Product Reviews

Multimedia hardware

Advanced Communication Solutions Custom Earphone Sleeves [Computer Shopper]
COMPANY: Hearing Protection	PRICE: Ł88 inc VAT
RATING:	ISSUE: 241 DATE: Mar 08

Turning up your MP3 player so that you can hear your music better can seriously damage your hearing. A safer solution is to buy custom eartips for your in-ear headphones. These block external noise, which enables you to listen to music at lower volumes.

Advanced Communication Solutions sells moulds for a number of sound-isolating



ADVERTISEMENT

earphones. We tried moulds for Etymotic Research's ER-6i and Shure's SE310 sets. The process involves visiting an audiologist, who makes moulds of your ears. This takes around 20 minutes. Two weeks later you'll receive your custom eartips, which you use to replace your headphones' existing eartips.

Putting them in your ear can be tricky at first, and you have to insert and turn them at the same time. A tube of comfort cream is provided to make it easier. Once in, they're very comfortable. They cut out background noise, improved sound quality and allowed us to reduce our iPod's volume by half.

If you don't have a set of compatible in-ear headphones, you can buy the moulds and a pair of Etymotic's ER-6i earphones for £150 from www.customearphones.co.uk.

These earphone sleeves may seem pricy, but for the extra comfort, lower volumes and improvement in sound quality they're worth every penny.

By Kat Orphanides

SPECIFICATIONS:
Two silicon moulds, fits most Sure and Etymotic Research in-ear headphones