Phonak Audeo PFE with faulty design?

[Lulamarinha]

I bought these headphones after weeks of research to succeed my Etymotic Research ER4P (which btw are excellent). Be aware of a potential issue with iPod touch 2g below!!!!!

First off, these headphones sound excellent (therefore 2 stars) and probably even a bit better that the Etymotic, but....

1. The full potential of any in ear phones can only be reached if they seal completely. The silicon tips seem nice and snug, but only until you truly tried BIG foam tips. Problem: Audeo does not deliver big foam tips and you will have to order them separately = super annoying!

2. After I ordered expensive foam tips (13$ for 3 pairs!), I discovered that the max size is only L. No XL available!! They seal much better than the silicon ones, but still not as good as the XL foamies I had on the Etymotic (which don't fit the Audeo) = sound pleasure decreases substantially.

3. I use these headphones primarily for travel in airplanes and to workout (running). Since the foam tips use a weird foam and don't seal completely, sweat runs into my ears blocking the very sensitive filters. The sound on the right was out completely after just one workout (and I don't even sweat that much).

4. I just bought an iPod touch 2g 16GB and I discovered that with the Audeo headphones, the sound starts skipping when the iPod screen locks. After endless research about iPod issues, I plugged in different other headphones and they DO NOT have this issue = I assume that the Audeo have a faulty design to not completely fit into the new iPod touch 2g and are not fully compatible.

Audeo: Please review and test your design and please get XL foam tips. Until then, these go back to you...

All: Anyone with the same experience on other headphones?
(My compression rate is usually 320kbps fyi)

[cloverridge]

A little late but my experience has been nothing like yours...

I too used to have the Ety ER4P and I will say they don't not seal as well as those but I have no problems getting a good seal with the Phonaks.

The foam tips you are talking about are actually Comply foam tips. To be honest I was surpised they came even in a large as most Comply tips don't even come in a large but that being said I find the large to be too big and ended up ordering a medium. Not to sound funny but your ear canals must be pretty big. If you have pressure on the inside of your canal it is large enough and I would guess something else is going on.

The "weird" foam is made to compress when you roll it in your fingers and then expand with body heat so once you get it in your ear. The roll it with your fingers and then insert it in your ear and then hold it in place for 10 seconds while it expands. You will notice as it expands that you get a better and better seal. If you are inserting it in your ear and then letting go it is probably falling back out a bit and you aren't getting an optimal seal.

The biggest complaint with the Comply's is that they aren't terribly durable and lose their elasticity rather quickly.

As for comparing them to the ER4P another point to consider is the Ety's can be inserted much deeper in your ear canal where the Phonaks sit more toward the outer ear. With the Ety's I almost thought I could poke my brain and never had a need for foam with the triple flanges.

One trick you can try if you want to use something like a Shure Black Olive is to push it onto a mechanical pencil to expand the tube and then push it onto the Phonak. Over at head-fi people were able to use the Black Olive foamies on their Phonaks by doing just that same thing.

For the price point the Phonak's are fantastic in my opinion and the foam tip situation is easily remedied.

I use mine for working out and find them to be the best headphone I have ever used for running. They stay put and have little cord noise. I sweat like a fiend too and haven't had any issues. I find them great on their own but then I also pair them up with a Fiio E5 amp and AGCrystal LOD and man they just get better and better.