11 ms·

What it’s like to get custom earbuds made

114 points by Liriel 5y ago

rdtwo 5y ago
I’ve had one made it’s pretty cheap. Worth doing once
mlac 5y ago
You can use FSA money for custom ear plugs on Ultimate Ears. Then they take your mold of your ears and you can use that. It used to be a model they would put in your ears, but now it’s an image scanning device. I haven’t purchased the in ear monitors, but have the ear plugs.
wodenokoto 5y ago
Would this be a good alternative to, say Bose ANC headset at the office? Can they double as concert earplugs or do I need a second set only for that?
- aidenn0 5y ago
  1. Yes; compared to ANC they will block out way more ambient highs, and maybe a bit less lows. 2. Some custom IEMs have an option to replace the driver with a passive frequency-neutral filter; I didn't see one on campfire's website. I'd ask customer service before getting the molds made.
- matgessel 5y ago
  I have (and use daily) a pair of 13 year old Westone 3’s*. I bought them thinking of using them for a 40 minute walking commute involving freeway underpasses and a noisy sales pit style office. The commute case didn’t work out because they didn’t seal fully. There was too much noise leakage to hear podcasts. Music wasn’t isolated enough and I didn’t want to turn it up too high and damage my hearing. The audiologist who made the molds had me chew while the mold material was curing in my ear canals and this resulted in a poor seal. A poor seal also means poor bass response. I think the audiologist had me chew to make the molds more comfortable for long hours of use and for snacking at the desk. Hearing aids were his main business and he seemed inexperienced with musician monitors. I’ve recently discovered that I can apply clear finger nail polish to the inserted portion to “fine tune” the fit. I’m getting a good seal and they’er still comfortable. I mainly use them when working with power tools at home. For office use there are a couple of caveats: 1) If you have a tight fit, they will be more difficult to insert and remove. This can be a nusiance in a highly-collaborative work environment. Also, people tend to ignore the earpieces and expect you to hear what they’re saying. 2) Chewing is very loud and borderline uncomfortable. This was the case with the original, narrower width as well. > Can they double as concert earplugs or do I need a second set only for that? My Westones have removeable cables, so they could be used that way, but there’s a better alternative: you can use the same molds to get relatively inexpensive silicone molds with tuned attenuation "filters". Mine use Etymotic 9, 15, 25 and solid 30 dB filters. The filters reduce frequencies more evenly, allowing more high end through than foam earplugs (except for the solid filters). I have Sensaphonics ER "Custom Musican”[2] plugs and Westone ES49[3], both made from silicone. The Sensaphonics are softer, but I prefer the Westones because they are lower profile, they have little handles for removal, and the firmer silicone is easier to insert/remove. * Westone seems to have discontinued products for musicians and HiFi [1] https://www.etymotic.com/hearing-protection-accessories/ https://www.etymotic.com/hearing-protection-accessories/ [2] https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs [3] https://www.westone.com/hearing_health_care/recreational-earpieces https://www.westone.com/hearing_health_care/recreational-ear...
- rdtwo 5y ago
  Depends on use case, is really good for the office but kind of sucks for the airplane because your ears won’t clear as well and some noise doesn’t get isolated as well
bogwog 5y ago
I wonder how difficult it would be to scan and print your own?
- jahewson 5y ago
  To any reasonable degree of precision? Difficult.
- rdtwo 5y ago
  You could take your own impressions but it’s not worth it. It’s like 50–$100 at Costco
chiph 5y ago
I had this done a few years ago [0] and the article is pretty much spot-on. Especially about the process - the audiologist will insert a tiny cotton ball allll the way down in your ear, then squirt the polymer in (which is creepy feeling). You wait for it to cure, and they pull it out & trim any excess. Note that you can now get custom sleeves which slip over commercial earbuds like the Apple AirPods, so you can get a perfect fit and they're less likely to fall out. You get to choose your color. I went with different colors for the right & left ears, to make telling them apart easier. They are noise isolating, so you will have to pay attention to your surroundings (traffic, people approaching you from behind, a coworker trying to get your attention). But they don't block enough sound to make them effective at loud concerts or at a shooting range. Wear proper hearing protection for those events. Speaking of which - watch your volume levels. It's super easy to play them too loud and damage your hearing. Take breaks every 30-40 minutes. [0] Many thanks to RK Audiology in Austin. https://rkaudiology.com/custom-fit/ https://rkaudiology.com/custom-fit/
- jcoder 5y ago
  you can now get custom sleeves which slip over commercial earbuds like the Apple AirPods How annoying do you find it to remove them to charge the earbuds?
  - chiph 5y ago
    I used them with a set of Shure SE315 earbuds. I mentioned the Apple ones because that's what many people have today and are similar in price. The fit on mine from custom insert to the Shures was pretty tight (good for air sealing). I could have drilled the holes a little larger, but it was easier to just warm them up with a hairdryer.
pkaye 5y ago
Some audiologists are now using 3D ear scans. They can send the scan data electronically to the manufacturer. https://hearing-balance.natus.com/en-us/products-services/otoscan https://hearing-balance.natus.com/en-us/products-services/ot...
mackrevinack 5y ago
nice. more e-waste because you can't resell them when you want to change or upgrade to something else or when they stop fitting you
- handmodel 5y ago
  I would wager that earbuds are already an item that most people prefer not to buy a used version of...
- willis936 5y ago
  There's more waste in an average American's day's worth of single use packaging than in one pair of earbuds, which is good for decades.
- mardifoufs 5y ago
  I buy pretty much everything used... but I probably wouldn't buy used earbuds. For sanitary reasons sure but also because they aren't usually durable enough to be worthwhile buying second hand. The wires (or the batteries) are usually worn by even light usage
- rdtwo 5y ago
  They are usually corded so they don’t get trashed like pods
skybrian 5y ago
I had something like this done for the first set of hearing aids I got a decade ago, but when replacing them, I tried it without and it's fine. An advantage to not getting them custom made is that I can use cheap disposable domes now, so I can just replace them every so often, and buy more on Amazon. It seems like the reason to do it would not really be for sound quality, but for comfort, so you can wear them all day. Whether you need it depends on the shape of your ears, so a review won't tell you whether you need them; the reviewer likely has differently-shaped ears than you.
idontwantthis 5y ago
Can any audiophile tell me why even a professional should buy $1500 IEM? I just bought $45 QZ ZS10 Pro and they might be the best sounding and noise blocking headphones I’ve ever had. Perfect for drumming along to tracks. Haven’t gotten to try them plugged in on stage yet. Are these leagues better in some respect?
- gridspy 5y ago
  The usual justification for professional IEM is hearing protection. It's often loud on stage. There is a danger with headphones that you will turn them up too loud (esp. in a loud environment) so you can hear the signal clearly. As a musical professional your hearing is vital to the quality of your performance so you should protect it.
  - germinalphrase 5y ago
    To totally derail - are there solid reusable earplugs for saving my hearing at shows without dramatically altering the feeling of the performance?
    - brian-armstrong 5y ago
      Yes, Hearos https://www.hearos.com/collections/all-consumer/products/earplugs-high-fidelity-series-with-free-case https://www.hearos.com/collections/all-consumer/products/ear... The plug allows the sound to be more natural while providing good protection
      - brianpan 5y ago
        +1 Hearos for a good, cheap option. I upgraded to the slightly more expensive Loop earplugs which were more comfortable. Both give something like 12-15 db noise reduction. https://us.loopearplugs.com/ https://us.loopearplugs.com/
    - tonyarkles 5y ago
      https://www.etymotic.com/passive-hearing-protection/ https://www.etymotic.com/passive-hearing-protection/ A friend put together a group buy of these at least a decade ago and mine are still doing great. They’ve gotten completely disgusting but some isopropyl followed by a warm water wash cleaned them right up. It’s kind of weird that such a relatively niche product is so cheap… I am so happy with them that I would be a repeat customer but the best I can do is promote them a bit since I’ve got no reason to send them another $20 yet.
rootusrootus 5y ago
Somewhat regularly I'm tempted to try custom IEMs. I have tried various universal ones and they're always terribly uncomfortable, after an hour or so they have to come out so my ears can recover. Even with comply foam tips, sized so they're just tight enough to make a good seal. Drives my ears insane. If custom IEMs fixed that issue for me, it would be worth it.
- anderiv 5y ago
  CIEMs completely solved this problem for me. Like you, I could only stand foam plugs for a short period. Nearly 7 years ago now I got a pair of 4-driver CIEMs from Alclair, and they are still going strong today. I can literally wear them for 8 or more hours at a time without discomfort - this is a godsend for air travel. I put them in before boarding and they stay in until I’m back in the terminal.
simontheowl 5y ago
For those of you who already have a favorite pair of nice earbuds, I suggest checking out ADV (https://www.adv-sound.com/pages/ciem https://www.adv-sound.com/pages/ciem). They are able to manufacture a custom-fit sleeve for a lot of existing earbuds and are therefore much cheaper (~250 USD). I have a pair of Shure earbuds and their custom-fit sleeves are great - they even send you a do-it-yourself ear impression kit, which is quite easy to use.
- nunez 5y ago
  note that this option makes using any case impossible for truly wireless IEMs. great option for cabled buds though.
hokumguru 5y ago
Worth noting that Campfire Audio, the company mentioned in the article, has been involved with manipulating reviews via their sponsorships with large audio communities/publications. Also, for those interested in IEMs in general: crinacle.com has a 1000+ item database including measurements and his subjective rankings.
- gaudat 5y ago
  I tried my friend's Campfire Audio and it is quite .. special. The metal case feels weird on my ears but the sound quality is spot on. That said though I am comfortable enough with my SE846.
- DougMellon 5y ago
  The Moondrop x Crinacle Blessing2:Dusk is probably the greatest bang for your buck IEM I’ve listened to. https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/moondrop-x-crinacle-blessing2-dusk-1dd-4ba-in-ear-monitor-earphone https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/moondrop-x-crinacle-bless...
  - senorsmile 5y ago
    I got these last year and must agree.
  - positus 5y ago
    I have the OG Moondrop Blessing 2. It also provides a superb listening experience. Great soundstage, good texture, great balance of all of the frequency ranges. Upgraded from an Etymotic ER4XR. It's absolutely worth the price!
ohyoutravel 5y ago
I would pay a lot for a custom sleeve like these that fit on my airpod pros.
nunez 5y ago
Custom sleep earplugs are an item I'll recommend to ANYONE. Best $300 you'll ever spend and your sleep will thank you. As for custom IEMs: I'd definitely get me a pair when a truly wireless option from a known player in this space (Campfire Audio, JV Harvey, UE, etc) that sounds great and has a great mic comes on the scene. I tried Bragi's offering years ago. (Bragi was the first manufacturer to try at truly wireless headphones. They released before Apple launched the AirPods. The AirPods are now a billion-dollar business, whereas Bragi is defunct.) They partnered with Starkey, a very popular hearing aids manufacturer, to make the (still only) waterproof custom true wireless earbuds. The idea of using earbuds that fit me perfectly that I could shower with was awesome. My right ear canal has a weird kink that makes it difficult to use regular IEMs and impossible to use the truly wireless options at the time, thus making the Bragi's even more lucrative. They also partnered with Mimi Audio to offer an EQ that was tuned to your hearing...on iOS. Impossible to beat feature set. Unfortunately, the earbuds were a disaster. Worst $600 I ever spent. ($600 is cheap in the world of custom IEMs; another reason why I got them.) They didn't sound very good, the audio balance would shift right after an hour of listening, the mic was AWFUL (i made many, many excuses for it, but it was just plain bad), and, worst of all, because the base of the earbud was large (stuffed with ICs) and Bragi chose to use the same case that they used for their universal offering, the nozzle didn't go deep enough to provide a truly locked-in seal. This is, like, THE reason to get custom IEMs, so them failing here was especially painful. The local audiologist (you had to go to a Starkey "dealer" to get your impressions) got tired of me coming in for refits, and I got tired of waiting three weeks to have earbuds I'd use for three days. I was done with them when Samsung released Galaxy Buds that were compatible with iOS and had noise cancelling. Threw them in the trash. The case even had my name on it. One of the few things I ever engraved with my actual name...and I threw them out because they frustrated me so much. ADV-Sound has an offering here, but apparently their mic is not very good, and info on these headphones is lacking, Sounds very Bragi 2.0-ish to me, so I'm passing on those.
- chrischen 5y ago
  For custom IEMs you can do this by pairing a Fostex TM2, Shure Aonic 215, or FiiO UTWS3 with your IEM. The Fostex has adaptors for 2 pin, MMCX, etc.
MengerSponge 5y ago
Related: if you enjoy live music, get a pair of custom-fit musician's earplugs. They cost $150 total, which is a lot of money for earplugs, but is not much at all for protecting my hearing. Also, that's not many concert tickets! I used a pair of these for years https://www.amazon.com/ETY-Plugs-Fidelity-Earplugs-Standard-Frost/dp/B0015WJQ7A/ https://www.amazon.com/ETY-Plugs-Fidelity-Earplugs-Standard-... But I actually have weirdly shaped ear canals. I got tired of fighting the plugs, so I got my custom ones: https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs I've worn mine to see the Flaming Lips and to perform with several different professional symphonies. Highly recommended.
- ohyoutravel 5y ago
  Not a musician but earplugs help me sleep. I use the Amazon hearos now and they’re great, 30db reduction iirc, and wear them to concerts. I knew there were custom earphones, didn’t realize there were custom earplugs. The pressure of the hearos tend to give me ear pain sometimes. Curious on your take about sleeping nightly in these custom sensaphonic earplugs?
  - cardy31 5y ago
    The musicians plugs I have sit pretty close to flush with my ear so you would like be able to sleep with them better than off the shelf stuff. I’d recommend going to an audiologist and inquiring about this scenario.
    - ohyoutravel 5y ago
      Thank you! Looking more closely the sensaphonics website has sleep earplugs additionally. From what I see the db reduction and profile are same, but the more expensive ones do more to even out the reduction across the audible range for better quality I guess. I am going to check with the audiologist in my area their site recommended tomorrow to see about getting ear molds taken.
  - akvadrako 5y ago
    I've researched custom earplugs and you don't need them for sleeping. The point is more to have a flat frequency response. Nothing beats some 3M E-A-Rsoft FX.
scarecrowbob 5y ago
I had some molds made for some custom musician's ear protection last week. They should be in soon. I booked a bunch of dates running sound for country bands in a noisy dive bar. I don't see why they wanna play that loud, but it's their show. Personally, I want the mains to be louder than the monitors, if just out of consideration for intelligibility with the crowd. The mold process was painless. I am curious how they will sound; ostensibly they are acoustically "flat", but given that our hearing response changes based on volume level I am skeptical. Hopefully they will be better than the cheap stuff I've been using. I have used a set of Shure se215 for the last 5 years and they're freekin' great for, like mowing the lawn. Less good for playing in bar bands where I may have to interact with the audience. All that said, I can see spending the 5-800 that custom IEMs run... but I can't see doing that if I didn't have to wear them on stage in a professional environment regularly enough for them to outpace the cost of a powered speaker. Hell, I had a hard time dropping the $200 on hearing protection-- I usually just won't play with folks who play that loud. But I don't have a lot of choice when I am engineering other folks' shows.
- acomjean 5y ago
  I have shure e2cs. They require a good seal to get the best sound (any bass actually). They where good on planes. The tips are either memory foam or a soft rubber. The foam ones worked better, but lamentably they don't seem to make replacement tips anymore...
- genmud 5y ago
  Most of the time the stage is quite a bit quieter than the audience… like 10-100x quieter depending on the venue.
anderiv 5y ago
I sell CIEMs hard when I hear friends and colleagues starting asking about ANC headphones. Between the superior isolation, lack of need for batteries, longevity, and excellent audio quality, there’s really no contest. I’ve had a pair of Alclair Audio Quad-driver studio reference CIEMs for nearly 7 years, and other than needing to replace the cable once, they’re as good as new. If you can afford them, I highly recommend giving a pair a try. Note: if you live in Minneapolis or Nashville (where Alciair’s offices are), you can go in and they’ll do your impressions for free - no need to visit an audiologist.
winrid 5y ago
On a related note what 3.5mm AUX cables do folks use that last? I am tired of either creating waste every 6-12 months to buy new ones or replace the ends when the wires fray inside. I don't need that much flexibility. A thicker cable would be preferred.
gaudat 5y ago
So I got a second hand CIEM (64Audio A18T) from my friend last year and sent it elsewhere for a remoulding. 64Audio wouldn't do remoulding for second hand buyers. The audio was much clearer on the high end compared to any IEMs I used before. Maybe it is for the rigid and direct sound canals compared to foam or silicone tips. The fit was not very good but that is fixable with some modelling putty. And a few months later I decided to fix the bad fit for once and all. I bought ear impression supplies and took one myself. Tried to go fancy with 3D printing the shell but I never got the 3D scanning part to work out. End up losing one side of the CIEM to the depths of my workshop, and now I am back to using my old Shure.
qwertox 5y ago
How long can you wear them? My issue with all these new ear buds which have a rubber membrane which prevents sound from escaping is that it feels like there is no fresh air reaching my ear which would be able to carry out built up humidity. Couldn't this cause infections? I can only wear them for so long, while the older ones, the small ones which have foam ear pads are wearable all day long.
sh1mmer 5y ago
One thing no one mentions since they only just got their freshly molded IEMs is the maintenance. You have to be careful to not get ear wax inside them. That means cleaning them a lot more frequently than any regular in-ear headphone. Eventually I bought the hearing aid vacuum (it uses a needle, and pumps through a filter to suck out the wax) for $100 to be able to reasonably maintain my IEMs after a $300 cleaning from the manufacturer. That said I’ve had my same IEM for around a decade and they still sound amazing.
baby 5y ago
$1,500. Ouch... I wish I could afford this. I recently got gifted the airpod pro and they are amazing but... they don't fit in my ear :(
- muglug 5y ago
  You can buy custom tips from a bunch of places — I had the same problem (weirdly small ear canals) and unofficial tips saved the day.
  - baby 5y ago
    I bought foam tips but didn't like them as well. When you say custom tips you mean made for your ears?
    - muglug 5y ago
      No — I bought rubber ones which fit very snugly.
snickmy 5y ago
This guy is getting a $1500 earplugs custom made with 10 drivers for best music experience and I'm here begging for my $300 apple Airpods not to fall out while I'm sitting straight on my chair. Something is off with earplugs as a product
- wingerlang 5y ago
  Are you sure it isn't just your ears that have an uncommon shape, unfit for most earphones? Mine can't hold anything but the deepest plugs, I've given up on anything else over a decade ago. Especially apple ones since they are rounder than average.
  - snickmy 5y ago
    It's indeed 'my' problem. But I really wonder if as a market segment, we are trying to go too vertical, rather than solve the problem for everyone (also I'm not sure the % of people that have my same problem, but empirically it sounds big enough to worry about it, even if you are apple)
TurboHaskal 5y ago
Or you can just get a pair of ER2SE/ER2XR which are cheap, go deep and isolate just as well.
joshu 5y ago
i had custom earbuds made for racing. was maybe $200? https://www.sampsonracing.com/earbuds-helmet-speakers-s/1908.htm https://www.sampsonracing.com/earbuds-helmet-speakers-s/1908...
verisimi 5y ago
man - the amount of headphones I go through, there's no way this is worth it! $1,500 a pair!! What if there was a way to get the perfect fit (ie just a piece of rugged rubber) and then be able to attach any old headphones to that? It would be the best of both worlds, much cheaper, more resilient.
twobitshifter 5y ago
2 questions: If I don’t want to pay $1500, but want a custom earbud set for the office including a mic, are there any options? Are these 3D printed or do they made a single mold for your set?
ZeroGravitas 5y ago
I looked into this a few years back. What confused me about this article is the blurring of custom earphones and custom ear plugs. You can get standard in ear monitors that come with a variety of interchangeable earplugs of different sizes, and different materials, like foam. I believe it's possible, and fairly standard, for musicians to use these with custom fitted plugs. But this seems to be talking about the whole device being custom made which sends the price rocketing and it's not clear what benefit that adds. Is it custom fitted to your outer ear too? I'm also somewhat surprised that the state of the art is still to take molds rather than some digital scan of your ear, surely someone is working on that? Are there open standards for earplugs?
TruthWillHurt 5y ago
Does he know he's an ad?

114 points by Liriel 5y ago

I’ve had one made it’s pretty cheap. Worth doing once

mlac 5y ago

You can use FSA money for custom ear plugs on Ultimate Ears. Then they take your mold of your ears and you can use that. It used to be a model they would put in your ears, but now it’s an image scanning device. I haven’t purchased the in ear monitors, but have the ear plugs.

wodenokoto 5y ago

Would this be a good alternative to, say Bose ANC headset at the office? Can they double as concert earplugs or do I need a second set only for that?

aidenn0 5y ago
1. Yes; compared to ANC they will block out way more ambient highs, and maybe a bit less lows. 2. Some custom IEMs have an option to replace the driver with a passive frequency-neutral filter; I didn't see one on campfire's website. I'd ask customer service before getting the molds made.
matgessel 5y ago
I have (and use daily) a pair of 13 year old Westone 3’s*. I bought them thinking of using them for a 40 minute walking commute involving freeway underpasses and a noisy sales pit style office. The commute case didn’t work out because they didn’t seal fully. There was too much noise leakage to hear podcasts. Music wasn’t isolated enough and I didn’t want to turn it up too high and damage my hearing. The audiologist who made the molds had me chew while the mold material was curing in my ear canals and this resulted in a poor seal. A poor seal also means poor bass response. I think the audiologist had me chew to make the molds more comfortable for long hours of use and for snacking at the desk. Hearing aids were his main business and he seemed inexperienced with musician monitors. I’ve recently discovered that I can apply clear finger nail polish to the inserted portion to “fine tune” the fit. I’m getting a good seal and they’er still comfortable. I mainly use them when working with power tools at home. For office use there are a couple of caveats: 1) If you have a tight fit, they will be more difficult to insert and remove. This can be a nusiance in a highly-collaborative work environment. Also, people tend to ignore the earpieces and expect you to hear what they’re saying. 2) Chewing is very loud and borderline uncomfortable. This was the case with the original, narrower width as well. > Can they double as concert earplugs or do I need a second set only for that? My Westones have removeable cables, so they could be used that way, but there’s a better alternative: you can use the same molds to get relatively inexpensive silicone molds with tuned attenuation "filters". Mine use Etymotic 9, 15, 25 and solid 30 dB filters. The filters reduce frequencies more evenly, allowing more high end through than foam earplugs (except for the solid filters). I have Sensaphonics ER "Custom Musican”[2] plugs and Westone ES49[3], both made from silicone. The Sensaphonics are softer, but I prefer the Westones because they are lower profile, they have little handles for removal, and the firmer silicone is easier to insert/remove. * Westone seems to have discontinued products for musicians and HiFi [1] https://www.etymotic.com/hearing-protection-accessories/ https://www.etymotic.com/hearing-protection-accessories/ [2] https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs [3] https://www.westone.com/hearing_health_care/recreational-earpieces https://www.westone.com/hearing_health_care/recreational-ear...
rdtwo 5y ago
Depends on use case, is really good for the office but kind of sucks for the airplane because your ears won’t clear as well and some noise doesn’t get isolated as well

bogwog 5y ago

I wonder how difficult it would be to scan and print your own?

jahewson 5y ago
To any reasonable degree of precision? Difficult.
rdtwo 5y ago
You could take your own impressions but it’s not worth it. It’s like 50–$100 at Costco

chiph 5y ago

I had this done a few years ago [0] and the article is pretty much spot-on. Especially about the process - the audiologist will insert a tiny cotton ball allll the way down in your ear, then squirt the polymer in (which is creepy feeling). You wait for it to cure, and they pull it out & trim any excess. Note that you can now get custom sleeves which slip over commercial earbuds like the Apple AirPods, so you can get a perfect fit and they're less likely to fall out. You get to choose your color. I went with different colors for the right & left ears, to make telling them apart easier. They are noise isolating, so you will have to pay attention to your surroundings (traffic, people approaching you from behind, a coworker trying to get your attention). But they don't block enough sound to make them effective at loud concerts or at a shooting range. Wear proper hearing protection for those events. Speaking of which - watch your volume levels. It's super easy to play them too loud and damage your hearing. Take breaks every 30-40 minutes. [0] Many thanks to RK Audiology in Austin. https://rkaudiology.com/custom-fit/ https://rkaudiology.com/custom-fit/

jcoder 5y ago
you can now get custom sleeves which slip over commercial earbuds like the Apple AirPods How annoying do you find it to remove them to charge the earbuds?
- chiph 5y ago
  I used them with a set of Shure SE315 earbuds. I mentioned the Apple ones because that's what many people have today and are similar in price. The fit on mine from custom insert to the Shures was pretty tight (good for air sealing). I could have drilled the holes a little larger, but it was easier to just warm them up with a hairdryer.

pkaye 5y ago

Some audiologists are now using 3D ear scans. They can send the scan data electronically to the manufacturer. https://hearing-balance.natus.com/en-us/products-services/otoscan https://hearing-balance.natus.com/en-us/products-services/ot...

mackrevinack 5y ago

nice. more e-waste because you can't resell them when you want to change or upgrade to something else or when they stop fitting you

handmodel 5y ago
I would wager that earbuds are already an item that most people prefer not to buy a used version of...
willis936 5y ago
There's more waste in an average American's day's worth of single use packaging than in one pair of earbuds, which is good for decades.
mardifoufs 5y ago
I buy pretty much everything used... but I probably wouldn't buy used earbuds. For sanitary reasons sure but also because they aren't usually durable enough to be worthwhile buying second hand. The wires (or the batteries) are usually worn by even light usage
rdtwo 5y ago
They are usually corded so they don’t get trashed like pods

skybrian 5y ago

I had something like this done for the first set of hearing aids I got a decade ago, but when replacing them, I tried it without and it's fine. An advantage to not getting them custom made is that I can use cheap disposable domes now, so I can just replace them every so often, and buy more on Amazon. It seems like the reason to do it would not really be for sound quality, but for comfort, so you can wear them all day. Whether you need it depends on the shape of your ears, so a review won't tell you whether you need them; the reviewer likely has differently-shaped ears than you.

idontwantthis 5y ago

Can any audiophile tell me why even a professional should buy $1500 IEM? I just bought $45 QZ ZS10 Pro and they might be the best sounding and noise blocking headphones I’ve ever had. Perfect for drumming along to tracks. Haven’t gotten to try them plugged in on stage yet. Are these leagues better in some respect?

gridspy 5y ago
The usual justification for professional IEM is hearing protection. It's often loud on stage. There is a danger with headphones that you will turn them up too loud (esp. in a loud environment) so you can hear the signal clearly. As a musical professional your hearing is vital to the quality of your performance so you should protect it.
- germinalphrase 5y ago
  To totally derail - are there solid reusable earplugs for saving my hearing at shows without dramatically altering the feeling of the performance?
  - brian-armstrong 5y ago
    Yes, Hearos https://www.hearos.com/collections/all-consumer/products/earplugs-high-fidelity-series-with-free-case https://www.hearos.com/collections/all-consumer/products/ear... The plug allows the sound to be more natural while providing good protection
    - brianpan 5y ago
      +1 Hearos for a good, cheap option. I upgraded to the slightly more expensive Loop earplugs which were more comfortable. Both give something like 12-15 db noise reduction. https://us.loopearplugs.com/ https://us.loopearplugs.com/
  - tonyarkles 5y ago
    https://www.etymotic.com/passive-hearing-protection/ https://www.etymotic.com/passive-hearing-protection/ A friend put together a group buy of these at least a decade ago and mine are still doing great. They’ve gotten completely disgusting but some isopropyl followed by a warm water wash cleaned them right up. It’s kind of weird that such a relatively niche product is so cheap… I am so happy with them that I would be a repeat customer but the best I can do is promote them a bit since I’ve got no reason to send them another $20 yet.

rootusrootus 5y ago

Somewhat regularly I'm tempted to try custom IEMs. I have tried various universal ones and they're always terribly uncomfortable, after an hour or so they have to come out so my ears can recover. Even with comply foam tips, sized so they're just tight enough to make a good seal. Drives my ears insane. If custom IEMs fixed that issue for me, it would be worth it.

anderiv 5y ago
CIEMs completely solved this problem for me. Like you, I could only stand foam plugs for a short period. Nearly 7 years ago now I got a pair of 4-driver CIEMs from Alclair, and they are still going strong today. I can literally wear them for 8 or more hours at a time without discomfort - this is a godsend for air travel. I put them in before boarding and they stay in until I’m back in the terminal.

simontheowl 5y ago

For those of you who already have a favorite pair of nice earbuds, I suggest checking out ADV (https://www.adv-sound.com/pages/ciem https://www.adv-sound.com/pages/ciem). They are able to manufacture a custom-fit sleeve for a lot of existing earbuds and are therefore much cheaper (~250 USD). I have a pair of Shure earbuds and their custom-fit sleeves are great - they even send you a do-it-yourself ear impression kit, which is quite easy to use.

nunez 5y ago
note that this option makes using any case impossible for truly wireless IEMs. great option for cabled buds though.

hokumguru 5y ago

Worth noting that Campfire Audio, the company mentioned in the article, has been involved with manipulating reviews via their sponsorships with large audio communities/publications. Also, for those interested in IEMs in general: crinacle.com has a 1000+ item database including measurements and his subjective rankings.

gaudat 5y ago
I tried my friend's Campfire Audio and it is quite .. special. The metal case feels weird on my ears but the sound quality is spot on. That said though I am comfortable enough with my SE846.
DougMellon 5y ago
The Moondrop x Crinacle Blessing2:Dusk is probably the greatest bang for your buck IEM I’ve listened to. https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/moondrop-x-crinacle-blessing2-dusk-1dd-4ba-in-ear-monitor-earphone https://shenzhenaudio.com/products/moondrop-x-crinacle-bless...
- senorsmile 5y ago
  I got these last year and must agree.
- positus 5y ago
  I have the OG Moondrop Blessing 2. It also provides a superb listening experience. Great soundstage, good texture, great balance of all of the frequency ranges. Upgraded from an Etymotic ER4XR. It's absolutely worth the price!

ohyoutravel 5y ago

I would pay a lot for a custom sleeve like these that fit on my airpod pros.

nunez 5y ago

Custom sleep earplugs are an item I'll recommend to ANYONE. Best $300 you'll ever spend and your sleep will thank you. As for custom IEMs: I'd definitely get me a pair when a truly wireless option from a known player in this space (Campfire Audio, JV Harvey, UE, etc) that sounds great and has a great mic comes on the scene. I tried Bragi's offering years ago. (Bragi was the first manufacturer to try at truly wireless headphones. They released before Apple launched the AirPods. The AirPods are now a billion-dollar business, whereas Bragi is defunct.) They partnered with Starkey, a very popular hearing aids manufacturer, to make the (still only) waterproof custom true wireless earbuds. The idea of using earbuds that fit me perfectly that I could shower with was awesome. My right ear canal has a weird kink that makes it difficult to use regular IEMs and impossible to use the truly wireless options at the time, thus making the Bragi's even more lucrative. They also partnered with Mimi Audio to offer an EQ that was tuned to your hearing...on iOS. Impossible to beat feature set. Unfortunately, the earbuds were a disaster. Worst $600 I ever spent. ($600 is cheap in the world of custom IEMs; another reason why I got them.) They didn't sound very good, the audio balance would shift right after an hour of listening, the mic was AWFUL (i made many, many excuses for it, but it was just plain bad), and, worst of all, because the base of the earbud was large (stuffed with ICs) and Bragi chose to use the same case that they used for their universal offering, the nozzle didn't go deep enough to provide a truly locked-in seal. This is, like, THE reason to get custom IEMs, so them failing here was especially painful. The local audiologist (you had to go to a Starkey "dealer" to get your impressions) got tired of me coming in for refits, and I got tired of waiting three weeks to have earbuds I'd use for three days. I was done with them when Samsung released Galaxy Buds that were compatible with iOS and had noise cancelling. Threw them in the trash. The case even had my name on it. One of the few things I ever engraved with my actual name...and I threw them out because they frustrated me so much. ADV-Sound has an offering here, but apparently their mic is not very good, and info on these headphones is lacking, Sounds very Bragi 2.0-ish to me, so I'm passing on those.

chrischen 5y ago
For custom IEMs you can do this by pairing a Fostex TM2, Shure Aonic 215, or FiiO UTWS3 with your IEM. The Fostex has adaptors for 2 pin, MMCX, etc.

MengerSponge 5y ago

Related: if you enjoy live music, get a pair of custom-fit musician's earplugs. They cost $150 total, which is a lot of money for earplugs, but is not much at all for protecting my hearing. Also, that's not many concert tickets! I used a pair of these for years https://www.amazon.com/ETY-Plugs-Fidelity-Earplugs-Standard-Frost/dp/B0015WJQ7A/ https://www.amazon.com/ETY-Plugs-Fidelity-Earplugs-Standard-... But I actually have weirdly shaped ear canals. I got tired of fighting the plugs, so I got my custom ones: https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs I've worn mine to see the Flaming Lips and to perform with several different professional symphonies. Highly recommended.

ohyoutravel 5y ago
Not a musician but earplugs help me sleep. I use the Amazon hearos now and they’re great, 30db reduction iirc, and wear them to concerts. I knew there were custom earphones, didn’t realize there were custom earplugs. The pressure of the hearos tend to give me ear pain sometimes. Curious on your take about sleeping nightly in these custom sensaphonic earplugs?
- cardy31 5y ago
  The musicians plugs I have sit pretty close to flush with my ear so you would like be able to sleep with them better than off the shelf stuff. I’d recommend going to an audiologist and inquiring about this scenario.
  - ohyoutravel 5y ago
    Thank you! Looking more closely the sensaphonics website has sleep earplugs additionally. From what I see the db reduction and profile are same, but the more expensive ones do more to even out the reduction across the audible range for better quality I guess. I am going to check with the audiologist in my area their site recommended tomorrow to see about getting ear molds taken.
- akvadrako 5y ago
  I've researched custom earplugs and you don't need them for sleeping. The point is more to have a flat frequency response. Nothing beats some 3M E-A-Rsoft FX.

scarecrowbob 5y ago

I had some molds made for some custom musician's ear protection last week. They should be in soon. I booked a bunch of dates running sound for country bands in a noisy dive bar. I don't see why they wanna play that loud, but it's their show. Personally, I want the mains to be louder than the monitors, if just out of consideration for intelligibility with the crowd. The mold process was painless. I am curious how they will sound; ostensibly they are acoustically "flat", but given that our hearing response changes based on volume level I am skeptical. Hopefully they will be better than the cheap stuff I've been using. I have used a set of Shure se215 for the last 5 years and they're freekin' great for, like mowing the lawn. Less good for playing in bar bands where I may have to interact with the audience. All that said, I can see spending the 5-800 that custom IEMs run... but I can't see doing that if I didn't have to wear them on stage in a professional environment regularly enough for them to outpace the cost of a powered speaker. Hell, I had a hard time dropping the $200 on hearing protection-- I usually just won't play with folks who play that loud. But I don't have a lot of choice when I am engineering other folks' shows.

acomjean 5y ago
I have shure e2cs. They require a good seal to get the best sound (any bass actually). They where good on planes. The tips are either memory foam or a soft rubber. The foam ones worked better, but lamentably they don't seem to make replacement tips anymore...
genmud 5y ago
Most of the time the stage is quite a bit quieter than the audience… like 10-100x quieter depending on the venue.

anderiv 5y ago

I sell CIEMs hard when I hear friends and colleagues starting asking about ANC headphones. Between the superior isolation, lack of need for batteries, longevity, and excellent audio quality, there’s really no contest. I’ve had a pair of Alclair Audio Quad-driver studio reference CIEMs for nearly 7 years, and other than needing to replace the cable once, they’re as good as new. If you can afford them, I highly recommend giving a pair a try. Note: if you live in Minneapolis or Nashville (where Alciair’s offices are), you can go in and they’ll do your impressions for free - no need to visit an audiologist.

winrid 5y ago

On a related note what 3.5mm AUX cables do folks use that last? I am tired of either creating waste every 6-12 months to buy new ones or replace the ends when the wires fray inside. I don't need that much flexibility. A thicker cable would be preferred.

gaudat 5y ago

So I got a second hand CIEM (64Audio A18T) from my friend last year and sent it elsewhere for a remoulding. 64Audio wouldn't do remoulding for second hand buyers. The audio was much clearer on the high end compared to any IEMs I used before. Maybe it is for the rigid and direct sound canals compared to foam or silicone tips. The fit was not very good but that is fixable with some modelling putty. And a few months later I decided to fix the bad fit for once and all. I bought ear impression supplies and took one myself. Tried to go fancy with 3D printing the shell but I never got the 3D scanning part to work out. End up losing one side of the CIEM to the depths of my workshop, and now I am back to using my old Shure.

qwertox 5y ago

How long can you wear them? My issue with all these new ear buds which have a rubber membrane which prevents sound from escaping is that it feels like there is no fresh air reaching my ear which would be able to carry out built up humidity. Couldn't this cause infections? I can only wear them for so long, while the older ones, the small ones which have foam ear pads are wearable all day long.

sh1mmer 5y ago

One thing no one mentions since they only just got their freshly molded IEMs is the maintenance. You have to be careful to not get ear wax inside them. That means cleaning them a lot more frequently than any regular in-ear headphone. Eventually I bought the hearing aid vacuum (it uses a needle, and pumps through a filter to suck out the wax) for $100 to be able to reasonably maintain my IEMs after a $300 cleaning from the manufacturer. That said I’ve had my same IEM for around a decade and they still sound amazing.

baby 5y ago

$1,500. Ouch... I wish I could afford this. I recently got gifted the airpod pro and they are amazing but... they don't fit in my ear :(

muglug 5y ago
You can buy custom tips from a bunch of places — I had the same problem (weirdly small ear canals) and unofficial tips saved the day.
- baby 5y ago
  I bought foam tips but didn't like them as well. When you say custom tips you mean made for your ears?
  - muglug 5y ago
    No — I bought rubber ones which fit very snugly.

snickmy 5y ago

This guy is getting a $1500 earplugs custom made with 10 drivers for best music experience and I'm here begging for my $300 apple Airpods not to fall out while I'm sitting straight on my chair. Something is off with earplugs as a product

wingerlang 5y ago
Are you sure it isn't just your ears that have an uncommon shape, unfit for most earphones? Mine can't hold anything but the deepest plugs, I've given up on anything else over a decade ago. Especially apple ones since they are rounder than average.
- snickmy 5y ago
  It's indeed 'my' problem. But I really wonder if as a market segment, we are trying to go too vertical, rather than solve the problem for everyone (also I'm not sure the % of people that have my same problem, but empirically it sounds big enough to worry about it, even if you are apple)

TurboHaskal 5y ago

Or you can just get a pair of ER2SE/ER2XR which are cheap, go deep and isolate just as well.

joshu 5y ago

i had custom earbuds made for racing. was maybe $200? https://www.sampsonracing.com/earbuds-helmet-speakers-s/1908.htm https://www.sampsonracing.com/earbuds-helmet-speakers-s/1908...

verisimi 5y ago

man - the amount of headphones I go through, there's no way this is worth it! $1,500 a pair!! What if there was a way to get the perfect fit (ie just a piece of rugged rubber) and then be able to attach any old headphones to that? It would be the best of both worlds, much cheaper, more resilient.

twobitshifter 5y ago

2 questions: If I don’t want to pay $1500, but want a custom earbud set for the office including a mic, are there any options? Are these 3D printed or do they made a single mold for your set?

ZeroGravitas 5y ago

I looked into this a few years back. What confused me about this article is the blurring of custom earphones and custom ear plugs. You can get standard in ear monitors that come with a variety of interchangeable earplugs of different sizes, and different materials, like foam. I believe it's possible, and fairly standard, for musicians to use these with custom fitted plugs. But this seems to be talking about the whole device being custom made which sends the price rocketing and it's not clear what benefit that adds. Is it custom fitted to your outer ear too? I'm also somewhat surprised that the state of the art is still to take molds rather than some digital scan of your ear, surely someone is working on that? Are there open standards for earplugs?

TruthWillHurt 5y ago

Does he know he's an ad?