By Frank Wells.
Getting new IEM’s got me wondering…
I
recently had a set of custom in-ear-monitors and the experience got me
wondering how many musicians and engineers are using custom fitted
earphones. I thought I’d share a couple of comments here and conduct a
decidedly unscientific informal IEM survey—anyone have experiences to
share?
The new 2X-S earphones I got were made from molds taken
back at summer NAMM time—I went through the audiologist fitting routine
when I picked the earphones up. Fitted earphones make a big difference
in the ability to keep the earpieces seated properly—I have some
universals and I like the way they sound, but the fit, with the various
plastic inserts, are susceptible to breaking the seal with movement.
The foam inserts are better in my experience, but maybe I’m best suited
by some fit in between the sizes, as the mediums don’t keep a good fit
for me, but the large ones get uncomfortable quicker. Getting a good
initial fit is a bit more fiddly with the foamies though you get better
at it with practice. I don’t have experience with the hard plastic
inserts, but the silicone that Sensaphonics uses are certainly
comfortable and seal well (and they sound good).
Sensaphonics currently has an “economic stimulus” program running (through the end of the year)—trading in any other brand of custom earphones nets a $250 price reduction.
Getting
the 2x-Ss is also letting me try another new device from Sensaphonics,
the dB check. Inserting this Nano-sized device between source and
earphones lets you know what levels you are actually listening at (they
know the sensitivity of their products, so the readouts are based on
measuring input voltage and converting that reading to an at-ear dB SPL
reading). In-ears are often touted for hearing conservation, but if you
are listening too loud, you can still damage your hearing, and finally
there’s a practical way to know how loud you are really listening (and
the readings you get can be averaged across a user defined time window,
then the results are shown not only in dB, but are correlated to
hearing protection standards, the readout showing safe listening time
in minutes). Yeah, that sounds like a commercial, but I’m jazzed to
know how loud I really listen (and to get confirmation that I’m pretty
reasonable with my levels).
We did a bit on dB Check in Pro Sound News in September.
I look forward to hearing your experiences and preferences.