Sensaphonics Hearing Conservation

I have been touring for the past 7 years with Wicked the musical.
We do 8 shows a week/​52 weeks a year. I do take vacations from time to time ;). Thats over 2500 shows so far for millions and millions of people.
This is my 20^th year using in ears, musicians earplugs, sleepers you name it, got it all. It seems I’m always shoving something in my ears. I’m a huge advocate for hearing protection and comfort.
When I heard about the 3D ambient monitors and the soft silicon Sensaphonics uses, I was sold!
I asked our sound guys about them. «Don’t get them» is what they said. They used them in the touring production of Dream Girls and they always were being sent back for repairs. If you sweat, they’ll break. So I did what any reasonable person does,
I didn’t listen to them.
Instead I shelled out over $ 2000 for the 3D Ambient single driver, a Zypher dehumidifier (WITH UV!!), drying strips, cleaning wipes… basically all the periphery material to treat these things like kid gloves and prove my sound guys wrong and my investment right. (I mean with two thousand dollars, you can buy a 15″ Macbook Pro that will last you 7 years and get you 2 degrees and cure something!)
Spoiler, the sound guys were right.
I treated these things like the tears of Jesus! After every 3 hour show, I’d wipe them, clean them, put them directly in the Zypher for drying. Next show, check for wax play 3 hours, wipe them, put them in the Zypher. I changed the brick before the shelf life, everything I possibly could… only to have my left ear stop working after 7 months.
Here’s where it gets crazy. No, them not working isn’t the crazy part!
They told me they’d have to break them open to find out if it was covered under warranty or not. If it wasn’t covered, they’d have to charge me $ 300 AN EAR to fix.
I told them to break them open and if it wasn’t covered, to chuck them out the window. I had no interest in spending 600 $ on in ears I treated like the tears of Jesus that I JUST SPENT $ 2000 ON!
Well they break them open. Not covered by warranty. Moisture they say. They tell me I have to buy a ZYPHER!!! I tell them I have one of those. I use it daily. Sometimes twice. I change the brick every 2 months instead of the recommended 3. Change the brick every month they say. I even put drying strips in it!
I tell them to throw them out. They are garbage.
WAIT! They say. We talked to the big cheese and they say we will redo them for free. Ok, fine. Thank you! Wow!
Here’s where it gets crazier. I don’t get monitors that fit for a year and a half!
May ’14 — The first set of monitors Don’t seal properly. I send them back ($$) they modify them. They send them back modified. They don’t fit.
Oct ’14 — Asked AGAIN for new impressions
I got them done in early November ($$) and sent them ($$). They lost them (Nov 21), then they found them (Nov 26).
Dec 3 Tricked ya! They tell me they actually never found it ?! They never picked it up so it was returned to NY. I’m on the road and NY is just managements address forwarding to me on the road, so it takes a while getting them back and resending ($$)
Jan 7, 2015 HAPPY NEW YEAR I almost get my second pair of monitors. They sent them to the wrong address so I got them Jan 21.
You guessed it… Didn’t fit. You just can’t make this crap up.
They wanted new impressions again! This time I tell them I’m not paying for them. You have to remember while all this is happening I’m changing cities every 2 – 6 weeks. I happen to be in Atlanta at the Fox when they call and give me the name of someone they trust there. Apparently they didn’t trust the people I had been using. I taxi up ($$) meet these wonderful people.
Of the dozens of times I’ve had hearing test and impressions, these guys where fine.
March ‘15
I get my monitors! They don’t seal.
April ‘15
I send them back for adjustments.
May ‘15
I received my THIRD set of monitors (4^th altered)
They did NOT FIT.
I had enough. I told them thank you very much for your time over the past year and a half trying to fix these monitors. My $ 200 ultraphones have never failed.
Truth be told, even though the last incarnation didn’t fit well, it was the best seal in the year and a half of trying… So I would stick them in my ears every so often. I wanted to feel like I got something for $ 2000 (plus hundreds in shipping and impressions). It was painful, but manageable. I used them for a month…
Then they stopped working.
Ugh.
If you’re doing this for a living and count on your products to work as hard as you do, these are not the products for you. Do Not Buy the 3D Ambient. SAVE YOUR MONEY. There is just too much tech in these things. They are a money pit.
Sincerely,
Romano

This is my second time with Sensaphonics as I just had new ear molds for some Shure 425’s and custom ear filters with Etymotic research. They fit great, they won’t ever fall out. I love how the ear filters allow me to play drums in practice and live and still hear my band so I can really react to them musically. This was as important to me as saving my hearing. So much better than using cheaper ear plugs. Worth the cost by far! The hearing test was thorough and I appreciate the help and consultation with Heather. This place is one of a kind

I’ve been using their products for a very long time and everything that I’ve ordered from them has been excellent. I’m not their easiest customer due to my CP, but each time, they got my IEM’s right and worked with my Audiologist here in So Ca to give me the best fit. Thanks for the kick ass service. I will always be a client of their’s.

I am speaking on behalf of the musicians in-​ear systems that they produce.
I am a professional musician, have been for a few years now. I am playing currently 4 nights a week.
I used to use a variety of custom in ears (mostly Ultimate Ears), and I was turned onto Sensaphonics by a buddy of mine who tours with Prince. The thing that truly got me interested was the medical grade silicone and the way it has flex unlike many of the other hard custom molds. So, I took the leap and bought my first pair of Sensaphonics.
On the recommendation of their office, I went with the 2Max ($ 850), and when they first arrived, I was absolutely in love. The feel in the ears is great. It was by far the best fitting molds I have ever used, so much so that the length that it went into my ear canal was painful at first, but they got closer to my eardrum than any other mold I have ever used.
After a month, I went back and bought a ear-​wax scraper and a bunch of their moisture plugs (that you put into the monitors when they are not in use).
Here is where my issue comes in. I have not even had them for a year and my left ear stopped working. So I sent them in for repair. They said that there is moisture in both the left and right ears, and that the repair is going to be $ 400. (Putting me now at $ 1200 for having them for less than a year).
They suggested other products because of the amount of use my ears get. Unfortunately, they need to understand people spending $ 1000 on custom molds are probably going to use them quite a bit.
There are many other companies out there now that are doing molds (great quality) for much much cheaper. (1964, Alclair, Alien Ears, ClearTune)… They are going to be a much better bang for your buck. Unless you absolutely must have the silicone.
As for me, I am gonna pay the $ 400 so I can get my ears up and running again (as they are currently sitting in their office in Chicago), even though I think it is total garbage that they cannot guarantee a product that expensive for even a year. However, they are definitely not made for people who are going to be playing professionally, or are using them frequently. For the price, look elsewhere. Other companies will hold up much longer, without charging you hundreds of dollars to fix something that should be working. Sad company.

I purchased a pair of SE-​425s from Sensaphonics last summer and enjoyed the ear buds until my right ear bud went out (user error).
I went up to Shures Niles location which required a receipt to validate that the ear buds were still under warranty. Dan from Sensaphonics was able to pull my receipt from their system and email it to me in 2 minutes!
Thank you for your help guys — I’ll be sure to make any future audio purchases from your team.

I have been really happy with my experience working with Sensaphonics. As a percussionist, I didn’t want to get in-​ears that would isolate me from the music. Their in-​ears with the built in mics are pretty much the only game in town for giving you ambient sound without bass loss. I was very hesitant to just buy them outright. They answered every question I had over the phone. They then sent out a demo unit for me to try on stage. Even though they were not custom fit, I knew immediately that I wanted these. It was going to be a few weeks until my custom in-​ears would be done, and they were cool enough to let me hold on to the demos until my own came. If you are a drummer-​I highly recommend these.
PS:as a side note, the custom fit are WAY more comfortable than the demos so don’t let that stop you.

This used to be a top notch company but now their product and customer service are both terrible. I’m a professional guitarist who plays/​has played with Joe Walsh, The B-​52s, The Goo Goo Dolls, Sunny Day Real Estate and many more. I’m very familiar with quality in-​ears and customer service and these guys provide neither anymore. I would recommend JH Audio ears. MUCH better product and customer service. As a professional I expect to be treated with respect and professionalism. I had some damaged/​deteriorated Sensaphonics and took them in to be looked at. After being told that the drivers had failed I was given NO options. NONE! Terrible customer service. The guy simply told me they failed and were unsalvageable. I wasn’t presented with any options for replacement. Very disappointing. Do not get your in-​ears here.

Micheal and the rest of the staff are wonderful people to do business with and they know their stuff! I got custom musicians ear plugs (I’m a drummer) from them over 10 years ago and I still use them every time I play or go to a concert/​club. I love the service and the products.

If you are in need of a hearing test, or ear protection, be sure to visit this place. They are an extremely knowledgeable staff who are looking out for your hearing.

When I was in college, I came here for a fitting for custom fit earplugs. (I used to be a sound engineer and wearing earplugs greatly decreased the advent of hearing loss.) Michael Santucci, the Audiologist, both tested my hearing and fitted me for the earplugs. The test was very interesting, as it gave me a clear picture of my hearing, the range of frequencies that I could hear, and the range of frequencies that I could not hear very well. The earplugs were fitted to those specs and also came with two other filters and my molds, just in case I needed new ear plugs in the future.
Also, because I was a Columbia College Audio student, I believe that I got a bit of a discount in the exam and purchasing said earplugs. I don’t know if that is still true, but it’s something that can be definitely checked.