Hearing Components Comply Foam Tips: iPhone accessory review

iPhone/iPod Accessory Review: Comply Foam Tips
Reviewed by: Bill Henderson
http://www.complyfoam.com
Price: $14.95 (3 pair)  $19.95 with wax guard.

After listening to many brands of earphones (some which I have yet to review), I have come to really appreciate what Hearing Components has done with the Comply tips. They make a fair pair of earphones sound good and a good pair sound great.

How? Foam. Foam replacement eartips to be exact.

It seems that the majority of earphone makers include 3 sizes of silicone tips in the packaging regardless what you paid for the phones. And while some brands like Klipsch (silicone) and Shure (foam) excel in sound isolation with the tips they supply out-of-the-box, many others offerings are just pathetic. Less isolation. Even less bass. And a lot of awful. I mean, do these guys not want their product to sound the best it can? Are they in audio jail? I’m stunned how bad some earphones – and I’m not talking cheap here – sound using stock tips.

This is where the appreciation comes in. Rip those eartips off and replace them with some of the Comply foam tips and you will no longer regret the money you spent for those earphones. Squeeze them between your fingers, insert them as deep into your ear as comfortable as possible and hold for 10 seconds letting the foam expand. What a difference. The main shocker you will hear is the sudden bass response. It’s like someone flicked on a subwoofer. It’s that dramatic. And outside noises just went bye-bye.

Part of the reason Hearing Components is so good at this is because they have years of experience developing hearing safety plugs and earsets for military and industrial uses. And it pays off here in the consumer market.

No matter what brand earphone you have, their is probably a Comply foam tip available. Just pick from the list on their web site or look at the package back to see if your brand is listed. Its that easy.

The foam is similar in feel to Shure’s foam tips meaning smooth to the touch. Smooth foam gets dirtier less often and are easier to keep clean. Packages include 3 pair, either all small, medium or large or one of each size. You can get regular foam tips or ones with a built-in ‘wax guard’. I did not receive these, so I can’t say if they are worth the extra money or not.

One complaint I do have is that the foam tips that come with Hearing Components’ own NR-10 earphones are longer that these replacement tips. Hearing Components sells these as the P series, but the brand selection in this series is slim. Even so, the regular Comply foam tips are still light years better than most other company’s silicone tips. And getting the best sound possible from your earphones is why you upgraded in the first place, right?

Score:
9/10