[Themilkman46290]

Well, after a few days burning in the 64ohm ti for $15 I can say it's one of my top 3 favorite drivers, right under the 400ohm and 130ohm drivers

And I can definitely say, the 500ohm driver has a bit more sub bass then the 600ohm (nsc had told me it would have more bass) but to my surprise, the highs also are better, I would recommend them over the 600ohm

Also decided to experiment with some random shells, and I found an interesting but large option, after tuning, using the 32ohm n52 driver, I was able to get a very deep Soundstage, with deep rumbly sub bass, clean mids and clear, smooth highs

Used a puma shoelace, with cheap aipinchun 4 core 2mm cable from yuming, a bit of heat shrink with glue(for the y split) and two 16mm volume knobs for shells. Would be nice if the knobs had a taper but luckily the sit in my ears without falling out

 

[robar]

Now that I can finally use my 150ohm Rosemary, I started to wonder what kind of speakers does it have. After a bit of inspection from the outside (it's transparent) it appears to be very similar to the 150ohm blue-glue speaker that cklewis and nsc store sells for example (cklewis has wrong pics in the listing but you can see it's actually same as the nsc from the feedback photos). I don't have a separate pair for reference but it does look pretty much the same, and the performance of Rosemary is similar to how @subwoof3r described these speakers - overall nice smooth all rounder performance with good transparency (better than other budget stock earbuds I tried below 15usd), natural tonality, but technically not as good as the current diy favorites I have like the 19-21 32ohm or the 6usd titanium 64, which perform better in both extension and details. By the way the Rosemary has an interesting tuning, not my most favorite but quite good for certain genres and background listening/noisier environments. It has boosted midbass (seems like a common Faaeal character), thick mids and sparkly but still darkish highs. Bass extension is decent but not exceptional, the lower region is hidden behind the elevated midbass. I would totally tighten up the sound if I wasn't afraid to open it lol. It's ok but a bit too soft and thick for my taste, but it tames the brightness/harshness of certain tracks quite effectively that are usually quite a challenge with most earbuds. It's not perfect but still the best stock earbud I've had by far below 16usd. (I bought it on sale for 15.5)
Here's a pic, not sure if the speaker circuit looks clear but in person it does look the same from outside as the "blue 150ohm" speakers.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32979616405.html


In the meantime, I received the second batch of my favorite "19-21khz 32ohm heavy bass" speakers, will test them soon and make some builds with various shells, probably one with mx500 shell and another with EA/RY4X or dp100 shells. I'll post if I make any progress on them. Thinking about ordering one 6-hole wood shell from nsc for these but I'll probably postpone it due to the emergency situation in EU atm.

 

[Themilkman46290]

I been looking at a lot of drivers, getting very curious, has anyone here tried any of these?

The tesla and the dual driver has me very curious, the reviews don't seem great on some, but I also realized not everyone actually sits and mods them, so has any body here tried nodding any of these?

If I understand correctly, the dual driver has a couple of resistors and a caps, so to tune it, you could play around with some different values, changing the high and lows

 

[evgeniy1213]

Hi, all, received yesterday new pairs of drivers with full metal housing for it.
Top left - 15.4mm with beryllium(130ohm)
https://aliexpress.ru/item/33047315914.html
Right one in carton - 15.4mm 300ohm n52(low frequency)
https://aliexpress.ru/item/33043735233.html
And at the bottom parts of my old Toneking TO65
Wired today those beryllium, all i can say is that sound is fascinating, far better in all aspects than toneking. Tried with smartisan m1l(CS4398 + OPA1612). Highly recommended. I'll try later bass one, still need new housing for it.
Photos
https://imgur.com/VNKUcgM

 

[robar]

Hello there. I've been intrigued by the different types of mx500 shells for some time, especially the black "printless" ones that are usually bundled with some speakers. I noticed that they both look and sound different, and I've seen multiple builds here with those as well and I'm not sure if you're aware of the fact that these shells are not interchangeable.
Now I finally got to build two identical earbuds, one with the regular black (white print) and one with the bundled black. Everything else is the same, the cables, speakers (my fav 19-21 heavy bass), the tuning (simple horseshoe) and they indeed sound different. The "bundled shell" sound flatter, smoother, mellower with less emphasis on bass, it's less present by few dB below 150hz. It's less prone to harshness/brightness while the overall signature is lighter. The build with regular black sounds like a very tasteful U shape, which simulates big headphones/loudspeakers quite well with visceral bass impact. The bundled build lacks the impact and energy of that, it's flat and mellow in comparison. I can imagine that with modding (like drilling) or different foam setup the bundled one can get more weight to its sound. (will post if I find something useful)

Overall I prefer the sound of the regular one, but I really like the build/mechanical quality and the lack of harshness of the bundled one. The regular shell build can get a little too hot in the low treble due to some resonance, will try to add foam inside to reduce reflections. I'll try painted shells in the future and compare those as well.


Also took multiple detail photos and basically every single part is shaped differently between the two. They're basically two different molds, and also I feel the material is different as well. I'll compare them step by step with the aid of pictures. Left is the "regular black", right is the "bundled" version. Notice that even the stem opening has completely different shape, and the materials are not the same.


As you can see, the vents are completely different too. The "bundled" shell has much bigger gap on the bottom than the regular one, allowing to install the speaker either way. (the sound is different at top vs bottom orientation if you only put foam on the vents) The vent holes are also positioned differently.


Notice how much bigger is the cable hole in the regular shell. The outer edge is quite different as well. First there is a "notch" on the bundled shell which is absent on the regular. Also, the bundled is less tight but much more consistent with snapping. The regular one is prone to getting loose quickly, introducing mechanical noise and channel imbalance, also it damages the front covers more easily. I have to cherry pick the regular ones to get optimal snapping, some units don't work well with most covers without glue out of the box.

 

[Themilkman46290]

Hello there. I've been intrigued by the different types of mx500 shells for some time, especially the black "printless" ones that are usually bundled with some speakers. I noticed that they both look and sound different, and I've seen multiple builds here with those as well and I'm not sure if you're aware of the fact that these shells are not interchangeable.
Now I finally got to build two identical earbuds, one with the regular black (white print) and one with the bundled black. Everything else is the same, the cables, speakers (my fav 19-21 heavy bass), the tuning (simple horseshoe) and they indeed sound different. The "bundled shell" sound flatter, smoother, mellower with less emphasis on bass, it's less present by few dB below 150hz. It's less prone to harshness/brightness while the overall signature is lighter. The build with regular black sounds like a very tasteful U shape, which simulates big headphones/loudspeakers quite well with visceral bass impact. The bundled build lacks the impact and energy of that, it's flat and mellow in comparison. I can imagine that with modding (like drilling) or different foam setup the bundled one can get more weight to its sound. (will post if I find something useful)
Overall I prefer the sound of the regular one, but I really like the build/mechanical quality and the lack of harshness of the bundled one. The regular shell build can get piercing in the treble due to some resonance, will try to add foam inside to reduce reflections. I'll try painted shells in the future and compare those as well.


Also took multiple detail photos and basically every single part is shaped differently between the two. They're basically two different molds, and also I feel the material is different as well. I'll compare them step by step with the aid of pictures. Left is the "regular black", right is the "bundled" version. Notice that even the stem opening has completely different shape, and the materials are not the same.


As you can see, the vents are completely different too. The "bundled" shell has much bigger gap on the bottom than the regular one, allowing to install the speaker either way. (the sound is different at top vs bottom orientation if you only put foam on the vents) The vent holes are also positioned differently.


Notice how much bigger is the cable hole in the regular shell. The outer edge is quite different as well. First the is a "notch" on the bundled shell which is absent on the regular. Also, the bundled is less tight but much more consistent with snapping. The regular one is prone to getting loose quickly, introducing mechanical noise and channel imbalance, also it damages the front covers more easily.

Thanks for taking the time to compare, I also noticed a few of those things, I also found out that you must ge extra careful with the 500ohm and 600ohm drivers when closing the shell, because the shells without a notch will snap there voice coil if you don't get it right, recently lost my replacement 600ohm driver when I was tuning, sucks, that's 2 600ohm drivers lost, wish all shells had the notch.

 

[robar]

Thanks for taking the time to compare, I also noticed a few of those things, I also found out that you must ge extra careful with the 500ohm and 600ohm drivers when closing the shell, because the shells without a notch will snap there voice coil if you don't get it right, recently lost my replacement 600ohm driver when I was tuning, sucks, that's 2 600ohm drivers lost, wish all shells had the notch.

Oh man that really unfortunate :/
If someone finds it useful I can make these kind of detail shots or size comparison of many different shells. I have many generic types and also have other kinds of mx500.

I'm modding an RY4X/earbuds anonymous type shell with promising improvement, will post it soon.

Also NSC store is uploading new stuff like crazy, probably they're getting prepared for the big sale next week. It's worth a look, new speakers shell and cables. There is a new 5 pair listing of 19-21 speakers with steel mesh cover, already asked about them will post if I get answer. Also new mx500 shells with different kind of painting than usual, and a good looking cheap cable (finally, I always missed good affordable cables at nsc)
New arrivals ordered by time
Some stuff that caught my attention
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000812822617.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000809992483.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000823537630.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000808625788.html (this one looks like some kind of 19-21 build, if yes and tuned well, it could be new budget earbud king below 10usd, maybe I'll ask about it as well)

 

[assassin10000]

Anyone completely remove the stem of a Yuin/PK shell and use the shorter but slightly wider M4 x 0.5mm mmcx connectors?

Considering trying it once I get more shells and connectors if no one has checked that it won't work.

 

[krass76]

So I finaly had time to assemble my 600ohm beryllium drivers.
I used the black plastic shell that came with them (making them a sleeper build, effectively) with no additional damping foam and this TPE cable with thick copper wires:
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32997959582.html
For strain relief I made a knot, but due to cable thickness it takes up a lot of room inside the shell.
Since the cable is quite heavy, I mount it to my shirt with the two wires to the headphones going through a binder clip (not squeezed by the clip!) and holding the sliding rubber spread-adjuster thing of the cable so the earphones are not being pulled on by gravity.

Sound: very impressive!
after hearing the VE Monk+, I thought I'd have to use heavy EQ and feared there wouldn't be much detail in the highs but the 600 ohm beryllium drivers exceeded my expectations by a wide margin!
I EQ'ed them to sound flat / neutral (to me), you can see the profile:
Q<7 = wide, Q>7 = narrow

And not only on my fireface, but also on the tiny Sandisk Sansa Clip+ (Rockbox + now replaced battery), these have very good resolution. Not on par with DT880 600ohm but they come somewhat close and they're certainly very useable.
As always, good HRTF software (hear is one) makes any headphones/earphones sing!

Thank you all for giving good advice on here and basically providing enough purchase power to keep these available!
10/10 would build again!

 

[robar]

There is a brand new type of plastic 15.4mm shell at NSC, I haven't seen these before. Do you know this model? The design looks like an improved mx760, or a mix between mx760 and dp100 shells. The overall shape and the layout of vents looks quite nice to me (especially the deep edge and proper horseshoe platforms), much better than original mx760 in terms of comfort and diy potential (without bass port though). And it's really cheap so I've ordered a 2 pair lot already plus a matte wood shell. I'm actually pretty excited for this, I'll try it with the 19-21 32ohm speakers, hopefully will become a really fun and ultra comfy set, potentially a great prototype for future gifts.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000851137552.html

Will post about some ongoing projects in the close future, I listen more and build less nowadays but I had success with drilling mods with some shells, will take photos soon.

 

[assassin10000]

There is a brand new type of plastic 15.4mm shell at NSC, I haven't seen these before. Do you know this model? The design looks like an improved mx760, or a mix between mx760 and dp100 shells. The overall shape and the layout of vents looks quite nice to me (especially the deep edge and extra one hole on the other side), much better than original mx760 (without bass port though). And it's really cheap so I've ordered a 2 pair lot already plus a matte wood shell. I'm actually pretty excited for this, I'll try it with the 19-21 32ohm speakers, hopefully will become a really fun and ultra comfy set, potentially a great prototype for future gifts.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000851137552.html

Will post about some ongoing projects in the close future, I listen more and build less nowadays but I had success with drilling mods with some shells, will take photos soon.

Look nice. Wish I found most 15.4mm sets as comfortable as 14.8mm ones.


I ordered those N55 14.8mm drivers and some 1 vent pk shells to mod. Can't find any black double vent pk at the moment. Oh well, not too worried as high end sets are also 1 vent (simphonio dragon 2+ and 3).

 

[beanxinh]

My first pair of DIY. After waiting for 3 months the drivers finally arrived. By mistake I bought an 14.8mm pk2 diy driver so they don't fit on the 15.4mm shells I have so I had to glue the whole thing together (I don't want to wait another month for the correct shell arrive).

 

[SiggyFraud]

Any recommendations for 15.4mm drivers that sound good OOTB and don't require a lot of tuning magic? Preferably below $10. I'll be stuffing them in MX500 shells.
I have these 32 Ohm ones on the way

and right now I'm eyeing these.

 

[robar]

Any recommendations for 15.4mm drivers that sound good OOTB and don't require a lot of tuning magic? Preferably below $10. I'll be stuffing them in MX500 shells.
I have these 32 Ohm ones on the way
and right now I'm eyeing these.

I have both, I much prefer the one on the top (19-21 heavy bass) but the second one is decent too (N50). The fist one is my favorite I just ordered the 4th pair yesterday. I have one build where I just put it into regular black mx500 with standard horseshoe and it sounds great. The N50 has less bass and treble, less details and overall a smoother mellow sound in the exact same setup. If you just put it into the bundled mx500 shell without removing the preinstalled horseshoe, you will get a v shaped sound with bloated midbass and sharp upper mids. Only advantage is that steel mesh cover is more comfortable in certain shell like dp100.
I haven't tried yet but nsc has a Titanium 19-21 steel mesh which could be very interesting.

 

[SiggyFraud]

I have both, I much prefer the one on the top (19-21 heavy bass) but the second one is decent too (N50). The fist one is my favorite I just ordered the 4th pair yesterday. I have one build where I just put it into regular black mx500 with standard horseshoe and it sounds great. The N50 has less bass and treble, less details and overall a smoother mellow sound in the exact same setup. If you just put it into the bundled mx500 shell without removing the preinstalled horseshoe, you will get a v shaped sound with bloated midbass and sharp upper mids. Only advantage is that steel mesh cover is more comfortable in certain shell like dp100.
I haven't tried yet but nsc has a Titanium 19-21 steel mesh which could be very interesting.

Thanks so much for your input. I guess I'll skip the N50 then and order another pair or two of the 19-21 heavy bass instead. Might try them in different tuning configurations.
Are these the titanium ones you meant? I was looking at them too.
Any other drivers that you had success with?