Fud

Same thing happened to my brother's Custom-2s, RMA was quick and painless =)

I've had my custom-2s since release, and only recently got the perfect seal =P Just be patient, it'll take some time to get a good fit. I listed a step by step process of how I fit my custom-2s everyday in another thread. If you haven't read that yet, take a look. I find the large double flange tip causes me some pain when I insert them, but that issue is resolved if I open my mouth wide and pull my earlobe up and back. It opens up the ear canal and allows the tip to get past the second bend in the canal.

I've had my Custom-2s for just about as long as they were on the market, and I only just got the perfect seal. To say the fit is finicky would be an understatment, but these gels are by far the most comfortable I've had to date. I'll run you by a step by step process of how I fit my earphones everyday: 1) Peel back the flange on the tip and line up the raised lines, then straighten the memory wire. 2) Take the earbud and insert it into your ear. At this point the seal may or may not be good, we'll adjust accordingly in the next few steps. 3) Holding the earbud in place, pinch the memory wire at the top of your ear, where the ear meets your head. Ensure the memory wire is flush to your head and that you've pinched it in place so it doesn't budge. 4) If the fit is still not good at this point, push gently on the earbud to insert it further into the ear canal. You can also try pushing on the area near the silver connector between the memory wire and the earbud housing. Continue to push gently along the housing and other portions of the memory wire to ensure you have a good seal, adjust the memory wire once you have found a good fit. 5) Pinch the memory wire in the same area mentioned before, once you have a good fit, and mould the rest of the wire to the back of your ear. Hope that helps, because my Custom-2s sound better than they ever have since using this method and the large double flange. I couldn't stand using them initially, but since they do curve past the second bend in the ear canal, the seal is much better than the single mediums.

I've had my custom-2s for a good three months now, and I was being lazy, so I didn't re-adjust the flex wires everytime I used them. Imagine my surprise when I got a free sound quality upgrade the other day =P The problem is, the right bud seals well with both the medium and double flange, but the left bud is only adequate with both. My ear canals can be different widths and lengths right? So short of customs, I won't ever get a better fit =/ It's listenable, but sort of annoying the I can't squeeze out every bit of sound quality my custom-2s can offer . I've tried angling it upward, doesn't help the seal. Also, the left bud doesn't sit flush inside my ear. Any other suggestions? I'm currently trying to mix and match to see if I can have a different tip on each side.

Simply perceiving the sound as too loud isn't assurance enough for me and shouldn't be used as a gauge for anyone worried about noise induced hearing loss. In fact, those that have already lost hearing may continue to damage their hearing because what they may have peceived as loud in the past may be quite different from what they consider loud after the hearing loss. In addition, although volume and Sound Presure Level are related, they aren't the same thing. SPL is the force created by a sound wave and can be quantified in a lab situation, while volume is influenced to some degree by the physiology of each person.

With the all the UEs and the custom fit Westones, I've seen people replace the cable as a mod to improve sound quality. Different materials I guess, though I've never heard the benefits of recabling first hand.

That's the problem with something so small, it's very difficult to measure when exactly we are damaging our ears. If in doubt, always err on the side of caution. I don't remember exactly where I read it, but IIRC there is a volume threshold that you need to reach in order to have the highs and lows accurately reproduced. You should trust your ears I guess, but keep in mind that hearing loss is usually progresive and you may just be turning up the volume to compensate for hearing loss that has already happened. Maybe you should just make an appointment with an audiologist to see if your hearing is still in good shape. The reason your Image sounds as if it is at the same volume as the sony canalphones is partially because it's much closer to your eardrum, and the overall sound quality is likely better as well. Because it is closer to your eardrum, you should be more careful about damaging your hearing. The image probably does not distort as easily, so you may actually be playing your music even louder than you realize since most people use distortion as a cue to turn the volume down.

There's no precise way I know of to measure the SPL levels of IEMs, so all I can offer are some general guidelines. First of all, don't use pain as a signal to let you know when to turn down the volume. More often then not, damage could have already occured by that point. Keeping the volume adjuster on your mp3 player at half the maximum setting is a start, but is in no way a safe bet since SPL changes with different headphones and different songs. The only way to be sure is to keep volumes as low as you possibly can. Train your ears to appreciate the music at a lower volume. What I do is listen to a song I know I want louder first (at a moderate level), then gradually lower the volume during the time that I listen for while at the same time moving towards "softer sounding" genres of music. By the time I'm done listening for the day, I barely notice that the volume is considerably lower than I started with. After some time, you won't need to do this gradual volume adjustment because you'll have found the lowest bearable volume you can listen to and still enjoy the music. Don't take this to mean that the first song I listen to makes my ears bleed, I do keep the volume below the threshold that damages your ears immediately. Strangely enough though, I seem to pick up ambient noise cues better than human voice these days (time to visit the audiologist maybe?).

I haven't used my custom 2s in weather much colder than -5, but it seems to do just fine when I take it out. I'm guessing the problem with the shure wires is cracking, and last time I checked, cloth can't crack It does fray a little near the headphone jack, but it doesn't seem to be anything but a cosmetic problem at the moment. If it does end up becoming an issue, the warrenty is good for 2 years =D On a sound quality note, I'm sure you'll be very pleased with the upgrade compared to the e2cs. I've had a long listen to the e2cs several times, and the custom 2s have a better soundstage and fuller bass, among other things.

@foxlinked: When I first got my custom-2s, I faced many of the same issues as the few early adopters and yourself did (besides seal issues). The earphones seemed to be overly bright and dry for my own tastes, however, I'm currently 100% pleased with my purchase. In fact, I'd be comfortable enough to say that these are my favourire IEMs of all the ones I've owned. Curious as to how I improved my SQ to suit my needs? It was very simple and not at all costly, and its name is the Sansa Clip. The level of detail, warmth, extension of bass and numerous other sonic improvements is totally worth the $45 (on sale at Bestbuy.com =P) I highly recommend switching DAPs, and I really don't how you could lose, just return it if you don't like it but few people do, and I doubt you will. I had some hiss in between tracks and with certain songs with my iriver clix2 (which is most likely on its way out in favour of the Clip =P), and I'm happy to say that there is zero hiss with the clip. I actually couldn't stand listening to my clix2 without EQ, and even still it sounded a touch artificial with my EQ settings. The way I see it, it saves you the time and money needed to ship back your custom-2s. All you need to do is stop by bestbuy for a quick purchase.

@ Amy: thanks for the suggestions, I'll send you an e-mail if the Prof's recomendations don't resolve the issue @ Professor Thump: I must admit, I was quite disapointed with my Custom 2s at first, I've had some experience with other PMs before and my Custom 2s really didn't have the full, warm sound that I prefer. Turns out that the problem was actually my DAP, and I'm currently making the switch from a second gen iriver clix to a sansa clip. Even with a carefully tweaked EQ, I can't get the clix2 to sound nearly as good as the clip does. I'm even thinking of picking up the custom 3s after all, since I'm extremely pleased with the Custom 2s as an upgrade over my previous pair of earphones (if the holiday season isn't too much of a strain on the old wallet . One of the main reasons I decided to be one of the guinea pigs of the community was the innovation in the tip designs, which I was admittedly not too impressed with at first. As I started using my earphones more, I realised that I felt absolutely zero pain resulting from pressure on my ear canal. I still do get irritated a little, but I suppose that can't be helped since I am putting a foreign object in my ear. The silicone tips sacrifice a small amount of isolation compared to the foam type, but I would much rather have the added comfort over the additional isolation. I was also very pleased at the superb level of customer service with both questions regarding the product and accomodating my shipping situation. If every company was as attentive and eager to help consumers, such a thing as an unsatisfied customer would not exist =) Thanks and congratulations are in order, especially to Amy and yourself, for putting out an excellent product and representing the Klipsch name so well. Looking forward to the day when the Custom 3s are available as well.

My sister is having some fit issues with her custom 1s, and its one of the weirdest things i've seen happen with PMs. I helped her insert them, with the smallest tips, and its seemed as if it went into her ear fine. After a few minutes, the earphones work their way out of her ear and just sit in front of her ear canal. Does she need smaller tips? And how can I get them? On a side note, I'm loving my Custom 2s =) I've been switching between three different DAPs, and the differences in sound quality while using the Custom 2s are pretty surprising to me.

Smells fishy to me...what exactly do selling headphones and sinks have in common with each other? Plus, the "buy it now" price is below the discount price that even early adopters were offered for the image. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is. I'll spend a little extra and keep my 2 year warranty, thank you very much =D

Ooh, new toy =) Congrats! Planning on posting pics, or a short review? I need some impressions of some type of headphone as a substitute for a severe lack of head-fi

Lol, now you're making me sound like the bad guy =/ My siblings chose to order what they did on my advice, but the decision was still made by them. I gave them my opinion and they let me spend their money for them, trusting me to give them the best choice within their budget and needs...so there! =P