Pros
- These eartips just DESTROY every stock eartip(comes with the earphone) in fit, comfort and isolation.
- plastic coating/layer around the opening of the eartip eliminates the possibility of the eartips distorting the sound of the earphone
- My only worry about these eartips is the possibility of crusting and hardening, I have had experiences with foam eartips doing that.
- worrying about the durability due to memory foam's nature of losing its ability to hold its shape, lets see how long they last (I got 2 weeks out of mine, how long do yours last?)
- longevity may not be as long as other tips
So the packaging on these are nice, it wouldn't really jump out at you but it's nice.
The first thing that caught my attention was the small circle in the left corner where you could feel the foam material, these are always good so you can see what you're going to get.
On the back you see the standard stuff like product features and compatability.
The coolest part of the package was when I opened it up...
At first i was rather surprised that there was writing on the inside of the package! I have seen maybe two or three other companies do this, but this was defiantly something I didn't expect. Instructions on the inside of the package, really clever.
Only possible thing I think Comply needs is a logo but that's just a little touch Comply can add to their products
Performance and Comparison
Ok I'm using the basic tips that comes with my Sennheiser IE 7 as a baseline (because these were the only ones that I got when I obtained mine from my friend).
So immediately when I touched the "feel me" foam i already knew that these eartips were going to be different due to the type of foam they decided to use. The type of memory foam used to make these tips is soft and very valuable, but most importantly it reabsorbs air and regains its shape slower then other foam tips. This is very important for the fit of the earbuds because i find if the material isn't soft enough, there is a chance for the foam to push out the earbud a little and feel uncomfortable. These eartips are very comfortable and they feel like they contort to the differences of your ear perfectly.
Having said that, these eartips definitely beat the conventional silicon tips that come with earbuds which always feel like they're gonna pop off which is why you would usually see me pushing the earbuds back in after every few minutes. It's the same with the hard foam tips that usually come with earphones, they don't like staying in your ear too much as the different bumps and curves encourage the earphone to come out as the foam expands quickly. This means neither one of these conventional eartips are too good if you're going to use them while you go for a jog unless you are one of the lucky few that the silicon/foam tips like. But generally you're not gonna be moving you're head using stock earphones. But these eartips stay in like a breeze even without using the earclips that came with the IE7. To exaggerate the importance of the fit, the bass of an earphone is greatly affected by the fit of an earphone. The difference between the bass is huge so you aren't getting the best out of your earphone until it has a proper fit.
Comfort, fit and isolation go hand and hand. The better the fit, the better the comfort, the better the isolation. So likewise, I have found that these eartips have done better then the stoke earbuds by various degrees.
What really caught my eye was a little feature that Comply had added in:
Comply added a lining of flexible plastic where the head of the earphone goes in that extends to 3/4 of the eartip. This is an AMAZING feature! I can't exaggerate how good this is because this fixes another problem that usually occurs with foam tips is the distortion that they can cause to the sound of a headphone because the hole that the sound travels through changes in size and shape when it is inside the ear because of the one piece design of the foam eartip. Now it's true that this is a standard feature in most foam tips you find these days but I find that the Comply tips are a bit more effective then your average foam tips at doing this partially because of the foam pressure as well as the stiffness of the plastic. I say this because other tips tend to distort the canal because of they press against the ear harder and all of this is in turn transferred towards the sound canal, thus distorting it, and because of the physical properties of the Comply foam tips, I find this happening a little less.
Problems and Worries and Conclusions
So when I was trying to put these on i was struggling a little because of the flexible plastic. The way I fixed this was by applying a little pressure to make the opening wider so it I could get it to fit.
But my main worry is how some foam tips I have used tend to harden and crust up after two months or so, these usually won't last that long depending on how you use them that is. I manage to get about 2 weeks worth of use out of 1 pair but that's just me. I use them for hours at a time and for the best comfort and isolation only matched by custom IEM's these are well worth the price tag. I would highly recommend these for ANYONE who dislikes wearing IEM's due to comfort or fit. This is the best you can get without breaking the bank on a pair of custom IEM's.
Care
Taking care of your foam tips are ESSENTIAL to getting the most out of you're investment. The composition of Comply foam tips don't usually last as long as conventional foam tips do which make cleaning and caring for your foam tips absolutely essential. Now I use my headphones for hours at a time and earwax almost always get in the way of my eartips. Now if you're like me, incorrect care for you're eartips(specifically Comply foams) will kill them by cutting their lifetime down to a mere 2 DAYS. So to prevent your tips from crusting up, losing their form and losing their shape, follow the video below on how to clean your tips.
Credit to the video goes to Comply and not me.
Another useful tip is to keep your ears clean of wax with a swab to prevent ear wax from bugging your listening session.
Tip for Longevity
Now I wouldn't say that I have foam science down but as I previously said, memory foam can only hold it's shape for x amount of times (expand and hold) so in theory, this is the best way to get the most use out of you're eartips is to use them for long periods and take them off as few times as possible and your tips should last longer. Remember they add extra isolation so they're good for when you're studying as well.
***Please note that me saying memory foam can only reshape itself x amount of times mean there is a set amount for this, many factors can affect that (heat, humidity, etc) BUT it still doesn't change the fact that the less the foam has to reshape, the longer it's lifespan. ***
(I still need to find a feasible way to prove my theory to those who don't believe me but I'll do that when I get another set)
Tip for Longevity
Now I wouldn't say that I have foam science down but as I previously said, memory foam can only hold it's shape for x amount of times (expand and hold) so in theory, this is the best way to get the most use out of you're eartips is to use them for long periods and take them off as few times as possible and your tips should last longer. Remember they add extra isolation so they're good for when you're studying as well.
***Please note that me saying memory foam can only reshape itself x amount of times mean there is a set amount for this, many factors can affect that (heat, humidity, etc) BUT it still doesn't change the fact that the less the foam has to reshape, the longer it's lifespan. ***
(I still need to find a feasible way to prove my theory to those who don't believe me but I'll do that when I get another set)
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