[Yasser gizouli]

This what I use
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000443850877.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.37364c4dprZ4y4

Thanks man,
What about the shell

 

[swtnate]

I am trying to make my own ciem and stumbled into this forum and I have been doing a lot of research lately. But is there like a beginner's guide or any list on where to buy materials? Like drivers, resins, molds etc?

And also a quick question, can you reuse ear impressions for multiple ciem builds? Are there any tips to making them last longer? TIA

You are looking at it! All 900 glorious pages. There is enough information in here for you to not just learn how to do this but to do it REALLY well.

Thanks man,
What about the shell

All my shells up until this point have been custom to my own ears and to a bunch of other friends and such. I have 3-4 different universal shells. None of them are very aesthetically pleasing to me. Plus, Im so rolled up building customs I havent turned to the universal. My advice to you, if your just starting out, either snatch up the universal shel available though soundlink OR find a good STL file to print your shell.

 

[swtnate]

Put 4.7 ohm series parallel ohm 38D1X, will give you 15dB lower SPL

I've had VERY little real world success placing any component (Resistor of Capacitor) in parallel to the driver. There just WAY to many variables you now have to compensate far. Speaking of... How are you solving the phase alignment and the time lag by have such circuitry. genuinely curious.

 

[swtnate]

I am trying to make my own ciem and stumbled into this forum and I have been doing a lot of research lately. But is there like a beginner's guide or any list on where to buy materials? Like drivers, resins, molds etc?

And also a quick question, can you reuse ear impressions for multiple ciem builds? Are there any tips to making them last longer? TIA

You are looking at it! All 900 glorious pages. There is enough information in here for you to not just learn how to do this but to do it REALLY well.

Thanks man,
What about the shell

All my shells up until this point have been custom to my own ears and to a bunch of other friends and such. I have 3-4 different universal shells. None of them are very aesthetically pleasing to me. Plus, Im so rolled up building customs I havent turned to the universal. My advice to you, if your just starting out, either snatch up the universal shel available though soundlink OR find a good STL file to print your shell.

 

[swtnate]

First post but MAN, this has been an INVALUABLE resource. Ohhhhh, the amount of learning and investment to learning this industry. Im all in! From lab equipment, to drivers, and beyond. So, I thought Id pay a little bit of it back. Theres been many posts about hydrocolloid. One thing that I love about is how replaceable it is. One thing I hate about it is how EXPENSIVE it can be. 6kg of Egger is over $200 and Krystalloid is a bit better but not as forgiving and the dreve lacks tinsel strength upon impression removal. Ive gone through countless hours figuring this out and gave up no less than 5 times. Until, I read the Krystalloid MSDS. While this doesnt give the recipe, upon further reading on the effects Agar reacting with ethylene glycol, I had another starting point. I finally recreated, in my opinion, an improved Krystalloid. This is still reversable. All the items can be purchased from Amazon or from a chemistry supply house. One thing is imperative to have, and that is a reliable food/ gram scale.

this is the recipe for a 500g batch.
125g - propylene gycol
125g- ethylene glycol
15g - vegetable glycerine
5g - Agar Agar Powder (NOT THE FLAKES)
1g - Borax (not essential but seems to help with mold strength)
230g - filtered water

1) mix all the liquids together at room temperature.
2) add the Agar Agar. Using a whisk, stir in the Agar to the mixture. Let soak in solution for minimum of ten minutes. I like to use a stand-up mixer during the entirety of the soak time. HOWEVER, BE CAREFUL! ETHYLENE GLYCOL IS WHAT MAKES ANTI-FREEZE AND SHOULD NOT EVER BE INGESTED. Clean-up well with dish soap and water. I wash everything 3 times. Lol.
3) pour solution into a small cooking pot. Set the cooking temperature to LOW or 1. Allow to come to temperature. Stirring often.
4) increase cooking temperature to MEDIUM. Monitor temperature very closely with an infrared thermometer. Solution should NEVER come to a boil. Continue stirring as often as possible. The agar is not into solution YET. The mixture should be very cloudy when you stir.
5) This process can take up to 20-30 minutes, if not longer. Once you are able to stir the mixture and the cloudiness doesnt reappear then the agar has been absorbed into solution. Leave on stable heat (90-95°C) for an additional 15 minutes.
6. Pour i to separate container and allow to cool at room temperature. You will notice that it will stay rather thinly viscous even at lower temperature. Once it is at about room temperature, place into the refrigerator for one hour. Then you are ready to GO!

FOR REHEATING:
1) Cut/ chop the solidfied agar into small squares. The finer the chop the easier it will melt. Place into a small glass bowl that is microwave safe.
2) heat in the microwave for 2 minutes at 10-20% power. Monitor through the window during the melting process.
3) once complete, stirr the colloid slowly for 30 seconds to evenly dosperse the hotter and cooler liquids in the mixture. Allow the rest a total of 90 seconds while stirring. Repeat steps 2-3 until mixture is completely liquified and there are no lumps.
Optional: after the melting process is complete, I dont stir the solution. My microwave has a “warm and hold” setting. I press the warm and hold button and allow it to warm/ equalize for 5-10 minutes, depending on the amount of colloid. Also, if you go TOO long a film/skin will form on the top of the colloid (kinda like queso). You can easily remove it with a large spoon.
4) let cool to 115F and then slowly pour with the stream no wider than a pencil and the container as close to the investment form as possible.

this recipe is a little thinner than most (almost Dreve fotogel viscosity but WAY thinner than the nicefit). Small bubbles will NORMALLY escape no problem. I use a chemistry plastic disposable pipette to remove large bubbles.

Here are multiple images during a night that was very well spent.

 

[swtnate]

Wow! Thanks everyone for all the helpful responses.
The reason I had decided on using DD or 38D1XJ was because I really don't want it to interfere with the rest of the tonal balance.
Just a subbass boost.
I know that the 38D1XJ is the best in the game atm. My only real concern with using it would be its significant SPL output and that may be too much and drown everything else out.
Seems like there has been a lot more experimentation with the Cl and that may be a safer option as I don't have a measurement rig so fine tuning will be difficult and pretty much done by ear.

It IS a great BA driver alone compared to other competitive. We will gwt there. God always does what he says he’ll do.

 

[kkugel]

I've had VERY little real world success placing any component (Resistor of Capacitor) in parallel to the driver. There just WAY to many variables you now have to compensate far. Speaking of... How are you solving the phase alignment and the time lag by have such circuitry. genuinely curious.

4.7 series and parallel will work 10/10 times. Phase alignment does not matter really, you won't hear it. And time differences can be a good thing

 

[Yasser gizouli]

You are looking at it! All 900 glorious pages. There is enough information in here for you to not just learn how to do this but to do it REALLY well.

All my shells up until this point have been custom to my own ears and to a bunch of other friends and such. I have 3-4 different universal shells. None of them are very aesthetically pleasing to me. Plus, Im so rolled up building customs I havent turned to the universal. My advice to you, if your just starting out, either snatch up the universal shel available though soundlink OR find a good STL file to print your shell.

I want specific shells , i searched they either big or bullet type i want something like kz zs6

 

[swtnate]

I want specific shells , i searched they either big or bullet type i want something like kz zs6

Theres literally no way for me to know what you would want or like. Lol. And, if you decide to design your own and print it, be prepared. Theres more engineering than you might think. My only current use for a universal shell is breadboard tuning by ear. Sorry I cant help you more.
I will also add this , because I think its important to say. This thread is AMAZING. Theres so much information, techniques, electrical engineering, etc. my advice is to pull from the wealth of knowledge available to you. It will be no more or less easier for us find what your looking for than for you to find what youre looking for.

 

[Yasser gizouli]

Theres literally no way for me to know what you would want or like. Lol. And, if you decide to design your own and print it, be prepared. Theres more engineering than you might think. My only current use for a universal shell is breadboard tuning by ear. Sorry I cant help you more.
I will also add this , because I think its important to say. This thread is AMAZING. Theres so much information, techniques, electrical engineering, etc. my advice is to pull from the wealth of knowledge available to you. It will be no more or less easier for us find what your looking for than for you to find what youre looking for.

I know what i want , i want help finding a way to use the tsst ba driver which doesnt have a spout only an upper hole in the driver, i want a shell to exploit it.

 

[swtnate]

If anyone is looking for inexpensive SUPER legit solutions to aid when soldering micro components, you are not alone. Heres a couple to look at.

KOTTO Helping Hands Soldering,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MDKXNPC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
The issue with most helping hands/ alligator clips is that they CAN damage the drivers. This set includes sleeves you place over the teeth to prevent damage to sensitive components..

Vastar PCB Circuit Board Holder with Cleaning Cloth https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HI3VWK...abc_CH549RR8N2GNACCAFHT7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

for those of us building networks utilizing PCB’s, this is a GAME CHANGER when coupled with the digital microscope.

Last, but certainly not least: SOLDERING STATIONS
Ive owned a Weller 1010 for about 3 years now. Great station for beginners just getting started. The MAJOR draw back to the 1010 is that Weller doesnt provide any type of micro pen OR tips for use with the 1010. The importance of micro soldering is often dismissed. Micro tips provide the same temperture of heat but to a primary location. For example: have you ever tried soldering an estron litz wire to 0603 component? One side is a breeze. Get to the other side of the component to solder the next wire and the first wire falls off OR when you lift your pen you carry the component with you. FOLLOWED INTERNAL RAGE. Micro tips radiate heat to a significantly smaller footprint. Meaning, less heat trnasference to other components nearby. Another game changer. These are BIGGER ticket gear and not technically essential but, if youre doing this for any longer length of time, all these tools will improve your quality of life.


Weller EC1302B ESD-Safe 20W Micro Soldering Iron for EC, WD and WRS Stations https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000WTTG...abc_YHF8KWAVN9Z2Y3GNSNCE?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Weller WD1M 85w/120v Micro Single Channel Digital Rework Power Unit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000UMHYD4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_3BG4C0Z4CK0103ZYVR6C

 

[Aldo40]

I have soldering station Weller and fx888
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/aw/d/B00EK7TE2E?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Good station and not expensible

 

[AMerePerson]

I think the common approach for soldering onto driver pads is to use a putty to hold the drivers in place. The most common one I’ve seen is Blu Tack.

@dhruvmeena96
You mentioned a finale 4 a few years ago and I’m curious if that has any new progress.

I built a finale 2 recently and was wondering if a 38D1XJ would help with the bass. I found an old post that said it would work with a yellow damper but nothing about tube length and damper position.

 

[dhruvmeena96]

I think the common approach for soldering onto driver pads is to use a putty to hold the drivers in place. The most common one I’ve seen is Blu Tack.

@dhruvmeena96
You mentioned a finale 4 a few years ago and I’m curious if that has any new progress.

I built a finale 2 recently and was wondering if a 38D1XJ would help with the bass. I found an old post that said it would work with a yellow damper but nothing about tube length and damper position.

Run as long of tube you want
Just make sure to add yellow to it

Its subbass and the wavelenght are very huge to cancel each other
Just make sure that 38D1XJ doesnt go in mids and you are all right

I want to make build simple thats why no mentioning of tubelenghts

I want more.people to join in the hobby and enjoy sound hahaha

 

[musmecca]

I am trying to make my own ciem and stumbled into this forum and I have been doing a lot of research lately. But is there like a beginner's guide or any list on where to buy materials? Like drivers, resins, molds etc?

And also a quick question, can you reuse ear impressions for multiple ciem builds? Are there any tips to making them last longer? TIA

This is the definitive guide the last time I checked:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/...Jh_bh3fuUBNe2HrQg/edit#heading=h.t2frpipmdu4k