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My CIEM journey


Kimir

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Hello everyone,

 

I've always wanted to get CIEM as universal iem never really fitted well.

It all started when I got BGGAR suggested to me by YT back at the BGVP DM6 era. I ordered those as universal and liked them, was much more confortable than my UE900 I used for years!

Fast forward a little, the Fearless audio Roland was praised. And I thought at the time, ok it's time for CIEM!

I ordered the Roland early September 2019, I got my ear impression done, and sent them of to Linsoul and waited 2 month and got my first CIEM.

IMG_6758.thumb.jpg.59cc0738b2a99cd9e2dc8b0bd6f4b33b.jpgIMG_6767-2.thumb.jpg.4e6a58922437103c0b80b71a320f5156.jpg

 

All is good right, eh?

Not so much. I've read that if it's only to listen to music, doing closed mouth/relaxed jaw ear impression would be the way to go. Unfortunately, not in my case. I was losing seal when slightly opening my mouth, I pretty much needed to clench on my teeth to have a proper seal.

Alright then, re-fit time. Talked to Linsoul, first refit is free, good.

I got new ear impression made, this time with open mouth and bite block. Sent the CIEM and new ear impression early December 2019 and things started to go wrong from there.
As I sent them of by myself, I used the carrier of my choice (equal to USPS, but in France it's LaPoste). It wasn't sent as express of anything, so it took a while, but also, COVID hit hard at the time.

So the package was locked in customs, then Chinese new year happened.. tldr, they didn't get the package April 9th 2020, huh.

In the meantime, I was also talking with my contact at Linsoul if Fearless could tweak the sound signature of the IEM as the Roland is in fact quite dark and missing a lot in the treble area without EQ.

In the end, they could not and I got my CIEM back only on August 5th 2020. ?

 

Because of all the delay and all, I was offered a discount of 50% on my next order, nice.

Since the signature of the Fearless Roland wasn't of my taste and needed heavy EQ, I was looking at what new CIEM I could get. 

The ThieAudio Monarch picked my interest and this time I didn't rush and waited for review to get released. Crinacle rated it really well so here we go again.

New ear impression done, was picky with my audiologist to have them perfect. And ordered the Monarch on September 1st 2020. Received them mid November. 

 

And this time, they messed up. 

They cut the tip too short and I have no bass response. And also really bulky, like really! But they sure are pretty

IMG_6857.thumb.jpg.956f375f20460f5ff8ecedf0d882559e.jpg

IMG_6865.thumb.jpg.24d22196761e263f7a3cc79164bc7cae.jpgIMG_6864.thumb.jpg.578c8e4f1a74fc08cb96548fed266729.jpg

IMG_20201125_184918__01.thumb.jpg.788b384f2183830a80fac741352eca62.jpg

 

Alright then, refit time again.

This time, Linsoul gave me a DHL express return label to not have issues with customs and the package being stuck for ages. That's the best move there.

And I dare to ask if they could make them "smaller" (as in not going out of my ear so much, most definitely possible seeing all the empty space in the shell).

Oh boi, what a big mistake.

After weeks of waiting, on January 21th, I'm being told that the new ear impression are too small for the refit. wat?!

Here on the left are the one that came back with the CIEM and on the right the new ones:

IMG_20201125_183834_1920x1080.thumb.jpg.423db16bd25e8ce213768b4344a53899.jpg

Looks pretty good to me, the part that goes in the ear canal is long enough, and it cover all the part needed to fit all the hardware.

And they claim again "It can be used, but your new impression is too small to fit it". 

Maybe some stuff was lost in translation, but after a chat with Linsoul management on Discord and exchange of few picture, I'm told on the 28th:

"Hi just update you: Your item is working but it cannot be finished before the Chinese Holiday. The safe time is to delivery to yours after the Chinese holiday."

Ok then...

 

Early March, I asked what's up. on the 17th, I'm told they are working on it, and on April 5th I get an email saying that:

 

unknown.png.d3e5319b9cf31ed65593006f39ddd149.png

 

Oh god, back to Discord and I'm asking if they are just going to send me back the CIEM as is?

That was the reply

image.thumb.png.90d714207d35d93bba1be85bb5d4c1bb.png

followed by: 

"If you check the photo, it is hard to make the drivers in

We have two experienced engineers to try making it. However, both of them could not succeed despite trying for a very long time"

 

I don't know what the red square is suppose to be. The red circle on the Purple CIEM (the Fearless Roland) was me, from previous chat telling them that it's this part the is needed to seal in the ear canal properly. and the 2 next photos are just snap of the CIEM I had, I guess.

But anyway, I replied 

image.png.4d02a5f12fe1315f2ef8a51fb8793a24.png

At this point it was already too late, now I figured that my request to make the overall shell smaller, which I told them was a secondary request dozens and dozens of times was what they struggled with.

 

On the 16th I didn't had any tracking or refund, and on the 19th I get the refund (it was out of the refund window so I was sent money by PayPal like I sold them something... so Paypal too some fee)

image.png.6ff619d9aa63bfada75204187bea300f.png

And that last sentence, ahahah. Yeah, today (April 21th) I received only the ear impression, that was completely untouched. 

Needless to say, I went back to say * (in polite terms), how could they do the refit without cutting the new ear impression like the ones that was sent back to me with the CIEM, right?!

image.png.e2b79a814c3436e9da07ba76ef57e135.png

 

I was replied with some pictures again with the old ear impression and the CIEM next to each other and some excuses and finally

"You can google to search for details that how factory make CIEM. Thank you. Have a nice day".

 

That finish my journey to get good CIEM that I don't need to EQ to use on any device.

So far, I'm very disappointed. I cannot recommend to get CIEM from a Chinese company.

 

I'm looking at US or German made company that have CIEM with signature I could like, but they are all very expensive, so for now, I'll stick to the Fearless Roland I have, using them with my iBasso DX160 daily. 

Alas, I cannot really use them on my laptop or desktop while playing because I don't have a way to PEQ them.

 

What a debacle.

I'm posting that here, in case someone is interested in CIEM, but I'll be posting it on Head-fi as well. 

 

Cheers.

kne.png

Edited by Kimir
double pic
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