edwardsean
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2006
- Posts
- 1,868
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- 1,646
This. Is. The. Answer.
I'm being dramatic. I get that. But. This. Is. The. Answer.
What's the question? O' the questions are many. Why don't I take the i4s out on bike rides, walks, and trips freely, whenever and wherever I want, for fear of losing an i4 to a puddle or a gutter? Why, in the middle of my peaceful, blissful state of sonic relaxation, does it all come to a sudden halt with a single snap of plastic? Why do I count down the happy days of fresh ears hooks as, second by second, imperceptible micro-cracks ineluctably form to unite as one? Why, why must I live this way in bondage to this design flaw of material science that is the Achilles heel of a singularly stellar product?
And that is the thing. The i4s are genius. An open-backed planar IEM. Genius. I've always said that they can take the i4s from me on only one condition. They have to give me i5s. "They" seem to have no interest in ever giving me i5s. And, some dark corner of my mind speculates that Audeze isn't investing further down this road, just maybe, in part, because they could never figure out this whole issue with the ear hooks breaking our minds and even a headfier's will for... audio itself.
Well, at least for me, I finally found the answer.
I was just about to get ear hooks 3D printed for $100 (Ahh, "What we do for..." audio). My suspicion is that, at best, they would've lasted as long as the stock hooks. Thanks to @bradyc100 I got these rubber washers from AZ for $3.99. https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Washers-Rubber-Shower-Faucet/dp/B07TBZ9C71/ Just like that, they fit the i4 retainer housing for the hooks. It's not perfect, but they don't slip out–because they're rubber. You know what else they don't do–because they're rubber? They don't, you know, break.
Over the years, I've spent hours and hours on this, but once I got the washers it was easy. I just poked a hole in the washer with a hole punch, cut off the ends of the horseshoe clip, and carefully pushed the hooks into place. If you just use a small sharp implement to start a hole in the washer, you can work it with a thin screwdriver to make the opening large enough to squeeze in the ear hooks. It took all of two minutes. (The washers even have tiny little grabbers so that you can rotate the hooks into the best position once you install them.)
I also tried drilling a tiny hole into the washers, but then you would definitely need glue to hold it in place. If the hooks eventually slip out, I'll do that, but as of now they show no indication of going anywhere. Now, the plastic hook part may eventually give out, but we'll see. In all these years, I could never determine the durability of the hook itself because the horseshoe clips failed like clockwork, every few months.
Please do try this at home. If you do, my two notes are: 1) The washer fits both ways, but stays in more firmly with the smooth side against the driver housing and the grooved side out facing you (see first image). 2) Make sure you cut the horseshoe clip off with two vertical cuts (see second image). Don't just cut it horizontally where the hook meets the clip. You can, but, you understand, that will shorten the length of the hook. My hooks are so heavily reshaped that I couldn't afford to shorten the hooks.
Best of luck if you try it. I hope it works for you too!
As for me... I'm breathing a long, deep sigh of relief from pent up years of frustration. Someone cue Etta James puh-lease. “At last….”
I'm being dramatic. I get that. But. This. Is. The. Answer.
What's the question? O' the questions are many. Why don't I take the i4s out on bike rides, walks, and trips freely, whenever and wherever I want, for fear of losing an i4 to a puddle or a gutter? Why, in the middle of my peaceful, blissful state of sonic relaxation, does it all come to a sudden halt with a single snap of plastic? Why do I count down the happy days of fresh ears hooks as, second by second, imperceptible micro-cracks ineluctably form to unite as one? Why, why must I live this way in bondage to this design flaw of material science that is the Achilles heel of a singularly stellar product?
And that is the thing. The i4s are genius. An open-backed planar IEM. Genius. I've always said that they can take the i4s from me on only one condition. They have to give me i5s. "They" seem to have no interest in ever giving me i5s. And, some dark corner of my mind speculates that Audeze isn't investing further down this road, just maybe, in part, because they could never figure out this whole issue with the ear hooks breaking our minds and even a headfier's will for... audio itself.
Well, at least for me, I finally found the answer.
I was just about to get ear hooks 3D printed for $100 (Ahh, "What we do for..." audio). My suspicion is that, at best, they would've lasted as long as the stock hooks. Thanks to @bradyc100 I got these rubber washers from AZ for $3.99. https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Washers-Rubber-Shower-Faucet/dp/B07TBZ9C71/ Just like that, they fit the i4 retainer housing for the hooks. It's not perfect, but they don't slip out–because they're rubber. You know what else they don't do–because they're rubber? They don't, you know, break.
Over the years, I've spent hours and hours on this, but once I got the washers it was easy. I just poked a hole in the washer with a hole punch, cut off the ends of the horseshoe clip, and carefully pushed the hooks into place. If you just use a small sharp implement to start a hole in the washer, you can work it with a thin screwdriver to make the opening large enough to squeeze in the ear hooks. It took all of two minutes. (The washers even have tiny little grabbers so that you can rotate the hooks into the best position once you install them.)
I also tried drilling a tiny hole into the washers, but then you would definitely need glue to hold it in place. If the hooks eventually slip out, I'll do that, but as of now they show no indication of going anywhere. Now, the plastic hook part may eventually give out, but we'll see. In all these years, I could never determine the durability of the hook itself because the horseshoe clips failed like clockwork, every few months.
Please do try this at home. If you do, my two notes are: 1) The washer fits both ways, but stays in more firmly with the smooth side against the driver housing and the grooved side out facing you (see first image). 2) Make sure you cut the horseshoe clip off with two vertical cuts (see second image). Don't just cut it horizontally where the hook meets the clip. You can, but, you understand, that will shorten the length of the hook. My hooks are so heavily reshaped that I couldn't afford to shorten the hooks.
Best of luck if you try it. I hope it works for you too!
As for me... I'm breathing a long, deep sigh of relief from pent up years of frustration. Someone cue Etta James puh-lease. “At last….”
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