A lucky few have already had the opportunity to listen to music through 3D printed devices before, ranging from paper-thin earphones made by a French design student to the exuberantly priced and customizable metal-casted headphones created by V-MODA. And Normal has established itself as a pioneer in the space with 3D printed earbuds tailored to ears of customers. Now, Formlabs has partnered with the NYC-based startup to create customized metal headphones 3D printed with their own Castable Resin.
After connecting with Normal’s CEO and founder Nikki Kaufman, Formlabs and Kaufman decided to collaborate and create the custom 3D printed Rose Gold headphones, which are composed of investment-casted brass and 14K rose gold. Before the earphones are printed, a custom design is created using three photos of the customer’s ear, as typically occurs with Normal earbuds. Only, this time, instead of being printed in-house, these earphones are then printed by Formlabs’ NYC-based factory in less than two days time. Through the partnership with Normal, the earphones will be offered for purchase at the store of renowned fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff (as well as Normal’s Flagship store in NYC), which specializes in selling luxury accessories much like these 3D printed Rose Gold earphones.
These custom earphones look as sleek as they do snug, and by custom-fitting each pair to the user’s ears, Formlabs and Normal are making sure that the crisp quality sounds come through comfortably and cleanly. Formlabs’ Castable Resin technique definitely complements Normal’s goal to create personalized, luxury headphones, giving Kaufman and her team access to metal-based materials that can be shaped in almost any way imaginable. But, for the Rose Gold earphones, the collaborators kept the design minimalistic, yet prominent, fitting both ears and fashion standards quite perfectly.
Perhaps as 3D printing’s material capabilities continue to expand into the range of precious metals and the like, we will continue to see luxurious accessories be created without the discouraging price tag attached. Thanks to the advanced resin casting that Formlabs was able to provide, Normal showed that 3D printing technology could help personalized high-end earphones be prototyped, developed, and sold at a much faster and more affordable rate.
