[robar]

Really really nice Are these still the same 32ohm drivers you mentioned few days ago?

Oh, I forgot to tell but I also received yesterday my 500 ohm beryllium drivers.
While they shares almost same sound signature from the 130 ohm beryllium, they are definitely more warm (definitely way too warm for my taste). They have a little more bass, but the mids and highs are less detailed overall than the 130.

I'm not familiar with your gear, but maybe not enough amping? Underpowered buds tend to sound very warm and a bit muddy/muffled, at least this is my experience with the Rosemary on my gear haha. Maybe you hear a similar effect just on a smaller scale.

 

[subwoof3r]

Really really nice Are these still the same 32ohm drivers you mentioned few days ago?

I'm not familiar with your gear, but maybe not enough amping? Underpowered buds tend to sound very warm and a bit muddy/muffled, at least this is my experience with the Rosemary on my gear haha. Maybe you hear a similar effect just on a smaller scale.

Yup, I'm using it into my Fostex HP-A8C dac/amp with is known for its neutral and transparent presentation, it can drive up to 600 ohm max. This amp has been designed for the Fostex TH900 headphones which tends to a V signature, for a perfect match between both.
I will try some mods and see how it happens, hopefully in the right way

 

[endia]

And as promised, here are two photos of my new yet best DIY projet based on H180 shells

is this the driver you use?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32475947593.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000023.13.2c8b1214c4qfLJ

i was thinking that i'm done with 130 ohm berylliums but...

 

[subwoof3r]

is this the driver you use?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32475947593.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000023.13.2c8b1214c4qfLJ

i was thinking that i'm done with 130 ohm berylliums but...

I bought these ones (purposed initially by @HungryPanda) this is the 35 ohm PET version.
But when I look at the drivers in pictures, they looks more like the ones in your link in bass version, so it is weird (never paid attention to compare initial product and the received one before)

 

[robar]

I bought these ones (purposed initially by @HungryPanda) this is the 35 ohm PET version.
But when I look at the drivers in pictures, they looks more like the ones in your link in bass version, so it is weird (never paid attention to compare initial product and the received one before)

How idoes it compare to EMX500 drivers? Just because it looks very similar from the back. I'm not a big fan of EMX500 drivers because they sound thin and bright in the mids, no matter what I do with them. Are these have smoother more natural sound?
I'm really enjoying the sound of the budget N50, N52 drivers, much more natural mids/highs compared to EMX500. Like lifting the veil of harshness off. If this PET sounds similar on a higher level that would be awesome. I just did a quick build with the N52 - I had to remove the tuning foam from the speakers, then I put it in a Y-cable blue vido shell. (the one which is tuned close to flat) Now it has a very neutral, warm, full sound with no harshness or sibilance at all, I could listen to it all day long. The N50 steel mesh is even better but I keep it for the smaller shells. I'm also working on a new build based on Qian69 shells - very promising so far, I'll able to tell more soon.

 

[subwoof3r]

How idoes it compare to EMX500 drivers? Just because it looks very similar from the back. I'm not a big fan of EMX500 drivers because they sound thin and bright in the mids, no matter what I do with them. Are these have smoother more natural sound?
I'm really enjoying the sound of the budget N50, N52 drivers, much more natural mids/highs compared to EMX500. Like lifting the veil of harshness off. If this PET sounds similar on a higher level that would be awesome. I just did a quick build with the N52 - I had to remove the tuning foam from the speakers, then I put it in a Y-cable blue vido shell. (the one which is tuned close to flat) Now it has a very neutral, warm, full sound with no harshness or sibilance at all, I could listen to it all day long. The N50 steel mesh is even better but I keep it for the smaller shells. I'm also working on a new build based on Qian69 shells - very promising so far, I'll able to tell more soon.

Which "MX500" drivers are you refering to? I have many original MX500 drivers from CKlewis store (aliexpress) and they are very good (used in my first mods) but not sure you are talking about those specific ones?
The ones from CKLewis have plenty of bass (especially mid-bass impact) once we do a little hole into basic MX500 shells.

 

[robar]

Which "MX500" drivers are you refering to? I have many original MX500 drivers from CKlewis store (aliexpress) and they are very good (used in my first mods) but not sure you are talking about those specific ones?
The ones from CKLewis have plenty of bass (especially mid-bass impact) once we do a little hole into basic MX500 shells.

I speak about the original EMX500 drivers yes. The RY4S UE has very similar drivers too, they look and sound very similar (I would say at least 90% same), I have the same problem with both - at least in mx500 shells. It's quite possible that in smaller shells this extra brightness is softened.
This is the specific listing from where I bought the EMX500, but these are the same what CKlewis sells I believe. (I just bought at Jietu because I didn't want to buy 5 pairs at once)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32979009902.html (this is what I'm referring to)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32855076228.html (the same on CKLewis)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32978515836.html (N52)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32980742390.html (N50 steel mesh)

 

[robar]

I completed the first stage of my Qian69 shell build. It sounds incredible so far! The drivers weren't burned in at all and already sounds better than anything I had so far. The synergy is very good with the 19hz-21khz bass drivers, this shell soaked up the brightness completely and it sounds very clean and smooth now with awesome extension both ways. Basically imagine ry4s ue with deeper more present bass, smoother fuller and more natural mids/highs. Very well balanced with a touch of warmth, deep powerful bass and sparkly but gentle highs. I'll write in more detail with pics after I've completed the build with nice cables etc. There were quite a few challenges, I needed a lot of patience to get this far haha.

 

[subwoof3r]

I received my 130 ohms decidua beryllium drivers recently (the ones with the metal covers), I would say they sound pretty same to me, they shares the exact same sound characteristics, maybe the metal ones are very slightly more warm, but it's probably because I'm using them into my H180 mod directly, meaning better tight into ears so bass is slightly more pronounced which is the exact thing I regretted into the plastic covers version and MX500 shells, so this is nice. I think I even still prefer them with metal covers and in H180 shells, they are pretty amazing and still my yet reference when it comes to resolution, balanced sound, right mids and overall good amount of detail without overwhelming anything.
I will had to make a MMCX mod for those H180 shells which amaze me everyday they sound so much with 15.4mm drivers, that I wonder why I spend so much time working on MX500 shells
I will probably sacrifice my other original H180 backup pair to make it MMCX time will tell..

 

[caracal]

Hi everyone!
I want to make my first DIY buds with these drivers, recommended by robar
Though I don't know which cables are good.

I'd like to use a cable with a remote and volume control. There are some variants:
https://aliexpress.com/item/33050270527.html
https://aliexpress.com/item/33058474789.html
https://aliexpress.com/item/32817008191.html

Do you think they'll be ok? I lean towards braided ones.

Also maybe there are some other good cheap drivers with a warm signature?

 

[DBaldock9]

Hi everyone!
I want to make my first DIY buds with these drivers, recommended by robar
Though I don't know which cables are good.

I'd like to use a cable with a remote and volume control. There are some variants:
https://aliexpress.com/item/33050270527.html
https://aliexpress.com/item/33058474789.html
https://aliexpress.com/item/32817008191.html

Do you think they'll be ok? I lean towards braided ones.

Also maybe there are some other good cheap drivers with a warm signature?

I believe that I've used the TRANSCTEGO cable on some earbuds I assembled for a co-worker.
They work just fine for controlling Android phones.

 

[caracal]

I believe that I've used the TRANSCTEGO cable on some earbuds I assembled for a co-worker.
They work just fine for controlling Android phones.

How do these TRANSCTEGO cables compare with the stock ones soundwise?

I've also got some old h180 shells and will try making buds with them

Still the question: are there any alternative cheap drivers with good bass and non-harsh/overly bright highs?

 

[DBaldock9]

I was assembling the earbuds "from scratch", so I didn't have stock cables to compare them to.
But, they work as well, and sound as good, as any of my other cables that have Mic/Volume Controls.

 

[caracal]

Has anybody tried putting vido drivers to smaller shells, like h180?

 

[robar]

Has anybody tried putting vido drivers to smaller shells, like h180?

I've also got some old h180 shells and will try making buds with them
Still the question: are there any alternative cheap drivers with good bass and non-harsh/overly bright highs?

I haven't used H180 yet but I've put vido drivers in Meizu EP21HD shells with good success. (but those shells have multiple variants not all are compatible with vido drivers so I wouldn't recommend buying one)
There was a post here maybe last year somebody put the vido drivers in like 6-8 different shells and wrote detailed impressions about it. I think you can find it here or the earbuds roundup thread, I'm not sure where it's located.
My main problem with vido driver (besides the fragile build quality) is that they are quite dark and soft for most smaller shells, you can get a very smooth and warm low-detail sound but it's not the best for a balanced tuning. They are good for practicing soldering and to be grateful for sturdier drivers haha. I've found the vido shells more useful, you can put any bare drivers in them and they will sound like an improved version of the original vido.

We mostly discussed it via PM but I post here for other's benefit: I think the N50 steel mesh drivers are your best bet under 5usd for warm/neutral gentle sound signature. (it is very similar to the driver in the mx760 kit but sounds quite better in mx500 shell, I haven't compared them in the same shells yet) I also has N52 which is similar for same price but I prefer N50, it has wider soundstage and more mature sound in my opinion. (plus the steel mesh is more compatible with different shells) You can also try EMX500 drivers which are good, somewhat bright in mx500 but could be pretty nice in other shells.. My best recommendation is N50. If you want more brightness and deeper bass then I can recommend the 19-21khz bass drivers, it's more powerful than EMX500 and has better fit in terms of snapping. It also has multiple variations like balanced, clear sound etc. but I haven't tried those. I ordered the "64ohm Titanium Membrane Superbass" drivers as a potential upgrade, will post impressions after I received it.

I got interested in the Sony Ericcson Bass reflex shells, anyone tried to DIY with them? I don't have experience with them like compatibility etc., but they look quite good in the photos. For example MH-500, HPM64

edit: the stock tuning of N50 set (tuning foam on driver plus empty mx500 shell) is U shaped with big midbass, nice low mids and highs plus some upper mid brightness. It's easy to retune by adding foam on the vents and/or removing the foam from the driver. I think in other shell it will become more neutral even with stock foam, I'll try it when my shell orders arrive.