3 ms·

Custom-fit ear molds - where an audiologist pours goo into your ears, lets it harden, and then sends those molds off to be made into headphone attachments - are

Custom-fit ear molds - where an audiologist pours goo into your ears, lets it harden, and then sends those molds off to be made into headphone attachments - are the only way to use earbuds in a safe way. Every other route will either suffer “weird sounds when I move”, ear pain, or hearing damage due to instinctively using volume to make up for a lack of sound isolation under most normal circumstances. You can set an iOS volume limit of no more than 50% on your phone to get a head start at protecting your hearing, but most people will find this unacceptable in the short-term due to perceived “quietness”. Active noise canceling is a valid option, but only for either headphones over the ears or earbuds that are molded to fit your ear canal, at which point you likely won’t need ANC assuming that it stills works at all after the molds are attached!

koolba 7y ago
> Custom-fit ear molds - where an audiologist pours goo into your ears, lets it harden, and then sends those molds off to be made into headphone attachments - are the only way to use earbuds in a safe way. Where does one get those and how much does it cost?
- opencl 7y ago
  There are a few companies that sell them, the cheapest ones I have seen are $500 and many are in the multiple thousands. And that's before paying the audiologist, though Ultimate Ears claims you can do the molding yourself at home and I have no idea if this is significantly worse or not. Examples: https://custom.ultimateears.com/products/earphones https://custom.ultimateears.com/products/earphones https://nobleaudio.com/en/shop/custom/ https://nobleaudio.com/en/shop/custom/ https://www.64audio.com/store/audiophile#universal https://www.64audio.com/store/audiophile#universal
  - Anechoic 7y ago
    the cheapest ones I have seen are $500 The Etymotics are $150 for the custom ear molds, and the price of the headphones which range from $60 to a few $hundred.
    - opencl 7y ago
      Thank you, their website does not have any pricing information for the molds. Though according to the map on their website the nearest place to me that does the molds is a 5 hour drive away. I guess you could probably get most audiologists to do it for you anyway?
      - kderbe 7y ago
        Yes, I went to an unlisted nearby audiologist who had never heard of IEMs (this was many years ago) and he did my impressions for $25, plus he shipped the impressions to the IEM manufacturer for me. Based on that experience I would definitely not try to take my own impressions, but leave it to a professional.
        floatingatoll 7y ago
        Absolutely do not DIY the molds.

koolba 7y ago

> Custom-fit ear molds - where an audiologist pours goo into your ears, lets it harden, and then sends those molds off to be made into headphone attachments - are the only way to use earbuds in a safe way. Where does one get those and how much does it cost?

opencl 7y ago
There are a few companies that sell them, the cheapest ones I have seen are $500 and many are in the multiple thousands. And that's before paying the audiologist, though Ultimate Ears claims you can do the molding yourself at home and I have no idea if this is significantly worse or not. Examples: https://custom.ultimateears.com/products/earphones https://custom.ultimateears.com/products/earphones https://nobleaudio.com/en/shop/custom/ https://nobleaudio.com/en/shop/custom/ https://www.64audio.com/store/audiophile#universal https://www.64audio.com/store/audiophile#universal
- Anechoic 7y ago
  the cheapest ones I have seen are $500 The Etymotics are $150 for the custom ear molds, and the price of the headphones which range from $60 to a few $hundred.
  - opencl 7y ago
    Thank you, their website does not have any pricing information for the molds. Though according to the map on their website the nearest place to me that does the molds is a 5 hour drive away. I guess you could probably get most audiologists to do it for you anyway?
    - kderbe 7y ago
      Yes, I went to an unlisted nearby audiologist who had never heard of IEMs (this was many years ago) and he did my impressions for $25, plus he shipped the impressions to the IEM manufacturer for me. Based on that experience I would definitely not try to take my own impressions, but leave it to a professional.
      - floatingatoll 7y ago
        Absolutely do not DIY the molds.