ACS Custom In Ear Monitors?

octatonic

Not sure if this is the best place to put it.

Does anyone here have anything good or bad to say about ACS Custom In Ear monitors?

My old In Ears have died and I'm considering pushing the boat out on some ACS Custom monitors.

What say you, brain trust?

ChrisMusic

edit:   OOPS !

I think I am having a lexicologically challenged evening...

Please move along ~ nothing to see hear !

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Hopefully this should give you a good starting point (on ear plugs = doh)

>click here for several previous discussions<

edit: >also some here on tinnitus may be useful<

ash96

I've heard lots of fairly bad things about them to be honest. Lots of reliability issues.

I've heard great things about Read Audio though (I've got their Ear plugs)

Depending on budget, check out 1964 Ears, they're meant to be ridiculously good!

octatonic

ChrisMusic said:

Hopefully this should give you a good starting point

>click here for several previous discussions<

edit: >also some here on tinnitus may be useful<

Those discussions are about their ear plugs, rather than the In Ear Monitors.

I did search for IEM discussions but didn't find anything useful.

Does anyone have the IEM's?

ash96

My comments above were regarding the IEM's rather than earplugs, was just stating i've got the read audio earplugs too.

octatonic

ash96 said:

My comments above were regarding the IEM's rather than earplugs, was just stating i've got the read audio earplugs too.

Sorry I was responding the the guy above- crossed posting.

ChrisMusic

octatonic said:   

Those discussions are about their ear plugs, rather than the In Ear Monitors.

Doh    #-o

octatonic

I should have quoted better- now fixed.

Looking at Read Audio site.

They look good.

Are you happy with the earplugs?

I'll give them a call tomorrow- I wonder if I can order a set of IEM's and plugs that have the exact same profile?

ash96

Yeah I find the ear plugs good, they block out a LOT more than my old ACS ones of a similar filter. I think its down to the fact that the acs ones are made of soft silicone, whereas the read ones a made of a harder material (like a lot of the high end stuff like Ultimate Ears/1964 etc).

I believe you can, have one set of moulds done, then they can make both the in ears and earplugs.

They also do a thing where if you lose them, you can get a brand new set, wishing 48 hours, for half price! Bit of a bonus!

octatonic

FUCK!

Just checked out the top of the range 1964 A12 (12 driver model) - they are £1750.

That is a lot of money for in ear monitors.

I can get some VERY, VERY good studio monitors for that.

I kinda want to try them to see how good they are (although I won't be).

FelineGuitars

I had a pair of the ACS ones - T3s 

First time I ordered the pinkish cable they came with was just too short  and the Y part of it barely fitted over my head , so they went back

They came back with a different colour cable (silver) which was fine but I later came to suspec that it wasn't right for the plugs 

Within a year to 18 months the cable became so stiff that it no longer had any flex in it and then started to crack 

I used the in ears as iPod phones and maybe used for 30 mins a day on my walk to and from work, so nothing extreme apart from chilly winter weather

A shame because the sound was good

I also had their earplugs with filters which are good for guitar shows and their sleep fit plugs are great for travelling in silence or for silencing a snoring friend/partner .....or drummer

octatonic

Taken ACS off the table based on the reviews.

I've had a recommendation for the Flare Audio R2 Pro's.

Anyone used them?

bob21

A mate had T3s. More accurately, 5 pairs of them - that's how many times they had to replace them under warranty. 

It is fair to point out that the range has changed substantially recently.

I've heard the Flare over-ears. I wasn't particularly impressed at any price point, and then when they told me the 'introductory 50% discount' price point, I laughed and handed them back..! 

For context, I am a professional audio engineer. 

The Flares are generic (non-molded) no? If you're looking at non-molded, pretty much everyone will agree that the Shure stuff is the market leader.. 

For customs, I've had more guys come through on festivals on 1964 Ears than anything else lately..

DPC

I wouldn't bother personally. My custom moulds were distorting so I sent them back. They ran some tests and advised that I'd need to upgrade the driver if I wanted better performance (that upgrade would cost around £400 too!). Perhaps I hadn't been too discerning about the driver when I bought them, but I've since discovered that these from Thomann work just as well and are just as comfortable (IMO):

http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_ep_4.htm

£200 cheaper than the custom moulds I purchased too.

thomasross20

I've got ACS but not the "monitor version"

octatonic

DPC said:

I wouldn't bother personally. My custom moulds were distorting so I sent them back. They ran some tests and advised that I'd need to upgrade the driver if I wanted better performance (that upgrade would cost around £400 too!). Perhaps I hadn't been too discerning about the driver when I bought them, but I've since discovered that these from Thomann work just as well and are just as comfortable (IMO):

http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_ep_4.htm

£200 cheaper than the custom moulds I purchased too.

What ones did you have?

DPC

T3 Single Driver In-ear Monitor

octatonic

Well, I've gone into Read Audio in London today and had impressions taken for the R203's and a set of their earplugs.

Good company to deal with so far.

Will report back how things go once I get them, which will be Wednesday.

Thanks @ash96 for turning me onto them.

ash96

Yeah no worries man, Like I say, they've been really good with my earplugs and the fact that they do the half price thing if you lose em / Break em is a massive bonus!

octatonic

Yeah that was what sealed it for me.

Oh and I got the earplugs for £50.

octatonic

They have turned up- so far they are great.

I'm glad I went for the 2 driver version, they have enough bass but not too much.

They need a bit of lubrication to fit properly but apparently that calms down a bit over time.