[robar]

I think you wouldn't miss much. The shell is very light may be made from tin since it very cheap. When I ordered the metal shell I alway thought that I will get something make from steel like the shell of the faaeal datura pro that will help resonating the bass better not some sort of metal made me remember about the cheap tableware from childhood ). Anyway since I'm a trebe head the shell work very well and after that simple mod I rank it better than the wooden shell I got before.

Thanks for the info I wrote about metal shells in general, there are a lot of other models like the ones that furyossa recommends, but all of them cost virtually the same. :/

 

[furyossa]

Thanks for the info I wrote about metal shells in general, there are a lot of other models like the ones that furyossa recommends, but all of them cost virtually the same. :/

Yes but many of theses not perfectly compatible with MX500, I mean for some we need to use glue.

 

[robar]

I've received a couple of stuff recently I got a new cable, new shells, drill kit and another set of 19-21 speakers. I really like this cable, for the price (3.8usd) it looks and feels great in my opinion, soft and doesn't tangle, plan to build something with it soon. I'm also thinking about mx500 drilling mods, not sure what to try but will experiment soon.

The shells on the other hand are quite a disappointment so far. Neither of them can snap on speakers without glue, they are extremely loose, can't even hold mx500 cover in place, especially the wooden one where the two units has somewhat different diameter as well. These will need a lot of glue to hold anything. (even steel mesh or dp100 cover) Did you have a similar experience? I thought that I can at least try these out beforehand but there is zero friction or snapping with most covers. The plastic shells are very loose as well which is unexpected. The plastic is cheap, but hopefully they will sound decent after glue. I have an e8000 glue on the way, hopefully it will arrive in one piece lol.

Basically I can't do anything worthwhile without it, even the remaining mx500 shells (plus the Qian69 and others) are a bit loose so I can't really create channel balance or repeatable results at the moment.



links
cable https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32969752353.html
drill https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32665380010.html
wooden shell https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000477388117.html
plastic shell https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000851137552.html

 

[captione]

Recabled my VE Monks Plus!
I used my stock IEM cable lying around.
Thank god the shell wasn't glued shut, so I only applied a bit of acetone on needle at the seams.

Spoiler: Pictures

 

[Merlin-PT]

@robar

There's a way for the wooden shells to get bigger and snap in the drivers.

I don't know how it will sound because I didn't solder the drivers yet.
I also wanted to make a dip in the shell, so it doesn't break/rip the drivers coil when attaching.

This what I tried with the wooden varnished ones:
I sanded down the groove/edge (you can sand it all or leave some), so the shells got smaller in the ear.
Because there is no more groove/edge, the shell diameter is now larger.
I then needed to sand and adjust the new diameter so it would snap in the drivers.

Note:
To uniform and easily sand/adjust the new diameter, I fixated the inside center of the wooden shell in a very small low power USB battery drill.
This way the shell rotates and I just carefully touch a sand paper with it.

I have some dremel like tools, but I like this one, only because it's very small, has 3 speeds and more important to me it's battery powered and USB charged, so no wires, I just grab it and use:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32964838270.html

 

[Themilkman46290]

I've received a couple of stuff recently I got a new cable, new shells, drill kit and another set of 19-21 speakers. I really like this cable, for the price (3.8usd) it looks and feels great in my opinion, soft and doesn't tangle, plan to build something with it soon. I'm also thinking about mx500 drilling mods, not sure what to try but will experiment soon.

The shells on the other hand are quite a disappointment so far. Neither of them can snap on speakers without glue, they are extremely loose, can't even hold mx500 cover in place, especially the wooden one where the two units has somewhat different diameter as well. These will need a lot of glue to hold anything. (even steel mesh or dp100 cover) Did you have a similar experience? I thought that I can at least try these out beforehand but there is zero friction or snapping with most covers. The plastic shells are very loose as well which is unexpected. The plastic is cheap, but hopefully they will sound decent after glue. I have an e8000 glue on the way, hopefully it will arrive in one piece lol.

Basically I can't do anything worthwhile without it, even the remaining mx500 shells (plus the Qian69 and others) are a bit loose so I can't really create channel balance or repeatable results at the moment.



links
cable https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32969752353.html
drill https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32665380010.html
wooden shell https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000477388117.html
plastic shell https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000851137552.html

I held them in place with cloth tape (for bandages) while testing then used a e8000 variant to close them, didn't take much, I used a needle to apply it neatly

Surprised the dp100 don't snap in

 

[Merlin-PT]

I'm looking to try the 130, 400, (and maybe the 600) ohms in these wooden shells with MMCX connectors and compare them to the classic MX500 shells I already use. I ordered some more drivers and shells and they'll take some time to arrive.

At this point I just wanted to get some tips from you all that already tried these drivers and shells.
My concerns/questions for these drivers and shells are:

a) Will these wooden shells with MMCX connectors give better, same or worst sound than the MX500 shells?

b) If I sand down the wooden shell for it to fit the shells, it will fit my ear better and it will have a bit less inside volume.
Will this affect the sound? Will this sanded shells be better for some drivers and worst for others (130,400,600) or should I use the shell as it is with some glue?

c) The shell will be completely closed in the MMCX end. Do I need more venting holes? Should I use dampening material for the shell venting holes?

d) I wanted to make a groove/dip in the shell so it doesn't rip/break the driver coil when I snap it in, is there any special position for the driver holes to be placed relative to the shell holes, where do I put the groove/dip position?

Thanks for any input, no need to reply to all the questions.

 

[robar]

I experimented quite a bit today.
The silver cable is quite thick, it doesn't fit into many shells, for example it can't fit through the bundled mx500 stem, but it works with the regular mx500 and the transparent dp100.

I drilled into different types of mx500 shells with the 1mm bit, but I couldn't make an improvement so far, the hole only made the sound warmer and boomier, depending on how much I covered it. Sounds like when you don't put horseshoe on the shells, only on the speaker.

The drill bits have varying quality, if a bit doesn't want to drill well, then just try another one from the set, which might be a lot better for some reason. The shells I received need glue so I couldn't do anything with them.

Bundled mx500 is still shallow and warm compared to regular type. Maybe glue will improve it but I'm starting to give up on this shell design, too much sacrifice on bass quality/quantity.

I still couldn't make a channel balanced earbud with the darned B40 speakers and the Faaeal Zsound shell. Btw I think the main problem with B40 speakers, is that the right sides had a blutac-kind of glue pushed on the opening where the voice coil comes down. It obstructs the airflow there, I tried to remove it carefully but only partial success, the glue reaches quite deep into the hole, maybe even touches the edge of the membrane. I'm fed up with this whole project lol, might throw the whole thing in the trash haha. (I'll probably buy a decent 14.8mm speaker because I can't believe I can't build anything decent with a box full of salvaged stuff)

So, couple of hours wasted and nothing works lol.

@robar

There's a way for the wooden shells to get bigger and snap in the drivers.

I don't know how it will sound because I didn't solder the drivers yet.
I also wanted to make a dip in the shell, so it doesn't break/rip the drivers coil when attaching.

This what I tried with the wooden varnished ones:
I sanded down the groove/edge (you can sand it all or leave some), so the shells got smaller in the ear.
Because there is no more groove/edge, the shell diameter is now larger.
I then needed to sand and adjust the new diameter so it would snap in the drivers.

Note:
To uniform and easily sand/adjust the new diameter, I fixated the inside center of the wooden shell in a very small low power USB battery drill.
This way the shell rotates and I just carefully touch a sand paper with it.

I have some dremel like tools, but I like this one, only because it's very small, has 3 speeds and more important to me it's battery powered and USB charged, so no wires, I just grab it and use:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32964838270.html

Great idea, I'll keep it in mind. I have another set of wooden shells (the shiny 3-vent type) with the same problem, maybe I'll experiment on it. With this sanding mod I would be more confident to use glue as well, I'm a bit concerned that the glue would leak into the speaker if I just applied it on the grooves.

I held them in place with cloth tape (for bandages) while testing then used a e8000 variant to close them, didn't take much, I used a needle to apply it neatly

Surprised the dp100 don't snap in

Thanks, I'll ask about glue applying techniques when mine arrives. By the way, this black plastic is not a DP100 shell, the shape and the layout of the vents is quite different, this is why I bought it in the first place. (I already have dp100)

 

[assassin10000]

@Merlin-PT D.) Doesn't actually matter if you are lining up the groove and voice coil wires. As long as no obstruction in the face of the driver partly blocks the ear canal.

Stock position on the PK shells is at 12 o'clock with the stem going straight down. It matters a bit more on those as the face is not asymmetrical and has 2 areas which may block sound off partially to the ear canal. If wearing over ear you could put the gap at 6 o'clock.

 

[furyossa]

I've received a couple of stuff recently I got a new cable, new shells, drill kit and another set of 19-21 speakers. I really like this cable, for the price (3.8usd) it looks and feels great in my opinion, soft and doesn't tangle, plan to build something with it soon. I'm also thinking about mx500 drilling mods, not sure what to try but will experiment soon.

The shells on the other hand are quite a disappointment so far. Neither of them can snap on speakers without glue, they are extremely loose, can't even hold mx500 cover in place, especially the wooden one where the two units has somewhat different diameter as well. These will need a lot of glue to hold anything. (even steel mesh or dp100 cover) Did you have a similar experience? I thought that I can at least try these out beforehand but there is zero friction or snapping with most covers. The plastic shells are very loose as well which is unexpected. The plastic is cheap, but hopefully they will sound decent after glue. I have an e8000 glue on the way, hopefully it will arrive in one piece lol.

Basically I can't do anything worthwhile without it, even the remaining mx500 shells (plus the Qian69 and others) are a bit loose so I can't really create channel balance or repeatable results at the moment.



links
cable https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32969752353.html
drill https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32665380010.html
wooden shell https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000477388117.html
plastic shell https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000851137552.html

Are you finally decided to retire "heavy-duty tool"? Cable looks nice. Chitty's store two new interesting arrivals
PK's white, black and blue (semi-transparent) shells https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001039931437.html
Interchangeable plugs with mini XLS connection https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001011392615.html

 

[beanxinh]

I've received a couple of stuff recently I got a new cable, new shells, drill kit and another set of 19-21 speakers. I really like this cable, for the price (3.8usd) it looks and feels great in my opinion, soft and doesn't tangle, plan to build something with it soon. I'm also thinking about mx500 drilling mods, not sure what to try but will experiment soon.

The shells on the other hand are quite a disappointment so far. Neither of them can snap on speakers without glue, they are extremely loose, can't even hold mx500 cover in place, especially the wooden one where the two units has somewhat different diameter as well. These will need a lot of glue to hold anything. (even steel mesh or dp100 cover) Did you have a similar experience? I thought that I can at least try these out beforehand but there is zero friction or snapping with most covers. The plastic shells are very loose as well which is unexpected. The plastic is cheap, but hopefully they will sound decent after glue. I have an e8000 glue on the way, hopefully it will arrive in one piece lol.

Basically I can't do anything worthwhile without it, even the remaining mx500 shells (plus the Qian69 and others) are a bit loose so I can't really create channel balance or repeatable results at the moment.



links
cable https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32969752353.html
drill https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32665380010.html
wooden shell https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000477388117.html
plastic shell https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000851137552.html

All of the shells that I ordered (except the yuin) were smaller than the driver so I have to glue them in. That make tuning them a hassle because I have to wait half a day for the glue to cure and if I don't like the sound I have to pry the driver out again.

 

[Slater]

All of the shells that I ordered (except the yuin) were smaller than the driver so I have to glue them in. That make tuning them a hassle because I have to wait half a day for the glue to cure and if I don't like the sound I have to pry the driver out again.

That’s honestly one of the main reasons why I‘m hesitant to get into earbud modding.

With full size headphones, it’s usually a matter of removing a few screws, which makes it easy to open the shell to tweak the tuning (sometimes 10-20 times). But if it was glued and I risked breaking the voice coil etc, it would remove the fun factor for me.

 

[captione]

Alot of DIY people do their own shells, I even saw someone use a full brass MX500-like shell, pretty insane. Someone also used clay to sculpt a custom shell

 

[assassin10000]

That’s honestly one of the main reasons why I‘m hesitant to get into earbud modding.

With full size headphones, it’s usually a matter of removing a few screws, which makes it easy to open the shell to tweak the tuning (sometimes 10-20 times). But if it was glued and I risked breaking the voice coil etc, it would remove the fun factor for me.

Thats why finding the right shells helps a lot or at least shells you can mod to be a good fit.

Luckily all the ones I've done hold together without any glue.

Once I finalize a set I may add just a hair of e8000 glue with a needle or pick in 3-4 spots to prevent any accidental separation. But not enough to cause it to pull the driver apart when separating.

 

[beanxinh]

Alot of DIY people do their own shells, I even saw someone use a full brass MX500-like shell, pretty insane. Someone also used clay to sculpt a custom shell

I'm saving money to buy a 3D printer to make the shell with the shape that I like and experiment with the chamber. Since I'm not good with my hand I can't make shell from wood or clay .