Any cans with multiple drivers?
Apr 30, 2006 at 7:55 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 19

rincewind

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The seeing the apperance of the E500 just made me wonder... are there any full size cans with multiple drivers in them? You'd think it was a logical step to take, unless there's issues with placement of the multiple drivers WRT the ear. I expect they'd need to use some kind of layout like the speakers in cars where the tweeter is centred inside the larger woofer. Could mean huge cans though.
 
Apr 30, 2006 at 8:43 AM Post #3 of 19
surround sound headphones... sound like schnit...
 
Apr 30, 2006 at 9:16 AM Post #5 of 19
Well, the AKG K-340 has two drivers. See here:

http://www.akg.com/akg_structuretree...nguage,EN.html

Other than the Triport, I don't know of any other full size cans with multiple drivers.

For me, at least, single drivers are a big reason why I fell for high-end headphones in the first place. A few years back, I discovered and loved single driver loudspeakers.

You know, I'm surprised that more people on Head-Fi aren't fiendlishly devoted to single driver loudspeakers, worshipping Fostex and Lowther like Sennheiser and Grado. You get the same cohesive sound, they're relatively inexpensive, and can be powered from inexpensive small amps.

Sorry about the digression.

Anyhow, I think headphones will stick with single drivers. It's a good thing.
 
Apr 30, 2006 at 9:45 AM Post #6 of 19
Quote:

Originally Posted by ElectricBlack
Bose has such a product, don't they? It's called the TriPort, I believe. It sounds awful.



yea...although I dont share some people's complete disdain, it really does not work very well....

they have three drivers, and...well im sure most know the less than fantastic results.
mad.gif
mad.gif
 
Apr 30, 2006 at 9:46 AM Post #7 of 19
Well I was thinking more like the IEMs where the bass is handled by the woofers and the treble the tweeters, as opposed to surround sound or whatever. I just would have thought they were much more popular, since IEMs with multiple drivers appear to do a better job in general than the single driver ones.
 
Apr 30, 2006 at 12:47 PM Post #8 of 19
people dont make those sorts of headphones much these days cause they seemed to have figured out ways of making it soundgood without the need to use multiple drivers. Still the concept was sort of popular in the 70's and 80's, I got a pair of Sharp HP-400H headphones which has a woofer and tweeter in each can... needs a solid amount of juice to sound good though.
 
Apr 30, 2006 at 1:28 PM Post #9 of 19
Crossovers can add horribly complex and expensive issues to speakers, wonder how this is handled in cans!!?

Or do they use natural roll-off to compensate?

.......that normally dosen't work well either.

Hmmm.....
 
Apr 30, 2006 at 1:53 PM Post #10 of 19
the triports dont have multiple drivers, just three "ports" on the cup of the can, which is supposed to tweak the sound...

an audiophile approach to multiple drivers would be very difficult to implement well with anything other than an armature diver, as each one would need to send its signal in a direct route straight to the ear canal, not to mention, crossover, ect. maybe a heaphone based on planar speaker design, where multiple cones/drivers vibrate a baffle with vents and dampening ect...
i personallt dont think it could ever be implemented well without being super-expensive, and then it would have to beat cans like the ps1, orpheus ect...

no go i assume. (at least in a full size can)
 
Apr 30, 2006 at 2:12 PM Post #11 of 19
the akg k-340 have 2 drivers. one electret "tweeter" and a dynamic "bass driver" niceeeee headphones.

the akg k-280/k270 (slight driver diferences apaparrently) also use 2 drivers, but hey are identical drivers placed at odd angles to the ears for a more speakerish effect. also super nice.

although they only had 1 driver, the akg k-240 sextex used passive diaphrams in the "driver plate" as a very passive crossover. similar to an aporatic (spellcheck, a membrane that only alows sound in a certain frequency range to pass through it) membrane.

after that its pretty limited to iems.
 
Apr 30, 2006 at 2:32 PM Post #12 of 19
Sometimes it appears as though new technology is an answer looking for a question. But when it works, we can all benifit!!

Gotta luv these new ideas for what some of them CAN accomplish!!

My applause to the innovators!!
 
May 1, 2006 at 1:47 AM Post #13 of 19
Zalman makes some, primarily aimed at gaming and watching DVD's on your puter - I believe they have 3 drivers per side. Call them Theater 6 if not mistaken.
 
May 1, 2006 at 2:13 AM Post #15 of 19
Actually, the Triport is a single driver design, with three ports (holes drilled out) in each cup. That's why they are called TRIPORTS. Bose headphone bashers really need to learn about the products they bash
rolleyes.gif


The Zalman 5.1 headphone is the only phone I own that has more than 2 drivers. And they suck.
 

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