You inspire me to build my own ER4 and Evo replica from ER73S BA. Thanks.
ClieOS's Random DIY Build Thread - [Updated: Oct.1st, 23] - Sony E282 Reproduction Shell Kit Build
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Wait, aren't those the ones in old Etymotic's IEMs?
Yep, but the BA drivers weren't not available in the market back in the days and all we know is that they were OEMed in China. I guess some sellers in China finally find a few NOS for sale.
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Yes, I remember how it was back in the day of Westone 3, UE Triple.fi and Etys when armature drivers were pure unobtanium.
Last edited:
shoui catemoji
Head-Fier
@ClieOS when making an ER4 clone, does the space between the BA and the nozzle impact the sound a lot?
In the original ER4S and the new ones the BA is right up against the nozzle with the "stub" of the BA going in the nozzle. While the YU9 ER4 clone's BA doesn't seem to be placed this way, but does it sound different?
In the original ER4S and the new ones the BA is right up against the nozzle with the "stub" of the BA going in the nozzle. While the YU9 ER4 clone's BA doesn't seem to be placed this way, but does it sound different?
The nozzle length (from BA's spout to filter) and diameter are important to keep the original sound. YU9's ER4 clone, as far as I can tell, is pretty close to the original. Besides, I do believe YU9 did take measurement to ensure that.
Despite being a very expensive BT adapter, It is somewhat of a known issue among a few 1st batch iFi Go Blu users that it doesn't have a particularly good Bluetooth range, especially when using LDAC codec. Quite often, distortion or disconnection can happen with only a meter or two away, or simply just putting the BT adapter on the other side of the pocket from the smartphone. iFi, though knows about the issue as it has been reported by multiple first batch users, never does acknowledge the issue officially nor provide any remedy. Report however had been made that, for those who returned their first batch Go Blu due to various reasons and got a replacement from 2nd batch, the range issue seems to have been fixed secretly (*allegedly). But for those of us who can't return our 1st batch Go Blu due to various circumstances, it would seen that we are stuck with a less-than-fully-useful BT adapter - and that is exactly my situation. To address the issue, I decided to do a antenna swap by replacing the original chip antenna used in the Go Blu with something hopefully much better. Warning: This will most definitely void your warranty! iFi Go Blu dissembled
Tools and parts needed:
1) iFi Go Blu 1st batch with weak BT range
2) Abracon ACAG0801-2450-T chip antenna
3) Basic soldering supply
4) Basic smartphone disassembling tool
The Go Blu's metal faceplate can be removed by lightly prying it away from the main body as it is double=glued only on the lower part. Once removed, you will find two screws that needed to be removed to take the housing apart.
The battery is also double-glued to the PCB and can be removed by careful prying it up.
Disconnect the battery once it is lifted up, removed the two button on each side, then remove the two screws near the Type-C connector. Once the screws are removed, the PCB can be lifted up from the top, near the headphone sockets. The dial can be detached once the PCB comes out.
Located on the under side of the PCB, near where the dial is supposed to be and opposite to where the Xbass / Xspace button, is the chip antenna. It is the only white component on the PCB so it is easily recognizable, measuring 9.5mm x 2mm x 1mm. I can't tell which brand or model of chip antenna it is as it doesn't have any marking on it, but searching for chip antenna that fits the dimension and build has resulted in several candidates that have either 1dBi or 2dBi gain. In order to maximize the chance of improving the odd that the new antenna will outperform the original antenna, i picked the Abracon ACAG0801-2450-T as it has an exceptional high gain of 7.3dBi while won't cause any fit issue (8mm x 1mm x 1mm). You can find this chip antenna on either element14 or Mouser.
The ideal way to desolder such a large component will be the use of hot air station. But if you don't have access to one, the next easiest way to use low melt solder, and that's how I did it. Check out youtube if you want to know how to use low melt solder for desoldering.
Clean up the low melt solder with wick and solder the new antenna in place. Though the new antenna is shorter (8mm vs. 9.5mm), it should still just about fit. Take note of the direction. Finally, reassemble the Go Blu.
Here are the RSSI test I did before and after antenna swap with FiiO BTR7 as reference. Lower (less negative) is better and the three number were taken with both devices (1) about 2 inches away from the smartphone, (2) about 2 meters away and (3) about 5 meters away with wall in-between.
Before:
FiiO BTR7 -37 -68 -75
iFi Go Blu -39 -78 -93
After:
FiiO BTR7 -40 -69 -85
iFi Go Blu -33 -67 -81
From the 'before' test, we can tell the original Go Blu suffered a huge drop in signal strength just 2 meters away (*10dB = 10 times of difference). The 'after' test clearly shows vast improvement with Go Blu even outperforming BTR7 on all range. All and all, the antenna swap is an resounding success that allow the 1st batch Go Blu to finally perform as it should have been.
Afterthought: Regardless of how or why the 1st batch Go Blu suffered from weak BT range, I think the placement of the chip antenna on the PCB itself is not helping. It is on the under side of the PCB, which means (1) many user are likely going to place it right against their body, (2) the PCB's ground plane, (3) the big metal piece on the housing, (4) the mostly metal volume dial as well as (5) the metal button next to the antenna are all boxing the antenna in and obstructing the wireless signal path.
Tools and parts needed:
1) iFi Go Blu 1st batch with weak BT range
2) Abracon ACAG0801-2450-T chip antenna
3) Basic soldering supply
4) Basic smartphone disassembling tool
The Go Blu's metal faceplate can be removed by lightly prying it away from the main body as it is double=glued only on the lower part. Once removed, you will find two screws that needed to be removed to take the housing apart.
The battery is also double-glued to the PCB and can be removed by careful prying it up.
Disconnect the battery once it is lifted up, removed the two button on each side, then remove the two screws near the Type-C connector. Once the screws are removed, the PCB can be lifted up from the top, near the headphone sockets. The dial can be detached once the PCB comes out.
Located on the under side of the PCB, near where the dial is supposed to be and opposite to where the Xbass / Xspace button, is the chip antenna. It is the only white component on the PCB so it is easily recognizable, measuring 9.5mm x 2mm x 1mm. I can't tell which brand or model of chip antenna it is as it doesn't have any marking on it, but searching for chip antenna that fits the dimension and build has resulted in several candidates that have either 1dBi or 2dBi gain. In order to maximize the chance of improving the odd that the new antenna will outperform the original antenna, i picked the Abracon ACAG0801-2450-T as it has an exceptional high gain of 7.3dBi while won't cause any fit issue (8mm x 1mm x 1mm). You can find this chip antenna on either element14 or Mouser.
The ideal way to desolder such a large component will be the use of hot air station. But if you don't have access to one, the next easiest way to use low melt solder, and that's how I did it. Check out youtube if you want to know how to use low melt solder for desoldering.
Clean up the low melt solder with wick and solder the new antenna in place. Though the new antenna is shorter (8mm vs. 9.5mm), it should still just about fit. Take note of the direction. Finally, reassemble the Go Blu.
Here are the RSSI test I did before and after antenna swap with FiiO BTR7 as reference. Lower (less negative) is better and the three number were taken with both devices (1) about 2 inches away from the smartphone, (2) about 2 meters away and (3) about 5 meters away with wall in-between.
Before:
FiiO BTR7 -37 -68 -75
iFi Go Blu -39 -78 -93
After:
FiiO BTR7 -40 -69 -85
iFi Go Blu -33 -67 -81
From the 'before' test, we can tell the original Go Blu suffered a huge drop in signal strength just 2 meters away (*10dB = 10 times of difference). The 'after' test clearly shows vast improvement with Go Blu even outperforming BTR7 on all range. All and all, the antenna swap is an resounding success that allow the 1st batch Go Blu to finally perform as it should have been.
Afterthought: Regardless of how or why the 1st batch Go Blu suffered from weak BT range, I think the placement of the chip antenna on the PCB itself is not helping. It is on the under side of the PCB, which means (1) many user are likely going to place it right against their body, (2) the PCB's ground plane, (3) the big metal piece on the housing, (4) the mostly metal volume dial as well as (5) the metal button next to the antenna are all boxing the antenna in and obstructing the wireless signal path.
Last edited:
rwelles
1000+ Head-Fier
Great write-up!! If I wasn't such a putz at soldering on my Gen1 device.
Apologies if I misunderstood this stat. I always was under the impression that 10 dB=x10, 20 dB=x100, and 30 dB=x1,000. I'm thinking audio, did you mean something different?
You are right, I slipped in an extra zero by mistake. Corrected.
I understand that your intention was do help. And some may indeed benefit from the writeup.
But above all, You have just demonstrated, how pathetic iFi Audio is.
Mistake is made all the time, and I do believe we as consumer will be better served in the long run if manufacturer can learn and keep improving.
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Despite being a very expensive BT adapter, It is somewhat of a known issue among a few 1st batch iFi Go Blu users that it doesn't have a particularly good Bluetooth range, especially when using LDAC codec. Quite often, distortion or disconnection can happen with only a meter or two away, or simply just putting the BT adapter on the other side of the pocket from the smartphone. iFi, though knows about the issue as it has been reported by multiple first batch users, never does acknowledge the issue officially nor provide any remedy. Report however had been made that, for those who returned their first batch Go Blu due to various reasons and got a replacement from 2nd batch, the range issue seems to have been fixed secretly (*allegedly). But for those of us who can't return our 1st batch Go Blu due to various circumstances, it would seen that we are stuck with a less-than-fully-useful BT adapter - and that is exactly my situation. To address the issue, I decided to do a antenna swap by replacing the original chip antenna used in the Go Blu with something hopefully much better. Warning: This will most definitely void your warranty! iFi Go Blu dissembled
Tools and parts needed:
1) iFi Go Blu 1st batch with weak BT range
2) Abracon ACAG0801-2450-T chip antenna
3) Basic soldering supply
4) Basic smartphone disassembling tool
The Go Blu's metal faceplate can be removed by lightly prying it away from the main body as it is double=glued only on the lower part. Once removed, you will find two screws that needed to be removed to take the housing apart.
The battery is also double-glued to the PCB and can be removed by careful prying it up.
Disconnect the battery once it is lifted up, removed the two button on each side, then remove the two screws near the Type-C connector. Once the screws are removed, the PCB can be lifted up from the top, near the headphone sockets. The dial can be detached once the PCB comes out.
Located on the under side of the PCB, near where the dial is supposed to be and opposite to where the Xbass / Xspace button, is the chip antenna. It is the only white component on the PCB so it is easily recognizable, measuring 9.5mm x 2mm x 1mm. I can't tell which brand or model of chip antenna it is as it doesn't have any marking on it, but searching for chip antenna that fits the dimension and build has resulted in several candidates that have either 1dBi or 2dBi gain. In order to maximize the chance of improving the odd that the new antenna will outperform the original antenna, i picked the Abracon ACAG0801-2450-T as it has an exceptional high gain of 7.3dBi while won't cause any fit issue (8mm x 1mm x 1mm). You can find this chip antenna on either element14 or Mouser.
The ideal way to desolder such a large component will be the use of hot air station. But if you don't have access to one, the next easiest way to use low melt solder, and that's how I did it. Check out youtube if you want to know how to use low melt solder for desoldering.
Clean up the low melt solder with wick and solder the new antenna in place. Though the new antenna is shorter (8mm vs. 9.5mm), it should still just about fit. Take note of the direction. Finally, reassemble the Go Blu.
Here are the RSSI test I did before and after antenna swap with FiiO BTR7 as reference. Lower (less negative) is better and the three number were taken with both devices (1) about 2 inches away from the smartphone, (2) about 2 meters away and (3) about 5 meters away with wall in-between.
Before:
FiiO BTR7 -37 -68 -75
iFi Go Blu -39 -78 -93
After:
FiiO BTR7 -40 -69 -85
iFi Go Blu -33 -67 -81
From the 'before' test, we can tell the original Go Blu suffered a huge drop in signal strength just 2 meters away (*10dB = 10 times of difference). The 'after' test clearly shows vast improvement with Go Blu even outperforming BTR7 on all range. All and all, the antenna swap is an resounding success that allow the 1st batch Go Blu to finally perform as it should have been.
Afterthought: Regardless of how or why the 1st batch Go Blu suffered from weak BT range, I think the placement of the chip antenna on the PCB itself is not helping. It is on the under side of the PCB, which means (1) many user are likely going to place it right against their body, (2) the PCB's ground plane, (3) the big metal piece on the housing, (4) the mostly metal volume dial as well as (5) the metal button next to the antenna are all boxing the antenna in and obstructing the wireless signal path.
Wow, that's an awesome and useful tutorial, thanks a lot @ClieOS !
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