Image Credit: Formlabs

German audio company Sennheiser team up with 3D printing technology company Formlabs to explore custom designed earbud tips.

Announced in a press release last week, Sennheiser are working with Formlabs to custom-design earbud tips for Sennheiser’s AMBEO earphones. To scan your ear, you simply take a photo and upload the image using an app. This generates the design and sends it to a Formlabs Form 3 printer, to deliver to you custom-fit tips potentially the same day they are ordered.

Our technology collaboration with Sennheiser seeks to change the way customers interact with the brands they love by enabling a more customized, user-centric approach to product development. Formlabs’ deep industry knowledge and broad expertise in developing scalable solutions enable us to deliver tangible innovations to our customers. In this case, we are working with Sennheiser’s AMBEO team to deliver a uniquely accessible, custom fit experience.

Iain Mcleod, Director of Audio, Formlabs

We are very excited about the concept of custom fit to deliver a custom experience to further enhance immersive listening. Formlabs shares Sennheiser’s drive for innovation – and improving the customer experience through this prototype is a testament to that mindset.

Veronique Larcher, Director AMBEO Immersive Audio, Sennheiser

These aren’t the first 3D printed earbuds we’ve seen, but they’re the first from a major audio manufacturer such as Sennheiser, with the backing to push these to the mainstream. Formlabs have previously collaborated with companies such as Gillette in 2018 to make custom-designed razor handles and New Balance for 3D-printed soles.

No word yet on when this will be made available to the public or how much custom ear tips will cost.