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Basic Guide To IEM
Basic Guide To IEM
Basic Guide to
In-Ear-Canalphone
Rev. 4
Summary of all the important basic knowledge regarding the acquiring, use,
maintenance, and health related issue about In-Ear-Canal headphone.
[Disclaimer]
This guide might contain error that I (the author) dont know of. This guide is only
meant to provide general information for newbie who newly venture into the
canalphones world. If you find any error in this guide, please kindly point it out. Also
note that some information within this guide are copied or modified from Etymotic,
Shure, Headwize, Headroom and Wikipedia website. I do not reference all of them in
the article, but links to the original page have all been listed at the end. The credit
goes to the original writer / companies for providing the information online freely.
Thanks.
You (the reader) are free to distribute this guide for non commercial purpose.
If you have any suggestion / opinion, please email me: ofeysow@gmail.com. Also,
visit my website @ InEarMatters.net for IEM news and reviews.
*Many thanks to sambo60 @ head-fi.org for taking the time and effort to copy-edit
and proof-read the guide.
InEarMatters.net
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Contents
What is an In-Ear-Canalphone?
I thought IEM/canalphone is also called 'earbud'?
Why noise isolation and not Active Noise Cancellation?
Transducer Types
Choosing the right eartips
Eartips size
Eartips: Factors for comfort
How to use your IEM
Cleaning and maintaining your IEM and eartips
Static Electricity Discharge through IEM
Does "burn in" or "break in" IEM necessary?
Is headphone amp necessary for IEM?
Microphonic and Bone Conduction
Hissing and Sibilance
Durability and Out-of-Warranty Issue
IEM and Health
In regard to IEMs' frequency response
Is IEM worth the money?
IEM's basic Pros and Cons
OK, I have a budget now, what class of IEM should I be looking of?
How about Custom Molded IEM?
So I am ready to get some serious IEM, which companies should I be
looking at?
References
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*If you read Chinese / , you can find the translated works here, thanks to a few
good fellows @ erji.net.
What is an In-Ear-Canalphone?
In-Ear-Canalphone, also known as canalphone, ear-canalphone, ear-canal
headphone, or In-Ear-Monitor (IEM), is a type of Inter Aural headphone that is
designed to be used where the users ear canal is sealed by the phone. The seal
generally serves two functions: (1) to block noise and (2) to form a sealed acoustic
chamber in order to achieve a fuller sound. To create such a seal, the earphones
nozzle along with its tip (or sleeve) is inserted into the front part of the ear canal. Many
high end canalphones are custom molded to the user's ear for maximum comfort
and a perfect seal.
Is it a canalphone or an IEM?
Due to its great portability, high sound quality and noise blocking ability,
specially tuned (and often custom molded) canalphones have long been
used on stage by musicians and audio engineers alike. These canalphones
are part of the In-Ear-Monitor-System (IEMS), which can be either wired or
wireless. For ease of naming, canalphones used in such system are referred to
as IEMs. Later, as canalphone manufacturer began to make high quality
canalphones available for the general consumer (iPod generation), the word
IEM became popular thus replacing canalphone as how we refer to all
canalphones. Technically speaking, only canalphones on an IEMS should be
called an IEM. However, there is no concrete definition of the word IEM and
it is easier for general consumer to use a simpler terminology. Sometime IEM
is also used only to refer to high quality canalphones. For the purpose of this
article, we will refer to all canalphones as IEMs.
Transducer types
There are two major types of transducers* being used on IEM: Dynamic and Balanced
Armature (BA) transducers. (*note: but not limited to)
[Pictures of BA transducer]
BA transducers have the benefit of being really small, therefore you can often find
many IEM makers using 2 or 3 BA transducers in each side of their phone. By
dedicating at least one of the BA transducers as a woofer, multi-ways IEM tend to
have better bass performances than most single-way BA transducer IEM (but not
always). The use of multiple BA transducers partially solves the bass problem as BA
transducers move a lot less air than dynamic transducers (and noticeably less low
end bass). The downside of BA transducers is its higher price tag.
There are also hybrid-IEMs (ie. UE Super.fi 5 EB) that utilize both dynamic and BA
transducer together in order to have the best of both worlds. However, reviews of
such type of IEM are often mixed.
For more info about transducer, please visit wikipedia.
Three types of eartips can be commonly found on IEMs: soft plastic (also known as
flanges or sleeves, often silicone or PVC based), foam, and custom mold with hard
acrylic or soft silicone materials (there are also hybrid hard/soft mold, but less
common).
Soft plastic eartips have two versions: Universal and size-dependent. Universal soft
plastic eartips such as Etymotic tri-flanges and bi-flanges allows the user to insert the
eartips to a suitable and often relatively deeper canal depth to create the seal
(which sometime can be seen as too intrusive to the user). Size-dependent soft plastic
eartips such as Shure soft flex sleeves have three sizes: small, middle, and large. The
user selects the size of the eartips based on the comfort of the seal to their ears.
Beside custom molds, foam tips are generally considered to be most comfortable
and provide a better seal. The tighter seal means foam tips tend to give a warmer,
fuller and often more enjoyable sound than soft plastic tips. Foam tips also have two
versions: Universal (i.e. Shure yellow foam) and size-dependent (Shure black foam).
Most foam tips are not washable and require replacement after a few weeks of use
(see section: Cleaning and maintaining your IEM and eartips). Foam tips made by
Comply are often considered to be the most comfortable. Comply also
manufactures different types of foam tips for different IEMs. Unlike soft plastic tips,
foam tips are often specific to the nozzle diameter and cannot be used on IEMs with
a different nozzle diameter (unless a modification has been made).
Shure black foam is one of most popular foam tips on the market as they are quite
comfortable and designed to be user cleanable (see section: Cleaning and
maintaining your IEMs and eartips). They are now made with dots on the bottom of
the sleeve. 1 dot = small, 2 dots= medium, 3 dots= large. For real measurement,
please read the following PDF file provided by Shure.
Custom mold are commonly found on high-end IEMs (or custom IEMs) where the
transducers are part of the tips. However, custom molded tips can also be ordered to
fit universal IEMs (IEMs that are designed to use soft plastic or foam tips). Recently,
custom IEMs have become more and more popular in the mid-end IEM market too
(like those found on Livewire and FREQ). The biggest advantage of custom molds is its
fit. Since the mold is custom made to match each user, it ensures a perfect seal while
providing the best comfort and SQ (which is why many musicians prefer custom
molds).
Note: Eartips often found to have noticeable effect on sound quality of the IEM. You
should always try different options of eartips to find the most preferable.
For visual reference of different type of eartips, please visit this link.
For visual reference of different IEMs' size, please visit this thread.
Eartips size
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For best results, moisten the soft plastic eartips before insertion.
Using your right hand, grasp the eartip of the right IEM
With your left hand, pull up and back on your right ear to straighten
your ear canal.
Carefully insert the right IEM so that it seals deeply and comfortably in
your ear.
Repeat procedure for the left ear, using the left IEM..
Remove IEM slowly with a twisting motion to gradually break the seal.
Proper Usage:
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AIAIAI
AKG
Apple
Atomic Floyd
Audio-Technica
BeyerDynamics
Bose
Brainwavz by MP4Nation
Creative
Cresyn (Korea)
CrossRoads (Singapore)
Denon
DUNU (China)
EarSonics (France)
ECCI (China)
Etymotic
Final Audio Design (Japan)
Fischer Audio (Russia)
Future Sonics
Grado
Head-Direct / HiFiMAN
Hippo (Singapore)
j-phonic (Japan)
JAYS
JVC
Kenwood
Klipsch
Maximo
MEElectronics
Microsonic Music
Monster
NuForce
Ortofon (Japan)
OVC (China)
Phiaton
Phonak (Swiss)
Radius (Japan)
Sennheiser
Shure
Sleek Audio
SonoCore (Korea)
Sony
SoundMAGIC (China)
Spider
SunRise-Audio (Vietnam)
Thinksound
Ultimate Ears
V-moda
ViSang (China)
Vsonic (China)
Westone
Woodees
Xears (Germany)
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The above lists are not exclusive. There will always be new and better IEM /
manufacturers waiting to be discovered, so check out the online forums and my
website (InEarMatters.net) regularly. If you wish to see a company being added to
the list, please don't hesitate to email me.
***The original LiveWires team is now separated into two companies. EarPeace
Technologies (CA) is holding the original LiveWires brand name while In Ear Systems
(TN) operates under new brand name "Fidelity Custom Earphones" and produce what
seems to be the same dual driver IEM (plus new models as well).
References
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Berge B, Pirzanski C, 2005. Ear canal dynamics: Facts versus perception. The
Hearing Journal 58(10):50-8.
Dean MS, Martin FN, 2000. Insert earphone depth and the occlusion effect.
American Journal of Audiology 9: 131-4.
Federman J, Picou E, 2009. Music and hearing protection: A call to action.
Perspectives on Audiology 5(1): 3-9.
Federman J, Ricketts T, 2008. Preferred and minimum acceptable listening
levels for musicians while using floor and in-ear monitors. J Speech Lang Hear
Res. 51(1):147-59.
Fligor BJ, 2007. Hearing loss and iPods:What happens when you turn them to
11? The Hearing Journal 60(10):10-6.
Fligor BJ, 2009. Risk for noise-Induced hearing loss from use of portable media
players: A summary of evidence through 2008. Perspectives on Audiology 5(1):
10-20.
Palmer CV, 2009. Affecting life-long habits of school-age musicians.
Perspectives on Audiology 5(1): 21-7.