[Woosh]

alright so whats the best way to punch a hole in the soft spongy ear plugs?

 

[noorudeenshakur]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jSatch This thread is a follow-up from another thread “Make Your Own Shure and UM2 Foamies!” started by noorudeenshakur. Because the original thread had branched out well beyond Shure and UM2 foamies, there may be many Head-Fi’ers that have missed this interesting DIY project.

I agree the other thread went WAY off topic. Great post my friend!

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=142983

for reference heres the original thread again.

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woosh alright so whats the best way to punch a hole in the soft spongy ear plugs?

There are 2 basic flavors of earplug foam; urethane (smooth) and PVC (porous).

For a list of some earplug options see: http://earplugstore.com/foam_plug_information.htm

PVC: Good results have been had with the PVC by simply using a hole punch, or compressing them flat then drilling the hole (almost as good). This dates back to the observations of the original noorudeenshakur thread (see above post, or original post of this thread).

Urethane: Because these are pretty squishy, they are much more difficult to just flatten and drill. I went with the excellent advice of Sugarfried (from the Shure Co., very cool) and froze the urethane plugs to have a firmer object to drill. You need to work fast though. Please refer to post #1 for instructions. Others have had good results with other techniques also posted within this thread. I didn’t fare so well with the flatten and drill technique with urethane. Please see the pictures in post #28. I prefer the urethane foam tips for reasons mentioned in this thread, so the little extra effort is well worth it for me.

Good luck!

 

[afobisme]

hehe i did mine... with just a hot nail/tube from original foamies. it doesn't look that great, but im happy (sound is just as good).

http://img157.imageshack.us/my.php?i...sc00183jl8.jpg
http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc00185zg5.jpg
eh dont know the code to link the picture.

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by afobisme hehe i did mine... with just a hot nail/tube from original foamies. it doesn't look that great, but im happy (sound is just as good).

Sound is all that matters.

Well, unless, of course, you impale yourself with the hot nail.

Thanks for the feedback, and the pics, but be careful.

PS- Which earplug did you use?

 

[Woosh]

oh yea i was wondering is it neccessary to have hard plastic tubing in the middle of the ear piece? im gona mod my cx300s with customs tips and the original silicon tips only extend about 3mm out of the driver, however these are fairly wide in diameter (5mm) so is it alright if i just cut the tips of a urethane earplug and drill a hole in the middle?

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Woosh oh yea i was wondering is it neccessary to have hard plastic tubing in the middle of the ear piece? im gona mod my cx300s with customs tips and the original silicon tips only extend about 3mm out of the driver, however these are fairly wide in diameter (5mm) so is it alright if i just cut the tips of a urethane earplug and drill a hole in the middle?

Dunno about the CX300.

I believe it has a larger diameter extrusion tube for the tip to fit over than the IEMs here.

Look back through the thread. I think someone tried this already for the CX300.

Good luck!

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by noorudeenshakur I agree the other thread went WAY off topic. Great post my friend! http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=142983 for reference heres the original thread again.

Thanks for starting it all off.

Turned out to be a substantial mod for me in the SQ department.

I was amazed at the difference the composition of the tips made.

Sweet!

 

[afobisme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jSatch Sound is all that matters. Well, unless, of course, you impale yourself with the hot nail. Thanks for the feedback, and the pics, but be careful. PS- Which earplug did you use?

my uncle is an engineer for GE, so he gets a bunch of free E-A-R foamies...

update: i went to petsmart today, and bought 6" cord of 1/8 inch tubes... i get the foamies free, and i got tube for $1.99. so basically i get a lifetime supply for $1.99 + heating up the hot nail

i might want to use superglue to glue the tube into the foam though. also need a way to cut the tube so that it's a straight edge. any tips on this? using a knife or pair of scissors doesnt make the surface flat, but it's still useable.

 

[afobisme]

bump, i found a better way to do this.

all you need is a needle, or even a toothpick. all you do is poke a small hole through the foam, put something in the hole so it expands a bit, then eventually fit a chopstick in the gap... leave it there for a little bit, then take it out and insert the tube... then it just expands back and all is secure.

now i need to find a superglue with a small tube so i can glue the inside slightly without having any of it touching the outside foam.

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by afobisme bump, i found a better way to do this. all you need is a needle, or even a toothpick. all you do is poke a small hole through the foam, put something in the hole so it expands a bit, then eventually fit a chopstick in the gap... leave it there for a little bit, then take it out and insert the tube... then it just expands back and all is secure. now i need to find a superglue with a small tube so i can glue the inside slightly without having any of it touching the outside foam.

Might not need superglue if the hole is so small.

It may also react with and damage the foam.

But as you get 'em free, please experiment and tell us about your results.

Thanks.

 

[afobisme]

actually with the method i used, i dont insert that much superglue (enough to keep it in place though)... so the sound has been relatively the same. it doesn't need superglue, but i'd prefer it because once you take out the IEMs, the tube might slip off.

i can take a picture and illustrate how i do it, it's pretty simple actually (i can make a pair in under 2 minutes, although it's not the most beautiful thing in the world).

the chopstick i use is PERFECT for making these IEMs, because they hold the tube in place so that i can lather the glue on it.. and then eventually insert it into the foam (without having to touch the glue on the tube).

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by afobisme ........... i can take a picture and illustrate how i do it, it's pretty simple actually (i can make a pair in under 2 minutes, although it's not the most beautiful thing in the world). ..............

Yes, that would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[bigDee]

Wow jsnatch that really sucks that you said to get 1/4" OD. I dunno what you were thinking but this is WAY too big

Ah well. I'll see if petsmart has what I want.

 

[Ikarios]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigDee Wow jsnatch that really sucks that you said to get 1/4" OD. I dunno what you were thinking but this is WAY too big Ah well. I'll see if petsmart has what I want.

1/4" OD tubing works for my iM716. I'm not sure what the ID is, but the tubing is very thick.

Anyway, regarding tubing - I was actually looking for 3/16" tubing, but it was a bit PITA to find a place with good tubing. The pet stores around me (2 in my area) didn't carry anything even remotely small enough, and home depot only had 1/4" vinyl tubing (I had to try a bunch of coils to get one that would fit snugly; they're not all the same!), which I ended up buying. So far, it looks like they work... I just hope nothing stays in my ear later on.