Make Comfortable Noise-Isolating Earbuds For Less Than A Dollar

For those that prefer the flange type of earbud, like the standard tips on many Etymotic buds, look for a product called 'EarPlanes'. They are rubber, 3 flange earplug that have a little valve in them to slowly equalize air pressure. You can find them at many pharmacies and airports. Cut the valve part off and they have holes that fit many earbud posts...

Osmodious

ahhhhhh, nothing like listening to my own breathing....... slow, nice form.......oh the music is there too........

CameronCook

I wanted in-ear headphones for my iphone 3GS, but didn't want to pay $70 for them, so I pulled out my soldering iron and performed an earbud transplant, putting JBL heads on the iPhone wires.

@rafasan: Go to any harware/autoparts store. $.48 a pair, or you can find them in bulk packs like 10-15 pairs for about $4.

ospreyguy

@imajoebob: you wana really sell the idea I put gunk inside my ears just to get at what you are saying? I aint buying.

707947

@Koss The Plug earphones for over a year. I never had much of a problem removing the foam.

@Justin C Cummings: He's using it because it works really well. However, I doubt it's easy to obtain or within the $1 budget.

When I did this, I used a heated nail. I didn't squish the foam, I simply heated up the nail, aligned it, and moved it through the centre of the earplug. (Practically no pushing needed.)

Be sure to keep a pair of tweezers handy for when the earbuds come out, but leave the foam tips behind in your ear canal. It happened to me recently with the silicone tips from some very expensive earbuds. I can only imagine it being even more likely with a homebrew like this.

Nice Video, And i love the desk !

Why does this guy have a biopsy tool, and why is he using it to make earphones?

Justin C Cummings

@JustineNausicaa: I wouldn't go all the way to "very high quality pair of phones" on the marshmallow, but they have great noise isolation!

@deanes: You can't hear the drone of conversation in the office, or said drone and the sounds of the engine in the bus/plane, either. (Obviously you wouldn't want to have that particular set on when you get off the bus...)

There are good non-dangerous uses for noise-cancelling earbuds. And anyway, when in any situation where aural acuity is important to one's safety, one ideally shouldn't have earbuds on at all.

@Jurandr: I use the metal tins from Lifesavers Fruit Tarts. They're round and have a lock on lid, so you can coil the cord, snap the lid, and be confident it won't snap open. Definitely worth the $1.50 for the mints to get a perfect case.

Shelwood

@jslizzle: the plugs alone will probably be more than $2...

rafasan

@[www.youtube.com]

solidmac

One thing you can do is put in the normal ear buds and then throw a pair of shooting ear muffs over them. Low tech, but effective.

Mutant-Kitties

@Jurandr: Wrap them around the middle of contacts case. If you don't wear contacts, you can put a bit of lotion or chapstick or some Aleve or whatever you need on the go instead of saline solution.

papayalily

[www.facebook.com]

Here's a picture of my el cheapo earbuds. Try this, then wad the buds up in your hand, stuff them in your pocket, and then pull them out and shake 'em out. You should have to work pretty hard to get them to knot up.

wyrless2002

@Jurandr: I've taken to wrapping my cords thusly. Some people don't like this method because of the possibility of damaging or developing a shape memory in the wires. I'm of the opinion that this causes equal or less damage to any of the cords that I choose to treat this way than other alternatives, such as wrapping them around another object or twisty tying them. It also allows you to adjust the length fairly accurately, which seems to be as much of a problem. ;^)

wyrless2002

Certainly not cheaper than $1

jslizzle

@shazaam42: you don't shove them in as far as you do for normal earplugs. They are meant to rest just inside the ear, just as regular headphones do. They're noise-isolating, not noise-canceling.

@Fantikerz: Excellent! I can now re-activate the $80.00 pile of white wire I have been unable to find replacement Apple buds for. Brilliant!

JAKE1960

@[lifehacker.com]

The reason those earplugs are so long is so that you can't get them stuck in your ears. The idea of trimming them down and placing the nubs precariously on a headphone post and sticking that in your ear makes me nervous.

What happens when you pull the earphone out and the chunk of plug stays firmly seated in your ear?

shazaam42

Try this instead. I did it with a pair of Etymotics from a motorcycle accessories catalog. Works great. [www.headwize.com]

Great, and now we can't hear traffic or car horns or out of control skateboards or any other danger at all.
I think the last guy i saw running in traffic must have done this.

deanes

@Jurandr:
1) Cut out a piece of sturdy cardboard that won't bend in a rectangular type shape (make it slim width-wise around the middle if you want too).

2) Cut notches into the cardboard on the opposite sides of that rectangle and make sure the "openings" are smaller than the rest of the notch into the cardboard. These are made like this so the wires won't slip out, they essentially create a little choke point.

3) Wrap the wires around the piece of cardboard into the notches and tie it off by putting one end under two loops of wire or so.

AtomFury

Hey, since we're on the subject of headphones and whatnot, anybody know of a way to keep the cords from tangling every time I put 'em in my pocket, bag, leave them around, or whatever else? Those things get tangled no matter what I do with them >.>

Jurandr

@The Plug

eigafan

Koss makes in the ear headphones using hydrophillic formed urethane, they're called

eigafan

But remember, when you're buying the higher end earbuds, you're not just paying for better sound but also durability.

Apple earbuds, for example, always break within a couple of months of me using them.

Well this is cool.

Zemus

Well, if being able to better hear crappy sound is your idea of an improvement...

You can also just wrap a little bit of adhesive foam or moleskin around the white plastic bulb to close up the ear around the buds. Sort of like caulking the cracks around a window.

imajoebob