Yes, the metal shell contributes, but the combination of a condensate point (the metal shell) being adjacent to a material that does not cope with being exposed to condensate is my best hypothesis right now. The metal shell would be ok with a coarse filter, the filter might be ok with a different shell.
I can replicate condensate on the nozzle of Mele within about 5 minutes, while sitting at a desk, doing no exercise etc. Sometimes this can over-spill onto the filter. (also I can see this effect on the metal shelled FHE, but the filter does not get clogged, because it is coarse).
The comply foam tips with the screen seem to prevent his. No silicone tip I tried made a difference.
Some gasket on the condensate point might also help, or a filter redesign like the moondrop where a similar issue was observed.
There is also the case that human ear canals will have some range of humidity. This is kind of variable we cannot know or easily measure, but I think the design should accommodate some sense of a normal range being considered.
edit when I say we canāt know or easily measure, I mean you and I as individuals, there are known typical ranges published.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. The O2 is all metal, and Iāve never had and havenāt heard of any condensation issues. Must be some combo of parameters with the Mele and Olina
I have heard people talk about the condensation issues, and even seen some photos on both of them.
It does seem like local humidity has a major impact on the problem. I havenāt had the problem, but I live north of LA, which is very dry. Actually what got me into IEMs was the additional heat here ( we just moved last year ). I didnāt like wearing over the ear headphones in the warmer months.
Youāre falling in to a similar pattern here, but I have to say Iāve not come across any reviews (from reviewers that I would trust and have a similar library) that have formed that opinion.
Youāre missing my point, which was that I disgree with your view that " ā¦ the chef came up with a half baked cake."
Having said that it seems I can claim that currently ālots of us (43%) like stockā, and ālots of us (43%) like the dual filter modā with āmany of us (14%) liking the front vent modā
It doesnāt matter - you have your opinion, I have mine - they are different, both are valid.
I live in the UK so itās not warm or humid and surprise surprise no condensation problems what so ever. Just the best sound Iāve heard from a sub Ā£100 iem in a beautifully realised high quality iem.
I actually could see owning two pairs, one with double filter and one stock, and may do that when the blue one becomes available. I have two Mele ( one black and one blue ), and I swapped filters on one, and left the other stock.
I live in England, and relative indoor humidity is around 40-50% for me, nothing like subtropical or other high humidity climate zones. I had no condensation issues with my Mele and Olina. I also have, TMI I know, dry ear wax, which may make my ear physiology particularly well suited for these two sets
I am sure when I lived in Omaha or Orlando, I would have been more likely to have issues. Omaha is along the Missouri river, and has 90% humidity during the summer months. Florida is basically a swamp that even inland cities are barely above sea level. Orlando is officially 82 feet above sea level, despite being an hour from the ocean.
I mean Iām just grateful Iām getting mid-if at $100 Sure itās annoying that thereās condensation on some sets but Iām sure HBB didnāt wake up one morning and said āIām going to make these IEM have condensation issues to piss off amanieuxā.
Obviously Iād like my IEMs to come with no qc issues, but itās a bit unreasonable to be expecting perfection at this price considering the volume tripowin needs to produce. I mean hey, youāre always free to buy the Oxygen at $275 for almost triple
So I think my ear anatomy doesnāt jive with the Olina (specifically the filters). I guess I have really āwetā ears because I noticed my tips slowly sliding out of my ears (no sound issue), when I checked there was on condensation on the nozzle and around the outer edge of the filter. I blew in them and tried to wipe the condensation off but that must have pushed it into the filter and right when I put them on the sound was halved. Im letting them dry out now but this unfortunately isnāt going to work for me. Im wondering if I should try other filters however those will undoubtedly impact sound
iem like everything else is all about compromises as nothing is perfect so i solved the condensation problem by using my HM when i bike and adopted the double mesh mod to fix the shoutiness in the mids issue, all that iām saying is that both these issues could have been fixed by simply choosing a different filter combo in the nozzle for a few cents more - my bqeyz spring 1 has a mesh filter and a metal filter so itās not too far fetched and this is why i call it a half baked iem cake - for the record as i already said iām happy with olina (bought s12 and olina at the same time, sold my s12, kept my olina) but iām complaining because we have to finish baking the cake ourselves
My Olinaās have just dropped most of their volume and sound terrible, removed filters , inner looks dry, no condensation. They were perfect sounding last night. I will leave them overnight with filters removed and hope they sound better tomorrow. Using Mele tonight which sound great compared to my sick Olinaās.
donāt touch it let it dry up 10 min close to a source of heat or for a few hours in the room and itāll be as good as new, a fix as it has been suggested is to put a metal filter over themesh filter(s) as water will condensate first on the metal filter and drop to the bottom without hopefully getting water sucked up by capilarity on the mesh(s), i will try that and write back
Sure itās annoying that thereās condensation on some sets but Iām sure HBB didnāt wake up one morning and said āIām going to make these IEM have condensation issues to piss off amanieuxā.