BLSamuel Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 I heard a slight hissy buzzing sort of raspy sound out of the right side of my Custom 2. I originally thought maybe this is music that screams for a higher bit rate (Michael Hedges Aerial Boundaries) but as I only noticed this sound on the right side I thought I should take check and found a thin piece of what I suspected to be flaky ear wax in the nozzle. Yep. Past the tip and in the nozzle. I got out my handy little cleaning tool and carefully proceeded to push the foreign subsance deeper into the nozzle beyond the tools' reach. Oops... have to be careful about that. After several tries of using the nozzle like a straw and lightly tapping on my desk and then mouse pad (tapping on a hard desktop seemed too dangerous) I think I've cleared up the problem. What is the recommended way for cleaning out such things? Is a little suction on the nozzle or tapping a good approach for cleaning out anything that's went beyond the reach of the cleaning tool? I'm definitely not going to stick anything down the nozzle beyond the cleaning tool as I wouldn't want to damage the filter or worse. TIA. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Thump Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Hey, don’t worry…Everybody has ear cheese in their ear canals. It is natures way of keeping stuff out of your ears. Although there is a screen filter in the nozzle you definitely do not want to clog the air way. The safest way to clean is to take the ear tip off first and then clean the eartip. If there is ear cheese in the nozzle of the chassis you should be able to get out most clogs. Best bet is to clean your ears with Q tips right after you shower and check your PM’s once a day if using. This should minimize the ear wax clogging issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted November 21, 2007 Author Share Posted November 21, 2007 Professor Thump, Thanks for the info. I do clean my ears every morning and apply a little hypoallergenic lotion to keep my ears from itching. I also apply the lotion before using the foam hearing protectors as that seems to help. Just wanting to know the safest way to get things out if they get in deeper than the cleaning tool reaches? Probably shouldn't have this problem again if I remember to check each day as the flaky wax had to go through the tip to get to the nozzle. I've also bought a box of alcohol swabs to keep at my desk so I can clean the tips periodically. Naturally I'll avoid sticking the 'phones in my ears if they're full of wax as the result would undoubtedly be wax filled tips and/or nozzles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Thump Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Make sure the alcohol is evaporated priot to insertion. If you don't do this the alcohol can irritate your ear canals. Now you can... STICK IT IN YOUR EAR! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 careful with qtips, remember they are not really supposed to be stuck in the ear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 careful with qtips, remember they are not really supposed to be stuck in the ear Man. I know that from experience. I used to be really bad about that a few years ago. I've been a lot better the last couple of years but when I asked my Ear Nose & Throat doctor about my itching ears he said they're probably dry and to use some lotion on them so I've been using qtips for that the past few months but I'm a lot more careful than I used to be. . I've been using foam hearing protectors lately when working on rebuilding our bathroom and those seem to irriate the ears. I may try a little vaseline instead of the lotion as I've been told that works pretty good for some people. I may clean up my over the ear hearing protectors or get a new set - probably won't mind those in the garage now that it's getting colder. I'm also thinking of trying one of the models recommended in the Forum that are primarily used for shooting - these models claim to let normal sounds in but limit everything to about 80 db. Probably want to verify they do that for continuous sounds and not just for short duration things like gunshots. I have noticed that the qtips from the pharmacy I bought recently seem softer than the bulk pack qtips from Sams (both Q-Tips brand). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I did notice cheaper qtips versions are softer but I think its intentional. If the qtip were to go deep, the qtip brand will have more protection versus the cheaper ones that the soft cotton will give and the paper core can hurt you. Also the etymotic noise supressant is nice, it makes music sound well without the highs being muted but its more for loud normal environment not really for power tools etc. I seen those electronic ones I believe you are talking about though those seem bulky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted November 24, 2007 Author Share Posted November 24, 2007 Jay, Thanks for the info. I was not planning on using any electronic hearing protecters. I may try my over the hear sweat boxes. I found the Etymotic Research Ety Plugs ER20 High Fidelity Hearing protection. $12 + s/h, $12.95 with cord searching for Eytmotic noise suppressant you mentioned http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.aspx A couple of Forum members had recommended North Sonic II - $8.99 + s/h http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0016203220678a.shtml and the Surefire Earpro EP-3 - $9.95 + s/h available in s, m, l http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/prrfnbr/24306/sesent/00 (using the Hocks Noise Braker) I've also found the Hocks Noise Braker $13.45 + $3.00 s/h http://www.noisebrakers.com/products/nbstandard.php I've ordered a set of the Etymotic Ety Plugs and the Earpro EP-3. The Ety Plugs claim flat 20db reduction while the Earpro are supposed to limit all sounds to 80db letting normal speech and sound pass through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I've ordered a set of the Etymotic Ety Plugs and the Earpro EP-3. The Ety Plugs claim flat 20db reduction while the Earpro are supposed to limit all sounds to 80db letting normal speech and sound pass through. 9dB Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) with stoppers out; 16dB NRR with stoppers in Lowers potentially dangerous noise levels above 80dB I think the wording surefire uses is mischeivous as I believe they just mention that any noise over 80 db is dangerous but it does not limit everything to just 80 db. There is some mention on th surefire website that there is an electronic one in the works but that is in the works. Oh to get the best seal, goto the website, they have the proper procedurehttp://www.etymotic.com/pdf/er20-instructions.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 can we come up with a nicer term than 'ear cheese'? ewwwwww[+o(] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Thump Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 It is too late Colter...Ear Cheese is already an official term. Have you tried the merlot? I have heard this goes well with cheese. Maybe you have been drinking too much Rock Star... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 I prefer the cabernet or pomerol [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 can we come up with a nicer term than 'ear cheese'? ewwwwww And who was it that posted a picture of ear cheese? http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/94657.aspx?PageIndex=2 Really BIG ear cheese. Texas Headphone ear cheese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Thump Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 can we come up with a nicer term than 'ear cheese'? ewwwwww And who was it that posted a picture of ear cheese? http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/94657.aspx?PageIndex=2 Really BIG ear cheese. Texas Headphone ear cheese. http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/94657/967543.aspx#967543 I believe this is the big Cheese evidence. Hey wait, if you put Colter next to this picture then which is the bigger cheese. [*-)] Just kidding Mikey... You know I love you, eventhough I wouldn't give you free earphones. Hey when do we get to hear the wall of Voodoo. Did I miss the invite or was I just not invited? Maybe you just invited Roy instead of me. You said you guys were tight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 More flaky wax - this time in the ear gel. Got that nice little raspy / buzzing kind of noise in the right ear. Inspected things and could see some very thin flaky ear wax (or some very small and thin foreign object, might have even been lint) in the ear gel. Using the cleaning tool I had to kind of scrape it out. Didn't want to budge and started in the middle so barely reachable from either end. Also gently blowed through the gel. Problem solved. Hears the question - Is this the best way to clean out the ear gels? I'm a little paranoid about scraping out the ear gel with a wire. Should be fine if reasonably careful but seems like there's a lot of potential for damage to the ear gels. A suggested additional accessory would be a small soft brush, something like a micro bottle brush. It would work easier if it would be long enough to reach all the way through the longest ear gel but then there's the risk of it being stuck too deep into the nozzle and I'd be hesitant about sticking anything too deep into the nozzle but others might not. I'm not sure the cleaning tool can reach to the middle of the large single flange ear gels and it looks like the double flanged gels are even longer. I suppose a can of compressed air or small bellows or bulb syringe could also be used? A small enough bulb syringe could also be used to suck things out of the nozzle. I should probably get in the habit of inspecting things after each use or before. It seems that the ear gels are also good at attracting office dust that's always floating around when thery're sitting on my desk. Maybe not quite a dust magnet but don't seem to repel it either. Amazingly, I've not really clogged things up yet, just a couple of incidents of tiny little flaky pieces that rattle and buzz producing a buzzing or raspy kind of sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Thump Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 ...Is this the best way to clean out the ear gels? I'm a little paranoid about scraping out the ear gel with a wire. Should be fine if reasonably careful but seems like there's a lot of potential for damage to the ear gels.... ...I should probably get in the habit of inspecting things after each use or before. It seems that the ear gels are also good at attracting office dust that's always floating around when thery're sitting on my desk. Maybe not quite a dust magnet but don't seem to repel it either. Here is the best way to clean ear tips: 1. Inspect the eartip daily for clogs in the airway2. When clogs are found take the ear tip off the earphone. This way the debris won't fall down in the body of the earphone and clog the damper or armature.3. If you can not clean the airway thoroughly then you may want to soak the eartips in hot water. This will loosen wax. Just don't get water in the earphone itself. If water runs down the nozzle it can block the air path and potentially damage some of the components. You can then flush the airway with a syringe or even squeeze the eartip like a toothpaste tube to get the ear cheese out. MMMMMmmmm....4. Don't worry about the ear tip. It is quite durable. If you do tear one you can buy replacement parts at Klipsch or a local dealer that stocks them. They are not available yet but will be soon. Tom you are late...It sounds like you are thumpin to the beat. I hope you enjoy your earphones! Stick It In Your EAR! Again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted November 29, 2007 Share Posted November 29, 2007 Another thought on ear protection (over ear) http://www.pro-ears.com/shootingsportshearingprotection.htm I've bought a pair of the Dimension 2's and love them. I'll use them when I'm out cutting the fields, or working on the basement I'm finishing. In fact, the wife will be gone and I'll have the Pro Ears on so I'll have to CRANK my single LaScala downstairs so it will be a nice listneing level. Wife then comes home, doesn't see me with the hearing protection on and just goes beserk with how loud it is... [:$] I also KEPT them on one day when I KNEW the system upstairs was cranking (before I wired up a LaScala downstairs, I simply turned the upstairs Jubilees up MORE) Anyways, we had a cd change and the NEW cd was very compressed or something... all I know is it was freaking thundering loud so I kept them on to go turn it down. Upon getting there, the needles on my McIntosh MC-2102 (100x2) were PEGGED and not moving until I turned it down. I wasn't abusing it like that earlier, just a change of CD's and their signal strength (yeah right!!) The Pro Ears, when I'm out cutting the fields, can be hooked to a cd player or something and allow that to pass through. The thing that to me is most intersting about them, they have some kind of little microphone inside them. If you have JUST them on your head (no cd hooked up) and have them turned on, they will let some sound through. Their window of allowance is near the vocal range. Truth be told, my wife has come up to me while I was sitting on my (operating) industrial backhoe. She admonished me to turn it OFF so "I could hear her", or to at least take the headphones OFF to hear her... what she didn't grasp is, I could hear her BETTER with them ON than with them off (backhoe running). Really nice. I'm not affiliated with them. Bought these many years ago and once I've had them on, find them very comfortable and easy for me to wear for hours. Downside... not cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 Some comments to Professor Thumps comments Here is the best way to clean ear tips: 1. Inspect the eartip daily for clogs in the airway I'm learning to do that 2. When clogs are found take the ear tip off the earphone. This way the debris won't fall down in the body of the earphone and clog the damper or armature. Had debris in the nozzle - should avoid that most of the time if check the ear tips frequently enough I would think. 3. If you can not clean the airway thoroughly then you may want to soak the eartips in hot water. This will loosen wax. You can then flush the airway with a syringe or even squeeze the eartip like a toothpaste tube to get the ear cheese out. MMMMMmmmm.... Hadn't thought of the hot water (don't think that's in the manual) or squeezing out like toothpaste. Alright folks, that's ear cheese - quite lickin' your chops. The things I've cleaned out so far are very small 4. Don't worry about the ear tip. It is quite durable. If you do tear one you can buy replacement parts at Klipsch or a local dealer that stocks them. They are not available yet but will be soon. Tom you are late... But it feels like it should be kind of delicate. And I'll get a couple of free ones when I get around to requesting them and apparently when they get in stock - my klipsch.com account was still hosed up the last time I checked. I ordered the Custom 2 outside my account as I can't even update the email address which is required to update the other info. I should probably return Paladin's last email as it seems the Forum upgrade issues are settling down. It sounds like you are thumpin to the beat. I hope you enjoy your earphones! Most definitely. I still don't like things in my ears, but I'm getting used to these....[ ] I've finally decided the large single flange ear tips work the best - the large (more like medium ?) double flange seem to be a bit small and not as comfortable. Both small are too little. Lose the seal yawning or making faces with the medium I must have large ear canals. Less annoying than my over the ear Grado's after a couple of hours and I've used them regularly for 11 to 13 years. If I had plenty of dough I'd probably have a set of the wooden Grados. Of course if I had plenty of dough I'd probably have a set of the IMAGE as I still think they're more comfortable and would be a bit easier to use at work... though now that I'm moving up in sound quality I may eventually want the Custom 3 [ ] - ColterPhoto's view would be to get 'em all they're a set ... of course maybe there'll be an IMAGE 2 and IMAGE 3 down the road? (two micro amatures with special sauce in a cool aluminum case) Stick It In Your EAR! Again and again ... and again ... every work day - I forgot how nice it is not to overhear my coworkers' conversations. I share a "pen" ~ sort of a 4 person cube ~ with 2 others, one of which spends most of her time in teleconferences - Would've been really nice around 15 years ago when I had to turn up my music through non-isolating over the ear phones (Koss Porta Pros I think) so to be able to hear it over what the coworker over the cube wall was really cranking too - he's probably deaf by now if he wasn't getting close then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted November 29, 2007 Author Share Posted November 29, 2007 Another thought on ear protection (over ear) http://www.pro-ears.com/shootingsportshearingprotection.htm I've bought a pair of the Dimension 2's and love them. I'll use them when I'm out cutting the fields, or working on the basement I'm finishing. In fact, the wife will be gone and I'll have the Pro Ears on so I'll have to CRANK my single LaScala downstairs so it will be a nice listneing level. Wife then comes home, doesn't see me with the hearing protection on and just goes beserk with how loud it is... ... Downside... not cheap. Probably a bit out of my price range but sound very good. Maybe some of the passive ones in the not too distant future as they're probably a lot more comfortable than the vise like plastic covered earcushion vise like clamp on ones I use now. Maybe I'll like the Surefire EarPro in ear I've ordered that are supposed to let in normal sounds but keep everything to around 80 db or the Ety Plugs high fidelity in ear which I've ordered and received but not yet tried. May be good for music or any concerts that are too loud. Both these models are very affordable. But I'm thinking the over the ear type are better for the string trimmer type of work - just can't stand the hot ears. Might try the Custom 2 for some yard work but a lot of shrapnel (some soft like grass, an occasional rock or other hard and even sharp object - use the face mask regularly, very regularly after I cut myself just under the eye with a sharp piece of red clay pot - another half inch could've been ugly) tends to get thrown during my string trimming sessions I think my Custom 2 will work very well for sitting on the lawn tractor and/or push mowing. Not sure music would be safe when operating power tools though - might not hear myself scream if I'd air guitar my hand into a saw blade - ok - no music in the ears using power tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLSamuel Posted December 17, 2007 Author Share Posted December 17, 2007 I'm beginning to think the "flaky wax" I've cleaned out of my Custom 2 ear gels, and nozzle once early on, is really flaky little bits of dried lotion I've been using on my ears (before getting my Cusom 2) to keep them from itching quite too bad. I've had problems with itching ears long before getting the Custom 2, they don't really seem to affect the itching ears too much. I have gotten a lot better about inspecting and fishing out anything before it becomes a problem. Very small flakes can cause a raspiness, expecially if it gets beyond the ear gels down into the nozzle... I've yet (know on wood) to clog 'em up with ear cheese. Be sure to twist a bit when removing the Custom and IMAGE models and they'll be more comfortable coming out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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