Well, okay to call me a whacko but I sent my Triple Fi Pros back in exchange for the Shure E530 (E500), Shure's version of the triple driver IEM.

I kept struggling with the fit in my left ear. The seal seemed okay but no matter what tip I used it just never felt secure and I kept having to feel the need to push it in every few minutes. It became annoying after a while. I'm sure everyone wouldn't necessarily have this problem but these IEM's are even a little bit larger than the Super-Fi Pro's which some people have problems getting a good fit. The Shures are much better ergonomically and I have always loved the Shure sound signature of the forward midrange...the most beautiful midrange in the business which is so important with horns and deep acoustics.

The Shure E530 also has this funky "Push To Hear" (PTH) adapter which is probably a godsend for musicians but I would probably never use it. More on the Shure E530.
http://www.earphonesolutions.com/shseeasasshe.html

Ken, not sure if you took the plunge yet on the Triple Fi's but I should have these E530's Monday or Tuesday and will be sure to post a comparative review next week.

I haven't moved forward yet with the triple Fis or the Pro 10s - I'm waiting for my next extended travel. I'm glad I waited a bit and look forward to hearing your report on the E530s. The fit is really important to me too - I am constantly fiddling with the inexpensive ones I have now.

Steve- sorry to hear that, but I can understand it...the sound is one thing, but the fit has to be good.
To be honest, with these super-fi's I have, I couldn't find a comfortable fit with the supplied varriety of ear forms, aside from the larger foams. I ended up using the largest set of clear rubber forms from my Shure E2's; they aren't the most comfortable, but I get the best seal with those. I love the foams, it's just that I'd be replacing them all the time with the way my ears are. So, those old Shures came in handy
But, even with that, I doubt I've ever had these UE's on for more than an hour or two max at a time. Maybe that's just me, I don't wear headphones for more than that either, without at least taking them off for a five or ten break.

In my case, using them on stage, it's much less about comfort than about good sound. I've been cheating a bit lately, using a complete seal on the right ear and removing the ear form altogether on the left, so that I can hear some ambient sound....gives me back that connection to the folks in the room.

Anyway- hopefully you'll "settle in" to the new ones. Shure makes great products, so from that side of it, I know they'll be great. Let us know.

Ken, glad to see you're waiting for the right time, but I'd say be auditioning some of these to see for yourself- like Steve has done, you can send them back if you decide within the window of time they give you. Plus, the UE's (and I guess others) will make you a custom molded ear form to use....not sure how much more those are, tho.
Use your musicians' discount, dude

Hey Tony. I do the same thing when playing. I keep the right plug in my ear, and leave the left out for ambience. With some groups I perform with like tonight at Sawgrass Marriott, they point a Mackie Monitor on a stand towards me that sits 2 feet away from me, and that's fine 'cause the band plays with dynamics, so that works.

Bruce-
yeah, nothing wrong with monitors if they are good ones and well mixed. I'm also glad to see I'm not the only one who cheats like that....I need to hear some ambient just to be sure I'm still in the house; too many bad experiences there

The main thing I love about our setup with the in-ears is 1)the sound attenuation (save what hearing I have left...)and 2)the Aviom's ability to adjust everyone's volume, channel, stereo and pan (on stereo instruments.) We've got the drums very well miked. (all separate mikes: kick, snare, hi hat, floor tom, then one mike for the two smaller toms, then two overheads for the cymbals.) All that goes into four spots on the Aviom, so I can increase the kick, turn down the snare, pan the cymbals hard left and right, etc etc.
This Sunday we had two electric guitars, one acoustic, (with two channels, one pick up and one mike), three vocals, my bass, the drums, and the keys.
One of the guitar players runs very hot most of the time, so I keep him low in the mix, the other guy's varies so much that I have to adjust him on the fly. The keys are sort of like that too, depending on what patches he's using.
So, in my "headspace" I can basically arrange the players around me with my bass dead center and a hair louder than the rest, to be sure I'm playing it cleanly and with good articulation. Then, I can bring the whole volume level down just a touch, makes it much more comfortable.

Unfortunately, we'd NEVER be able to do that with our old monitor setup....seems that once it was set, we were stuck with it, since the sound guys usually had to run video and lights too, so I could never get their attention after the initial setup.

Oh well....
Back to work.

Tony

I like to keep one plug in the right ear 'cause the acoustic piano is to my left, and the guitarist plays acoustic also. everything else including drums are run through DI. I guess I look at this in a similar light to runnin' two kick mics to get presence, depth, and punch.

Not sure how much I will help you but here goes....

Received yesterday and after about 3 hours use, here are my thoughts but I am needing to do the comparison to TFP from memory of about a week ago, not side by side.

I just love the thick Shure cables. They’re SO thick they don’t really tangle at all and it just adds a robustness to the whole package. The TFP’s cord seemed rather squirrelly to me, not a big deal though. Upon inserting the E530’s with the new medium foamies it was an instant perfect fit within seconds…very nice. The short and sweet of it I would call the E530 an E4 with a small subwoofer. Like having that terrific car stereo with (4) or (6) good speakers and adding a single 8” subwoofer in the trunk to really fill out the overall sound. That’s almost it. I don’t notice a larger soundstage than E4 but it might be. Not shure I could justify over 2 ½ times the cost for this improvement over the E4 but it is what it is. I think this product should be around $300 but as we move up the sound improvement chain the law of diminishing returns increases and “bang for your buck” becomes less of an issue. We just gotta have the best.

With regards to more specific comparisions to TFP, while they do sound different from one another, it’s really a toss up as far as saying one is better than the other (soundwise). Some have said the TFP’s sound boring (but not necessarily in an insulting way), that they are so laid back. I would say that the TFP’s sound to me like they still have a slightly larger soundstage and a more open, airier sound. This may be what some refer to as boring whereas the E530 sounds more up front and the drums just seem to slam a little harder. Dave Weckl sounds fantastic on these. But while the bass doesn’t slam as hard on the TFP’s I notice a hint more texture, particularly on some Victor Wooten passages. I’d love to hear them side by side again. As said before Shure owns the midrange, period. On the highs, I think they are very similar in detail but the approach is a little different. Again the TFP’s sound a little airier and distant (but very detailed) and the Shures a little more up front and crisp with slightly shorter decay. At loud volumes for extended listening periods, the Shures might become a little (and I mean only a little) fatiguing compared to TFP’s. I think overall the E530 has a more balanced sound across all three frequencies. These are both EXCELLENT IEM”s and the differences I describe are subtle. Some people may plug both of these into their ears and say they sound the same. As said before, I don’t think you can go wrong with either. They offer a BIG, BOLD and DETAILED sound straight out of an Ipod. Pretty much everyone would be blown away by the dynamic sound of either of these. If the fit wasn’t an issue, I would have been completely happy to stick with the TFP’s but the Shures are a much easier fit and I really dig those cables. So, Ken, if fit is really an issue with you, I'd have to give the nod to the Shures. Or get both and send one back.

That's a good observation. We're using the Aviom system and Westone ear sets at church.

Hey Tony, I picked up a pair of the Super Fi's a couple weeks ago. Nice recommendation. I love 'em and can get a great fit with the smallest sleeves. They are not quite as refined sounding as my E530's but they will completely blow away any stock earbuds or anything you would find at a Best Buy or Circuit City. Your MP3 player needs these and for the sound quality I think the $189 I paid for them is quite reasonable. But the Shure E530 is definitely taking it up another notch or two. Some compare the sound quality of those to top of the line full size Sennheiser HD 595's.

Well, I decided to go with Ear Bud style monitors as opposed to the ones that go inside the ear canal or custom ear molds. Those give just a bit too much isolation and SPL for me. I had bought some bottom level Shures (E2c's) but ended up selling them.