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Author Topic: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story  (Read 13807 times)

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AstralStorm

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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #40 on: October 08, 2013, 09:54:57 PM »

Ok, messup that turned out semi-ok, considering how poor the impression and negative were.

The tubes fell off (were pushed out by the IEM) and the hole happened to be too wide for RE-400 nozzle it was planned for.
The ear canal parts are actually completely missing, as the tube is too large diameter to allow any reasonable quantity of silicone to pass down.
Demolding silicone from silicone was about as hard as previously, maybe slightly easier. Mostly hard because of the irregular surface on the sides of the mold, which were incompletely covered with the unsealant. The ear part actually demolded very easily, meaning Ease Release is essential.
The slightly harder silicone (Shore A 30) is about the same hardness as the one used in SE-5.
No bubbles in or on the positive, which means this silicone is suitable for accurate molds, both negative and positive.

I didn't bother to round out these "broken"impressions, just cut off the excess with rough knife cuts. The cuts were a bit tricky, the silicone is highly elastic and there was lost of excess.

Short version of the result: Generally similar to long tips, except more comfortable (still not superb due to bad impression) and way better at soundstaging. The. Best.
Balance is reminiscent of very deep fitted Brainwavz B2, except not "sparkly", instead bit "hot", much better upwards extension, no bass boost.

And now for the good part - the IEM sounds very closely to equalized with these "tips" or rather mounts, once they fully seal. Better soundstaging in fact, reminiscent of the other CIEM without its weaknesses. Isolation is not great, on par with EtyPlugs, bit lower in mids and bass, higher in highs. The silicone is very acoustically transparent in this small amount.
Some 4k hot boost is apparent, perhaps could be tamed by the return to original filters as well as another high freuqency peak (14k?). Air is better than even the equalized. It is semi-shallow insertion. (-3mm? I'm not sure whether to measure from the nozzle or the target tip position.)
It is tricky to put these "broken" impressions in so that they fully seal, but they hold well once in, right ear much worse than left - does unseal at times; not entirely comfortable either, on the tragus - I filled that area in as there was a hole. (Remeber that was with that terrible clear material.)
Bass is highly "thumpy" but more of "pressure" kind than "ear shaking" or "bone conduction", which means the bass is likely balanced with exellent subbass, without typical 36Hz boost.

And pics. I've actually pushed them in bit deeper than shown in these pics. The in-ear one shows almost the correct depth.
EDIT: few more cuts fixed the comfort and improved seal. Cut based on the better impression (rather than my guess) improved things further. The main gain from the better seal is that the IEMs sound bit bassier still ("kickier" but not boosted) and faster? 4k/14k resonance was reduced notably - that was probably the leak resonance. The sound is way faster than with all other tips and now I can put them in reliably. Gains in soundstaging again. W/o crossfeed, they sound binaural-like, with crossfeed, like an excellent, slightly bright, set of speakers - monitor-like. (No equalization yet.)
Still, will make new ones based on the good impressions for comfort and better seal. I'll use 3mm silicone pipe to make the hole instead of trying to actually use it as the canal.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2013, 11:52:54 PM by AstralStorm »
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MuZo2

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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #41 on: October 25, 2013, 03:10:52 PM »

AstralStorm How is it going with the 3dprinter stuff?
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AstralStorm

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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #42 on: October 25, 2013, 06:29:34 PM »

Haven't tried it yet as I don't have the 3D scanner. Now trying to make the right silicone tips with proper air ducts - this is proving hard.
I have some pics of failed attempts...
I'm trying a two-part process, where I make a silicone shell first, then put the tubing, then fill up.
Trying to work in a full shell is fruitless - there's no way to drill the right shape duct.

By the way, the polyurethane works, but not as a mold for silicone - so eems to contain something sulfur-based, slows down curing a few times - but it does cure in the end.
Adding Slacker to Shore A 16 silicone produced a material similar to those gluey silicone balls. Very sticky if rough, very soft and not too resilient.

More later incl. pics. More experiments on Sunday again.
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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #43 on: October 25, 2013, 10:51:42 PM »

This is awesome to read about as always. Are you in touch with Gregorz or anyone else in the industry to get some tips and advice?
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AstralStorm

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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #44 on: October 26, 2013, 07:32:51 AM »

Nope, unfortunately Grzegorz is in PoznaƄ, while that Lime Ears guy seems really busy and I don't want to pester him.
Also it's more fun to figure it out myself. The previous attempt used a wire to guide the tubing.

The two part process should work assuming the first layer is thick enough. I should  be able to remove it, cut a small hole and put the tube precisely through it, in addition gluing it in. Cyanoacrylate (superglue) glues silicone reasonably well.
Alternatively, I should be able to make a polyurethane positive and just drill in it, or a polyurethane shell if I put a spacer into it. Of course PU is not soft, but it does hold silicone on the surface reasonably well, especially if roughened...
I wonder though how to make a right size and shape spacer. Perhaps I should just sculpt it out of polyclay or make an initial thin silicone impression.

Oh, and the pics of the last two week's experiments. Missing the "soft shell" experiment, but that won't fly, I've made it too thin. Just "painted" the surface with silicone. Cannot probably do it in a silicone cup and hope to remove the silicone for machining. Perhaps it cannot be removed reliably period.

Polyurethane form is kind of a bust - while it is easier to remove silicone from it, the silicone takes 4x as long to cure due to sulphur compounds. Lacquering might help, we'll see once I get there. Plus, the first one I've made had a bunch of pits on the surface, making a rough positive. The other one was great.

I need to buy more small cups - wasted too much material on these large ones. Also need to make a new impression, the Siliclone one has shrunk enough to not fit well anymore.
Brainwavz B2 impressions (dark blue, with only the wire) almost work well, of cours ear canal wire routing was a complete bust. I don't have the right drill bit to drill in silicone - normal ones just bounce off it - maybe if I made a small hole beforehand... something to try.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2013, 07:46:56 AM by AstralStorm »
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kiteki

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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #45 on: October 26, 2013, 04:35:30 PM »

Looks like you're having fun.

Any pics of the GR07 driver yet?  Just curious, as I haven't opened up mine yet. <3
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AstralStorm

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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #46 on: October 26, 2013, 06:38:02 PM »

Ehm, that had an accident while opening. :-[ I managed to pry the shell open, but extracting the driver is a whole different story - will have to crack apart or cut the front part of the shell instead of trying to push the driver out (broke the cage and damaged the driver) or lever it out (broke the driver by ripping out the membrane). Clearly not meant for easy servicing. The shell is made for a "click in" fit of the driver, once it's in, it's very solid.
Next time I'll break the front part in such a way to leave some of the driver exposed, I should be able to pull it out by hand.
Not much to gain by looking at a damaged driver, but if you really want to, I can make the pics tomorrow.

First though, I need to figure out a way to put air ducts in the positives and the ear canal. Either by properly placing the silicone tubing then gluing it in so that it holds, or by putting in a silicone wire or a metal wire in such a way to make a duct. Drilling it out from the positive or the impression is almost impossible, ear canal geometry is too irregular. I've tried that and damaged one of the impressions.
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kiteki

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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #47 on: October 26, 2013, 07:10:47 PM »

I'm interested in seeing the broken driver ~

Thanks, I'll open mine from the front then and try to be careful.
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AstralStorm

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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #48 on: October 27, 2013, 10:04:39 PM »

Have a pic, sorry it's not any better, but I did manage to "safely" remove one of the driver after mangling it. You will see what I mean about cracking the front part of the shell. That works. To do so, remove the back part using a flat screwdriver, remove the adjustable nozzle, then grab the front with small pliers and break it, so that the mounting ring breaks. Then you can remove the driver by hand, as the remaining green glue does not hold it strong enough and it's available for proper prying apart.

I've also managed to finally hurt myself by taking the impressions with a slightly too small stop in the right ear. Silicone flowed past it a bit, sealed way too well and I damaged something taking it out due to overly high negative pressure despite being quite careful and slow. I'm pretty sure I've mildly damaged my eardrum (or most likely the delicate blood vessel on it), but (hopefully) not badly. No hearing loss or pain apparent, I was actually semi-suprised by that earbleed.
This means a month's stop in taking ear impressions - fortunately the pair I took are ok so I can proceed with the tubing experiments. Lacquered them already.

I really have to get a refill on small mixing tips and get large ear dams.
The price of pirate science.  facepalm
« Last Edit: October 28, 2013, 07:01:12 AM by AstralStorm »
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kiteki

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Re: Hack-a-CIEM: Pirate's story
« Reply #49 on: October 28, 2013, 12:44:17 PM »

Nice pic, thanks, looks like transparent bio-cellulose from what I can vaugely see there.

The Sony E888 bio-cellulose earphone was known to break at loud volumes, the diaphragm would tear, mine did so I mended it with cotton.

I'm wondering how Vsonic made the GR07 diaphragm so much stronger, since I've actually pushed it to maximum volume on an iBasso amp with high gain.
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