Q-Jays Go Custom with One-Off Silicon Ear Tips

By Nick Mokey Published March 2, 2010

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Six different pairs of different-shaped silicon ear tips can only take you so close to a perfect fit. On Tuesday, Swedish headphone outfit Jays joined the likes of Ultimate Ears and other custom headphone outfitters with the announcement of custom ear molds for its q-Jays in-ear headphones.

Jays has partnered with fellow Swedes Bellman & Symfon to execute the individually fitted end of the earphone. Unlike typical custom in-ear monitors, which are cast as a single piece, the custom-fitted silicon tips for the q-Jays Custom will be removable, making it possible to swap them for generic tips or have them refitted every few years.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

According to Peter Cedmer, product manager at Jays, the impetus for the q-Jays custom arose from performers requesting custom-fit earphones for live performances. “Live performers are like the Formula 1 drivers of the audio world. They’re an extremely demanding group of customers, but working in close cooperation with them allows us to develop the very best products,” he said in a statement. “With the launch of the q-JAYS Custom we can now offer the very best in this personalized earphone technology to our non-professional customers as well.”

Recommended Videos

Jays already offers the generic version of the q-Jays (which we weren’t overly fond of) for $179, and will release the custom version in April. Buyers will have to get impressions of their ears made at an audiologist, then send them to Bellman & Symfon to have the silicon tips made. Exact quotes for the tips may vary by location, but Jays will provide a $25 voucher toward the expense with the purchase of the q-Jays Custom.

Former Editor in Chief

As Digital Trends’ Editor in Chief, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team covering every gadget under the sun, along with…

Topics

Emerging Tech

AI security cameras may soon recognize your walk before they recognize your face

A new AI gait system tracks body motion through skeletal keypoints, aiming at long-range identity checks where face scans and fingerprints fall short.

Security cam

Security cameras are built to look for faces. New research suggests they may soon have another target, the small habits buried in the way someone walks.

A paper published in the International Journal of Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems describes SKDMap-Net as a gait recognition system designed to identify people from walking video, even when the camera doesn’t get a clean look at their face. Instead of relying on a close-up scan, it studies how a body moves from frame to frame.

Emerging Tech

A 20-second 3D printer breakthrough comes with exactly the kind of catch science loves

The process can create complex microstructures far faster than some laser-based methods, but full 3D control is still a work in progress.

Aluminium, Smoke Pipe

A 3D printer that can make a structure in about 20 seconds sounds like a lab claim wearing a cape. The clever bit is real. The catch arrives before anyone starts dreaming about instant replacement parts.

University of Utah researchers have demonstrated a holographic 3D printing technique that hardens tiny structures in one exposure instead of building them layer by layer. That one-shot approach could avoid the weak, leaky seams that stacked printing can leave behind. For now, though, this is a tool for microstructures, not a shortcut to printing whatever object pops into your head.

Emerging Tech

Amazon is full of copycats and shady brands. This Chrome extension lets you avoid them.

Advertisement, Poster, Text

Shopping on Amazon used to be simple. You searched for a product, compared a few familiar brands, and checked out. These days, it often feels like you're scrolling through an endless parade of names that look like someone leaned on a keyboard before hitting publish. That's exactly the problem Knockoff is trying to solve.

Created by developer Josh Pigford, the Chrome extension doesn't promise to expose counterfeit products or magically tell you what's good. Instead, it tackles something arguably more annoying: the flood of unfamiliar, mass-produced brands that dominate Amazon search results.