benefits of custom moulded ear plugs ?

[Paullyfuzz]

Hi all,

Just got my custom moulded ear plugs back from UE and was wondering what are the benefits over the traditional foam ones ?
The reason i ask i that i tried them both whilst sat in front of the telly and the foam ones seemed to block more noise out ! Are custom ones just a con ?

Cheers,

Paul

 

[Stujw70]

I wear them on the bike and a set at work around helicopters. From what i understand the filters are designed to filter out the harmfull frequencies, but still allow a reasonable level of normal sound to get through.

I quite often forget to take mine out at work as they are so comfy and can still hear people fairly easily.

I'm sure someone will be along with a fuller answer

Stu

 

[Commuter]

comfort

I bought my ones with monitors over 3 years ago and the biggest bonus for me is the lack of ringing in my ears or changing nasty waxy foam plugs all the time. I find they cut our all the noise required to make the journey comfortable (no vibe or whistling in the ear) and at the same time allow me to hear people or things around me.

With the in built monitors, I enjoy good quality sound from my ipod without discomfort also.

Just my opinion, I am sure there is a very techinical explanation coming very soon from one of the collective.

Nick

 

[shugie]

Biggest advantage to me is that the custom ones stay put, but the foam ones were forever falling out. Sneaky little widgets that they are.

I hate the racket riding without earplugs, they are a critical bit of kit for me.

 

[judge]

Hi all,

Just got my custom moulded ear plugs back from UE and was wondering what are the benefits over the traditional foam ones ?
The reason i ask i that i tried them both whilst sat in front of the telly and the foam ones seemed to block more noise out ! Are custom ones just a con ?

Cheers,

Paul

Quick to fit, twist in - twist out and a perfect fit.

You have enough material going in the right direction for your ears.

As opposed to contorting the ear to get a straight path then rolling the plug between grubby fingers, pushing it in then letting go of the ear which returns to its normal shape and the over-stuffed canal will now be susceptible to bruising.

Hygienic - easy cleaned dropped in hot water or wiped with a medi-wipe (baby wipe), as opposed to the foam which will pick up dirt and wax residue and transfer from pocket/fingers into ear canal.

I've no idea which foam ones you're using but the noise rating will be on the packet - the Ultimate ones are rated at 34.5db noise reduction.

And no no one is out to con you if you aren't satisfied with them speak to the supplier, you're more likely to get a worthwhile response.

 

[fatgser]

pardon:

 

[davedyer]

pardon:

Did you say something?

 

[charlie bimmerman]

After getting fed up with gunky foam plugs and other types which move about in your ear, I got a set of custom ear plugs at the Bike Show last year. I commute 40 miles a day on motorways and A roads and really value them. I had very high hopes and expected super comfy plugs and fantastic noise reduction.

So far I've been disappointed - the main problem is fit. For plugs made from a mould of my ears, they're amazingly difficult to fit securely. As I'm sure we all know, a slight movement from a good seal and you may as well just have no plugs in at all. These things get shifted when I move my head, put my lid on and it's SOOOOOOO frustrating on a long journey to have to keep stopping to re-adjust.

I was riding back from London yesterday and got so fed up I just replaced them with a spare pair of spongy roll between your fingers types and - hey presto near silence!

Will give ultimate ear a call but has anyone got any advice or similar experience? For £70 these should be perfect!

 

[brianmaslen]

Yes I must admit I have always been dissapointed with my UE plugs, I spoke to the people at UE and they basically told me that I wasn't fitting them properly! How hard can it be to fit ear plugs? End result is every year I buy a bumper pack of foam plugs and chuck away every 3/4 rides. Maybe I was unlucky and had a bad fitting at the bike show but somehow I find the foam ones so much more effective, so much so that I can't hear my Ipod at full volume, perhaps I am expecting too much.

 

[Paullyfuzz]

Plugs

Yes I must admit I have always been dissapointed with my UE plugs, I spoke to the people at UE and they basically told me that I wasn't fitting them properly! How hard can it be to fit ear plugs? End result is every year I buy a bumper pack of foam plugs and chuck away every 3/4 rides. Maybe I was unlucky and had a bad fitting at the bike show but somehow I find the foam ones so much more effective, so much so that I can't hear my Ipod at full volume, perhaps I am expecting too much.

totally agree. Im going back to Earsoft FX foam plugs, really easy to fit, very comfortable and block more noise than the UE ones. I wish id never bought the UE ones and am wondering if i can get my money back, maybe Judge can answer that one ?

As for the monitors, i would like to know what drivers and speakers UE use in them, as £150 is a hell of a lot of money if the speakers arent comparable with, say Westone, Ultimate Ears etc.

Paul

 

[judge]

After getting fed up with gunky foam plugs and other types which move about in your ear, I got a set of custom ear plugs at the Bike Show last year. I commute 40 miles a day on motorways and A roads and really value them. I had very high hopes and expected super comfy plugs and fantastic noise reduction.

So far I've been disappointed - the main problem is fit. For plugs made from a mould of my ears, they're amazingly difficult to fit securely. As I'm sure we all know, a slight movement from a good seal and you may as well just have no plugs in at all. These things get shifted when I move my head, put my lid on and it's SOOOOOOO frustrating on a long journey to have to keep stopping to re-adjust.

I was riding back from London yesterday and got so fed up I just replaced them with a spare pair of spongy roll between your fingers types and - hey presto near silence!

Will give ultimate ear a call but has anyone got any advice or similar experience? For £70 these should be perfect!

There's a multitude of reasons why your fit is less than perfect which is exactly what it should be. The fit along with the rating of the earplug should mean you have the most effective hearing protection available. If you get a better result with generic product there is very clearly a problem.

You should indeed contact Ultimate with your problem and they will work with you to improve the fit. Sounds to me like your ear distorts significantly when your helmet goes on - is your helmet particularly tight fitting? Did you tell the fitter of this? Normal procedure for a close fitting helmet is to take a helmet-on impression.

When you contact UE they will probably ask for some pictures of your ears with the plugs fitted from there they will advise on a remedy.

Would probably ask them while you're on why you paid a tenner too much for them too

 

[judge]

I wish id never bought the UE ones and am wondering if i can get my money back, maybe Judge can answer that one ?

No he can't answer that - presumably for all your complaints you have dealt direct with Ultimate in which case I cannot see why you remain disappointed

As for the monitors, i would like to know what drivers and speakers UE use in them, as £150 is a hell of a lot of money if the speakers arent comparable with, say Westone, Ultimate Ears etc.

Sorry Paul I don't even understand the question What exactly in your opinion are Ultimate's monitors not compatible with?

And there's some odd prices banded around here - yer man Charlie there paid over the odds for what sound like 87's (£59 + £2 p&p RRP) and you paid £150 for some 75's (£170 + £5 p&p RRP).

 

[judge]

Yes I must admit I have always been dissapointed with my UE plugs, I spoke to the people at UE and they basically told me that I wasn't fitting them properly! How hard can it be to fit ear plugs?

Was that the extent of your discussions with UE? You said they don't work properly and in response an off the cuff quip like you're not fitting them properly was all they could muster? And you accepted that position and slung them in the drawer after shelling out somewhere between £160-£175 for them?

If so I'm questioning your sanity and those of everyone else who has laid out that sort of money and written it off.

It is my experience that poor fit issues are always worked on until a resolution is sorted, sometimes at great additional expense to UE for the plain and simple reason that a dissatisfied customer out there with their (our) product is a very bad thing.

I have no idea how long you've left things but clearly not getting things resolved is still eating you so I recommend you put a call in.

 

[charlie bimmerman]

Thank you Judge - I'm glad to hear that UE are likely to be willing to help. Will let yu all know how I get on.

I wasn't overcharged as it turns out! I was too lazy to check the actual price and having dug out the receipt it's £61...

 

[Rolf]

I have never been able to get on with foam ear plugs - tried loads of different ones and none stay in consistently - had some custom ones made and found they stayed in but I kept getting a whistling noise - last year got some Moto Safe ear plugs (about £15 frm Ocean BMW) - plastic with different filters, stay in all day and work very well, so recommended

 

[Paullyfuzz]

monitors

No he can't answer that - presumably for all your complaints you have dealt direct with Ultimate in which case I cannot see why you remain disappointed



Sorry Paul I don't even understand the question What exactly in your opinion are Ultimate's monitors not compatible with?

And there's some odd prices banded around here - yer man Charlie there paid over the odds for what sound like 87's (£59 + £2 p&p RRP) and you paid £150 for some 75's (£170 + £5 p&p RRP).

What im trying to get at is, what type of electronics/speakers do UE use in the custom moulded monitors ? Is the expense of UE monitors just the fact of having bog standard speakers put into custom moulded plugs ? Im not saying that there isnt any skill in that, but my reason for thinking about monitors is not just the fact that they are custom moulded, but the electonics inside are top notch aswell.

 

[judge]

What im trying to get at is, what type of electronics/speakers do UE use in the custom moulded monitors ? Is the expense of UE monitors just the fact of having bog standard speakers put into custom moulded plugs ?

No, its a very high quality driver in a custom moulded plug. Do yours sound cheap and nasty then? Come to think of it I'm not convinced you went for monitors in the end, but rather the passive noise blockers.

So aside your unhappiness with the product you bought (and I will tomorrow be enquiring exactly where you are in getting your grievances resolved with that) why are you pulling apart a product if my memory serves me correctly I don't believe you have any personal experience of?

 

[Paullyfuzz]

monitors

No, its a very high quality driver in a custom moulded plug. Do yours sound cheap and nasty then? Come to think of it I'm not convinced you went for monitors in the end, but rather the passive noise blockers.

So aside your unhappiness with the product you bought (and I will tomorrow be enquiring exactly where you are in getting your grievances resolved with that) why are you pulling apart a product if my memory serves me correctly I don't believe you have any personal experience of?

cause i was thinking of getting the monitors aswell and i want to make sure the sound quality is gonna be worth the money. if i could try some then great, but that aint possible. To me sound quality is everything, the benefit of custom moulding is secondary.
Oh, and ive not contacted UE yet, but i will be ringing them tomorrow to see what they can do

 

[brianmaslen]

Thanks Judge, these were the ordinary Ultimate ear plugs, not sure the correct term, I paid around £55-£60 for them at the NEC, the guys at Ultimate did send me some instructions on fitting which I found useful for ensuring the plugs were located correctly. However I never found them to be effective at noise blocking though. It was suggested I go to the factory for a personal fitting but this was never really convenient, perhaps I will have another conversation and try to line up another fitting more local to me or at another show. Cheers for the advice.
Regards Brian.

Was that the extent of your discussions with UE? You said they don't work properly and in response an off the cuff quip like you're not fitting them properly was all they could muster? And you accepted that position and slung them in the drawer after shelling out somewhere between £160-£175 for them?

If so I'm questioning your sanity and those of everyone else who has laid out that sort of money and written it off.

It is my experience that poor fit issues are always worked on until a resolution is sorted, sometimes at great additional expense to UE for the plain and simple reason that a dissatisfied customer out there with their (our) product is a very bad thing.

I have no idea how long you've left things but clearly not getting things resolved is still eating you so I recommend you put a call in.

 

[charlie bimmerman]

Got in touch with UE and sent pics of them in place. Friendly emails have been exchanged and they have asked me to send my plugs back to be recoated somehow - this will hopefully provide a more snug fit. If no joy, the next stage is to recast them using the original impressions.

So far impressed with their response - will let you all know of the outcome.