creative with.

For the bedroom use you’re describing I’m sure it’s fine but for me the big problem using the se215 live was how badly it would lose clarity when there was a lot going on in a mix, especially when trying to get a useable level of kick drum in there. The little driver just gets overwhelmed! I worked around it as much as I could by hard panning & excluding instruments less vital to me (sorry BVs) but there’s only so much you can do. The huge low freq BA in my alclair dual XB can handle those big kick drum transients much better without losing the clarity of my bass.

 

[GTHintz]

For the bedroom use you’re describing I’m sure it’s fine but for me the big problem using the se215 live was how badly it would lose clarity when there was a lot going on in a mix, especially when trying to get a useable level of kick drum in there. The little driver just gets overwhelmed! I worked around it as much as I could by hard panning & excluding instruments less vital to me (sorry BVs) but there’s only so much you can do. The huge low freq BA in my alclair dual XB can handle those big kick drum transients much better without losing the clarity of my bass.

Well I had a similar impression to yours. I like the lows but everything else is definitely not as well detailed as I'd like. I bet the 325 or 535 Shure is a lot more well rounded having another driver for the higher frequencies. I think anything with 2 drivers to share the load and some well though bas will be a far cry better than the single driver stuff. The only thing I'll say is that if this was about 20 years ago the Shure 215 would be a nice in ear compared to what ear buds used to sound like. Especially the cheaper ones. The tech in the lower tier stuff has reached a very high level.

 

[s0c9]

Well I had a similar impression to yours. I like the lows but everything else is definitely not as well detailed as I'd like. I bet the 325 or 535 Shure is a lot more well rounded having another driver for the higher frequencies. I think anything with 2 drivers to share the load and some well though bas will be a far cry better than the single driver stuff. The only thing I'll say is that if this was about 20 years ago the Shure 215 would be a nice in ear compared to what ear buds used to sound like. Especially the cheaper ones. The tech in the lower tier stuff has reached a very high level.

Same here. I used the SE215's (for a while) when I had my PSM200.
I've since learned that single driver buds - since they have to reproduce the entire spectrum and have inherent mechanical inefficiencies - tend to cause ear fatigue more quickly than multi-driver buds. When that happens, one tends to turn them up to hear better, which in turn causes more fatigue. Vicious cycle.
Think of using only one speaker for your PA.. similar issues with maintaining definition, separation and clarity. Plus, that single driver works hard!
Have long since moved to 4, then 8-driver buds!

 

[Fun Size Nick]

Well I had a similar impression to yours. I like the lows but everything else is definitely not as well detailed as I'd like. I bet the 325 or 535 Shure is a lot more well rounded having another driver for the higher frequencies. I think anything with 2 drivers to share the load and some well though bas will be a far cry better than the single driver stuff. The only thing I'll say is that if this was about 20 years ago the Shure 215 would be a nice in ear compared to what ear buds used to sound like. Especially the cheaper ones. The tech in the lower tier stuff has reached a very high level.

Same here. I used the SE215's (for a while) when I had my PSM200.
I've since learned that single driver buds - since they have to reproduce the entire spectrum and have inherent mechanical inefficiencies - tend to cause ear fatigue more quickly than multi-driver buds. When that happens, one tends to turn them up to hear better, which in turn causes more fatigue. Vicious cycle.
Think of using only one speaker for your PA.. similar issues with maintaining definition, separation and clarity. Plus, that single driver works hard!
Have long since moved to 4, then 8-driver buds!

A more capable single dynamic driver earbud would do much better - there are a few brands that do a high performance single dynamic driver IEM. They usually have a much larger driver than the se215 and cost significantly more money!

With balanced armatures, you need multiple drivers as their frequency response is much narrower than dynamics.

Personally, if I was looking to spend shure 535 money, I’d look strongly at alternatives as I think you can do much better in that price range. My (custom) dual XBs weren’t much different in price, especially as I considered the cost of impressions to be spread across both them and a set of custom earplugs which I’d had made a few months previous. If you’re in the US then your shipping would be cheaper than mine also.

 

[Goatrope]

I've had the Sure SE425s for nearly a decade. I haven't used them for all gigs, but the last year, most. I've replaced the cord once.

These days it's more about keeping drums and cymbals from wrecking what's left of my hearing.

I think these do a decent job for both bass and vocals. The "right" fit is key. Mine don't fit/seal my ears particularly well, but the bleed of bass from the amp enhances the sound. I tighter fit might give me more direct skull resonance as opposed to the bleed.

But they certainly block out the cymbal crashes.

I'm using the largest ear foam for these and squish them down before inserting.

It seems like a bit of an art to get optimal sound out of any particular IEM. Practice makes better. Just don't give up too soon, you'll get them to work.

 

[GTHintz]

A more capable single dynamic driver earbud would do much better - there are a few brands that do a high performance single dynamic driver IEM. They usually have a much larger driver than the se215 and cost significantly more money!

With balanced armatures, you need multiple drivers as their frequency response is much narrower than dynamics.

Personally, if I was looking to spend shure 535 money, I’d look strongly at alternatives as I think you can do much better in that price range. My (custom) dual XBs weren’t much different in price, especially as I considered the cost of impressions to be spread across both them and a set of custom earplugs which I’d had made a few months previous. If you’re in the US then your shipping would be cheaper than mine also.

For some reason I want to like the Shure sound but at the same time you're right about how much is available on the market. Chi fi Pop up companies have really put stiff competition which overall is great for us the consumer. Thankfully I don't have to worry about how they hold up to touring so whatever I land on I can get away with something that's not as durable. However I do realize how bad cheap ear buds can be. I've been through plenty of cheapo ear buds growing up.

 

[Bonecat]

Currently using SE425s and they’re ok. Considering an upgrade but uncertain about what direction to go in…

 

[Dollar2]

They will need to pry my 64 Audio N8s out of my cold dead ears

 

[s0c9]

They will need to pry my 64 Audio N8s out of my cold dead ears

Same with my A8’s

 

[GTHintz]

Currently using SE425s and they’re ok. Considering an upgrade but uncertain about what direction to go in…

I don't know how they sound vs the 215 but at least with the 215 I'd love to have a little bit more detail in the high mids and not feel as lost in certain mixes. What would you like to hear more from in your se425?

 

[electriccheese]

I use the KZ DQS. It's a single driver, but sounds pretty good. The barrel is smaller than other KZ iems, and seals better in my ears.

The sound is darker than the ZS10 Pro X, with the bass more natural, and less agressive on the highs. I use it with an EQ for my bass monitoring, without it they have too much bass.