Converting custom earplugs to In Ears

[41Hz]

I’ve got some ACS custom earplugs and noticed for £99 I can convert them to IEMs

 

https://acscustom.com/uk/products/in-ear-monitors/universal-fit

 

anyone tried these? Or tried something similar, I presume you replace the filter with a driver?

[Paul S]

Yes, I have. I used a set of those Z 3 driver phones and stuck them into the earplugs with clear silicon sealer. Worked a treat. 

[41Hz]

7 minutes ago, Paul S said:

Yes, I have. I used a set of those Z 3 driver phones and stuck them into the earplugs with clear silicon sealer. Worked a treat. 

Not heard of them, who makes them? I assumed the acs ones are the same shape as the filters so you wouldn’t have to silicone them in - would be good to be able convert back to earplugs if the the drivers suck.

[Happy Jack]

I tried this way back when but was actually pretty unimpressed. The in-ear units were Sennheiser and very good quality, but the leads failed far sooner than I'd expect.

 

We're going back 10 years or more and it's entirely possible that they've improved in that time.

 

[Paul S]

10 hours ago, 41Hz said:

Not heard of them, who makes them? I assumed the acs ones are the same shape as the filters so you wouldn’t have to silicone them in - would be good to be able convert back to earplugs if the the drivers suck.

 

Sorry, not enough info -  couldn't remember when I typed that.  I've now looked them up.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Linsoul-ZS10-Resolution-Earphones-Detachable-Black/dp/B07BVKXYBB

 

There was a bit of a kerfuffle about them on here when they first appeared.  5 drivers.  At the time I got them direct from Hong Kong and they were silly cheap, around £30 iirc.  Stuck inside the molded earplugs they give me the absolute best sound I have ever had for music - crystal clear, hi-fi.  You can see if it works ok by removing the filters, sticking the molds into your ears and then pressing the earphones in so it makes a seal.  I wasn't concerned about reversibility as I found the filters as supplied too much, didn't ever bother getting lower filters, so as ear plugs they were pretty redundant.  And @Happy Jack the leads are replaceable  

 

And as far as hearing protection goes I now have superduper hearing aids (and on the NHS!) that I can turn down (or up) - effective giving me attenuation of everyday sound.

[EBS_freak]

With a single balanced armature, especially for bass players, they will be a one way street to misery. You'll want an IEM with minimum or a triple (bass, mid treble), or what I would consider the minimum, a quad balanced armature (double bass, mid, treble).

 

Headroom is key. Balanced armatures are rubbish as bass... hence you'll want to ideally double them up. You can get hybrid setups (where dynamic drivers are used over balanced armatures), which will give you more bass, more headroom - but less fidelity.

 

Think of it like this, would you gig with a 1x10... or a 4x10? Of course, you'll want the latter for the headroom, so the bass remains, clear, free from distortion (even if you can't hear distortion, if it's present, it will fatigue your ears and you'll be tempted to turn it the volume - which defeats the purpose of inears).

[41Hz]

@Paul SThat looks pretty good, ideally I’d want something reversible that still gives some hearing protection, I wonder if there is something similar where the tips are the same size as a standard filter.

 

@EBS_freakWould it really be that bad? Ordinarily I’d be wearing noise reducing earplugs anyway and I’d still intend to use my 212 combo on stage, so I’d have thought adding even a single driver would sound better than just earplugs alone. We tried in rehearsal and I was using Sony over ear noise cancelling headphones and it sounded really good.

[EBS_freak]

1 hour ago, 41Hz said:

 

@EBS_freakWould it really be that bad? Ordinarily I’d be wearing noise reducing earplugs anyway and I’d still intend to use my 212 combo on stage, so I’d have thought adding even a single driver would sound better than just earplugs alone. We tried in rehearsal and I was using Sony over ear noise cancelling headphones and it sounded really good.

Short answer: Yes. It would be that bad.

Longer answer: The whole idea around IEMs is that they cut out the ambient sound on stage and the thinking is that if you want to hear something, you can't hear it unless it is put into your monitor mix. Attenuation is typically -26/-27dB (like putting your fingers deep into your ears. If you are hearing your bass amp clearly with that level of attenuation, your bass amp is too loud anyway!

 

A single driver is a problem because they don't have enough headroom, especially when you are most interested in the bass. What happens, is that the balanced armature runs out of headroom and starts clicking or distorting, or both. Your over ear noise cancelling headphones are going to sound great - they will have big dynamic speakers that can handle a very dynamic program of music (e.g. lots of transients, both low and high). What you are effectively asking a single balanced armature to do is a pretty large ask - with live music as opposed to music that has come out of a studio and been mastered, compressed and limited. It's like putting a 1 litre engine in a big 16 wheeler and for it to have the torque and power to shift things as the stock engine would. You would expect it to cough and splutter... and not give the greatest performance... to the point (with bass at least), it's a thoroughly miserable experience.

 

I'm talking with quite a substantial bit of experience in this area. If you haven't already, this should give you a flavour of where to take things on the IEM front. My advice would be to save your money, avoid the journey and start saving for some UE6s. In the short term, they may stick out your ears a bit - but the ZS10 (I mention them in the thread below) are a good middle ground if you can make them fit into your existing tips... but having said that, sleeves/tips are never as successful as custom IEMs... but then again, they don't carry the same price tag either.

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by EBS_freak

[41Hz]

Thanks for the detailed explanation @EBS_freak, I’ll take a good look through the thread you mention, currently I have 17db dB attenuation in my earplugs so 26/27 dab would be a big reduction. I guess I could also style out wearing noise cancelling headphones on stage, I think in ears would be a better look! I’m surprised nobody makes something like the retrofit ACS driver I mentioned but like the ZS10 with a good number of drivers that can be easily retrofitted into custom plugs without having to resort to irreversible silicone sealant.

[EBS_freak]

5 hours ago, 41Hz said:

I’m surprised nobody makes something like the retrofit ACS driver I mentioned but like the ZS10 with a good number of drivers that can be easily retrofitted into custom plugs without having to resort to irreversible silicone sealant.

Theres a number of reasons - mostly because it would be bad for a brand to sell IEMs for music use with a single balanced armature. The reason why I would think ACS do it, is that they provide comms units for motorsports - so for that sector, where it's just radio comms with the pit, a single balanced armature is good enough for speech where hi fidelity isn't that crucial.

 

Second - a sleeve adds length to the amount that an IEM sticks out of your ears. The ZS10 is quite a beefy enclosure as it is. Couple it with a sleeve... well, it's not going to that inconspicuous - but more so than a pair of cans.

 

I've worn over the ears cans on stage. You have to pay a lot of money in IEMs to get similar sort of bass performance to a set of cheaper, good sounding cans. All depends upon how self confident you are ... or whether the aesthetics would be a problem for the band or not.

Edited August 16, 2021 by EBS_freak

[MichaelDean]

About 10 years ago, I bought an older version of this from ACS. They were awful. Sound quality was terrible (harsh treble, crappy bass response) and the cable was super microphonic. I'd hope they would have improved by now, but I'd buy proper IEMs everytime. 

[EBS_freak]

^ there you go. That ladies and gents, is the experience you get with a single balanced armature!