Introduction: Super Effective Sound Isolating Earbuds

About: I like turning boring things into awesome things! Usually on video.

I work a lot with very loud equipment, and have done so for many years. As such I've spent a lot of time trying to come up with solutions for how to best block out ambient noise while also listening to music/audiobooks. This is especially tricky because the noise isolation must be effective enough to not only allow played audio to be heard over ambient noise, but to be heard at a safe volume to avoid hearing damage.

There have been plenty of tutorials for how to make sound damping earbuds that have spread around the internet, but most are inherently flawed. With the method presented in the above video I demonstrate how to cover all acoustic weaknesses in inexpensive earbuds to make their noise isolation just as effective as solid ear plugs.

Items used for this project:

  • Inexpensive Sony Earbuds
  • 3M Peltor Tri-Flange Ear Plugs
  • Clear RTV Silicone

Out of all my projects I've used this one most often. I put these plugs in at least once per week to mow my lawn every summer, and even more often when working on my many other loud hobbies. If you give this a try leave me some feedback in the comments below!

Instructables sometimes doesn't display embedded videos properly on mobile devices, so if you don't see the video above here is a direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOD7ulQEh-U