[PL4Y3R 0N3]

I saw a video on YouTube about making a CIEM at home, and it gave me some ideas.

I've had a certain pair of IEMs from a company that broke my heart quite a while back, the Trinity Audio Engineering Phantom Master 4. back when I was a newbie to the hobby and browsing the forums, they caught my attention hard. Much like everyone else I was pulled in by the hype train and dedicated way more money than I probably should have at the time to the kickstarter for the Phantom Master 6. I was insanely hyped, for the first few months that is. Several months after the deliveries were supposed to start, I pulled my contribution. The Phantom Master 6 still haunts my dreams to this day, so when I stumbled across the Phantom Master 4 on eBay for $40, of course I snapped it up as quickly as possible. Overall, for the money I paid, I'm impressed. I won't go into a quasi-review because I am so far from qualified for it, but my only real complaint about the sound is that the mids are veiled. Also the cables are thin as spider web and the filters don't want to stay on depending on which side you decide to screw them into.

But that's not the main problem I have. The biggest problem is I cannot for the life of me get a comfortable fit with a good seal. It's infuriating. I've tried several different types of tips, all different sizes, and nothing works. That's what got me thinking about getting them reshelled, but nobody I can see would be willing to do it, and even if they were it would take a long time and cost me several hundred dollars. This is when I saw the video.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think this will be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I still want to try. But I don't want to be stupid or reckless about this. If I mess up, there's a slim to none chance that I can find another pair, especially at that price. So, here's the plan:

Step one: do the impression and make the molds. obvious first step, it's necessary to do literally anything else.
Step two: reshell a cheap chifi all BA IEM. I'm thinking something in the KZ line.
Step three: study the first attempt, make adjustments, reshell a hybrid IEM. I'm thinking the BASN Bmaster Triple Driver. Got a set for my girlfriend as an experiment and they sound pretty decent. This will give me some experience with handling a dynamic driver in the process. I have absolutely no clue how I'm gonna implement it, how I'll handle the bass port, how I'll convert from a MMCX to 2 pin, etc. I might have to retry this a few times, but I'll get this done flawlessly before I move on to step 4
Step 4: take apart the Trinity and start making a plan. I don't want to rush into things, and the Trinity is definitely going to be a lot more complex than any of the other IEMS here. I have a few things I want to try before I disassemble them.
- I want to try another cable. I already have the Thieaudio EST 100 strand litz ordered. I'm curious if that changes the sound, because the stock cables are dismal
- I'm considering adding a driver into the array, but I'm really not sure how that would work out for me. I want to change up the mids a little, but I'm pessimistic about my ability to do something like that. I need to do a lot more research before I even consider this, but it's an option
-I'm considering adding a crossover, but I don't know if that would be 1) possible 2) advised or 3) necessary. I remember when these IEMs were first announced Trinity specifically said that having no crossovers was a deliberate choice in the design. I don't claim to be an audio engineer, or an enthusiast headphone tinkerer, or even like, smart, but I just think that I would have more control over the sound if a crossover was implemented. More research, as always.
- I want to tame the treble just a tad, but not like the whole treble, just a specific spike. I don't really know where it is in the frequency spectrum, but I can hear it in certain tracks, cymbal crashes and such. I don't know how to describe it, which is why you'll never see me write a review on this site.

So I want to answer the question before it's asked: Why???
Because as much as they broke my heart, Trinity Audio did more to pull me into this hobby than anything else did. I can't think of any other product that I was hyped that much for (except the Verum 1, but that was a very recent thing and I love mine). I really wanted them to succeed. I wanted to have the PM6, the Hunter (I'd kill to get my hands on these. AFAIK the only ones that exist are the demo units that a few people reviewed. What happened to those I wonder...), I wanted their cool funky multi-driver headphones that they had on their website. I don't know what happened, if he was running the margins hard and the production overhead on the hunter and PM6 killed him or what, but I loved the fresh new ideas I was seeing. I want to show my love for the first audio project that captured my heart, against the better judgement of my head.

Also, because I want something truly one of a kind. I want something completely unlike anything else on the scene. Not because it's practical, but because it's challenging. Do I think I can pull this off? Honestly, I don't like my chances. But I'll be damned if I let another moonshot project in my head pass me by. Life's too short to let fear of failure hold me back.

So now, I post this thread for two reasons: to get your help, and to be held somewhat accountable. Please give me your thoughts on the project. Thanks.

 

[Daniel Jackson]

Here's my experience:

Context:
*Long-time IEM user, mostly for motorcycle trips but also for stage monitor use--isolation and fit are top two priorities, YMMV.
*Almost exclusively using Shure IEMs
*Almost exclusively using Shure or Comply "olive" foam tips

Over the last ten years (hard to believe it's been that long...) I've made custom-molded accessories for my Shure IEMs four times.

My custom-molded tips have been far more successful than my re-shells.

My custom-molded tips and re-shells do not seal as well as right-size foam tips. The Shure E4 / se425 models I've used are not especially bass-heavy, but the loss of bass when moving from foam to custom is worse than when moving from foam to single-flange silicone. My re-shell attempts have not been satisfactory, the custom tips are good.

I've taken dozens of impressions now. There's still lots to learn. I wish I had bought more impression material. Experimenting with the thickness of the wax dip on the impressions before making molds has yielded the best results; looking at the impressions/molds and finding where in your ear canal you can get the best seal will yield benefits even with foam tips.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

My custom-molded tips and re-shells do not seal as well as right-size foam tips. The Shure E4 / se425 models I've used are not especially bass-heavy, but the loss of bass when moving from foam to custom is worse than when moving from foam to single-flange silicone. My re-shell attempts have not been satisfactory, the custom tips are good.

I've taken dozens of impressions now. There's still lots to learn. I wish I had bought more impression material. Experimenting with the thickness of the wax dip on the impressions before making molds has yielded the best results; looking at the impressions/molds and finding where in your ear canal you can get the best seal will yield benefits even with foam tips.

This is something that I'm worried about, and it's why I'm considering getting this step done by a professional. But I'm convinced that I can do this myself. Seems easy enough in the video, so I figure I'll give it a try at the very least. But if I can't get a seal on my trial run, I may just go to someone else. Not much of a project if I get needlessly stuck on the first step.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

I've ordered all of the necessary things to make the molds, the silicone arrives next Friday, hoping to have molds ready by the end of next weekend.
My first victim donor IEM is the KZ AS12. 6 drivers per ear is ambitious, and it leaves a lot of challenges that I'm not really sure how to approach. First off, I'm not entirely sure how to merge the tubes for two drivers so I can have one tube each for bass, mids, and highs at the nozzle. I haven't found a premade solution for this, so currently my options appear to be either fashioning a crude Y splitter out of two bits of tube, or putting the drivers as close together as possible and stretching a tube across both nozzles. Both of these seem less than ideal to say the least, and this is why I need held from people who have a lot more experience with DIY. Does anyone know a way to do this?
Also, I'm not really sure which Knowles damper to go with. My gut tells me to get some 680ohm dampers, but that's based on like a single chart from someone doing a DIY Shure 525 filter replacement. I have no clue how to tell which dampers to get, does anyone know a more definitive way of telling outside of bigger number = less treble? Because that's as far as I've gotten so far.

 

[Raketen]

Maybe you know it already, but there's a longrunning DIY IEM thread yonder, may help with finding answers via threadsearch or just asking --> https://www.head-fi.org/threads/home-made-iems.430688/

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

Maybe you know it already, but there's a longrunning DIY IEM thread yonder, may help with finding answers via threadsearch or just asking --> https://www.head-fi.org/threads/home-made-iems.430688/

I probably should have posted this there, but I wanted a place to keep the entire process in one place. This is a purely selfish thread, hopefully people don't mind too much.
Also, it seems like jury rigging the Y splitter from a larger piece of tube is the best option at the moment, which is a shame.

Also, I need to find a way to test the IEMs after I tune them so I can get an idea of how they'll sound. At the moment I'm thinking that the obvious solution is to use the KZ shell to hold everything and routing all the tubes to the nozzle. I think that should work, but we'll see if everything will fit when I get to that.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

I've never been a big believer of burn in, but after heavy listening for about a week, the PM4's mids have become much less veiled and recessed. I don't know if it's brain burn in, headphone burn in, placebo, or if it's just because I don't have a wide enough frame of reference. As things stand though, I'm heavily considering nixing any adjustments I was going to make to the driver arrangement. I still want to find a way to smooth the treble peak that I can still hear, but I think that can be easily achieved without too much modification to the sound. I also don't believe that cables make a difference in sound quality, but I'm kinda hoping that the Thieaudio cable makes a difference given how ridiculously thin the stock cable is. We'll also see how running them balanced changes the sound. My guess is: it won't, but we'll see.

 

[Raketen]

if you were still wondering how to use filters this might help https://www.knowles.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/tb-14.pdf?sfvrsn=4aa075b1_2

although maybe you can accomplish what you want with more basic mods like nozzle filter or bore diameter changes.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

if you were still wondering how to use filters this might help https://www.knowles.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/tb-14.pdf?sfvrsn=4aa075b1_2

although maybe you can accomplish what you want with more basic mods like nozzle filter or bore diameter changes.

Thanks, this helps a ton. Got the 680ohm ordered, I think that will be the one I need, if I even need it.

Got the KZ and the Thieaudio cable in. Surprisingly the cable did change the sound, but I don't think it's because of the cable, I think the cable just changed how it fit. Suddenly the left side will not fir no matter what I do, but the right side now fits perfectly. On the side that does fit, to my ears the bass is much fuller and the treble less pronounced. This is with the same tips that were on before I started using the new cable, so tip rolling didn't change anything. I'm also using the balanced output on my Fiio X7, but even single ended the sound is different. It's not a huge change, though, probably placebo, gonna AB test some more to see if that's the case later. I will say this, though: the KZ cable embarrassed the Trinity cable, and that's saying something.

The KZ sounds much better than I thought it would, and it also fits better than everything but my Campfire Vega. The seal is super strong, but this is the first all BA IEM I've owned. Maybe that's normal? Anyways, it's not comfortable, so I'm definitely looking forward to swapping into the custom shell. Sound-wise, I may not change the sound up at all. The only real complaint that I have is that male vocals sound super congested and the soundstage is quite intimate. I'm eager to start experimenting to see what I can do to change the sound, but I feel like there's a lot I don't understand about phase and reverberation that I need to learn. The whole process is supposed to be a learning experience anyways, so why not go all in.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

So, I have reached the proof of concept stage, and it has been an extremely rough road.
The first proof of concept attempt was very premature. I got in all the supplies to make the ear impression, the silicone mold, and the resin shell. so of course, I couldn't resist trying to at least make some kind of a shell. I carefully destroyed the KZ and removed the drivers, the plastic enclosure they were in, the crossover, and the 2 pin connector. Then I experimented with the UV resin. The brand I got hardens much quicker than I was expecting, so the shells came out hardened the whole way through. I tried a few more times but I wasn't able to get a "shell" per se. I ended up just taking the Dremel to it until I got something resembling usability. After that I put the entire assembly from the KZ into it and glued it closed. Yeah, that was a huge mistake. The crossover was completely covered in superglue, and some of the wires snapped out of the solder on it. In order to attempt to fix that, I unsoldered everything, and that's when I saw that the glue had already ripped part of the crossover off. I'm assuming it was still left in the shell when I ripped it out. That shell is gone now, so no more crossover, but all the drivers still work.
Attempt 2 was a bit more successful. The materials that I ordered from Ali Express came in, so I was itching to try again. I managed to make an actual shell through patience and wasting a ton of resin. The first was too thin and had several holes, the second looks decent except for a single pinhole. I took the first one, which was definitely unusable, and drilled three holes, and ran some tubes through. I connected the drivers together in pairs by stretching a short section of the larger tubing across the nozzles and applying a small amount of glue. I'm sure that will mess something else up, but I'm not really worried about that at the moment. Everything seems to work, all the drivers fit in the shell, and the sound isn't complete garbage. Mission accomplished, in the loosest sense of the word. Clearly I have a long way to go. The biggest issue I had was a complete lack of bass presence, which I'm assuming is a byproduct of the poor quality shell. Honestly I'm not happy with the molds, I think I'm going to take another stab at that this weekend.
Overall things are looking mixed. I know I can accomplish at least reshelling this IEM (which isn't exactly impressive but you know, more than I thought I would do). But the prospect of losing the Trinity seems much, much more likely now. At my current rate I'd say I have a year to go at least before I even attempt it, and I'm not sure it's a good idea even then.
Also I know that this is a vanity thread more than anything so I'll probably stop the thread here. I might pop into the DIY IEM thread to ask questions but this was just going to be a place that I could have the process from beginning to end more than anything. That's more of a journal type thing, so I'll find some other place to clutter with my thoughts.

 

[RumbleWeed]

Didnt know where to post this question so thought i'd give it a shot here?
Is it possible to have the 1 Dynamic Driver & 2 Balanced Arrmature Drivers removed from my CIEM and have them replaced with a slighly larger Dynamic Driver(only 1 or 2mm) and a Pari of Sonion EST Drivers?
Obviously i would not atempt to do this myself i would hunt around for a company/engineer trained to do the job properly.
Im just curious to find out if it's possible and if so how common is it?
I purchased a set of CIEM's from LEAR Audio a couple of years ago but was never really that keen on the sound and because of the nature of the beast i was stock with them and have been collecting dust in the draw ever since!