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[Tim Hite]

It sounds like you had a bad set of ear impressions (there is a technique to making these) and/or the wrong material choice for the final mold.  If it's a bad impression you can probably go back to the audiologist for a do-over (might be free, might not).  If the mold material isn't working for you how about asking UE for advice?  They might re-cast the molds for a nominal fee.

UE took digital ear maps a couple years ago at their booth at the NAMM show.

I just called UE and they are doing an in-warranty repair for me to see if they can refit the devices. Perhaps I can get some use out of them, after all. Figured all was lost after they were acquired by a consumer electronics company.

Thanks Dude.

FWIW the Sensaphonics I had done this year at NAMM were done with an audiologist in their booth and foam impressions. They fit great right out of the box. Perhaps a lesson to be learned there regarding getting impressions done correctly.

[Tim Hite]

That is really unfortunate and should not have happened.  It's not uncommon for custom IEMs to have fit issues teh first time around, but every IEM manufacturer i have ever worked with offered unlimited refits until the product fit correctly for free.  It's a bummer that Ultimate didn't do that for you as a matter of course.

I'm not blameless here, I had let them sit until their 30-day free refit period passed. I just called them and they are going to take care of it for me under warranty.

And yes I would expect better support for as much as these cost, not sure why 30-day thing was even on their web site.

[brian maddox]

UE took digital ear maps a couple years ago at their booth at the NAMM show.

I just called UE and they are doing an in-warranty repair for me to see if they can refit the devices. Perhaps I can get some use out of them, after all. Figured all was lost after they were acquired by a consumer electronics company.

Thanks Dude.

FWIW the Sensaphonics I had done this year at NAMM were done with an audiologist in their booth and foam impressions. They fit great right out of the box. Perhaps a lesson to be learned there regarding getting impressions done correctly.

Yeah, sometimes old skool is good skool. 

Sounds like UE is sorting this for you.  Glad to hear it....

[Ned Ward]

Word to the wise - I had ear molds made for my Shure E2c (consumer grade, but more for listening on the plane than IEM). The audiologist warned that if you lose a lot of weight, they won't fit.

For the past 15 years that hasn't been a problem, but now that I'm getting back under my weight when I had them made I am noticing they're a bit looser. Then again so are my pants.

[Stephen Kirby]

FWIW the Sensaphonics I had done this year at NAMM were done with an audiologist in their booth and foam impressions. They fit great right out of the box. Perhaps a lesson to be learned there regarding getting impressions done correctly.

Lisa T. did the impressions for my ER15s and Shure sleeves for IEMs.  She flies between SF and LA for Sensaphonics doing their impressions.  She really knows what she's doing and how the plugs will be used.  Earlier plugs I had made by my health plan's audiologist were painful after about an hour.  I had less of an issue with crowd sound than I had with hearing the other instruments on stage.  A touring pro on The Gear Page suggested stereo and that really helped.  We did ambient mics as well.  I still disagree with the use of IEMs for small time acts where you don't have a dedicated monitor engineer.  But I'm a musician first and sound operator second.  I'll work with acts that have excessive stage volume the best I can with the wedges I've got.  But I won't tell them how to position their amps or that they need to use IEMs.  That's up to them.  I'm there to get what they do across the best I can.

[Steve Oldridge]

I have been using 1964 Ears (Audio) for close to 4 yrs now. First the Qi's (now discontinued) and upgraded to A8's back in Jan 16 when my band became 1964 Artists.   The ADEL tech - now called APEX - basically acts like a set of ambient ports, equalizing the internal pressure between ear cavity and external.  The factory supplied diaphragms (25dB?) are also available as accessories in differing isolation levels.. 15 and 20dB.
I have the factory defaults, but can hear audience, can hear stage noise fairly well when no music is playing.
I often leave them in for an entire 4-hr gig. When you walk outside with them in, you can hear wind noise, and when on a plane, engine noise (albeit both at greatly reduced levels). Putting your fingers on each, closes the diaphragm and gives you that standard-sealed-isolated experience.

They work fine for me..   YMMV

[Randy Pence]

Word to the wise - I had ear molds made for my Shure E2c (consumer grade, but more for listening on the plane than IEM). The audiologist warned that if you lose a lot of weight, they won't fit.

For the past 15 years that hasn't been a problem, but now that I'm getting back under my weight when I had them made I am noticing they're a bit looser. Then again so are my pants.

Ears change their shape as one ages, as well.

[John Chiara]

Lisa T. did the impressions for my ER15s and Shure sleeves for IEMs.  She flies between SF and LA for Sensaphonics doing their impressions.  She really knows what she's doing and how the plugs will be used.  Earlier plugs I had made by my health plan's audiologist were painful after about an hour.  I had less of an issue with crowd sound than I had with hearing the other instruments on stage.  A touring pro on The Gear Page suggested stereo and that really helped.  We did ambient mics as well.  I still disagree with the use of IEMs for small time acts where you don't have a dedicated monitor engineer.  But I'm a musician first and sound operator second.  I'll work with acts that have excessive stage volume the best I can with the wedges I've got.  But I won't tell them how to position their amps or that they need to use IEMs.  That's up to them.  I'm there to get what they do across the best I can.

Small time acts with the exact same setup every night should be fine with IEMs.

[brian maddox]

Ears change their shape as one ages, as well.

Very true.  I'm actually due for new impressions and a refit.

Ah, aging....

[Kevin McDonough]

I've always been a huge fan of ACS moulded ear plugs and IEMs, far as I remember they were pretty much the first company to use a soft silicone for their products rather than a stiffer plasticy material and have always found them much more comfortable to wear.  In particular they are fairly famous for the Pro 17 ear plugs that are regarded as the flattest frequency response availabe and they can be used mixing FOH while still being pretty confident that you'r not altering frequency response of your hearing too much, and then overcompensating in your mix.

With regards to this discussion, I've never looked massively into the Sensaphonics ambient system, but I know that ACS do a "live" system that uses an ambience processor to allow you to mix in some of your surroundings with your desk mix. I assume it's a similar sort of system?

The little beltpack/processor that it uses works with all three price points of their Live IEMs, so there may be an option that suits your budget in there.

K

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