gjmallory
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2012
- Posts
- 13
- Likes
- 11
On my job, I am on the phone off and on about 50% of the day. For the majority of these calls, I use a company provided iPhone 5. Most of the time, I just use one of several pairs of headphones I own that have an inline mic (Monster DNA, Skullcandy Aviator, Monoprice 8323), but it is summer and hot! After a 1 hour conference call, my ears are sweaty and feel gross! So I realized that I needed to use my Apple Earbuds. I tried them out when I first got the phone, but they would not stay in my ears and sounded like the only played from 1K - 3.5K. It was horrible so I threw them in drawer.
Since I need to use them now, I determined that I needed to mod them somehow, so that they would stay in my ears. After some research, I decided to make a custom mold using Radians custom molded ear plugs. After I completed the custom mold and played them for the first time, I was blown away by the sound coming out of my "crappy" free Earpods! I will admit that I haven't listened to any truly high-end iem's, but I listen to a pair of Audio-Technica A900's for at least two hours out of every workday, so I have some concept of what "good" sounds like. I am blown away by the sound that is coming out these Earpods! I am using them with a JDS Labs Cmoy headphone amp.
My take on the sound: Highest freqs are slightly recessed as would be expected. The mids are strong but not overbearing or harsh. The Bass feels well rounded, deep and has impact. When I add "bass boost" on the JDS Labs Cmoy, they become a possible basshead option, while maintaining good mids and highs.
Here is the best method I have seen... The video is really long, but he has a good method.
Please note! Earpods have multiple vents and will sound like crap if any of them are covered.
The mold will NOT stick to the Earpod, so tape up the vents and holes, position it properly in your ear and then fill in all empty space with the putty. Once they have cured the Earbuds will pop right out of the mold. Once you remove the Earpods, you will need to carve away the parts of the mold that cover a vent or obstruct the sound from getting to your eardrum. The mold will remain flexible after curing, so make sure you cover part of the outside of the Earpod with the putty so that your custom mold will hold the Earpod in place.
Mine are kinda ugly, I actually plan to do it again with blue and will attempt to to make them smoother and a little "prettier".
Pics:
Since I need to use them now, I determined that I needed to mod them somehow, so that they would stay in my ears. After some research, I decided to make a custom mold using Radians custom molded ear plugs. After I completed the custom mold and played them for the first time, I was blown away by the sound coming out of my "crappy" free Earpods! I will admit that I haven't listened to any truly high-end iem's, but I listen to a pair of Audio-Technica A900's for at least two hours out of every workday, so I have some concept of what "good" sounds like. I am blown away by the sound that is coming out these Earpods! I am using them with a JDS Labs Cmoy headphone amp.
My take on the sound: Highest freqs are slightly recessed as would be expected. The mids are strong but not overbearing or harsh. The Bass feels well rounded, deep and has impact. When I add "bass boost" on the JDS Labs Cmoy, they become a possible basshead option, while maintaining good mids and highs.
Here is the best method I have seen... The video is really long, but he has a good method.
Please note! Earpods have multiple vents and will sound like crap if any of them are covered.
The mold will NOT stick to the Earpod, so tape up the vents and holes, position it properly in your ear and then fill in all empty space with the putty. Once they have cured the Earbuds will pop right out of the mold. Once you remove the Earpods, you will need to carve away the parts of the mold that cover a vent or obstruct the sound from getting to your eardrum. The mold will remain flexible after curing, so make sure you cover part of the outside of the Earpod with the putty so that your custom mold will hold the Earpod in place.
Mine are kinda ugly, I actually plan to do it again with blue and will attempt to to make them smoother and a little "prettier".
Pics:
