[Vul Kuolun]

Though they are freaking comfortable out of the box, i felt the need to improve the seal.
I´m a huge guy with huge ear canals, and sometimes had the feeling the seal was slightly different in one ear. After experimenting with foamy-kinda-stuff i had the idea of using blue-tac.
The "modd" will also improve isolation a bit, though i did no A/B testing. Isolation is not as high as i expected, but pretty good (which in fact is already good right out of the box).

Here´s what i did:

Fill the sleeve with blue-tac or something alike (which, over here is actually white or yellow in most cases):





Put on (on the sleeve, like shown, or even better, on the case of the phone) some washer to prevent the blue-tac from getting dusty, and to force the sleeve gently into shape. For trying the thing, this isn´t neccessary. But on the long run, i think it will at least improve the otherwise unhygienic look of the (used and dirty) blue-tac. Doesn´t have to fit exactly:



Put the sleeve on the phone- done.

The sleeve should now seal your ear-canal nicely and comortable. If it doesn´t, maybe you should experiment with the amount of blue-tac a bit.



I have to say, that insertion is easier (=quicker) without blue-tac, but not much. I think i´ll keep the phone the modded way, as i think the seal is now much more even/constant.

Edit: Did i mention, that placing a small piece of foam or something like that inside the housing (pull down the metal ring, open the housing; can be reassembled many times if you like) smoothes treble response of these things, just in case you find them some kind of "tinny" or agressive? Now i did.

 

[Vul Kuolun]

Page 2 alrady?

C´mon, at least somebody could tell me the pics didn´t suck.

 

[acousticguitar]

looks cool, but does the bluetac leak into ear at all?

 

[Vul Kuolun]

puh, for a moment i thought i´d end up talking to myself.

No, the bluetac is of course completely covered by the silicone sleeve; no skin contact.

From the outside, you cannot even see it.

 

[phosfiend]

looks like a great idea. Excuse my non-technical terms here, but i wonder if soft, non flat washer could achieve the same effect in the the place of the tac. How does this effect the sound, if at all?

I love the fit of my MD33's - and i must admit, more isolation is not high on my list of priorities, if anything i'd like to sort out the tinny-ness in the upper mids.

Actually, the more I think about it, a slightly more secure fit could be nice.

EDIT: Oh, and the photos are great - nice to see when someone knows how to use their macro when shooting things less than 2 cm in diameter.

 

[CookieFactory]

You can also try Shure E2c sleeves. I've had excellent results with those.

 

[brokenwallet]

I tried this with artist eraser/tack, wasn't comfortable. The sleeve alone is more comfortable. But what about just using the tack as the tip? Like an instant custom mold impression?

 

[afbug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CookieFactory You can also try Shure E2c sleeves. I've had excellent results with those.

Yes, they're great.

Try them, if you dun like, you can cut a smaller piece and stuff it into the stock ear tips like the 1st post.

 

[Vul Kuolun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phosfiend looks like a great idea. Excuse my non-technical terms here, but i wonder if soft, non flat washer could achieve the same effect in the the place of the tac. How does this effect the sound, if at all? I love the fit of my MD33's - and i must admit, more isolation is not high on my list of priorities, if anything i'd like to sort out the tinny-ness in the upper mids.

I think it would be rather difficult to find a washer that will fit your ears exactly.

For isolation, if you ask me, its never enough; for the tinny-ness: did you see this one?

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=174234

For changing the sound: I dunno if this has ever been posted on this board before, but i have to say: sadly, it doesn´t really change sound.

Only if your fit wasn´t perfect before.

Quote:

But what about just using the tack as the tip? Like an instant custom mold impression?

That lead me to the idea of stuffing the sleeve. I´m not sure if you ever get the stuff out of your earcanals, and i wouldn´t want to take the risk of skin irritation. But i think, with stuffing the sleeve, you´re as close to custom impressions as you can get by DIY.