Now this is amusing, Made my day. What will people think of next?
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I had the same thoughts and had wanted to post a comment on this, but better I respond to yours. You have touched on a really important issue. Eartips and Fit.
When we have devices placed closer to our eardrums, than ever before, every little variation makes an audible difference.
1. The shape of the earpiece, and its design - drivers, shell material, etc, etc. and even more so, quality and consistency of manufacture. I have one IEMs that is obviously faulty, and sounded like garbage, Dead on Arrival, ridiculously distorted - worst listening device I've ever put on my head.
2. Nozzle options for IEM's which have replaceable nozzles.
3. The mesh.
4. The Eartips - external diameter, internal bore diameter, length, the material it is made of, every small change delivers a different level of fit, as well as sonics. I would also add, they differ in the occlusion of external sound, i.e how much noise they cut out from the outside.
Then every ear is different even the ears of the same individual, vary from left to right, and also vary over time. Discovered that those who use custom mouldings, do not just do one for a lifetime, but every few years, MUST repeat the process, cos the shape of their ear canal may have changed.!!
So with all these variables, the challenge is how to narrow down all the options for varying the sonics, to the most important one's, otherwise, one will be tied up in a never ending loop of trying out an impossible number of combinations of teh factors affecting sound from an IEM, somewhat like Hi-Fi enthusiasts who are fanatic about all kinds of gear.
To be continued, this was getting a bit long.
I forgot to add, the end user also has control over how deep they insert the earpiece. And in addition to the sonics, the spaciousness, soundstage, and stereo width is also affected, by every one of these factors.
Permit me to add one more factor to the mix. The use of crossfeed, or NOT, in the playback system, and what kind of crossfeed is in use, if applied.
Without getting into the weeds, my experience has been :
1. The technology behind the IEM is the most important contributor to the sound., e.g Dynamic Driver vs Planar Magnetic. vs all manner of Hybrids. If one can afford, over time, trying out one good example of say each of these driver configurations, would be a good education.
Single Dynamic Driver, Dual Dynamic Driver, Hybrid e.g Dynamic driver for the bass, with BA(Balanced Armature) for the upper frequencies - and of course there are all manner of hybrids e.g combinations of dynamic, planar, BA and other driver types., so one can learn what kind of sound they prefer. Sadly yes, the discovery process does involve possibly wasting money on kissing a few frogs, to find the prince. All part of the learning.
I have no regrets buying the Zero 2, but prefer the more open presentation of Planar Magnetics. They are better resolving, more accurate., in my opinion. But that's all I have listened to Single Dynamic drivers and a Planar Magnetic.
The IEM technology and product design, generally we have to leave that to the manufacturers. I know people do DIY, but I think that's taking things a bit too far. Not sure how reliable these modifications are, and it need one owning measurement gear to objectively understand the impact of any user made mods.
2. Eartips - I think, this is such a huge area, and where the end user is completely in charge of refining the fundamental sound of the IEM. Only way to do this is have a good playlist, and run through the playlist, with each change of eartip, find the one we enjoy most or meets our perception best. No other way but trial and error, with some general rules.
2.1 Better seal improves bass response.
2.2 Wider bore improves the mids and highs, and reduces the bass somewhat.
2.3 Closer nozzle to the eardrum, narrows the stereo image, in my opinion. Design of the Eartip affects this, but also how far the end user pushes the eartip into the ear canal also has an impact.
2.4 Eartip material, I hear has an impact. Have not tried anything else but silicone tips. Foams I hear tame the high end.
2.5 Balancing all of the above with comfort, typically trying out different sizes of eartips.
2.6 Also stability of the fit, Some eartips fit well, but need constant adjustment to stay in the same place.
3. The playlist, I think is key, having music which is extremely well recorded, can help to separate the good IEMs/eartips from the better ones.
4. EQ. Sometimes the eartip selection, makes EQ unnecessary.
5. Crossfeed. So many variations, and options available today. Sometimes each eartip needs its own crossfeed setting. I find crossfeed when adjusted properly makes the illusion of hearing things in a space, realistic.
Ultimately there has to be some kind of discipline to know when to stop, otherwise the optimisation effort goes on forever.
The other terrible aspect of all the comparison of options, is adjusting the volume to similar levels, cos otherwise we get a wrong impression, of which option is better.
There is one more - Stereo Balance.
6. If there is any variation in our hearing in frequency response or loudness, or if there is a variation in frequency response or loudness, between the left earpiece and the right, or a combination of these variances. Some adjustment of the stereo balance may be needed. to improve the sonics. And if the variation is significant, no amount of balance optimisation will address this issue. We just have to get used to the imbalance somewhat. Such is life. My thinking is that some of this may come from just nature, IEMs in particular have a way of highlighting these differences, and planar magnetics in particular do this even more, in my experience - not a comfortable discovery, to learn that the left and right do NOT exactly hear the same thing!! Wondering how many of us are affected by this.
So many things to tweak.