ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips Review I – Boondoggle?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips offer an unconventional geometry mimicking the human ear canal. But they have limited application as their 3 mm inner bore (company claims 4 mm) does not fit most earphone nozzles (with their 4.5 mm diameter) – and the small umbrellas may not seal large ear canals.
INTRODUCTION
Eartips are a very personal thing. There is no good or bad in most cases, there is good fit and lesser fit, which depends on both the devices they are mounted on and the listeners’ ear canals. These two variables create a large number of possibilities and uncertainties so that no eartip is working universally.
As a minimum requirement, the eartip has to fit the nozzle of the corresponding earpiece. Many of these nozzles have a 4.5 mm diameter, which fits the SpinFit CP145, JVC Spiral Dots, and all Azla models. That’s why any given company offers different tips models – and sometimes none of them may work with the chosen earphone model. The advantage for the premium manufacturers is that their eartips do not really compete with each other but are rather complimentary. So go and fill your toolbox with tips for all cases.
ADV, a New-York based company came up with the interesting idea to produce elliptical silicone eartips which contour the naturally elliptical ear canal. The company claims that the improved fit creates optimal comfort and seal (compared to essentially all other eartips).
This should result in “the most transparent way with zero compromise in the original sound signature by maximizing acoustic mass through its Wide-Exit-Bore (WEB) design”. And since a photo says more than…yes, you know this saying, we added some below for you to study the geometry of the ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips IEM Ear Tips. Our eartips expert KopiOkaya has already implemented this model into his famous “Simplified Guide”.
WHAT KOPIOKAYA SAYS
ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips (horizontal fit)
Bore size: small (4mm)
Stem length: short
Feel: flexible, soft and pliable
Bass: 3.5
Midrange: 4
Treble: 3.5
Soundstage: 2.5
Vocal presence: 3.5
An interesting elliptical eartip which fits two ways and can affect sound. The not so interesting part is it projects a smaller soundstage and vocals get thrown backwards. In both fittings, I experienced quite significant treble roll-off and details lost. Isolation is NOT GOOD!
Sample from ADVSound, courtesy of co-blogger Baskingshark.
ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips (vertical fit)
Bore size: small (4mm)
Stem length: short
Feel: flexible, soft and pliable
Bass: 3.0
Midrange: 3.5
Treble: 3.5
Soundstage: 2.5
Vocal presence: 3.5
An interesting elliptical eartip which fits two ways and can affect sound. The not so interesting part is it projects a smaller soundstage and vocals get thrown backwards. In both fittings, I experienced quite significant treble roll-off and details lost. Isolation is NOT GOOD!
Sample from ADVSound, courtesy of co-blogger Baskingshark.
WHAT WE SAY
We are primarily concerned with the fit: no fit, no sound. And the ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips create a fit problem for both, our ears and the nozzles of most of our earphones. Let’s address the issues in detail.
Size of umbrella vs. size of ear canal: the bottleneck is the narrow diameter of the umbrella – and even the largest size is effectively too small for JK’s ear canals (he typically uses 14 mm Azla SednaEarfits). He therefore sent a package to co-blogger Biodegraded. Most of the reflections below are by him.
Bore diameter vs nozzle diameter: it is claimed that the ADV’s bore diameter is 4 mm and therefore will fit nozzles between 4 and 6 mm in diameter. But bore diameter is actually only about 3 mm, so it does not fit typical wide-bore nozzles like the FiiO FD1 or anything that the Spiral Dots or Azla SednaEarfit typically go on. And the Spintfits come in difference bore sizes.
Short stem vs. nozzle length vs.: the short stem limits the ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips to earphones with long and skinny nozzles (thinner than 4.5 mm), which are quite rare. In fact one of these rare earphones with a 4 mm nozzle is the KZ ASX, however the nozzle is too short for a good fit (photo below).
Positioning on nozzle: it is really difficult to rotate the ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips into the right position on the nozzle. Because they are elliptical, positioning w.r.t. the cable connector is quite critical, especially on earphones that have interesting ear-mimicing shapes – playing around in the mirror is necessary (and fun if one’s ears are slightly different from each other).
Membrane thickness/strength vs size selection: they are quite soft, which combined with the elliptical shape means they tend to fit “smaller” than indicated. Potential buyers may underestimate their size. S-users may need size M, M-user size L, and L-users…well they may be out of luck – like JK.
All of the above considered leaves a very limited application of the ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips. Be prepared.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The ADV Eartune Fidelity U Elliptical Silicone Eartips offer a few good ideas that have been incompletely implemented. As they are now, they are of very limited use – and far from universally applicable. And since we have always been happy with circular eartips even on the most premium of earphones, we wonder whether the elliptical shape is more nuisance than benefit. And they are not cheap at $25 for 3 pairs. The potential buyer has to be careful when selecting the earphones they are planning use these with.
Until next time…keep on listening!
DISCLAIMER
The ADV EARTUNE FIDELITY U Elliptical Audiophile IEM eartips were supplied unsolicited by the company through Head-Fi – and we thank them for that.
Our generic standard disclaimer.
You find an INDEX of our Eartips Reviews HERE.
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