[Elecraft] KX1 headphones

[David Woolley (E.L)]

Erik N Basilier wrote:
> Every time I go out with the KX1, I get annoyed with how my Optimus
+ earbuds hurt my ears and one falls out repeatedly. I know that Koss

I have a problem with Walkman type buds falling out, but that is the 
shape of my earlobes, which don't have grooves in the right place to 
grip them.

+ earbuds have been recommended on the list before, but I assume they too
+ are too large for my ears. The Optimus ones are 0.65" or 16.4 mm in

16mm buds are Walkman style and therefore no longer fashionable.  The 
current fashion is i-Pod, which do fit in the ear canal and generally 
have soft foam.  I think most of the recommendations you have had are 
for i-Pod "in the ear" style.

However, the ultimate is to have custom earmoulds made.  These are 
typically used with expensive ear-buds, but it is possible to have them 
made with cheap Walkman  drivers and, in the UK at least, one can even 
get adaptors to use generic 16mm drivers, rather than having them cast 
into the mould.

A hearing aid centre may be able to do the whole job, as prime 
contractor, otherwise you go to a hearing aid centre to have castings 
made of your ears, then send them off to a specialist in custom ear 
mould headphones.  (The hearing aid centre will normally also send off 
the casting to have the final moulds made.)

(I have had poor hearing since childhood and had moulds made for both 
ears then.  I was changed to one aid, on my worst ear, but stopped 
wearing that quite soon.  I've recently realised that was a mistake and 
now have a modern aid for that ear, with a different style of mould, but 
the old moulds fit well enough to retain themselves, and I tried using 
an inductive coupler for the aid ear, and a generic earbud adapter for 
the other ear.

The custom ear moulds used by hi-fi enthusiasts will be recent castings, 
and therefore produce a sound tight seal.)


-- 
David Woolley
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