Anonymous Gerbil

Back at the beginning of October, in a moment of weakness, I put in an impulse order in for a pair of UE FITS in grey (Cloud). For those that don't know what they are, they are bluetooth IEMs with tips that mold to the shape of your ears before be set with light: (https://custom.ultimateears.com/pages/ue-fits).

My normal listening is done on a pair of Audio Technica M40xs, however they are a bit bulky for travel. I have a pair of MEE Audio M6 PRO IEMs that I use for travel. They do a good job of noise isolation, but after 4-5 hours of continuous wear, my ears definitely feel it. I have a hard time finding tips that give the right balance of tight enough fit to do proper noise isolation but loose enough not to make my ears hurt after a four hour flight. Doesn't help that I think my left and right ears really need different sized tips.

So that brings us to the UE FITS
First, I'll say that Ultimate Ears was appropriately communicative regarding the shipping timeline and while there were a couple of delays, it amounted to about three weeks. The estimated ship date, when I ordered, was the end of November. I got a message on Dec 4th noting that they had starting shipping orders on Nov 20th, in order of purchase, and that mine would go out as soon as they got to it in the list. I got another update on Dec 10 that said effectively the same thing. On Dec 17th, I got notification of shipment.

Now then... what's in the box? Yes, I really am doing an "unboxing"....
The FITS come in a black cardboard carrier that is formed for the case and IEMs. The "goo" that the tips are made from is light sensitive, hence the black cardboard surround and the warnings to set them up promptly.

That's wild. What's the "setup" process like?

There is a three attachment limit, so the posts are split...

Also in the box:

(1) fuzzy USB-A to USB-C charging cable. (I'm too lazy to retake a picture of a common USB cable. (1) Quick Start card. Interesting that the Quick Start card gives slightly different instructions than the top of the box. They get you to the same place, but people are easily confused and consistency is good.


(1) Safety sheet eye chart. (Didn't both to take a picture of legalese)
1. Don't blow up your ears listing to loud music
2. Don't blow up your ears by abusing the LiPo batteries in the IEMs
3. Don't blow up your stomach by eating the IEMs

One thing that you find out if you actually read the safety sheet is that the IEMs are Logitech hardware, covered by Logitech's warranty. Hurray for fine print.

That's as far as I have gotten. I have not yet removed the buds from the protective packaging, nor have I downloaded the app. That will come soon though.

--SS

Time to get off my ass and continue this thread. I actually went through the fitting process on Christmas Eve.

After slicing open the seal on the protective clam shell, I found the pull string you are supposed to use to open it...
Inside the nice cardboard, protective clam shell is ... ... another protective cover.
Peeling that cover off, we finally get to the goods.
I've got to say, the packaging on these things is definitely thorough.

A couple of shots of one of the earbuds. This is before fitting.

The UE Fits come with a clam shell carrying/charging case.
The Fits ... eerrrmmm... fit... nicely in the case and are held in with magnets. Drop them into the case to charge them. The case also has the pairing button for initiating bluetooth pairing. In short, that case is important and your nice new UE Fits are pretty short lived without it.

Now, for the fitting. You have to download the UE FITS app for your phone. It guides you through the pairing process. Effectively, the process is this.

1. Plug in the case and put the Fits in their charging slot. They will go into pairing mode.
2. Pair with your phone.
3. Insert the fits in your ears.
4. The Fits app will play some generic music and instruct you to move the buds around to get the best bass response.
5. Run the curing on the gel tips.

The app warns you that the earbuds will get warm while curing. It's not kidding. They get quite warm quite quick. It was a bit surprising actually. I would certainly recommend taking a few moments to get the buds well set in your ear, as you are stuck with the results. The gell is quite pliable before it is set and it seems to conform well, but there is a limit to how much it can move due to the outer rubber shell. This not a full casting of your ear like you might get with custom profession IEMs. So, move them around until the feel right and sound good. I got a good enough fit that I could easily jump up and down with out feeling like they would fall out, even before curing.

Sorry for the less that stellar photos. I was doing this by myself and it's pretty hard to ensure focus when you can see the screen.

During fitting...
After fitting....

The change in the tips is not dramatic, but noticeable. I was pleased that, after curing, the tips are still pliable. They feel like a rubber compound. Comparing before and after of the tips shows the difference in profile but, as noted, the tips don't fill your entire ear, so the change isn't marked, but it is certainly there.

The tips are removable. Ultimate Ears doesn't have replacement tips listed for sale on their website, but it certainly appears that the tips can be easily replaced if UE decides to make replacements available.
A couple of close up shots of the driver structure.
In the bottom one, you can see the two LEDs used to cure the gel in the tips. They are the white squares on the gold colored pads at the top and bottom.

That's it for now. I've been using them a bit and will give my thoughts on sound, comfort, and usability soon.

Turn it into an article for AG?

those are pretty sweet.