[Black Phoenix]

props to you, Sir, for trying this

 

[frank2908]

Finally got a long holiday and had enough time to finish the new prototype.
Unfortunately I could not make these out of carbon fiber, since I don't have enough time. Also last time I played with carbon fiber, turned out the epoxy I have hardened too fast ( 10 mins), therefore i can't do resin infusion or even normal lay up because of lack of time for air bubble to disappear.
The earpads are mounted on plate with magnet attached, similarly there are magnets on baffle,
Every parts are made from Carbon fiber High PLA filament from FIlabot
weight: 400g without cable ( the last prototype weight 500g). Without dynamat, only weight 330g

Old design, driver at a small angle, and remain in the center of the ear pad opening.
 

New prototype driver mod

1. resonator made from 3d printed Brass PLA from colorfab, I can get the exact dimension , also the brass plastic is quite heavy, so it will damp the plastic protector. I had to take the driver apart and cut the screen off the center hole
2.  
    
3. the driver is at 35 degree from the baffle plate and push as much forward as possible
4. the baffle is lighter and has lots of opening. They are then covered with Micropore tape (white)

Another view of the extreme angled driver.

 
The backside of the baffle and the cups is covered in Dynamat, then one layer sound absorbing foam similar to Akasa Paxmate. The holes/ openings are covered with micropore tape.
Mini XLR connectors.
 

 

 

 

 
The Carbon FIber PLA is really stiff, strong and look really nice. It has a matt finish and looks really cool. On the left is carbon fiber PLA, right is normal PLA
 
Finish


 

 
3D printed HD800 in Carbon fiber PLA
I was too lazy to make a new headband assembly from scratch, so I used an old Fostex T50rp headband.
 
The connector will be covered in Black Sugru. I don't want to make a chunky and heavy 3d printed cover or housing for those connector. So it is kept simple.
Sound improvement:
Because the driver is much more forward and angled, the image of this can really improved. It is now very pin point. But there is still issues with lacking bass.

 

[Thenewguy007]

Any chance you plan on selling these DIY parts in the future?

 

[SHAMuuu]

Looks kinda like z1r cups

 

[derbigpr]

I worked on something very similar to this, trying to put a driver that is usually inside open headphones into a closed back one with custom made baffle and cup, very similar to what you have here. Inherently wrong for many reasons, one of the main ones is that drivers which work specifically in very opened headphones are made to work in very open enviroments, and when you put them inside a closed cup, you cut off all the bass, that's why you're experiencing that. Not only that, the front chamber, between the driver and the ear, has a lot of leaks into the outside on the HD800's through the stainless steel mesh and fabric earpads. On your headphones, there is no leakage to the outside from the front chamber, so you're messing up the way the driver works from back and the front. You can fill the cup with polyfill lightly to increase the effective volume of the cavity and maybe get a touch more bass, but you'll never get an ideal result. That's the first point. The second point is, because the driver is angled and the back of it is facing a wall that isn't flat, and the whole cup is not even in shape, you'll get a whole lot of resonances, reflections, whatever you want to call it inside the cup above 5khz or so, depending on the actual size of the cup, and each part of the driver membrane moves in an environment with a different acoustical impedance so to speak, it has to move a different amount of air, or work against different loads, and that creates imbalances on the membrane itself as it works.  The baffle openings that go directly into the back of the cup also don't work well if they're not properly balanced  around the driver. As soon as the airflow is not well balanced on all sides of the driver, you introduce all kinds of mess into the sound. To put it simply, putting an open back driver into a closed back design is pointless. Even if you somehow manage to get it to sound decent, it will never sound anywhere near as good as it does in an open back headphone.  That's why it's so damn hard to make closed back headphones sound good.  Even if you start with arguably the best dynamic driver in the world of headphones, you still have a tough time making them sound good.

 

[Thenewguy007]

I worked on something very similar to this, trying to put a driver that is usually inside open headphones into a closed back one with custom made baffle and cup, very similar to what you have here. Inherently wrong for many reasons, one of the main ones is that drivers which work specifically in very opened headphones are made to work in very open enviroments, and when you put them inside a closed cup, you cut off all the bass, that's why you're experiencing that. Not only that, the front chamber, between the driver and the ear, has a lot of leaks into the outside on the HD800's through the stainless steel mesh and fabric earpads. On your headphones, there is no leakage to the outside from the front chamber, so you're messing up the way the driver works from back and the front. You can fill the cup with polyfill lightly to increase the effective volume of the cavity and maybe get a touch more bass, but you'll never get an ideal result. That's the first point. The second point is, because the driver is angled and the back of it is facing a wall that isn't flat, and the whole cup is not even in shape, you'll get a whole lot of resonances, reflections, whatever you want to call it inside the cup above 5khz or so, depending on the actual size of the cup, and each part of the driver membrane moves in an environment with a different acoustical impedance so to speak, it has to move a different amount of air, or work against different loads, and that creates imbalances on the membrane itself as it works.  The baffle openings that go directly into the back of the cup also don't work well if they're not properly balanced  around the driver. As soon as the airflow is not well balanced on all sides of the driver, you introduce all kinds of mess into the sound. To put it simply, putting an open back driver into a closed back design is pointless. Even if you somehow manage to get it to sound decent, it will never sound anywhere near as good as it does in an open back headphone.  That's why it's so damn hard to make closed back headphones sound good.  Even if you start with arguably the best dynamic driver in the world of headphones, you still have a tough time making them sound good.

Do you have any pics of your custom HD800?

 

[frank2908]

I worked on something very similar to this, trying to put a driver that is usually inside open headphones into a closed back one with custom made baffle and cup, very similar to what you have here. Inherently wrong for many reasons, one of the main ones is that drivers which work specifically in very opened headphones are made to work in very open enviroments, and when you put them inside a closed cup, you cut off all the bass, that's why you're experiencing that. Not only that, the front chamber, between the driver and the ear, has a lot of leaks into the outside on the HD800's through the stainless steel mesh and fabric earpads. On your headphones, there is no leakage to the outside from the front chamber, so you're messing up the way the driver works from back and the front. You can fill the cup with polyfill lightly to increase the effective volume of the cavity and maybe get a touch more bass, but you'll never get an ideal result. That's the first point. The second point is, because the driver is angled and the back of it is facing a wall that isn't flat, and the whole cup is not even in shape, you'll get a whole lot of resonances, reflections, whatever you want to call it inside the cup above 5khz or so, depending on the actual size of the cup, and each part of the driver membrane moves in an environment with a different acoustical impedance so to speak, it has to move a different amount of air, or work against different loads, and that creates imbalances on the membrane itself as it works.  The baffle openings that go directly into the back of the cup also don't work well if they're not properly balanced  around the driver. As soon as the airflow is not well balanced on all sides of the driver, you introduce all kinds of mess into the sound. To put it simply, putting an open back driver into a closed back design is pointless. Even if you somehow manage to get it to sound decent, it will never sound anywhere near as good as it does in an open back headphone.  That's why it's so damn hard to make closed back headphones sound good.  Even if you start with arguably the best dynamic driver in the world of headphones, you still have a tough time making them sound good.

Thanks for your comment. Technically its hard. But since ive read about the sony r10, I know i had to try. Plus for a brand new hd800, I can get my 3d printer and the drivers and earpads, so i can make and play and enjoy even more. The fun part is the making and modding, not the sound anymore. And now i have made the headphones for my need, since I want to enjoy my headphones at work, so I bet mine would sound much better, has more bass than a hd800 in a noisy environment.
Frank

 

[Maxx134]

I have also noted that drivers designed to be more open don't do as well as drivers designed to be more closed and then opened lol.

Also have noted on closed versions of both the Fostex th 600,
And the AudioTechnica esw10 use ports to their advantage and really help to open up the sound.

I bet with a few tiny holes or channels in cup,
it would make a difference here as well..

I myself have an hd800 well modded in center driver and dynamat and tried most conceivable mods as well as changed sockets to mini xlr..

But the Sony R 10 has a really special midrange like some high end Audio Technica limited edition wood model I used to own.
I had the luck and privilege to hear them at a friend's house and they have a really true mids and highs with lean tight bass.


So this thread is really great to see and makes me think that Sennhieser dropped the ball,. By not making a closed version even if it needed to be ported like the Fostex th 900.

 

[AudioCats]

are HD800 drivers still available to the general public?

 

[frank2908]

yes they are. The headphones has ports, and i camouflaged them . Drilling holes reduce the cool factor i think.The ports located on the transition between the smooth surface and the ripple surface on the cup.
The hd800 driver stil available. You can find them on google.

 

[RenZixx]

Wow what an amazing idea, truly an amazing craftsmanship. Well I plan on doing these to my HD 25 (I have two with me) to see what the outcome is (just a project for poops and giggles). What do you think the outcome would be?

 

[frank2908]

It will be a lot of fun for you

 

[leeperry]

Considering the price of HD820 >_>

 

[frank2908]

Now that Sennheiser made the HD820 seems like the idea of closed HD800 is not crazy after all. Off course with the level of resource Sennheiser has for R&D its possible but why did they wait for so long?

 

[RenZixx]

I worked on something very similar to this, trying to put a driver that is usually inside open headphones into a closed back one with custom made baffle and cup, very similar to what you have here. Inherently wrong for many reasons, one of the main ones is that drivers which work specifically in very opened headphones are made to work in very open enviroments, and when you put them inside a closed cup, you cut off all the bass, that's why you're experiencing that. Not only that, the front chamber, between the driver and the ear, has a lot of leaks into the outside on the HD800's through the stainless steel mesh and fabric earpads. On your headphones, there is no leakage to the outside from the front chamber, so you're messing up the way the driver works from back and the front. You can fill the cup with polyfill lightly to increase the effective volume of the cavity and maybe get a touch more bass, but you'll never get an ideal result. That's the first point. The second point is, because the driver is angled and the back of it is facing a wall that isn't flat, and the whole cup is not even in shape, you'll get a whole lot of resonances, reflections, whatever you want to call it inside the cup above 5khz or so, depending on the actual size of the cup, and each part of the driver membrane moves in an environment with a different acoustical impedance so to speak, it has to move a different amount of air, or work against different loads, and that creates imbalances on the membrane itself as it works. The baffle openings that go directly into the back of the cup also don't work well if they're not properly balanced around the driver. As soon as the airflow is not well balanced on all sides of the driver, you introduce all kinds of mess into the sound. To put it simply, putting an open back driver into a closed back design is pointless. Even if you somehow manage to get it to sound decent, it will never sound anywhere near as good as it does in an open back headphone. That's why it's so damn hard to make closed back headphones sound good. Even if you start with arguably the best dynamic driver in the world of headphones, you still have a tough time making them sound good.

Wont just making an angled pad fix that problem?