[sanekn]

Thanks man!

 

[Sinzo]

I'm having trouble using agar-agar powder to produce a mold.
 
I'm using it as a substitute for Knox in a 1:1 ratio.
 
I've been using about 45g of AgarAgar + 240 ml of water, this yields a mold that falls apart upon the slightest pressure.
 
Adding too much AgarAgar makes the mold very cloudy and seems to prevent curing of the UV gel.
 
Anyone else got some other recipe for AgarAgar or is gelatin really the way to go?
 
 
Oh yeah, about those CL drivers I ordered a while ago from TaoBao for about $2.50 each - they work fairly well and don't seem to have been used. 
They're a special variant of the CL though - lower impedance I believe.
 
ALSO, I found a nifty source for soft acrylic shells - you send them your impressions and they make you them. They also do hard acrylic shells etc.
http://www.mcear.de/epages/78599304.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/78599304/Categories/Category2/Otoplastiken

 

[MuZo2]

Quality of shells dont look good.

 

[JorgePantalones]

  I'm having trouble using agar-agar powder to produce a mold.
 
I'm using it as a substitute for Knox in a 1:1 ratio.
 
I've been using about 45g of AgarAgar + 240 ml of water, this yields a mold that falls apart upon the slightest pressure.
 
Adding too much AgarAgar makes the mold very cloudy and seems to prevent curing of the UV gel.
 
Anyone else got some other recipe for AgarAgar or is gelatin really the way to go?
 
 

 
I suspect you still need to add glycerin.  I might start with a similar amount as ShilohJ's recipe (halfway down post#4719) for the gelatin.  That's just speculation on my part, I haven't tried it.
 
This may be a good resource:
http://green-plastics.net/posts/39/how-to-make-algae-bioplastic/
 
Here a nice article about what the glycerin is doing:
http://green-plastics.net/posts/366/add-glycerine-vinegar-gelatin/
 
Sometimes the Green Plastics website can be cantankerous.  Probably time for them to seek out a new host.
 
-GEO

 

[Shilohsjustice]

I suspect you still need to add glycerin.  I might start with a similar amount as ShilohJ's recipe (halfway down post#4719) for the gelatin.  That's just speculation on my part, I haven't tried it.

This may be a good resource:
http://green-plastics.net/posts/39/how-to-make-algae-bioplastic/

Here a nice article about what the glycerin is doing:
http://green-plastics.net/posts/366/add-glycerine-vinegar-gelatin/

Sometimes the Green Plastics website can be cantankerous.  Probably time for them to seek out a new host.

-GEO

The gelatin is the way to go, I did several tests with the agar agar all of which failed in comparison to the gelatin so I scratched that as a viable investment material for me. There is an agar agar based duplicating gel in the iem manufacturing industry but it has additives that re-enforce it's strength and I could not get the cloudiness to go away when adding substrates to the mix. Agar agar is super concentrated meaning you cannot substitute the gelatin with agar agar following the same recipe as the one I posted for gelatin, in fact it would be closer to 1/4 of the amount of agar agar compared to gelatin per 350ml hot water. I hope this helps.

Thank you for the links above, I may give it one more go with the agar-gelatin mix using sorbitol and the 1% glycerol.

 

[jbr1971]

I purchased clear ballistics gel cubes from Clear Ballistics which are very easy to melt down and reform multiple times. It was $10 plus shipping for a 1 lb bag of cubes. You would have to be making A LOT of molds to go through the full supply.
 
After some trial and error, and some helpful tips from others on this thread, I was able to get some very good clear, bubble free, molds.
 

v1 vs v2
 
They also have smaller samples you can buy (limit of 2) if you only plan to make one set of molds. It looks like two samples might just be big enough.

 

[omgflyingbanana]

So I bought 2 CI-22955's but one of them has pretty terrible sound; it's incredibly low and the low end is crackling/rattling. Anyone know how I can fix this? Really don't want to throw away $25 since this is my first BA purchase.
 
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9rB93foP0

 

[jbr1971]

  So I bought 2 CI-22955's but one of them has pretty terrible sound; it's incredibly low and the low end is crackling/rattling. Anyone know how I can fix this? Really don't want to throw away $25 since this is my first BA purchase.
 
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9rB93foP0

 
Where did you buy it from? Do they have a return/replacement policy? Any reputable seller should.

 

[omgflyingbanana]

I'm in the process of talking to the seller right now, just wondering if there's anything immediate I could do.

 

[JorgePantalones]

The gelatin is the way to go, I did several tests with the agar agar all of which failed in comparison to the gelatin so I scratched that as a viable investment material for me. There is an agar agar based duplicating gel in the iem manufacturing industry but it has additives that re-enforce it's strength and I could not get the cloudiness to go away when adding substrates to the mix. Agar agar is super concentrated meaning you cannot substitute the gelatin with agar agar following the same recipe as the one I posted for gelatin, in fact it would be closer to 1/4 of the amount of agar agar compared to gelatin per 350ml hot water. I hope this helps.

Thank you for the links above, I may give it one more go with the agar-gelatin mix using sorbitol and the 1% glycerol.

I didn't mean to suggest following the gelatin recipe for the agar to water ratio.  Rather, I thought the amount of glycerol to add could be taken from your gelatin recipe, as a starting point.  Looking at the base molecule from gelatin and agar, they are very different.  And from what - very little - I understand about polymer chemistry, it is wildly unpredictable, so who knows?  
 
I'm just starting on my second pair of ciem's this weekend and for what it's worth, I use your gelatin recipe as well as many other tips, to great result.  
 
Big thanks for the meticulous documentation Shiloh.

 

[Squirg]

  I purchased clear ballistics gel cubes from Clear Ballistics which are very easy to melt down and reform multiple times. It was $10 plus shipping for a 1 lb bag of cubes. You would have to be making A LOT of molds to go through the full supply.
 
After some trial and error, and some helpful tips from others on this thread, I was able to get some very good clear, bubble free, molds.
 

v1 vs v2
 
They also have smaller samples you can buy (limit of 2) if you only plan to make one set of molds. It looks like two samples might just be big enough.

 

  I purchased clear ballistics gel cubes from Clear Ballistics which are very easy to melt down and reform multiple times. It was $10 plus shipping for a 1 lb bag of cubes. You would have to be making A LOT of molds to go through the full supply.
 
After some trial and error, and some helpful tips from others on this thread, I was able to get some very good clear, bubble free, molds.
 

v1 vs v2
 
They also have smaller samples you can buy (limit of 2) if you only plan to make one set of molds. It looks like two samples might just be big enough.

Good stuff!  Were you able to get the mold on the right with a wax coating?  I was only able to get a bubble-free mold after putting the whole thing in the oven for a few hours, in which the wax would obviously melt.  What temp. was the gel when you poured it in?  Nice work!

 

[omgflyingbanana]

I found this interesting PCB used to crossover the CI-22955 and ED-29689 on taobao! Thoughts?
 
https://world.taobao.com/item/537176434164.htm?fromSite=main&spm=a1z10.1-c.w4004-14744581058.54.YC0sLO

 

[Emiliano]

CI is for BF and ED is for?
OMG do you know if that seller ship in italy?
Thanks

 

[omgflyingbanana]

It's taobao, so unfortunately I don't think they ship to Italy. You might be able to get an agent to ship it to you, though.
 
Anyway, I found another one (scroll down for pictures). It's pretty interesting!
https://world.taobao.com/item/524510034281.htm#detail

 

[omgflyingbanana]

I apologize for the spam, but I just wanna dump some taobao links.
 
Incredibly cheap ED-29689? (around $5.06)
 
Shure shell
Shure shell with metal tip (I think SE846 shell)
Shure shell with screws 
Acoustic foam?
 
Looking for more UIEM shells? 

I stumbled upon this while looking up shells. Even though it's not just the shell and an actual IEM clone, I can't help but think how gorgeous this wood replica of the SE846 looks.