My most sensible IEM purchase to date... and it only cost $40 USD... plus a concise, but solid look at the issues of humidity & IEMs.
My most sensible IEM purchase to date... and it only cost $40 USD...
plus a concise but solid look at the issues of humidity & IEMs.
You'll understand a significant amount of humidity damage below.
This is a dry storage unit. It seals & dehumidifies anything inside it.
They are typically found in camera stores.
I live in Thailand, so this sort of thing is beyond crucial.
I am an art dealer. I have 7000+ unframed pieces stored in a large room in my house in flat files, all in acid free plastic bags I had made to my own specs - silica gel bags in custom flat files.... and a few huge dehumidifiers. The amount of water they draw out of that room is absolutely insane. The room doesn't feel like Thailand - it's extremely dry.
I had a smaller delivery humidifier in my room, but it was a bit noisy & aircon is on 24/7 as I've spent 80-90% of the last 6.5 years on my (firm) bed, due to an injury. That combination was enough to take the humidity out of the air in that room (I'm able to measure it).
My injury has started easing up & I'm going through phases of being able to go out more... I have about 40-50k including IEMs sets of up to $5500 retail. This thing costs me FORTY-FIVE DOLLARS. I got it today and tested it for 12 hours. The humidity measures as essential zero (less than my poster room, which is significantly better than what is considered 'safe' in any art industry standard).
The truth is that it doesn't really matter where you live - you probably have reasonably hot periods, regardless of where you live (also if you have an en suite, hot showers and baths create a very significant amount of humidity, a 'cloud' of which will fill your bedroom - if that's where you keep them - but they things here can apply) - this will, given you shower bath daily, cause humidity damage.
Additionally, there will be a small amount of moisture in your IEMs after using them. Silica gel is OK for storage, but not after use.
You may feel I am being over the top - but when it's so very cheap to do this, plus a convenient enough space to store at least your IEMs... why not?
Those BAs & ESTs (especially ESTs) are VERY prone to humidity damage... it's basically IF & not WHEN they will become damaged* - they lose quality at first l, but it happens slowly & even if you take care of them very well, this is actually why the majority of my $$$$$ purchases will be single DD - and. even then, the driver should be made from the right materials.
Looking at Final Audio's most recent two flagship models A8000 (my favourite DD of all time) & Final A10000 (I had a quick try & although fantastic, it's maybe more of a sidegrade - I find without any DSP (I almost exclusively use a Mojo 2 for IEMs, so a a few presses of the DSP and I'm hearing something a bit too similar to justify a purchase... although it certainly hasn't been chalked off yet) the A10000 has more bass and less high treble; the latter being the biggest issue for many with the A8000 - BUT I need longer than a ten minute shop demo to hear the nuances.
In terms of longevity & resistance to humidity, the A8000 uses a pure Berilliyum driver which is stabilised by a type of proprietary polyurethane that is designed for both superb sound performance & very high resistance to humidity. The A10000 uses a pure diamond driver, again stabilised by proprietary. Both have enormous resistance to humidity - but they still need to be taken care of.