Just watched your rant vid, which really puts the hobby in a (probably deservedly) bad light. Also watched the other one (I think it is the public version of one that was previously unlisted?) and it made me wonder if you’ll ship TT to Europe as well. I was kind of on the fence with the somewhat higher than expected price (in te sense of not being able to listen to it first) but your review of Twilight was spot on (one of the reviews that convinced me to buy it) and I still want to support those who do something truly innovative, hence the question.
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I have a lot of videos I haven’t posted because I don’t want to be another debbie downer in a world filled with them. Sorry for that video. At some level I needed to vent and yell at the clouds for a minute.
If it matters, I’m confident this IEM will draw people in and make them want to find cool and interesting tracks to jam out to. X factor for days!
I will be shipping International, not a problem.
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I didn’t find it a ‘Debbie Downer’ at all. And you’re allowed to post anything as far as I am concerned. Some things need to be said and known.
That’s great. I’ll be buying one for sure. Really curious and excited to see what it is like 
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FWIW, I’ll post the ordering form as soon as I get the drivers in my hands. Many many thanks to anyone that supports me.
I can’t express my gratitude to people that have stuck through all this BS.
This might be the end of this thread. But a new beginning 
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I found it to be thoroughly fascinating and know more about IEMs and their inner workings than I used to. Besides, I bet you have plenty of ideas left for future projects once TT and HB (Heavy Boots right?) are up and running 
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Indeed, my gears are turning. I have contacts at Sonion.. and custom DDs can be done. The sky is open clear blue.
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I havent said this directly nor on video, but I detest what xovers do to IEMs. I’ve tested with and without and they tend to smear the FR in the lows super bad. When you hear something like my latest IEM, you get what im saying.
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A proper frame (or point) of reference is important. You can think something tastes, smells, sounds etc great until you compare it to something that does it properly. Kind of like whisk(e)y and scotch, which are incidentally also difficult to describe and differentiate as you move up the ladder of quality (and sometimes get described using pedantic language quite similar to IEMs funnily enough).
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That is quite an analogy. I think appropriate. All the ingredients might be similar to a low end Whisky but a top end Single Malt hits the senses with more X factor. The details matter.
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My bud Ratchet pitched in 40 bux (of drivers) to this project a while back. There is a little back story but who cares, the point is I selected one pair of drivers out of a bunch as being the good ones. They didn’t make the cut for the production sets since Im doing full custom, but i got the drivers so I do my thing and made them as good as I could based on my actual ears. If nothing else, learning happens, and that is highly important.
We have CNT surround + LCP diaphragm. The CNT surround is very stiff, thus the bass notes are tight and very controlled, but not a huge amount. Anyhow, I really really love these drivers, but that is for another day..
These are pure studio sound in an IEM.
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Im still in a waiting game so I got some non-good drivers and made them the best I could. I have some tricks at this point. This is non-good internal hemholtz champer but I did the best I could with what I had. Great matching for sure. Sound is better than expected with some tweaks. 0.6db matching overall, very nice. These drivers have a little more mid-smack than I like although its impossible to see on a graph. This is why a critical ear is important for tuning.
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I’m loving your commitment to continual experimentation and unique acoustic design 
always good to see
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I’d rather put out some sets, but the drivers are being built right now. Thanks man.
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I made a little visual with the 5.4cm spiral vent here, you can also notice the massive front vents.
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I’ve decided that I will never do a multi driver IEM with a ported bass tube restricted down to a nozzle tube. After testing for a bit, the answer is I can hear the fucking tube messing up the bass dynamics, making them limp dick pathetic. Sure the SPL is high, but the texture and overall mojo is pure shit. Mark my words.
‘I have been thinking about a theory regarding tube-ported bass drivers, such as you find in a multi driver iem. My theory basically goes that by choking or restricting a DD (or 2) say 10mm down to a 1.5mm silicone tube, perceived weight of notes goes down a lot because the transient response is overdampened by virtue of the tube causing pressure restriction to the DDs.
The trapped air between the DD(s) and the nozzle tube creates a rigid “air cushion”. This stiffness prevents the 10mm dynamic driver from achieving its full physical Xmax excursion, leading to dynamic compression where loud bass hits feel compressed and less physically impactful.
In other words, while a nozzle bass tube tube preserves the full sub SPL in a sealed ear canal, the restriction chokes the attack speed and dynamic impact resulting in a soft or pillowy feeling to transients.’
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That’s a good science lesson right there. 
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That makes a lot of sense. Do you reckon that the design also causes back reflections which are slapping up against the driver?
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There are certainly back reflections but with a full range driver, they cause peaks from 2k to 8k, maybe a few. With an X over though, it should not be pushing fr energy that high up into the DD.
It could be easier to imagine a subwoofer with like a 10” driver being piped through a 1” tube. All the physicality of the DD xmaxing is kneecapped by the restriction. If you imagine horn-loaded compression drivers, it’s the same thing, you are literally changing the linear sound into a compressed version. I’d guess 2x DD is maybe even worse of an effect, even more compression.
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The goal right now is micro-refining in terms of hundreths of MM. I have done this over the last few weeks. Im nearly very happy. When dealing with 0.0x MM this means everything has to be basically perfect. It’s a big challenge now that I fully realize what is at stake. I wish I had a 5 axis CNC thingo right now. 3D printers are very accurate but there are gotchas everwhere and ultimately they are not as good as a decent 5 axis. I assume this is why Softears and such has been doing their high end DD sets in titanium/whatever metal alloys. I also do know you can 5 axis CNC a 3D printed shell for ultimate resolution but alas, I don’t have one.
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The kickstarter ones don’t have an exact delivery date, it goes anywhere from 3~5k
You all also need some experience to use em, i reckon it has a bigger learning curve than standard 3d printing
Once you have it, you could machine a shell out of wood or plastic, i doubt you could create the long rear tube you have right now, but otherwise they are good.
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