derbigpr
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2011
- Posts
- 1,623
- Likes
- 275
So, I'm the process of making my 3rd DIY headphone, this time a little more serious. I have an issue with drivers, as I will not use donor drivers from Superlux headphones anymore, instead I will buy new drivers because I want something a bit better.
Obviously, first choice is aliexpress, as they have literally thousands of drivers on offer, but which to buy?
Some of them have clearly nice build quality with 3-layer membranes, brass ring enclose instead of plastic, and pretty big magnets, and judging by the frequency response measurements that they show, they are quite good.
For example:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/50mm-speaker-unit-headset-unit-earphone-driver/32510002773.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/40mm-speaker-unit-Peptide-film-full-range-earphone/32394760227.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/40mm-speaker-unit-Perfect-sound-quality-Three-diaphragm-unit-40mm-headset-accessories-unit/32278560471.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/40mm-speaker-unit-Frosted-pattern-special-materials-wrinkle-popular-brands/32392873895.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/50MM-unit-speaker-wearing-silk-wool-composite-cone-diaphragm-unit-DIY-headset-accessories/2027311262.html
Has anyone tried either of these, or any other drivers from that website?
Another choice would obviously be to source drivers from established companies, but for my stage at the moment that would be too expensive.
Also, I have VERY, VERY positive experience with Superlux drivers, they have far more potential than the stock headphones allow, so I have no reason to believe any of these more expensive chinese drivers suck, but I'd like to hear from first hand experience. I previously used drivers from Superlux HD681 Evo for my projects, and those drivers sell for 7-8 dollars a pair, but despite that, they allowed me to build a DIY headphone with a 3D printed baffle, M50X pads and a home made wooden earcup (closed) that sound better than DT770's or M50's, and when EQ'd specifically, the meassure (on my primitive measuring rig) to have an almost identical frequency response as my T1's. Obviously doesn't sound as good because there's more distortion, but overall it's a great sound, and totally in level with 200-300 dollar closed back headphones. And this was using the following baffle 3D printed with ABS, a primitive and simple design that took me a 30-40 minutes to put together, but turned out very nice and is very solid, however not much potential for tuning, so I had to drill actual holes in it, which turned out nasty and I threw it away:
This time I will use a more complex design, either made out of ABS and 3D printed or made out of aluminium/wood:
There are older versions of design, newest are slightly changed and improved, 10x10 cm, designed to fit Beyerdynamic velour pads.
The driver you see inside is just a visual model I created, it's not a real driver, although it could be machined out of aluminium, fitted with a magnet and voice-coil and membrane, it would probably work...sort of. It's 50 mm.
This is how it would look finished, the earcup would be made out of CNC'd wood, probably walnut or oak polished and painted in a matte dark red color, and the back grill would be 3D printed and coated with a rubberized black paint. Obviously inspired by the DT990, and I'd use the DT990 headband on them, but improved in design in my opinion as it will look quite stunning in person once it's finished.
Also I'm the process of negotiating the price for making aluminium baffles, which is apparently INSANELY expensive if you need to CNC machine it in a 3rd party company, because obviously I don't have a CNC machine, or a 3D printer, so I have to use the service from companies, which is quite an expensive game. I have plenty of ideas, and other designs in CAD already made and ready for production that I cannot share publicly yet until I start actually get the finished parts and assemble them, because the designs are more unique and less just reworked headphones that already exist, speaking from a design point of view. This would have been much easier if I had my own 3d printer or a CNC carving machine for wood and aluminium, which would allow for a lot of prototyping, but this way, I have to be sure what I want before I actually go out and have the parts manufactured. So obviously I have to decide exactly which driver to use before I can have the parts made. Driver dimensions are one of the things that vary, not all not 40 mm or 50mm drivers are actually the same diameter, it would suck to made a 40mm hole in a part and then find out the driver is 43 mm in diameter. That is one thing, and the other thing is the fact that drivers are tuned to work with specific type of headphone and baffle, so before I choose drivers, I can't know which design of the baffle I'll have made.
This is one of my aluminium baffle designs, of the simplest ones, not even angled, and they would turn out at 48 grams a piece in terms of weight, so quite heavy compared to ABS ones, but incredibly stiff...also...try to guess how much it costs to machine one...let's just say you can buy nice mid-range cans for the same money.
But I think the finished headphone would look amazing, especially with a wooden ear cup similar that of the old Sony R10 beast, so I might just say screw it and go for it.
So I guess my two main questions are:
1) Which drivers do you guys think would be the best to use from your experience?
2) Do you think I should make a headphone that looks like the open back that I posted here or the one more with aluminium and wood that looks like the R10? The wood/alu one would be drastically more expensive.
Obviously, first choice is aliexpress, as they have literally thousands of drivers on offer, but which to buy?
Some of them have clearly nice build quality with 3-layer membranes, brass ring enclose instead of plastic, and pretty big magnets, and judging by the frequency response measurements that they show, they are quite good.
For example:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/50mm-speaker-unit-headset-unit-earphone-driver/32510002773.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/40mm-speaker-unit-Peptide-film-full-range-earphone/32394760227.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/40mm-speaker-unit-Perfect-sound-quality-Three-diaphragm-unit-40mm-headset-accessories-unit/32278560471.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/40mm-speaker-unit-Frosted-pattern-special-materials-wrinkle-popular-brands/32392873895.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/50MM-unit-speaker-wearing-silk-wool-composite-cone-diaphragm-unit-DIY-headset-accessories/2027311262.html
Has anyone tried either of these, or any other drivers from that website?
Another choice would obviously be to source drivers from established companies, but for my stage at the moment that would be too expensive.
Also, I have VERY, VERY positive experience with Superlux drivers, they have far more potential than the stock headphones allow, so I have no reason to believe any of these more expensive chinese drivers suck, but I'd like to hear from first hand experience. I previously used drivers from Superlux HD681 Evo for my projects, and those drivers sell for 7-8 dollars a pair, but despite that, they allowed me to build a DIY headphone with a 3D printed baffle, M50X pads and a home made wooden earcup (closed) that sound better than DT770's or M50's, and when EQ'd specifically, the meassure (on my primitive measuring rig) to have an almost identical frequency response as my T1's. Obviously doesn't sound as good because there's more distortion, but overall it's a great sound, and totally in level with 200-300 dollar closed back headphones. And this was using the following baffle 3D printed with ABS, a primitive and simple design that took me a 30-40 minutes to put together, but turned out very nice and is very solid, however not much potential for tuning, so I had to drill actual holes in it, which turned out nasty and I threw it away:
This time I will use a more complex design, either made out of ABS and 3D printed or made out of aluminium/wood:
There are older versions of design, newest are slightly changed and improved, 10x10 cm, designed to fit Beyerdynamic velour pads.
The driver you see inside is just a visual model I created, it's not a real driver, although it could be machined out of aluminium, fitted with a magnet and voice-coil and membrane, it would probably work...sort of. It's 50 mm.
This is how it would look finished, the earcup would be made out of CNC'd wood, probably walnut or oak polished and painted in a matte dark red color, and the back grill would be 3D printed and coated with a rubberized black paint. Obviously inspired by the DT990, and I'd use the DT990 headband on them, but improved in design in my opinion as it will look quite stunning in person once it's finished.
Also I'm the process of negotiating the price for making aluminium baffles, which is apparently INSANELY expensive if you need to CNC machine it in a 3rd party company, because obviously I don't have a CNC machine, or a 3D printer, so I have to use the service from companies, which is quite an expensive game. I have plenty of ideas, and other designs in CAD already made and ready for production that I cannot share publicly yet until I start actually get the finished parts and assemble them, because the designs are more unique and less just reworked headphones that already exist, speaking from a design point of view. This would have been much easier if I had my own 3d printer or a CNC carving machine for wood and aluminium, which would allow for a lot of prototyping, but this way, I have to be sure what I want before I actually go out and have the parts manufactured. So obviously I have to decide exactly which driver to use before I can have the parts made. Driver dimensions are one of the things that vary, not all not 40 mm or 50mm drivers are actually the same diameter, it would suck to made a 40mm hole in a part and then find out the driver is 43 mm in diameter. That is one thing, and the other thing is the fact that drivers are tuned to work with specific type of headphone and baffle, so before I choose drivers, I can't know which design of the baffle I'll have made.
This is one of my aluminium baffle designs, of the simplest ones, not even angled, and they would turn out at 48 grams a piece in terms of weight, so quite heavy compared to ABS ones, but incredibly stiff...also...try to guess how much it costs to machine one...let's just say you can buy nice mid-range cans for the same money.
But I think the finished headphone would look amazing, especially with a wooden ear cup similar that of the old Sony R10 beast, so I might just say screw it and go for it.
So I guess my two main questions are:
1) Which drivers do you guys think would be the best to use from your experience?
2) Do you think I should make a headphone that looks like the open back that I posted here or the one more with aluminium and wood that looks like the R10? The wood/alu one would be drastically more expensive.