Haven’t had enough time to finish my thoughts but it’s worth noting that the A12t sounds quite a bit different than the U12t due to, at a minimum, insertion depth. Speaking to a few folks who tried both, we’ve found the A12t quite a bit darker…
CFA (and other shallow CIEMs) might avoid this but I’d still want to try their universal tester of the Solstice first. The Equinox and Atlas sounded quite different despite being the same driver - the Equinox was deliberately tuned differently, not sure if this applies to the Solstice as well.
FYI you can always request that CIEMs be built with a longer or shorter insertion depth, physical material permitting. Usually there’s a limit on how long the ear canal part can be built with the semi soft material that Westone uses but for 64 and CA they’re probably fine with it.
Don’t bother with FS at all. They’re bass cannons. Midbass bloated to most. I have an MG5HX and semi-regretted the purchase. It’s average in technical ability but the FR balance is very poor.
Some manufacturers will refuse this as most just go a bit past the 2nd bend. If its much longer past the 2nd bend it can cause irritation easily since the skin is more delicate at that region.
As for A12t there seems to be massive unit variance. My unit isn’t noticeably darker than U12t but it does have more bass, whether perceived due to better fit or actually tuned that way. I’ve been a huge fan of my A12ts since day 1, they have surprisingly good bass for a BA set, and dynamics across the board are stellar, without sacrificing natural timbre. Resolution is great, and soundstage is pretty wide, though they tend to push things to the sides of the stage rather than positioning them throughout the stage like they should. Treble is peaky, but if you can live with that, these are some of the best CIEMs imo (assuming you get a good unit).
Now my next pair are unique made from a block of carbon fiber. Haven’t got a price back, but they will have to be tuned and molded to support some issues I had with my left ear during some head and neck surgery in March, Of course they must be custom fit. They are the JH Custom LightningStrike Carbon
In looking to get ear molds done for the first time, I contacted a recommended Audiologist doctor.
In addition to making AMAZING ear molds, he taught me quite a bit about the importance of getting it done RIGHT. He said that there are chances that audiologists produce poor molds which lead to a poorly fitting IEM. Check out his site. He’s in NYC.
I had much anxiety about finding a person that could do it right in the NYC area. No one responded to my posts on sites, so HOPE THIS INFO HELPS FOLKS.
I just got my impressions done today, and my right ear canal that has been giving me problems has a funky notch in it.
When the impression was made, it caught and created a vacuum on the way out. It was so interesting to the doctor that she got her camera out to take a better look. She said they are about the most wax free and clean ears she has seen. It appears that my canal just grew this way.
I am attaching photos of both ears. But here are my questions:
will ciems work for me? Will they have to cut them shorter?
could this be responsible for additional sound imbalance I hear sometimes?
On the first two it clearly shows a notch where it gets narrower and then gets wider again deeper into the canal. My left ear seems narrow but blissfully normal.
So I just got my ear impressions taken at an audiologist, and they mentioned that they also sell IEM’s, though no one seems to buy them (their catalog was from 2012)
It looks like their OEM is Westone though so I was wondering what the general vibe was for Westone’s lower end CIEM’s.
I really enjoy my ER2XR, and was planning on getting custom tips for them, but the audiologist said they could put the cost of the impressions towards the headphones if I ordered through them.
I figure it’s worth looking into. So does anyone on here have experience with the ES10 or ES20?
