DIY Earbuds

[mt877]

Placement of vent holes varies a lot - top, bottom, back, right and left or only one side. How important is this?

Looks like I will have to find out myself I have just started learning 3D modeling, hopefully I will be able to make CAD drawings for my own wooden shells. I will then test and measure many different combinations of vent holes with the same driver. Will let you know.

It will affect how you tune the buds. There aren't many shells available that are 100 % the same shell with only the vent holes moved to a different position, so hard for anyone to answer your question. I recall only one diy wooden shell that originally had vents on left and right sides and later was released with top vents only. Usually for any certain shell, the vents are always in the same fixed position. As for measurements, the buds will measure exactly the same. Try measuring one of your existing buds with cable down versus different wearing positions. The measurements will be the same, the measurement mic doesn't care about the position, it just "sees" one sound field. Now take that same bud and listen with cable down versus cable up (over ear style), you will most likely hear some difference due to positioning change.

 

[tOMZY]

The measurements will be the same, the measurement mic doesn't care about the position, it just "sees" one sound field.

Well, I ordered this IEC711 thingy with soft pinna. I believe the measurements would be different based on the position in this case.

 

[mt877]

Well, I ordered this IEC711 thingy with soft pinna. I believe the measurements would be different based on the position in this case.

That is the old soft pinna, there's an improved soft pinna available, but it only works with an IEC711 coupler. Edit: Maybe will work with a small mic inserted in the backside of ear canal, but I wouldn't trust doing that for any reliable measurements.
See my post in the Round-Ups thread.

 

[tOMZY]

I read about the differencies and it looks like the softness of the pinna is more important measuring headphones and not su much for earbuds and IEM. I also read, that measurements with the new pinna had a strange bump in some higher frequencies (5-6K region if I remember this correctly), so I decided to stick to the older one.

 

[mt877]

@tOMZY, after thinking more about a shell that has venting in different positions, the one shell that I know of that has this capability is the shell used for my Artiste Nightingale buds. It has a vent system around the entire circumference of the shell and would be very easy to block vents with putty (blu tack or other putty) to experiment with a single shell and move the venting around to different positions to see how this affects both tuning and sound. Looks like you have a fun homework assignment now... please share your discoveries.

 

[jeejack]

14.8mm 32 ohm TI
A fair driver who does his job well. Good all-rounder
Drivers
https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExCXmOa
Shells
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EjHdqMQ
Wires
https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ez6enM2

 

[tOMZY]

It has a vent system around the entire circumference of the shell

Is that the reason many say the Artiste Nightingale has very spacious presentation?

 

[jogawag]

Build name ∶ Clear Magic

The dp100 shell makes for a good fit, and the use of donut foam allows for a
V-shape's sound signature of clear treble with no sting and deeper bass than the Yincrow X6 for a wider soundstage

Shell ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oo5jaG3
Driver ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oDSXIkb 19-21 red dot clear version
(Cut the thinnest horseshoe-shaped black tuning foam in half and stick it on the driver)
Cable ∶ appropriate silver-plated copper wire

 

[ttorbic]

Build name ∶ Clear Magic

The dp100 shell makes for a good fit, and the use of donut foam allows for a
V-shape's sound signature of clear treble with no sting and deeper bass than the Yincrow X6 for a wider soundstage

Shell ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oo5jaG3
Driver ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oDSXIkb 19-21 red dot clear version
(Cut the thinnest horseshoe-shaped black tuning foam in half and stick it on the driver)
Cable ∶ appropriate silver-plated copper wire

Thanks for sharing this! Is it ok if I add to my earbuds resource page? It's linked in my signature

 

[jogawag]

Thanks for sharing this! Is it ok if I add to my earbuds resource page? It's linked in my signature

OK, no problem.
If you would like, could you actually create Clear Magic and let me know what you think of it?

 

[mt877]

Is that the reason many say the Artiste Nightingale has very spacious presentation?

I'm sorry I can't give you the full reasoning as I'm not an acoustics engineer. All I can say is that the combination of the specific driver, shell, tuning and cable work harmoniously together to bring together the final sound. There are other earbuds that also have a spacious presentation (sound stage) which don't use a shell with such open venting. One example of such an earbud would be Moondrop's Chaconne.

14.8mm 32 ohm TI
A fair driver who does his job well. Good all-rounder
Drivers
https://a.aliexpress.com/_ExCXmOa
Shells
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EjHdqMQ
Wires
https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ez6enM2

Excellent, thanks for the share!

Build name ∶ Clear Magic

The dp100 shell makes for a good fit, and the use of donut foam allows for a
V-shape's sound signature of clear treble with no sting and deeper bass than the Yincrow X6 for a wider soundstage

Shell ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oo5jaG3
Driver ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oDSXIkb 19-21 red dot clear version
(Cut the thinnest horseshoe-shaped black tuning foam in half and stick it on the driver)
Cable ∶ appropriate silver-plated copper wire

On a roll... another nice build, Thanks for the share!

 

[jeejack]

Build name ∶ Clear Magic

The dp100 shell makes for a good fit, and the use of donut foam allows for a
V-shape's sound signature of clear treble with no sting and deeper bass than the Yincrow X6 for a wider soundstage

Shell ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oo5jaG3
Driver ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oDSXIkb 19-21 red dot clear version
(Cut the thinnest horseshoe-shaped black tuning foam in half and stick it on the driver)
Cable ∶ appropriate silver-plated copper wire

Just a little clarification. This is the 32 TI comp, known as a true bass cannon.
For this shell I'm waiting for the MX760 foster drivers. Let's see what comes out...
It's always a pleasure to see your builds
Ps: I'll be back one of these days with a cheap 14.8mm build with great sound

 

[Stevehamny]

Build name ∶ Clear Magic

The dp100 shell makes for a good fit, and the use of donut foam allows for a
V-shape's sound signature of clear treble with no sting and deeper bass than the Yincrow X6 for a wider soundstage

Shell ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oo5jaG3
Driver ∶ https://a.aliexpress.com/_oDSXIkb 19-21 red dot clear version
(Cut the thinnest horseshoe-shaped black tuning foam in half and stick it on the driver)
Cable ∶ appropriate silver-plated copper wire

Putting aside the "clear," is this the same driver used in the Destiny? And if yes to that question, is the clear just for aesthetic reasons or for sound reasons?

(I would just check the link myself if I lived in an advanced country with access to such things...)

And thank you, @jogawag, for posting this!

 

[jogawag]

Putting aside the "clear," is this the same driver used in the Destiny? And if yes to that question, is the clear just for aesthetic reasons or for sound reasons?

(I would just check the link myself if I lived in an advanced country with access to such things...)

And thank you, @jogawag, for posting this!

The Clear Magic has a different driver and shell to the Destiny, but the tuning method was used as a reference.
The sound is more dynamic than Destiny.

 

[mt877]

Putting aside the "clear," is this the same driver used in the Destiny? And if yes to that question, is the clear just for aesthetic reasons or for sound reasons?

(I would just check the link myself if I lived in an advanced country with access to such things...)

Checkout https://www.vpngate.net/en/
It's a list of public vpn relay servers where you can find and use, but please do not abuse open vpn servers. I managed to connect to a Japanese VPN server and then was able to browse AE successfully, although the language was in Japanese. I have a translation plug-in in my browser, so was able to highlight the text and translate it to English. I didn't see any Canadian or UK servers in their listing, which would have eliminated having to use a translator. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing and it's free.

The Clear Magic has a different driver and shell to the Destiny, but the tuning method was used as a reference.
The sound is more dynamic than Destiny.

Here's the driver information, it's a look-a-like to the 19Hz to 21KHz red dot driver, but this driver is actually spec'd for 20-20KHz.

DIY-Flat Earphone Speaker Unit, 15.4mm, Upgraded Composite Titanium Diaphragm Driver, mx500 DIY

Parameter:
Resistance: 32 ohms
Rated power: 4MW
Sensitivity: 100 ± 3db
Frequency range: 20-20KHz
High-level flat earphone drivers, low frequencies are primarily suitable for balanced frequencies.

The package includes:
Speaker unit, 2 pcs