[Bingturong]

That's where I got my email address too. I think you would.

 

[akiroz]

So you'll be using AT drivers for your headphones then.
This is getting interesting 

 
Hope your little business goes well~
 
I may actually buy a pair if it's good.
(Who wouldn't want custom headphones?)

 

[qusp]

hmm theres a LOT more to making good headphones to buying some drivers and putting in a randomly shaped enclosure. kickstarter is cool, but you are going to need to do a lot better than that. if the precursor is a pair made from reclaimed talking cards that sound like crap, you might want to take another couple of baby steps before asking for money.
 
then again people buy beats...
 
i'm all for the drive and gumption here, very cool man, truly, but I think you are setting yourself up for a fail using a bunch of other peoples money

 

[builder bob]

Quote:

So you'll be using AT drivers for your headphones then.
This is getting interesting 

 
Hope your little business goes well~
 
I may actually buy a pair if it's good.
(Who wouldn't want custom headphones?)

thanks, i hope it works to.
 
what do you suggest then qusp. my idea was to get a couple of nice speakers (is that what drivers are?) aiming them towards the outside of the headphones. the sound would go threw a cone that would be sealed to the speaker. this i think would cause the sound level to increase with the speaker running at a lower volume. I've found that the lower the volume the higher the sound quality. this may not be true, it might just be that turning my ipod touch past two clicks of volume is uncomfortable.
 
After the sound  reached the end of the cone, it would bounce off a parobolic disk that would be tuned to intensify all of the sound on the users ear. i think that this would work well because i was told by my dad about a time he was helping to install a home theater system and the guy who owned the installation company mounted a small speaker in the bottom of a fake chimney. there was a cone connected to it which went all the way to the ceiling threw it and then protruded slightly from the top so that the sound would bounce of their curved ceiling. my dad said it sounded amazing.

 

[hochopeper]

Quote:

thanks, i hope it works to.
 
what do you suggest then qusp. my idea was to get a couple of nice speakers (is that what drivers are?) aiming them towards the outside of the headphones. the sound would go threw a cone that would be sealed to the speaker. this i think would cause the sound level to increase with the speaker running at a lower volume. I've found that the lower the volume the higher the sound quality. this may not be true, it might just be that turning my ipod touch past two clicks of volume is uncomfortable.
 
After the sound  reached the end of the cone, it would bounce off a parobolic disk that would be tuned to intensify all of the sound on the users ear. i think that this would work well because i was told by my dad about a time he was helping to install a home theater system and the guy who owned the installation company mounted a small speaker in the bottom of a fake chimney. there was a cone connected to it which went all the way to the ceiling threw it and then protruded slightly from the top so that the sound would bounce of their curved ceiling. my dad said it sounded amazing.

I think you've underestimated the intellectual ability of some of the real headphone manufacturers (ie those that are not putting stickers of 'By Dre' on the side). 
 
It might pay to understand the science of audio reproduction a bit better before arbitrarily selecting a shape and material for your headphones, let alone driver selection.
 
A good introduction to the science is - Audio Transducers by Geddes and he's put a good portion of it up in pdf format on his forum - http://www.geddes-audio.com/forum/content.php?44-A-complete-listing-of-chapters-in-pdf-format&s=637bad28f30ae72e992afbe2219978f0 [Note, he assumes a high level of math / physics knowledge, its not easy reading]
 
You might have picked the wrong forum if you're primarily aiming to sell your custom headphones to the same market that buy b34ts. If it was as easy as: greeting card speaker+some foam+art knife+paper mache then collecting $600 from every sucker on the street then I would hate to think what someone who spends years learning the science and doing real R&D could charge for headphones.
 
For example, what shape would the 'cone' have that you're pushing the sound into?

 

[khbaur330162]

Wow! Paper mache and greeting card speakers? Inventive. 

 
If you're looking to take this further, imo you should keep it simple. That chimney ported parabolic delayed reflection system you've got cooking sounds overly complicated which with high probability will lead to poor sound and headaches, I think. Have you heard of Ultrasone's S-Logic? Maybe take a look at the concept and design. Audio Technica drivers might be expensive, and that's if you can get your hands on any real quantity. Chinese manufacturers produce ribbon tweeters meant for 2 and 3-way speaker setups for stupid cheap, I've seen. Maybe you can contact one and get them to create a small batch of 100 units in a dipole configuration? Something that goes down to 1500-2000Hz in a free air setup can probably be tuned for full range once you've got a sealed ear chamber. If it goes lower it might be even better, but tweeters that go down to 700Hz or so can be on the large size which might not be suitable for your application. As a warning these ribbon tweeters would have to be driven via speaker taps most likely. You couldn't just use an iPod. 
 
Doesn't Parts Express sell headphone elements?
 
Good luck!

 

[Bingturong]

I can give the suggestion of maybe getting sony headphone drivers https://www.servicesplus.sel.sony.com/sony-parts.aspx

 

[builder bob]

geesha weesh! i knew this was the wrong forum for this after i read one thread, $1000 fo fancy earbud things! dats crayzy! you guys have got to remember, ALL I ASKED HELP FOR WAS TO FIND SPEAKERS!!!!! I'M NOT TRYING TO MAKE HEADPHONES LIKE YOU GUYS LISTEN TO!!!!! i admire what you can make headphones do but that's not what i'm after. Beats were just annoying me so i decided to make some headphones that sound a better and still look cool. THAT'S ALL I WANT! i've been offered $100 for my headphones without eaven having the person test the sound  or if they fit. i want to sell my headphones for $50 or less, so less people are wasting $100's on beats when all they want is some stupid style created by A screwING CORPARATION!
 
i thank everyone who has given advice on speakers and if i should or shouldn't use a parobolic dish. i do know about acoustics and i know people who specialize in it. I CAN DO IT!

 

[qusp]

thinking something might work well from assumptions based on no background or experience and getting money from people to do it  is pretty different to actually modelling, measuring and knowing it will work well after making a proper prototype and measuring the result. it sounds to me like you have utterly underestimated what is needed for this to work properly, just throwing some 'speakers' and 'cones' at the problem will end in spectacular fail with an army of worldwide displeased victims of your scheme after your blood.
 
your enthusiasm is great, but you are showing your age. this type of design process happens at all price points, maybe not for the fashion accessories that some are calling headphones in the last few years. now if you market them as 'branded headphone shaped street style™ fashion accessory' maybe that would be different, you could leave out the speakers altogether then and save some cash!

 

[builder bob]

Quote:

thinking something might work well from assumptions based on no background or experience and getting money from people to do it  is pretty different to actually modelling, measuring and knowing it will work well after making a proper prototype and measuring the result. it sounds to me like you have utterly underestimated what is needed for this to work properly, just throwing some 'speakers' and 'cones' at the problem will end in spectacular fail with an army of worldwide displeased victims of your scheme after your blood.
 
your enthusiasm is great, but you are showing your age. this type of design process happens at all price points, maybe not for the fashion accessories that some are calling headphones in the last few years. now if you market them as 'branded headphone shaped street style™ fashion accessory' maybe that would be different, you could leave out the speakers altogether then and save some cash!

are you eaven reading all that i'm saying? i never said i was going to put anything on kickstarter before i had a nice prototype and i never said i was just going to throw stuff together. all i wanted was information on the speakers. i'm sorry i got mad in my last post, i had had a bad day at school and then seeing multiple posts saying i couldn't do it got me mad. though i do in a way apreciate that some of you said i wouldn't be able to make the headphones because now i have somebody to prove wrong. Innovative Designs built to DEFY (sums up my personality preaty good).
 
ok, back to the question of speakers, what are the specifications i should look for in speakers for headphones? the speackers that i've been using drain my ipod battery realy fast, i don't want that.

 

[hochopeper]

You will need to know how loud you want to hear the music(?) along with impedance and sensitivity to decide that. You will need to decide if your intended sources will produce sufficient current and voltage to drive the speaker properly also.


My earlier suggestions were based on understanding that you wanted a headphone that sounded better (more accurate) than beats, your current design process will not reliably achieve that.

In summary:
- arts and crafts is easy
- engineering a headphone, not so easy

 

[builder bob]

Quote:

You will need to know how loud you want to hear the music(?) along with impedance and sensitivity to decide that. You will need to decide if your intended sources will produce sufficient current and voltage to drive the speaker properly also.
My earlier suggestions were based on understanding that you wanted a headphone that sounded better (more accurate) than beats, your current design process will not reliably achieve that.
In summary:
- arts and crafts is easy
- engineering a headphone, not so easy

your right that i do want headphones that sound better than beats but, my $15 pair of headphones sound much better than the popular sound cancleing ones (the ones i hate). because of this i don't think that finding the perfect speaker is necessary. what i had meant is, how much power do normal headphones speakers require and also can you get a speaker to make sound from 20-16000Hz? i don't think anything higher than sixtean is realy necessary because that is where the hearing range for many people stops.

 

[builder bob]

i found the answer to my question. ok so, if i had two speakers with neodymium magnets, 50mm Mylar Drivers, 32 Ohms Impedance, a Sensitivity of 108dB at 1kHz, and a frequency response of  20 to 20,000Hz sound good if the speakers were floating in the air?

 

[builder bob]

this be any better?:

1. 40mm neodymium driver

1. Impedance: 32Ω
2. Sensitivity: 114dB S.P.L at 1kHz
3. Frequency response: 20 to 20kHz
4. Maximum power input: 150mW

 

[akiroz]

@bob
you really can't tell by those specs alone.
Get both of them, and do some R&D.