[robar]

I think you really should give a try to the wonderful RadSone ES100 DAC/AMP ^^ I use it everyday at work, mobile use and even at home (which very often replace my Fostex HP-A8C because not balanced).
It have enough power to drive at least much more than 300ohm drivers (it has been proved), great DAC with a lot of details. At least for 99$ you won't have to worry of this anymore
(don't forget to use my recommended settings into my SIG for best sound results)

Thanks for the rec, I was thinking about the ES100 , where did you buy it? My main concern is additional shipping/tax costs and the lack of proper warranty. However not a long ago the Fiio BTR5 came out which is said to be better by reviews and I can buy it in a local official shop for about 125usd equivalent, with proper warranty and no additional costs. This is my main candidate now for buying but it's too much for me at the moment. I was also considering the shanling UP2 as a cheaper alternative, because I'm not sure I'll ever use the balanced option honestly, but all costs added it would be more like 90usd instead of 70 so it's not that good value anymore. And I often check the local second hand listings as well, maybe I'll find something nice around 60-80usd. Ususally there are a bunch of older Fiio/SMSL/Sabaj stuff there for really cheap (like E10K Oly2, SMSL IQ, Sabaj DA3 etc), though I'm not sure if they're still worth something after the release of BTR5. I was also considering a Topping NX1S amp, but that wouldn't upgrade my dac department which is also lacking (plus high output impedance for 32ohm buds), so I'd prefer an all in one solution at the moment.

 

[headenvelopedinsound]

I tinkered with my titanium 64ohm build and I made progress thank god haha. The basic setup (generic mx500 with full generic horseshoe) was quite dark and soft, I wasn't exactly a fan. Now after a bunch of experiments I changed the full generic horseshoe to one half of very thick foam from jietu and one half of the generic type. It pushed forward the frequencies below 200hz and above 1khz by 1-2dB, especially the upper areas which were pretty dark before. Now it's more livelier and punchier. The low bass is more defined now as well, the first impression is quite positive. The treble is still a bit soft for me but maybe my source can't drive it to full potential. I'll test it for a few days and might try to improve it further. I plan to try the drill mod as well after I get the proper equipment.


Thanks for the pics! It does look more like titanium and not the typical transparent membranes, very interesting. Please update if you try to put some speaker on the shells, I'm very interested if it snaps on generic covers. I guess the 19-21khz bass or the titanium 64ohm would work pretty well in these.

Here's the link for the wood shell I was thinking about, this is the one you used? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000477388117.html
The N50 steel mesh is a pretty nice speaker but needs quite a bit of tinkering to get the balance right. I tried it in many shells but in the end I tuned it in a generic mx500 shell. Let me know how it sounds in the knight, but my feeling is that the knight shell need bassier speakers like what I mentioned above.

Yup those are the shells. They don’t really hold super tight without glue. But with foams on they are fine to play with tuning before gluing them. Just don’t use a lot of glue and it’s really a nonissue. I think I’ll probably keep the n50s in these shells for a bit and wait for some parts to come in from Ali to finish up my main project, 600ohm berylliums.

I will chime in on the portable Bluetooth amps. I was all set for the ES100 and even asked for it for Christmas, luckily I got cash for a unit of my choice. The makers of the ES100 are hard at work making the 5K. It should be out in a month or two and be around the $100 mark. If you haven’t bought and can wait this is the ticket. Again same guys who made the ES100. https://www.qudelix.com/

 

[furyossa]

Thanks for the rec, I was thinking about the ES100 , where did you buy it? My main concern is additional shipping/tax costs and the lack of proper warranty. However not a long ago the Fiio BTR5 came out which is said to be better by reviews and I can buy it in a local official shop for about 125usd equivalent, with proper warranty and no additional costs. This is my main candidate now for buying but it's too much for me at the moment. I was also considering the shanling UP2 as a cheaper alternative, because I'm not sure I'll ever use the balanced option honestly, but all costs added it would be more like 90usd instead of 70 so it's not that good value anymore. And I often check the local second hand listings as well, maybe I'll find something nice around 60-80usd. Ususally there are a bunch of older Fiio/SMSL/Sabaj stuff there for really cheap (like E10K Oly2, SMSL IQ, Sabaj DA3 etc), though I'm not sure if they're still worth something after the release of BTR5. I was also considering a Topping NX1S amp, but that wouldn't upgrade my dac department which is also lacking (plus high output impedance for 32ohm buds), so I'd prefer an all in one solution at the moment.

If you care about BT codecs then Shanling UP2 is the top choice.
Best output power goes to Fiio BTR5 especialy balanced output (3.5mm > 80mW x 2 [32ohm] ; 2.5mm > 240mW x 2 [32ohm]).
Best software ie app, no doubt, ES100 takes the 1st place. The app alone is worth more than 100$.
Cleanest sound without any noise and best Freq. response (10hz-100kHz), SamlingRate(DSD512) and PCM (768kHz)
goes to SMSL IQ. The only thing that I didn't like is a low output power on 2.5mm out, but if you use it with PC then you
not need to worry.

 

[robar]

@headenvelopedinsound @furyossa Wow thanks for the tips! I would use the dac mainly via usb for maximum sound quality, but for more casual scenarios I'd often switch it to bluetooth. I was also considering to separate these functions into two devices, so for example getting a BTR1K for casual/background listening via bluetooth or usb on my laptop and a bigger more powerful device for desktop pc ike DA3, IQ etc. But the BTR5 seems to do both things quite well, I'd be just a bit afraid to carry that around with me everywhere lol. @furyossa Did you have the SMSL IQ? It has the same internal hardware as the Sabaj DA3, just with an additional battery. I read that these earlier sabre chips can have a bright almost piercing sound to them and the newer chips in the UP2 and BTR5 are more netural and detailed, this is why I'm hesitant about them. Have you experienced this? Otherwise their specs and form factor seems quite nice to me, and their price is usually 2/3rd of the btr5. (Sabaj DA3 is available in eu warehouse on aliexpress, smsl iq is very frequent in local second hand listings)

 

[furyossa]

Yup. I skipped Sabaj and purchase SMSL. They build under the same "roof". Some Sabaj devices have a problem with mobile phones and USB connection. I don't know if they solved this with the new firmware. SMSL has an option for USB 1.1 (for old devices) and USB 2.0.
Maybe older ESS chip have the problem with piercing sound but IQ works nice. My iBasso DC01 uses AK chip, it's warmer then EES which has clearer treble.
Nowadays I will probably go with BTR5. I love ES100 app but I don't like to use EQ so BTR5 for sure.

 

[headenvelopedinsound]

Main thing I like about the 5K device is that it’s got a ton of power both balanced and unbalanced. It uses both chips to power the headphones even in unbalanced mode. I also like that it’s got a lot going on for eq options, which I have a few sets that I’ve got EQ profiles for saved into Logic Pro for my studio work. and this would translate over very well.

 

[robar]

Thanks @furyossa @headenvelopedinsound Thanks I'll look into that as well.

In the meantime I was searching for alternatives to the hand drill in the family tools, and I've found this vintage beauty from my late grandfather. Not exactly a hand drill but I think it could work well for this purpose, the grip is nice and I can put any drill bit into it. I only found 1.5mm drills, do you think it could work well on the Z-sound shell? It has almost no vents at the moment (3 extremely tiny ones) so one 1.5mm hole wouldn't be too much overall but I don't know if the relatively large diameter causes unwanted effects on the sound signature.

 

[robar]

Quick update - so the drill solution works very nicely, I can make a hole in about half a minute. I drilled one new hole on the side and enlarged one of the existing ones on the Z-sound shell. The harsh peak around 2-2.5khz completely vanished, the sound now is much smoother gentler. I'm in the process of tuning it, will update on the progress in the upcoming days. I think more but smaller holes would have been better in terms of finer control in the tuning process, but I'd still consider this a successful experiment because it eliminated the main problem. Now I have to find the right balance between open and covered vents and find the most effective foam setup. Lots of variables to grind through haha

 

[subwoof3r]

where did you buy it?

Directly on Amazon(.fr)

 

[furyossa]

After a couple of shell revisions(3-4 max), I finally found the almost perfect one for my high impedance drivers.
First I tried these shells, which is my previous top choice, but this model is a nice upgrade. Of course, there is some trick that needs to be done before we put a "driver in place".
These are 15.4mm DIY 600ohm beryllium-coated aka the "Blue-bery" and DIY 400ohm graphene-coated aka "Hellboy"

With all earphones, the most important thing is the sound no doubt but for me personally "the look and feel" ie design and comfort are also essential things that affect the overall experience. The main characteristics of high impedance drivers are clear and balanced sound, also these require more power so the balanced cable can be useful in this case. Probably you already familiar with these two drivers so I'll skip the part "How these sounds". Let's experts do that.
Now the shells. My revisions of shells are mostly based on trying out plastic, wooden and metal ones with different inner cavity sizes.
Metal shells are most durable with a low level of resonance. Any "open back" shells are not practical for outdoor use due to poor noise insulation and moisture condensation. Also, I try to avoid sponge filters inside the cavity as they fall apart over time. Foam and wool are the most suitable. The illustration below shows some things to look out when selecting a shell for DIY.

Blue text represent PROS, red CONS and black shared opinion or comment
1. "Concave arc" shape allows a very comfortable fit, especially if the driver diameter is large.
2. The angle between the shell and the neck of the shell is 90 degrees.
3. Back-side vent with mesh is present and allows proper air circulation and more spacious sound.
4. "A-detail" shows ''LIP" of shell which holds driver hover. The connection is so good that you cannot detach the driver after mounting it on the shell.
This is good only if you not plan to play with the tuning. To fix this I use a diamond file to remove extended lip (see the yellow dotted line).
5. "B-detail": MMCX the connector that comes bundled with the shell has a very unusual shape. Since MMCX didn't have any threads for connection with the shell
there are two ways how to solve this problem: by using glue or shrinking tube . I used the 2nd option. First I tried to cover the whole connector but
then it could not pass due to an internal protrusion in the neck of the shell. By covering only the pins and press it hard inside the shell the connector will be stuck and stay still.
6. Through trying different shells with different sizes, I noticed that certain drivers did not respond well (sounds hallow) with the larger cavity size. Fortunately, these two drivers turned out great in the new shell which I call "semi-big" cavity size. These shells in terms of sound are quite reminiscent of open-back headphones which I like a lot.
7. Although these shells are lightweight, the multi-core cables, because of its weight, tends to rotate the shell and break up the seal. On the plus side, these earbuds can be worn over-ear or str8-up.
8. The shell "HORN" shape allows very good air-flow and very low sound reflection.
9. The rotation point is where the earbuds housing touches the earlobe ie ANTITRAGUS.
10. The last image shows one of 3 additional tuning options. To remove any protrusion that can cause unwanted sound reflection inside the shell,
we can use hot glue or blu-tack (green color). For this shell, this option is not applied.
11. By adding tuning cotton with different diameters of the center hole (where the cable passes to the driver) we can reduce airflow and achieve
the effect similar to smaller cavity shells. Again, it all depends on the type of driver itself. For mid-centric types, I like to use shells with larger cavity size
and for the types where the bass dominates, medium cavity size shells.
12. The 3rd option proved to be the best in this case. The frequency response curve is very similar for these two drivers. Graphene has a bit forward mids in comparison with beryllium and beryllium have better defined low end. I added a tin wool filter in front of the vent to reduce bass and bring back the cleaner mids.
This option is convenient because we can always remove the mesh from the vent and change the filter.
That's it. ... and of course a beauty shot

 

[furyossa]

Thanks @furyossa @headenvelopedinsound Thanks I'll look into that as well.

In the meantime, I was searching for alternatives to the hand drill in the family tools, and I've found this vintage beauty from my late grandfather. Not exactly a hand drill but I think it could work well for this purpose, the grip is nice and I can put any drill bit into it. I only found 1.5mm drills, do you think it could work well on the Z-sound shell? It has almost no vents at the moment (3 extremely tiny ones) so one 1.5mm hole wouldn't be too much overall but I don't know if the relatively large diameter causes unwanted effects on the sound signature.

I like your retro-drill a lot. I don't think that this drill is ever used for something like earphones shell. Anyway if you drill a larger hole just use foam filter and cover it from inside. Then with the needle punch another smaller hole through the foam and test the sound. If it's too small just enlarge it

 

[subwoof3r]

After a couple of shell revisions(3-4 max), I finally found the almost perfect one for my high impedance drivers.
First I tried these shells, which is my previous top choice, but this model is a nice upgrade. Of course, there is some trick that needs to be done before we put a "driver in place".
These are 15.4mm DIY 600ohm beryllium-coated aka the "Blue-bery" and DIY 400ohm graphene-coated aka "Hellboy"

With all earphones, the most important thing is the sound no doubt but for me personally "the look and feel" ie design and comfort are also essential things that affect the overall experience. The main characteristics of high impedance drivers are clear and balanced sound, also these require more power so the balanced cable can be useful in this case. Probably you already familiar with these two drivers so I'll skip the part "How these sounds". Let's experts do that.
Now the shells. My revisions of shells are mostly based on trying out plastic, wooden and metal ones with different inner cavity sizes.
Metal shells are most durable with a low level of resonance. Any "open back" shells are not practical for outdoor use due to poor noise insulation and moisture condensation. Also, I try to avoid sponge filters inside the cavity as they fall apart over time. Foam and wool are the most suitable. The illustration below shows some things to look out when selecting a shell for DIY.

Blue text represent PROS, red CONS and black shared opinion or comment
1. "Concave arc" shape allows a very comfortable fit, especially if the driver diameter is large.
2. The angle between the shell and the neck of the shell is 90 degrees.
3. Back-side vent with mesh is present and allows proper air circulation and more spacious sound.
4. "A-detail" shows ''LIP" of shell which holds driver hover. The connection is so good that you cannot detach the driver after mounting it on the shell.
This is good only if you not plan to play with the tuning. To fix this I use a diamond file to remove extended lip (see the yellow dotted line).
5. "B-detail": MMCX the connector that comes bundled with the shell has a very unusual shape. Since MMCX didn't have any threads for connection with the shell
there are two ways how to solve this problem: by using glue or shrinking tube . I used the 2nd option. First I tried to cover the whole connector but
then it could not pass due to an internal protrusion in the neck of the shell. By covering only the pins and press it hard inside the shell the connector will be stuck and stay still.
6. Through trying different shells with different sizes, I noticed that certain drivers did not respond well (sounds hallow) with the larger cavity size. Fortunately, these two drivers turned out great in the new shell which I call "semi-big" cavity size. These shells in terms of sound are quite reminiscent of open-back headphones which I like a lot.
7. Although these shells are lightweight, the multi-core cables, because of its weight, tends to rotate the shell and break up the seal. On the plus side, these earbuds can be worn over-ear or str8-up.
8. The shell "HORN" shape allows very good air-flow and very low sound reflection.
9. The rotation point is where the earbuds housing touches the earlobe ie ANTITRAGUS.
10. The last image shows one of 3 additional tuning options. To remove any protrusion that can cause unwanted sound reflection inside the shell,
we can use hot glue or blu-tack (green color). For this shell, this option is not applied.
11. By adding tuning cotton with different diameters of the center hole (where the cable passes to the driver) we can reduce airflow and achieve
the effect similar to smaller cavity shells. Again, it all depends on the type of driver itself. For mid-centric types, I like to use shells with larger cavity size
and for the types where the bass dominates, medium cavity size shells.
12. The 3rd option proved to be the best in this case. The frequency response curve is very similar for these two drivers. Graphene has a bit forward mids in comparison with beryllium and beryllium have better defined low end. I added a tin wool filter in front of the vent to reduce bass and bring back the cleaner mids.
This option is convenient because we can always remove the mesh from the vent and change the filter.
That's it.

Nice!
About the "B - detail" part, do you have some hint to share about the MMCX pin socket? do the sockets needs to be screwed and then soldered (which is impossible then I guess) or soldered before screwed ? or simply glued without screwed up into the shells?
Screwing once soldered into the shell is very hard because most of the time wires may detach while screwing.
I had bad experience using metla shells MMCX just about that so I hd to abandon my project and revert back to plastic shells.

also, can you please share a little pic of the "tin wool filter " material you use?

 

[furyossa]

Nice!
About the "B - detail" part, do you have some hint to share about the MMCX pin socket? do the sockets needs to be screwed and then soldered (which is impossible then I guess) or soldered before screwed ? or simply glued without screwed up into the shells?
Screwing once soldered into the shell is very hard because most of the time wires may detach while screwing.
I had bad experience using metla shells MMCX just about that so I hd to abandon my project and revert back to plastic shells.

also, can you please share a little pic of the "tin wool filter " material you use?

I honestly took a little risk when buying these shells because before these I both silver and black pairs of this one.
I use it for my first Beryllium 130ohm and now for Titanium64ohm and belive me Titanium sounds a lot better in metal shells (I'll post my test these days)
For silver and black shells, you need to use glue on both ends (for driver and mmcx). So you have so-called "one-time shell".
And because it has a thinner neck, most of the time wires may detach while putting mmcx in the neck of the shell. This is the part when I go crazy.

This new shells (red and blue) are superior in many ways:
- better fit and comfort especially if you wear them over your ear
- mat metallic finish and 4 colors to choose
- you don't need to use glue for anything
- the neck of the shell is not so thin and looks nicer when you put mmxc cable
- mmcx socket is easier to solder because the distance between the pins is larger. It's literally the same as a male connector on the cable

It's is simple:
- solder the wires first (solder ground wire a bit inside and isolate signal wire with shrinking tube) #2
- cover only pins with shrinking tube #3
- push hard mmcx socket into the shell
You can use a small amount of glue if you want, but I remained "clean" until the end, NO GLUE
The most annoying part here is to trim "the lip" of the shell. My advice is to try first with some "broken" driver after the trimming process. When I first installed the driver I had to break the cover so I could remove it from the shell.

About wool filter. I bought it at the bookstore A4 format of EVA foam with a hairy texture (like let's say peach). This is a little thicker (2mm). Also, I found this
this paper that literally resembles wool

 

[robar]

I had another breakthrough with the Z-sound mod, apart from the additional vents, I also removed the installed horseshoe from the speaker and put tuning foam on the vents. With this the sound become neutral/warm with good midbass and full mids/vocals, very pleasant low fatigue sound for casual use. The low bass and high treble are rolled off due to the speaker itself, the overall sound become very wide and smooth, though somewhat soft especially suited for folk/jazz etc. I think it's a nice contender in the ultra budget earbud category (below 6-8usd) now. With upgraded speakers it would be especially nice, it just needs a bit more extension, resolution and crispiness. I'll tinker with the foams further then post pics.

I like your retro-drill a lot. I don't think that this drill is ever used for something like earphones shell. Anyway if you drill a larger hole just use foam filter and cover it from inside. Then with the needle punch another smaller hole through the foam and test the sound. If it's too small just enlarge it

Thanks for the tips! Yes haha I searched for it on the net and this is a heavy duty drill chunk that is still in production to this day, costing around 160usd. Good for exercise as well as the thing weights somewhere around 1kg.
About the earlier steel shells (silver/black) you linked - the Fengru PT32 seem to use a very similar shell, and that earbud costs 2/3rd of the price. Also I found very similar ones for sale at NSC store for much less money (6-8usd/pair instead of 15): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000117028399.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000173977762.html

By the way, do you think something like the smsl iq/sabaj da3 would drive the titanium 64ohm well on unbalanced? Or should I just save up to a bt5 or k3 and call it a day

 

[furyossa]

I had another breakthrough with the Z-sound mod, apart from the additional vents, I also removed the installed horseshoe from the speaker and put tuning foam on the vents. With this the sound become neutral/warm with good midbass and full mids/vocals, very pleasant low fatigue sound for casual use. The low bass and high treble are rolled off due to the speaker itself, the overall sound become very wide and smooth, though somewhat soft especially suited for folk/jazz etc. I think it's a nice contender in the ultra budget category (below 6-8usd) now. With upgraded speakers it would be especially nice, it just needs a bit more extension, resolution and crispiness. I'll tinker with the foams further then post pics.

Thanks for the tips! Yes haha I searched for it on the net and this is a heavy duty drill chunk that is still in production to this day, costing around 160usd. Good for exercise as well as the thing weights somewhere around 1kg.
About the earlier steel shells (silver/black) you linked - the Fengru PT32 seem to use a very similar shell, and that earbud costs 2/3rd of the price. Also I found very similar ones for sale at NSC store for much less money (6-8usd/pair instead of 15): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000117028399.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000173977762.html

By the way, do you think something like the smsl iq/sabaj da3 would drive the titanium 64ohm well on unbalanced? Or should I just save up to a bt5 or k3 and call it a day

Yup. These are exactly the same shell. I both silver and black before the colored version with mat finish came out. At that time only the Chitty store has these.
Of course, NSC always has a better offer for 20-30% less. These shells are my 3rd favorite right now. 1st place share this one which I already described in the previous post and this model.
I can't decide which one is better. The second model is more suitable for boomy drivers, has a small cavity size and simulates closed-back headphones. I plan to make comparation for the same driver in shells with small, medium and large cavity sizes in the future. I probably will use beryllium 130ohm since I have 3 pairs only for these.
Try to avoid this model at all costs. I ordered the silver model. They send me a silver model with both "R" markings.
One cover is like a grid with elongated holes and second, it has round holes . MX500 cover is a bit larger than a shell. But that's not the main problem.
MMCX socket connection with the shell is great but you need to screw 10 -12 times and wires are always detached while screwing.
I spent many hours finalizing this. So forget about it. I'm interested in this "gun-metal" version.

About the DAC's. Yes. SMSL IQ can drive my 300ohm earbuds. If you are looking BT DAC then go with the BTR5, it has many great features.
Take a look at this USB DAC. This is probably the best money/value DAC right now. See the review. Similar DAC chip as SMSL IQ.
This is the thread where explain differences between ES9018K2M (Fever DAC) and ES9018Q2M (SMSL IQ)