[CC Lemon]

I'm going to admit that I know very little when it comes to acoustics and how to even begin to predict the effects of various mods on a headphone's sound, but I started thinking about an idea a little bit.

How reasonable would it be to make cups out of carbon fiber? I know that carbon fiber is lightweight and generally strong, which is definitely a good thing, but what effects would it have acoustically? There have been cellos and other stringed instruments that have used carbon fiber quite successfully. Some of those instruments are said to have sound quality and character far above their similarly priced wooden counterparts. People frequently mod headphones to have wooden cups, so I'd imagine that carbon fiber would be possible and potentially be a good alternative. I'm not sure how cost effective it would be, but still something I think would be interesting.

Any input or general comments to this idea?

 

[fenixdown110]

I know wood is porous which plays a big factor in sound production. Carbon fiber really isn't since it's made of layers or dry carbon and resin. It can sometimes have uneven fibers on the underside depending on the quality and grade. I don't know how that would effect the sonic characteristics. It might be a good thing to try and see.

 

[Acix]

Yes, carbon fiber it's a great idea, and can be made to be acoustic. The only hps that I know of that use carbon parts is the Sony Qualia. I hope in the future to see full carbon hps.

 

[CC Lemon]

What I'd really like to get would be some carbon fiber grado cups. I'd be willing to test it out myself if I could find some place to make them for fairly cheap... but I'm worried something custom like that might be a bit on the pricey side. I'm sure a full production of them would be more affordable (assuming they'd be good for sound).

 

[kurtzi]

"Black Series" headphones - HA-M750

Looks like there is some carbon here...

I'm curious about this too, M750 is on my "to buy" list and I'd like to hear some impressions from owners about how it sounds and how carbon is effective...

Cheers
K

 

[thechungster]

Pretty sure the Phiaton MS400's use carbon fibre as well.

 

[Gilly]

I'm not sure it is one and the same thing... but you can get a carbon fiber violin for example. I don't know how it sounds compared to a normal wooden one, and neither do I pretend to be an expert in such things, but I would imagine that carbon fiber cups would make the sound less warm, more clinical maybe, just because the wood would deaden some of the sound somewhat. I don't know if I'm barking up the wrong tree with that statement though.

 

[Justice Strike]

I used to work with carbon fiber (used to repair racing boats). It's quit easy to do repairs. But making a few cups is going to be insanely expensive. If you could find 3 guys that want the same cups then you could think about it.

the process really is simple. You make a mold of existing cups with fiberglass. Then fill the mold and make sure it's vacuum.... not really hard i can tell you. The har thing comes with the fact that you need a airpump and about 200 euro's of items for even the smallest thing you want to make.

however, i must say. Making things out of carbon fiber... it's going to be insanely strong and depending on the thickness it's going to have some flex. I made a sheet of carbon fiber. 3 layers. Less then half a mm thick. It looked awesome and it was so strong, you could compare it to a plexiglass sheet of half a cm thick.

 

[CC Lemon]

Well, here's a video of a CF cello... it's on youtube so no where near the best sound quality, but the best I can do for now lol

YouTube - Luis Leguia playing Bach C Major Prelude

 

[Sandwich]

carbon fiber is extremely rigid. it had many different properites from wood and its more versatile.

 

[Bilavideo]

The amount of carbon fiber needed to make headphone cups would be negligible.

 

[CC Lemon]

Like mentioned above, my main concern would be initial cost for me (or anyone else) to try it out. If I happen to have spare money sometime and find a place that can do it for cheap, then I might consider just giving it a try myself.

 

[Justice Strike]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilavideo /img/forum/go_quote.gif The amount of carbon fiber needed to make headphone cups would be negligible.

perhaps, but there still is a minimum amount you need to buy. Where i life i need to buy a minimum of 1 m^2. And btw. You might be mistaken on the amount you need though. you need like 5 layers of carbon fiber which is about 10 by 10 cm and needs to be multiplied by 2 unless you want a wooden side and a carbon side + you need some scrap carbon to fill up the gaps. so that's going to add up to. And i highly recommend to just make something like a carbon fiber plate (something simple) just to see how the process goes and what you can expect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CC Lemon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Like mentioned above, my main concern would be initial cost for me (or anyone else) to try it out. If I happen to have spare money sometime and find a place that can do it for cheap, then I might consider just giving it a try myself.

well if you are going to go ahead and do this... put a lot of time in preparation. The task itself will not take more then 20 minutes (it has to be because the resin dries). But preparations can take several days.

And make a simple test

 

[b0dhi]

Making the cups is one thing. Tuning the drivers so that they sound good with those cups is another. Generally though I think it's a step in the right direction. Personally I'd use high grade Steel

 

[Ntropic]

What I'd like to know is what kind of new material can you use for the driver cone.

What do you look for in a driver? Lightweight and stiff, correct? Or do they need to be porous as well?

I saw that KRK's Rokit monitors use a kevlar woofer. I've got this handy chart of material properties that tells me:

-----------------------| Specific Gravity |-----| Modulus of Elasticity (GPa)|
Aramid (Kevlar 49)------| 1.44 |------------------------| 131
UHMWPE (Spectra 900)-| 0.97 |------------------------| 117

Now I'm no materials guy (just taking a course for it, God knows why), and correct me if I'm wrong, but if this chart largely sums up the two materials, wouldn't Spectra be the better choice, even after considering the various types of the same polymer?