Earbud Shell Types
by @baskingshark and @WoodyLuvr
Picture Source: Head-Fi Archive Mostly
@baskingshark and I have greatly expanded our original post regarding earbud shell types; enjoy!
Any/all corrections and/or submissions are of course most welcome!
INTRO
Since the introduction of the
Kenwood KH-0.5 “Petitphones” (32Ω) in December 1981 and the much more well-known
Sony MDR-E252 “Fontopia” (18Ω) in early 1982, earbuds have come in a wide variety of sizes and a vast array of shell housings. Many of which are actually clones of another company's original design (e.g.
Sennheiser MX500;
NTT Docomo New Variant;
AKG K 312).
Kenwood KH-0.5 (on left); Sony MDR-E252 (on right)
TYPES
Earbud shells are typically categorized into four (4) general styles:
Type I: MX500 Style (VE Monk; Moondrop Shiro Yuki; Simphonio Dragon 3) – mimicking the shell of the original Sennheiser MX400/500 series (c2001) which along with the AKG K 612 shell was originally OEM’d by Foster. The MX500 shell is larger in size and diameter; protrudes outwards more; and has a longer/wider stem than a PK style shell (see comparison pic down below). MX500 has a ~16.8mm head diameter and supports a ~15.4mm driver. Please note there are many, many "other variants" which heavily borrow from and are often mistaken as being MX500 due to similar front covers, stems, and interchangeable drivers but are not (see "Type IV: Other Variants").
Type II: PK Style (Yuin PK#; Shozy BK Stardust) – mimicking the New Variant NTT Docomo earbud circa 2006. There were actually two different types of Docomo shells developed as an accessory for a NTT Docomo mobile phone: an Old (Variant) Docomo shell (released 2005 in Japan) and a New (Variant) Docomo shell (released 2006 in Japan). The Old (Variant) Docomo shell has a long stem for the bass boost mechanism. The New Docomo shell has a flat head, a much shorter stem and has become famous for being copied and sold as the "Yuin PK" type shell… in fact “Yuin PK” was so popular that it virtually captured the shell type name as it's own. This shell type is slightly shorter with a narrower stem and a smaller diameter and head than a MX500 styled shell. The general PK shell has a ~16.1mm diameter head and is compatible with ~14.6-14.8mm drivers. Like the MX500 there are also numerous variants of the PK style (e.g. a newer variant like that used in the NiceHCK B40 is actually a larger modified PK-shaped shell measuring ~16.7mm nearing the size of a MX500 shell!).
Type III: Bell (Moondrop Liebesleid; FAAEL Datura Pro; K's Poseidon/Ling) – literally bell-shaped in shell design many would argue that before the arrival of Moondrop’s Liebesleid or K’s w/ Final Acoustics Poseidon there was the 2013 Sennheiser MX985... the grandfather of the “bell design”? You be the judge.
Type IV: Other Variant (NiceHCK ME80; Smabat ST10S Black-Gold; Rose Technics Maria; Toneking Dendroaspis Viridis; Daik DK-Song) – this ever-expanding category includes those earbuds of radical and innovative design. Surprisingly many other earbuds also fall into this category to include those with shells that are often mistaken as being "Type I: MX500" (e.g. Sennheiser MX760; Beyerdynamic DP100; Edifier H180 (Philips SHE3800); AKG by Harman K312 (Transcend); Qian69; Qian39 (VE Zen LL/Lite); RY4X) and/or in some cases are also mistaken for one another (e.g. Beyerdynamic DP100 vs Sennheiser MX760). Also included would be older earbud designs to include the before mentioned Kenwood KH-0.5 and Sony MDR-E252, as well as, the Bang & Olufsen A8, Aiwa HP-V743, and all Apple iPod Earbud models.
EXAMPLE PICS
Type I & II: MX500 vs PK
The smaller PK shell typically has two long "Cylon" looking slots/vents in the middle of the back cover while the larger MX500 shell typically has a long slot on the top outer rim with some combination of holes and short slots on the left and right side rim. However, as mentioned before, there are many slight variants of both of these shell types with various air vent, slot, and hole combinations.
Left: MX500 vs. Right: PK (left pic)
VE Monk = MX500 (center pic)
Yuin = PK (right pic)
NTT Docomo Old Variant = PK (left)
NTT Docomo New Variant = PK (center)
Shozy BK Stardust = PK (right)
TYPE III: Bell
2013 Sennheiser MX985... The Original Bell? (left)
Moondrop Liebesleid (center)
K's Poseidon-Silver Edition (right)
Type IV: Other Variant
NiceHCK ME80 (left)
Smabat ST10S Black-Gold (center)
Toneking Dendroaspis Viridis (right)
Rose Technics Maria II (left)
and Apple Classic Earbuds (right)
Other Variants That Are Commonly Mistaken As Being MX500
Sennheiser MX760 (Left)
Beyerdynamic DP100 (center)
RY4X (right)
AKG by HARMAN K312 (left)
Qian69 (right)
Edifier H180 (left)
Philips SHE3800 (center)
Qian39/VE Monk Lite (right)
COMPARISION - A Nice Example of Multiple Shell Types w/ Their Head Diameter Measurements