[ilmothedude]

Little ear tip mod I made for Thinksound Rain3 to eliminate driver flex noise and make sound more open. Since Rain3 lacks vent holes in front of driver and thus making driver flex since there's no hole for air to escape, I attempted to create vented eartips. It actually turned out to work very well, now I don't have driver flex clicking noises at all when I'm pushing iems further into ear. It also feels more comfy now since pressure won't build up in ear canal. Seal has reduced of course, but it's still decent. I think bass levels haven't reduced at all or just very slightly but now bass is more clean and hence whole sound seems airier. Best thing is that I can always swap normal tips if I go into noisier environment. EDIT: After some comparing, I actually don't think isolation is reduced almost at all with vented tips, very nice! These tips will probably stay on all the time!

How to:
I used leather punch tool to create hole, smallest size from kit which was 2mm. I punched hole from inside the tip while tip was inverted (like on lower pic), on thicker tube part of tip, close to where thinner part starts. With only that 2mm hole sound became thin, no good. So then I put some black electrical tape around tube part of tip (2 layers) to cover the hole, seal was recovered, sound was full again. Then I made smaller hole in electrical tape with needle. Small needle hole didn't do trick yet (remove driver flex) so I used larger and larger needle or spike until driver flex was eliminated completely. Good thing is that it however didn't affect sound like make it thinner at all. I think it's because hole on tape didn't really became much larger (check the pic, hole isn't that large), but tape instead got strecthed while still covering the hole very well, and since tape is strecthed it gets air flow through the hole more easily. Hole works now kind of like a valve. There's actually 2 pairs of L size eartips on package which is my preferred size, so now I have vented pair and closed un-modded pair, very nice! It's really very nice that I don't get driver flex or pressure build up inside ear no matter how deep I push iems into ear, and it sounds very good.
Cheers!

 

[Raketen]

Anyone know the state of the company? No tweets since the end of 2017 and their website has nothing added from 2018, either.

I think they introduced the USP1 pewter shell IEM in 2018, though IIRC was a limited run type of product. Presumably if the On2 and Rain products are available, the company's alive?. I still enjoy the On2 from time to time, not obsolete yet . but I notice they don't have any bluetooth cans.

Since Rain3 lacks vent holes in front of driver and thus making driver flex since there's no hole for air to escape, I attempted to create vented eartips...

Cool idea, been meaning to try something like this out with a set of super mid-bassy IEMs I got recently. I remember a simliar less destructive mod for the JVC fx850 eartips ( https://www.head-fi.org/threads/jvc-ha-fx850-iem-woody.703874/page-28#post-11162329 ), wonder if you could get the effect by combining that with a narrower bore tip like a Sony Hybrid type instead of vinyl tape (IIRC the rule of thumb is that narrow bores tend to attenuate treble).

 

[ilmothedude]

Cool idea, been meaning to try something like this out with a set of super mid-bassy IEMs I got recently. I remember a simliar less destructive mod for the JVC fx850 eartips ( https://www.head-fi.org/threads/jvc-ha-fx850-iem-woody.703874/page-28#post-11162329 ), wonder if you could get the effect by combining that with a narrower bore tip like a Sony Hybrid type instead of vinyl tape (IIRC the rule of thumb is that narrow bores tend to attenuate treble).

That looks interesting idea. I'm not sure how well that would work with Thinksound Rain3 though since it seems to be quite sensitive for driver flex. Also such opening in tip could do good for bass heavy iem if bass is overwhelming, but Rain3 have very good signature which I didn't want to change at all and opening the seal will affect the bass if iem is closed like Rain3. Question arises that how much tip should be opened before driver flex disappears and will it on that point affect sound too much. My punctured electrical tape solution solves that question because its default state is closed but it will get air flow through when air pressure pushes the tape. But every iem is different so that JVC eartip mod could very well work on other iems. I'm so satisfied with Rain3 right now, it's amazing how much sound has changed after first listen. It really felt at first that Rain3 isn't worth its asking price at all, but now these sound so heavenly and definitely worth the money. Burn-in has surprised me once again
Cheers!

 

[MisterMudd]

Sad today. Just found out that Thinksound has closed shop. I have the ON2 and find them to be an incredible headphone. Wish their praises had been sung more. Thanks Thinksound for hours of incredible listening!

 

[annasoh323]

Sad today. Just found out that Thinksound has closed shop. I have the ON2 and find them to be an incredible headphone. Wish their praises had been sung more. Thanks Thinksound for hours of incredible listening!

Oh sad! I guess I should have known after not hearing anything about them for over a year... I have a pair of unopened On2's that I had originally intended to resell (bought it during, what I now presume to be, the MassDrop Thinksound fire sale). Maybe I'll keep them as a testament to the glory days of woodies gone by. I definitely now want to find my lost ms02's. They've been gone for a while but I always did like them. They fit nicer than the Blue Ever Blue 1200EX. <sad sigh>

 

[Tinnitus Man]

Sad news indeed. I was only looking at the website a month or so back to see if they had any new products. I'm still very happy with my ON2s which are superb for office duties.

 

[Funehik]

I purchased a set of ON2s last year (because I always buy items that are about to go out of business.) Can anyone suggest a reasonably decent and currently available set of replacement earpads for them? Thanks. Sorry, not sure if I should have just posted something new as opposed to resurrecting this topic.

 

[dafos58]

I purchased a set of ON2s last year (because I always buy items that are about to go out of business.) Can anyone suggest a reasonably decent and currently available set of replacement earpads for them? Thanks. Sorry, not sure if I should have just posted something new as opposed to resurrecting this topic.

I also need to replace my ear pads for the ON2 and found them on AliExpress for €7. Ordered them just now, so patiently waiting.

 

[dafos58]

I also need to replace my ear pads for the ON2 and found them on AliExpress for €7. Ordered them just now, so patiently waiting.

Received them today. Changed the plastic ring from the old to the replacement ear pads. The fit is perfect, for my ears no sound change. So for this price, a great replacement for my worn out pads.

 

[ilmothedude]

I've been listening my Rain3 iems recently. They sound smooth and very non-fatiguing, really ideal for long laid back backround listening sessions. Gotta give them some credit! Really pleasant sound.

 

[B9Scrambler]

Received them today. Changed the plastic ring from the old to the replacement ear pads. The fit is perfect, for my ears no sound change. So for this price, a great replacement for my worn out pads.

That's awesome! Any chance you could share a link? The pads on mine are starting to fall apart and I've had no luck finding an alternative I've been satisfied with

 

[dafos58]

That's awesome! Any chance you could share a link? The pads on mine are starting to fall apart and I've had no luck finding an alternative I've been satisfied with

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/4000766421102.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.59904c4drsrbGs
This is the link from the Dutch AliExpress site, you can change the language through the menu option.

 

[B9Scrambler]

https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/4000766421102.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.59904c4drsrbGs
This is the link from the Dutch AliExpress site, you can change the language through the menu option.

Sweet! Thank you very much,

 

[B9Scrambler]

Since we already have a set that is confirmed to be a good replacement, I guinea pigged it up and tried another alternative that are visually a little more alike the stock set. Also helped that the price was only a couple bucks more. I purchased the smaller of the two options, "colour" A: www.aliexpress.com/item/4001108027935.html

As expected from the provided measurements, they are wider and deeper with a similar sized opening. Definitely softer and more comfortable than the stock pads, but isolation is reduced. Just setting them on the head sees a bump in bass and treble quantities, but squish them down and you get something very similar sounding to the stock set. That's a good indication for how these will age and soften up over time. They're nicely made too. Not quite as neatly sewn as in the pics, but more than acceptable for the 14 CAD all-in that I paid. Would I buy them again? So far, yes.

Edit: The seller also tossed in what look to be some ear covers. Extra value!

 

[dafos58]

Well, this seems interesting news: https://thinksound.com/collections/our-lineup