Acoustibuds

Turn your stock earbuds into the in-ear variety with these clever silicon caps.

If you’ve been through an MP3 player, or two or three, chances are you have a few pairs of cheap earbuds lying around that just don’t sound that great. While plenty of music fans choose to upgrade to silicon in-ear models for the better sound quality and the sound isolation they offer, one company is offering a cheaper solution: just upgrade the ones you have.

Acoustibuds recently began selling a silicone earphone adapter that attaches to many pairs of ordinary earbuds, turning them into the sealed, in-ear variety. A flexible cup on the adapter allows the same model to fit dozens of different pairs of headphones, and a row of crushable fins on the other end allow the same earpiece to fit different-shaped ears. As a result, they’re nearly universal (the company also supplies a list of supported earphones, in case you’re not sure.)

Though a pair of silicon adapters won’t miraculously make a pair of $5 earbuds sound like a $500 pair from Shure, sealing the ear canal can make the same drivers sound much louder, seal out exterior noise, and improve bass.

True to their money-saving premise, Acoustibuds are available for $20 a pair (or $13 on Amazon.com). More information can be found at Acousticbuds.com.

Acoustibuds