[Tanalasta]

First world problems... Decision to make.

SpinFit W1. Large is very large - 13.5mm diameter. Easy to slip on even wide nozzles. Only 1 pair per packet. Comfortable but too large. Recessed mids and need to go down a size before I can properly evaluate.

XElastec. The closest to the original Oriolus eartips in sound signature. IEM's always sing with these. I'm possibly in between M and ML sizes. One of the reasons I enjoy full-sized headphones is I don't have to deal with idiosyncrasies of tip fitting where a different tip and even sizing can affect the sonic signature. Sonically my favourite tips. But grippy, dirty and just not that comfy compared to the newer medical grade silicone tips. Heck, the CP-100 are more comfortable.

SednaEarfit Max. Soft medical grade silicone. These are comfy. Like very comfy. Subtly prefer the sound of the XElastec. Mids are slightly forward, a tad warmer and more 'in your head' with the soundstage than XElastec. The nozzle is thicker and tighter to put on than than Xlastec and W1 (which both slip on wide nozzles easily). I need to compare this to the M which has yet to arrive.

These are of course hugely subjective and not a proper review. But it's the first proper tip rolling I've done in a while.

 

[DunninLA]

Would anyone be so kind as to rank order IEM from smallest to largest tip opening?

I have just a few tips by way of comparison. I have simgot MT3 with supplied very thick milky white narrow and wide bore tips. I have Tripowin Olina SE in supplied narrow and wide bore. I have Final E black colored.

It appears form pictures that the rank order of inner tip diameter of the most popular aftermarket tips are:

Narrowest: Final E
Narrow/Med: Spinfit 145, Spinfit W??
Med: Azla Xelastic
Widest: JVC Spiral Dots

Can anyone confirm this? As an aside, I am not asking about the bore size of the part that fits onto the IEM's nozzle. I am asking about the inner diameter of the tip opening. I know we use the terms "narrow bore", and "wide bore" but technicallly it isn't the bore I'm asking about.

 

[KinGensai]

Just got my Eletech Baroques in, initial impressions are vs the Velvets.

The silicone flanges are significantly thinner, makes them more comfortable once set. The bore is wider and flared out, similar to the Sancai wide bore tips but not quite as extreme. Texture is a bit smoother on the Baroque in a similar matte way. The edges of the flange don't catch on my ears as they are removed, but they invert more readily than the Velvet on removal. They attenuate outside noise less, but they also allow air pressure to equalize much more readily, makes fit much less finicky.

Mid-bass & upper mids are attenuated comparatively, similar to the Sancai wide bore. The same diffuse sound presentation is also present here, makes sound slightly wider compared to Velvets. I can't tell if the Tria thing is actually doing anything or not, I suspect any reduced perceived distortion is due to less mid-bass presence overall.

Overall these sound good at home. The sound attenuation is significantly lower though, so I'll have to listen closely in a more noisy environ to see how they hold up. So far so good though.

 

[KinGensai]

Would anyone be so kind as to rank order IEM from smallest to largest tip opening?

I have just a few tips by way of comparison. I have simgot MT3 with supplied very thick milky white narrow and wide bore tips. I have Tripowin Olina SE in supplied narrow and wide bore. I have Final E black colored.

It appears form pictures that the rank order of inner tip diameter of the most popular aftermarket tips are:

Narrowest: Final E
Narrow/Med: Spinfit 145, Spinfit W??
Med: Azla Xelastic
Widest: JVC Spiral Dots

Can anyone confirm this? As an aside, I am not asking about the bore size of the part that fits onto the IEM's nozzle. I am asking about the inner diameter of the tip opening. I know we use the terms "narrow bore", and "wide bore" but technicallly it isn't the bore I'm asking about.

Final E and non W1 spinfits are debatable, the flexible joint inside the bore of the Spinfit makes a difference due to that area being narrower than the tip nozzle. Final Es do not accentuate treble as much as spinfits do, so in effect I consider Spinfits being narrower than Final Es. I'm curious as to why this is relevant though.

 

[DunninLA]

Final E and non W1 spinfits are debatable, the flexible joint inside the bore of the Spinfit makes a difference due to that area being narrower than the tip nozzle. Final Es do not accentuate treble as much as spinfits do, so in effect I consider Spinfits being narrower than Final Es. I'm curious as to why this is relevant though.

well, I find it curious that manufacturers create IEMs with nozzles that have an interior bore of, say 4mm, and when a tip is installed, such as the Final E, that sound opening is throttled down to say, 2mm. How does that make any sense? If the manufacturer thought their IEM is tuned best to 2mm opening, then they would make a nozzle with 2mm interior diameter, wouldn't they? This thinking does not apply to manufacturers who use interior sound tubes of tiny diameter that exit only at the nozzle opening. So it seems to me that tip opening that differs from the manufacturer's interior nozzle opening is a kind of physical tone control, EQing if you will. And as long as we're going to throttle down the opening for the sound from what the manufacturer intended, then the magnitude of throttling matters... throttle down to 2mm? 2.5mm? 3mm? or not throttle at all with a very wide bore tip.

In my particular case with the P5, I find the sound with the Final E tip installed to be fine, but maybe too fine. I might be missing a little bit of sparkle that is removed by the Final Es 2mm (guessing there) opening. So then I thought, what if Spinfit's opening is a little more than Final E, like 2.5mm? Perhaps a little of the sparkle would be gained back that was taken by the Final E.

 

[KinGensai]

Sound functions similar to a fluid, so that exponential curve added to tips in some cases is used to compress or rarify air pressure as it is released into the ear canal. This has a few effects: The relative amplitude of bass frequencies is affected due to being throttled into a focused path, treble is affected by phase interference in varied ways due to reflections off the increasingly compressed air particles and core walls, among other effects.

The rule of thumb is wider bore = less bass amplitude, which then results in clearer perception of mids and treble.

 

[KinGensai]

Final verdict on Eletech Baroque: fancy spiraldots.

Spent a day in my usual use case, the plot thickens. My day usually sees 8+ hour use with periodic insertions & removals, so tips see a lot of use. I want my tips to be relatively friction free and maintain seal by applying light pressure to my ear canals so the tips don't irritate my canals as I insert/remove them. This is the main reason why I immediately tabled Azla Crystals & TPE tips.

The Baroque tips start out fine. When cold and dry, they slide effortlessly across skin and maintain seal adequately & comfortably. The comfort doesn't change, but as time passes by they start losing the matte texture I like and grip like a more traditional silicone. Trying to remove the tips after a bit of time causes the very thin flange to invert readily, a rather annoying event requiring me to fiddle with it to fix it. Velvets and Spiraldot ++ do not do this, their flanges are thicker and maintain shape integrity in the same scenario.

The sound has remained same as initial impression, so at least they are consistent. They sound indistinguishable from spiraldot ++ though, so if you are after a more diffuse sound profile than Velvets, those do just as well as the Baroques.

 

[frkasper]

I want my tips to be relatively friction free and maintain seal by applying light pressure to my ear canals so the tips don't irritate my canals as I insert/remove them.

It is always good to mention about personal requirements. Thank you for that! Your findings match what I observed as well. Just wanted to add something for the folks with oily skin.

Baroque is fine for me up to 1 hour after showering (or degreasing the ears) . After a while, it always gets slippery and with the classic sensation of a plastic bag in my ears. Then, it is time to move on to a firmer set.

And this is exactly why I tend to prefer firmer materials -- Clarions, Divinus, Type Es and AZLAs, for instance. The baroques are even softer than the Spiral Dots, but slightly firmer than the Spring tips or the FiiO HS18 ones. I mean, they're good, but have limited usability for me.

If there are folks with oily skin reading this thread, let us know your experience as well. I can share you this though: for a 3-4 hours session I tend to swap up to 6 sets of eartips. I alway start with the smaller/softer ones and end up assaulting my ear canals with the largest AZLAs.

When session is finished, my OCD requires that I hand wash all sets so they can be stored grease-free. Another reason why I tend to avoid foam eartips, even though I have a couple here.

On a fun topic, just got a couple of more colors in my arsenal.

 

[KinGensai]

It would have been nice if eletech had thickened up the silicone at the nozzle so that the flanges have more structure to make up for the thinness elsewhere, I would like them a lot more if they did that. Spiraldots almost willfully refuse to remain inverted lol, makes them a bit of a pain when cleaning.

 

[jackyman]

I have tried many different tips and nothing comes close to comply in term of comfort and sound for me. Especially with the etymotic ER4XR, all stock tips made them sound really thin. Problem is i have to replace them like every 4 to 6 weeks.

 

[Tanalasta]

I have tried many different tips and nothing comes close to comply in term of comfort and sound for me. Especially with the etymotic ER4XR, all stock tips made them sound really thin. Problem is i have to replace them like every 4 to 6 weeks.

Have you tried the newer silicone tips e.g. Spinfit W1 ; SednaEarfit Max? Silicone technology and eartips have come a long way since the flanged tips of my ER4P's

 

[jackyman]

No, I haven't tried them. I have a bag full of silicon tips from following IEMs: ER4XR, AF180MK2, UE triplefi, Westone W30, and some cheap ali iems. I have actually never bought high end silicone tips, but i'd always imagine they'd be similar to the ones you get with high-end iems. Good, but not great.

 

[Tanalasta]

I'm sure others will correct me ... but owners of high end IEM's will often take the stock tips off ; and promptly replace them with their favourite tips or roll tips ad nauseam till they get the right balance between sound and comfort.

Spinfit CP-100 ; SednarFit Max and W1 are all very comfortable. I don't mind Sednafit Crystal either. Tips are highly individual as even tips within the same brand will have different dimensions. The Sednafit Max have a very soft silicone. They're 1mm shorter than the Crystals so work if you prefer a shallower insertion. Sonically they are very good.

Edit: The W1 are slightly bright but otherwise great all rounders. The Max have that "Western tuning" with shorter nozzle (7 v 9mm) and a slightly low mid/bass emphasis.

 

[jackyman]

I still need silicone tips with swimming iem's. A perfect fit is a must then, otherwise water leaks in and music listing is pretty much over for the rest of the session.

 

[karaokeroanoke]

I'm sure others will correct me ... but owners of high end IEM's will often take the stock tips off ; and promptly replace them with their favourite tips or roll tips ad nauseam till they get the right balance between sound and comfort.

Spinfit CP-100 ; SednarFit Max and W1 are all very comfortable. I don't mind Sednafit Crystal either. Tips are highly individual as even tips within the same brand will have different dimensions. The Sednafit Max have a very soft silicone. They're 1mm shorter than the Crystals so work if you prefer a shallower insertion. Sonically they are very good.

The Max happen to be one of my favorites recently, even if its the TWS one I'm rocking, They pair well with my Variations
Having a dickens of a time finding a good set for my Xenns Up though, sitting on Tri Clarion on mine. They have such a good fit that I finally understood what true and proper seal is on the ears

edit: on a sidenote, I'm interested to see which ones are most comfy for you for 8hr sessions since that's what I'm looking for on my sets