Home Worship & Creative Leaders Articles for Worship & Creative How to Make Custom In-Ear Monitors for $10

How to Make Custom In-Ear Monitors for $10

Are custom molded in-ears that easy to make? How do they sound? I’d seen the how-to videos so I decided to give it a try. The results were surprising.

I use a set of Logitech Ultimate Ears UE600 IEMs on the road, good for what I need without being so pricey I worry about losing them. They sound pretty good and flat with maybe a touch too much high-end.

I busted a 10-spot out of my wallet and went shopping for the following items:

  • Rubbing alcohol
  • Q-Tips
  • Radians Custom Earplug Mold Kit (eBay)—available in blue, red, orange and tan.
  • Two mirrors to see the side of my head. You could stream video from a camera if you wanted to be fancy.
  • Drill bit (1/8 inch)
  • Non-latex gloves

CAUTION: Follow the directions included with the kit to a T! Otherwise, you risk damaging your ear drums! Also, for goodness sake, don’t just jam stuff into your ears or yank it out either unless you want to be using a hearing aid for the remainder of your career! The following are suggestions—don’t do this if you risk injury, and consult with a doctor if you have any questions or concerns!

The Radians kit comes in a plastic bag containing two containers of the goo, along with a storage bag for the molds, and the directions. Before doing anything else read the directions.


Notice the giant orange warning label? Read it.

Take the existing in-ears and remove the ear buds. In my case they’re silicone sleeves that pull off.

First things first. If you’ve gotten to the age where hair has decided that growing in areas that God didn’t intend it to grow would be hilarious, then invest in an ear hair trimmer and go to town with it, unless you want your in-ear molds to look like Chewbacca.

Next, take a Q-Tip and dunk it in alcohol. Use it to clean your entire inside ear. DO NOT jab the the Q-Tip into your inner ear! Clean the area thoroughly. Depending on your level of ear hygiene this might need to be done a couple of times. It will burn so be warned. If it takes more than a couple of times to get to a clean Q-Tip then in-ears may not be for you!