KiyPhi t1_j6vi915 wrote on February 2, 2023 at 4:15 AM

One thing not mentioned here, how are they sealing? IEMs are especially sensitive to seal tolerances. If you have too big of a tip, the tip will deform and break the seal, if you have too small of a tip, the tip won't occlude the ear and there will be no seal. Tip material can matter on the seal as well. I have not personally listened to either of these, but that is often an overlooked reason why something will sound different than it measures.

extremeelementz OP t1_j6virlj wrote on February 2, 2023 at 4:20 AM

I did tip swap them and it didn't make a difference sadly. I even tried the foam tips that came with the S12 (although the middle ones were missing). Maybe I should buy another IEM tip and try that out instead?

KiyPhi t1_j6viz2f wrote on February 2, 2023 at 4:22 AM

Another possible consideration, did you volume match them and if so, by what method? If one is a bit louder, they look close enough in sound that the extra perceived bass from loudness increase could also explain it.

extremeelementz OP t1_j6vj9wg wrote on February 2, 2023 at 4:24 AM

Well I volume matched them to the best I could with my own ears. I don't have a good device to determine if they are accurately at the same level.

I did try to increase the volume little by little on the S12 Pro until it appeared to be at the same volume and even went a little further thinking maybe they just need to be pushed more but that just increased the volume and didn't give me more bass.

KiyPhi t1_j6vjowc wrote on February 2, 2023 at 4:28 AM

That does make it seem a bit like a sealing issue if the bass stayed low with increase volume. If you ever want to do a pretty good volume match, a multimeter with AC voltage is a good option for cheap.

Do you have access to a PC to listen with that you can use EQ APO on? If so, you might put a low shelf on the one that has less bass. If it takes more than 1-2dB to sound like the other one then it is probably certainly a sealing issue.

An alternative test is to use a tone generator like this one and see how low it goes. If the seal is broken on the less bass one, it should roll off much sooner than the other.