moving up from UE Triple.fi... where to next?

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chronic9

Supreme [H]ardness
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Aug 18, 2004
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This idea of spending more $$ on new IEMs has been lingering in my head for a while... i read over a few reviews on head-fi

counted my financial status, and keep on looking at vendor websites...

the triple.fi sound good to me, in the beginning I was astounded by them, now i am used to it and wondering where to next...?

I dont really want to re-shell mine and make them into trully custom ear phones.
so the next stop is, customs from ultimate ears directly. except that triple.fi have 3 speakers in them and anything on the custom side of UE that has 3 speakers+ gets REALLY expensive.... i am not ready yet to spend a 1000 on IEMs.... YET ;)

should I look at another brand then? I also wish there was a studio where I can try out high end IEMs, but that would be complicated because of the custom molding wouldnt it...?

i love my triple.fis, i clean them periodically, buy my 5 pack of complyfoam tips, bitch and moan about the shitty headphone cable that i replace once every 4 months, but all in all, they are amazing
 
If you like your TF10's then get them made into customs:
http://www.inearz.t83.net/

(the pricing is a little out of date on the first post, I think it's $90+shipping now)
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread...usa-triplefi-10-se530-etc-from-fisher-hearing

Fisher Hearings Head-Fi forum rep:
http://www.head-fi.org/user/lil'+fish

The process goes something like this:
Email Kaysen to let her know you are interested in doing a custom remold
She emails back with a form for you to fill out and price list
You get ear impressions made from an audiologist
(Or you can to a self-impression kit http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/foimkit.html )
You send ear impressions + TF10s to Fisher Hearing
14 or so business day turn around
Once they are done, they call you for payment and you can pick your shipping at that point as well

If any refits/tweaks need to be done to balance the sound, fit, or seal, then you email Kaysen and explain what the issue is.


BUT, if you really don't want to go with a custom remold you could get the JH-5's for $400 from JH Audio.
I'm not sure what an upgrade from TF10's would be for universals, I kinda stopped caring about universals once I got my entry level customs.
 
If they fit you, I think the next step is customs. If they dont (if you find they drop out quite frequently), or you want higher isolation, maybe alternative Westones / Shures are in order.

The non-UE balanced armature generics use much thinner eartube bores - and as a result, these get better isolation and better fit for more people. If you have giant earholes and these do fit properly, then these aspects are not such a big draw and you're better off saving for custom for any real sort of improvement.

Personally, I can't use UE generics for the above reason. They provide Sony EX levels of isolation for me - i.e. useless, and they keep falling out, even with the foams/duoflanges.
 
well i use complyfoam tips... and the isolation is great with those foam tips.
i just want MORE sound. lol
 
Well, the TF.10s are $400 msrp IEMs and, as you know, sound fantastic. I am not sure if you're going to find a worthwhile "upgrade" over this set WITHOUT going into that $1000 area. The headphone quality and performance scale gets pretty fuzzy when you start getting up into these dollar amounts, where people wonder to themselves whether or not their new $2000 piece of gear really does sound better or not than their old $300 one.

I am sure you can find some minor upgrades and definitely some "sidegrades" (that are roughly the same in quality, but may have a different sound sig.) in the $500-$1000 range... but I wouldn't expect to be blown away by the difference. The TF.10s are really excellent.
 
ya ive come to that conclusion too.....

co-worker of mine ordered the UE 18s... hes a audio nut, but the price on those IEMs is just crazy
 
I have owned the TF10s, which I had made into customs (InEarz). They were great once i had them reshelled. Never underestimate the benefits of snug fit when it comes to IEMs.

Of course, I had the same upgrade bug as you earlier this year. So, I decided that I was going to go all-out. I bought the JH16 Pros from JH-Audio. Yes, they are $1100. Let me tell you though, the difference is quite striking. I have yet to hear another headphone, IEM or full-size that can match the detail and instrument separation that the JH16s have.

Of course, these being customs, fit is the most important factor. I had to send mine back 3 times, yes 3 times to be refitted before they got it right. From what I have read though, that is not normal, just bad luck on my part. :)

I know $1100 is too much for most people to pay for headphones. I do know that JH-Audio has a few other customs in their line that are cheaper than the JH16s. If I were in your shoes though, I would have the TF10s made into customs. I loved mine and honestly wish I had never heard of the JH16s. I would still have my TF10 customs and I would still have my $1100. :D
 
ya, i think i will just re shell them and buy a custom cable... the UE cable is such shit... they break on me EVERY 3 months seriously .....

edit: is null audio my only choice for custom cable?
 
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chronic9 said:
ya, i think i will just re shell them and buy a custom cable... the UE cable is such shit... they break on me EVERY 3 months seriously .....
Click to expand...

I'm on my fourth cable at this point. They are absolute garbage and a travesty they come with such good plugs.

Where are you getting your cable from? I might as well invest in one...
 
I think I must have had good luck with my TF10's so far, the cables are kind of annoying in a way and seem a little fragile, but I have had mine for almost a year with zero issue so far; hope it continues. I do hear that it's fairly common to experience cable issues on these though.

How are you guys using/wearing yours on your ears? Do you make sure to only insert/remove them by the body?
 
google null audio... they have cables for 70ish

and theres another company i cant remember, that does cables as well.

i THINKKKKKK i remember reading that fisher hearing can make you custom cable? I might be wrong, someone correct me plz
 
chronic9 said:
google null audio... they have cables for 70ish

and theres another company i cant remember, that does cables as well.

i THINKKKKKK i remember reading that fisher hearing can make you custom cable? I might be wrong, someone correct me plz
Click to expand...

wrong :)
Fisher Hearing can sell you a cable but it's the same cable JH/UE/Westone uses for their customs.

The Null Audio cables are nice but there is a big drawback, the plastic that comes off the socket is hard and not flexable like memory wire.
http://www.null-audio.com/store/

Now ALO Audios cables are great but super expensive.
http://www.aloaudio.com
 
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so if i get a cable from fischer, which company among JH, ue and stuff makes the best cable?

i really like the memory wire in the UE headphones.
maybe the UE cables used for their custom IEMs are better quality and dont break every 3 months?

called UE today and got ANOTHER cable shipped out today for free... this time the triple.fi vi cable with the volume adjustment on it.... always liked the quality of service logitech provides
 
okay, so i am set on getting my triple.fi's re-shelled.
how was the out come of re-shelling? I read that people find the sound more filling? I kinda want to do it, to get a more snug and natural fit, and be able to wear them for longer then 2 hrs at a time - currently ANY size of comply foams i try end up bothering my ear canals after about 2 hrs.
 
chronic9 said:
called UE today and got ANOTHER cable shipped out today for free... this time the triple.fi vi cable with the volume adjustment on it.... always liked the quality of service logitech provides
Click to expand...

Quick question, are you getting those directly from UE or going through Logitech support?
 
UE = logitech
so when you call their #, i got a logitech person... she directly said "thanks for calling logitech"

and i always over exaggerate the issue with them... so i never pay a dime... worked so far 6 times now.
 
chronic9,

I'll make note of that. When I needed my cable replaced I just noted that it was still within warranty and that worked. The way these cables fail though is troubling to say the least.
 
its crazy.... you spend 300 - 400 on headphones u expect amazing everything... wtf is that shit?

i have a pair of 10$ i bought for gym use, ive had them 8 months now? still sound the same.... no issues with the cord there...

wtf UE, u can charge 300 bux for IEMs but cant make a FTW connector?
 
Well, it is worth noting that the current cable really isn't designed by UE AFAIK. The old right angle cables they used to make worked very well honestly and rarely failed (maybe once a year?). They didn't switch to this straight crap till Logitech acquired the consumer devision (I think the original UE still has the custom/pro devision).
 
I don't think that's true. Otherwise the UE universal fit IEMs would be branded as logitech, not UE. Pretty certain logitech owns UE in its entirety.

Ive had my triple-fi 10vis for nearly a year now, and have had no trouble with the cables.
You can buy the old right-angle cables still, there's a few amazon sellers that carry them and I think you can even get them from UE.
 
cfull said:
I don't think that's true. Otherwise the UE universal fit IEMs would be branded as logitech, not UE. Pretty certain logitech owns UE in its entirety.

Ive had my triple-fi 10vis for nearly a year now, and have had no trouble with the cables.
You can buy the old right-angle cables still, there's a few amazon sellers that carry them and I think you can even get them from UE.
Click to expand...


UE consumer line is handled by Logitech. The Pro division is handled by old UE. UE as a whole is a subsidiary of Logitech now, but completely different divisions. You don't call pro about a consumer product, and you don't call Logitech direct regarding a custom.
 
Well, that's not what you said. You said that Logitech had only ACQUIRED the consumer division. "Acquired" and "running a division" are two completely different things.
 
cfull said:
Well, that's not what you said. You said that Logitech had only ACQUIRED the consumer division. "Acquired" and "running a division" are two completely different things.
Click to expand...

I should have said "acquired control of".

What, u mad?
 
so i got the triple.fi vi cord and wow... its mad thin

fuk these cheap ass cords, i think i am gonna look into null audio,

still havent gotten around to ordering the reshell of my triple.fis
 
I'd check in with the custom division and see if their cables will work on the triples, or if there is a way to mod them to. I think someone over at head-fi got them to work or used a different manufacture cable besides null and those others.
 
i came up with a design that I want made, and emailed fisher just now... lets see wat the price is like.
ear impressions are 50 bux, a new cord will run me 50. i am guessing 120ish for fisher
 
fisher sells a custom cable for 30 bux, says its similar to westone... anyone have experience with that cable?
 
I would recommend either the Sennheiser IE8, or the Shure 535. Both have detachable cables which is excellent.

I got my pair of Sennheiser IE8's online brand new for $280 a little over a year ago and I absolutely love them.
 
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