On a second listening session, I found that the Xelastec seal was not as good as I’d previously reported – I think the initial impression was so good because I was laying down, and so my ear canals were further impacted. Sitting or standing, the same issues that I had been dealing with are still present.
The New Bee foam tips are not quite as easy to get working as I’d thought. I’ll try the again when I have time – if they do a great job, I’ll be happy, but it still won’t be a permanent solution.
Try more tips? Sell the SA6’s? Maybe IEMs (at least, non-custom IEMs) just aren’t for me. I think I’ll see how I luck out fit-wise with another pair of IEMs before selling these, because I like their sound so much.
I find the trick to the New Bee is to squish 'em as small as possible (because they’re long enough you really don’t need to worry about the end being pinched off like a Comply would), pull the back of your ear to straighten the canal, and jam em in as deep as you can - I find with my right ear it help to angle the SA6 upwards. Also helps to push them in place until the foam fully expands. It takes some trial and error to get the process down, and it doesn’t help that the New Bees seem to expand faster than Comply.
It also is possible that the SA6 aren’t compatible with you, with their short nozzles (notoriously bad for fit issues IME)
I was just about to sit down and try the New Bee’s, and saw this message! Yeah, I intend to try the squish method; that’s exactly what I’d do with my earplugs which had foam tips.
It’s really hard for me to say exactly what the issue has been. As before, my left ear tends to slow-reject the unit with all tip sizes, and on top of that both ears have difficulty achieving a proper seal, usually just feeling like they’re sitting in there, with an open feeling and space/air around.
Unsure if this means I just have very big ear canals (could they really be that big?!), or if it is actually a depth issue.
The right ear has a nice fill, and the left one, while still shy of perfect, is the best I’ve had yet. That’s with medium in the right and large in the left. Once given time to fully expand, they feel snug. For the first time I can walk around and believe that the seal will not be lost.
Listening to Hank Mobley’s No Room for Squares, and the presentation is very clear. What’re some thoughts, from folks who have them, on how the foams affect sound? Are there general, widely accepted generalizations in this regard?
With isolation like this using the New Bee’s, who the heck needs noise cancellation tech.
Nope, just try a different cable. I had the same issues as you until I changed it. Grab the Tripowin C8 from Amazon; you can always return it if it doesn’t help.
To see if the cable is causing an issue, put the regular silicone tips back on, detach the cable and seat the IEMs in your ears. Do they fit well and stay put? Now reconnect the cable and repeat; do they still fit well and stay secure?
There we move from objective measurements into perception and psychoacoustics. Each ear has a slightly different shape and size, each person’s nerves may function a bit differently, and we all have different hearing loss/wear-and-tear. At the end of the day you must decide for yourself and compare to known benchmarks…if it matters… Otherwise, just enjoy life.
That’s true. Someday give Etymotic a try – they go in very deep and crank the isolation up to another level.
Indeed, I was pretty blown away by how much they actually did block the sound when I finally bought a pair.
Thankfully they fit my ears like a key in a lock - that did make me feel bad about not buying a pair sooner though
Forgot to ask earlier…
Anybody have connection issues with the stock cable using the 4.4mm connector? In order to get both channels working properly I needed to make a small plastic shim to fit over the connector - otherwise I needed to slightly pull the plug out of the hipdac
You’re a genius. Holy shit. They fit and stay just as well as the Meze Rai Pentas that I was given to try – I’d thought that they fit my ears much better, and was readying myself to sell the Dunu’s to try something different (save for Monarch mk2’s, perhaps).
After trying your trick of testing the fit unwired, I decided to wear the SA6’s with the split wire behind my head, and the rest of the cable wrapped around my neck to connect to my DAP. Without the weight, which I presume you’re correct in stating is the main culprit, the fit is markedly better. I still wonder whether it’s entirely the weight, or a combination effect with the shape of the 2pin termination plugs. I was so discouraged (because honestly, I like the weight, and was convinced it was the nozzle) and didn’t even try this test of yours until tonight, in a final split-decision to give them a last hurrah.
I’m now wearing them with the largest Xelastec and am blown away by an A/B comparison to the Pentas. (The SA6’s are such a better-sounding IEM for literally 50% of the MSRP.)
I’m afraid to buy the Tripowin’s – I admit that I have been extremely spoiled by the modular cable system, which I already snatched (Hart cables for my headphones). Any experience enjoying the Dunu’s with a Hart IC-2 for the 78mm 2pin? They’re such substantial IEM cables, I’m afraid that the weight issue will crop up again. It must be something to do with a combo effect of the SA6 design, no?
@Nuance – you, sir, have made my week. Come to LA and I’ll buy you a beer or two.
No issues here. Sorry to hear you had to hack yours like this. Personally, I would contact Dunu…
I’m open to giving them a shot. Just opened their web page to find a new model retailing at $499. If the fit is so good I may try to pick up a pair of these later this year when I can manage another addition to the lineup. Do feel free to send me yours to test out.
On second thought, I don’t think it’s the weight of the cables so much as their stiffness. Wearing them with the split facing backward, along the back of my neck as described above, I tried just letting the cable ‘hang’ out of the ear as opposed to tucked behind the helix. They still in much better, and tucking behind the ear again quickly leads to the seal slowly farting out.
I’m surprised that more people don’t have this issue, but glad to finally have it pinned down. Again, now I’m on the hunt for a modular cable that won’t present such issues, and wondering whether the Hart PC-2 will do the trick. @brux?
Haha, I am very glad to hear you figured things out! It’s definitely bitter sweet, as the Dunu modular cable is so nice, but it was unusable for me.
I think you’re right about the weight - it’s not really that so much but rather the placement of the 2-pin connector combined with aggressively shaped earhooks on the Dunu cable; it literally pulls the earphones out of my ear. The Tripowin works really well and has a solid build, but it’s not modular so is kind of a downgrade. The Hart cable I tried my SA6 with gave me no issues, for what it’s worth.
Good to see you’re still enjoying them, Resolve. Your video assisted me in deciding to give them a try.
I do rather love the tuning, but seem to be unlucky in terms of the fit. These are strictly at-home, relaxing-before-bed IEMs for me, for now. We’ll see if an upgraded cable changes that.
If I understand it correctly, not every 2pin cable works with SA6, because the 2pin sockets on it are a bit recessed. Does anyone know how to verify if a cable is compatible wiht it? Or what kind of aftermarket cables are available for it?
I’ve found that my Tripowin cable are fine it’s just a bit of a squeeze to get the whole thing in there. I put the two pins (with the original Dunu chonkcable) side by side before even inserting it and they looked the exact same length. You’re right the SA6 is super recessed but it makes for a perfectly flush fit. Using it with my Altea cable looks beautiful with my purple/blue SA6.
I’m guessing that’s just the default length for Tripowin but you can check by just putting them side by side.
The SA6’s sockets are definitely recessed but more importantly, there’s a channel to prevent you from willy nilly shoving the cable in. Take a look at this:
This sort of connector would work. It has the “extension” that would fit into the recession in the SA6 and it has the little groove to fit into the channel.
