[swtnate]

So you connected (-) to (+) on sonion 33 ? Looks good.
But i connected it this way ? Am I using right approach? Somehow this way it gets louder. What do you think?

This is parallel wiring and its the only way Ive ever used this driver series. Certain 33 models pack a SERIOUS punch and can get a bit loose and inaccurate if not tamed pretty well. On the other hand, the way it handles the sub frequencies of an 808 will get your ears percalating. Its great paired with a 2389 for an exceptional straight forward, no frills, work horse of an IEM. Easy to wire up and simple to install. Although, be mindful of the two back vents between the solder pads. If you use flux to any degree, when soldering drivers, be extremely mindful of their placement.

 

[Arski]

What’s gonna happen if you close the back vents? Bass drop? I did series/parallel connection and parallel is the one which works the best. Thanks to your suggestions SWTNATE. Btw what was your best setup for the 33 and 2389? Did you try 2389D?

 

[swtnate]

What’s gonna happen if you close the back vents? Bass drop? I did series/parallel connection and parallel is the one which works the best. Thanks to your suggestions SWTNATE. Btw what was your best setup for the 33 and 2389? Did you try 2389D?

Closing the back vents of the really powerful dual subs will/ can lead to increased sound pressure and limit the headroom due to it not being able to breathe. Then, depending on how hard your pushing it, the magnet(s) could become destablized leading to permanent damage of the internal coil/ magnet. Now, thats worst case scenerio. More than likely it will just sound muted and bland. Sorta like, hey theres bass in there. As opposed to “holy cow that bass drop slapped”.

I typically pair the 2389 with a certain 3300/i9. Pretty simple and straight forward build that has a really large and upfront sound stage with fairly descent separation in playing stereo. Mono singles have really good performance as well due to that driver pairing not overloading each other. Just remember, that setup is a rowdy loud setup for a triple.

for the 2389D, I prefer pairing it with the 3800 with ferrofluid. That dual sub is totally worth the extra price due to its exceptionally natural slope without any additional electronic components. The center tap really works in your favor here.

 

[Arski]

Ferrofluid? What is that?

 

[swtnate]

Ferrofluid? What is that?

without getting in the weeds, its a material added inside the armature that is highly efficient at sculpting the frequency response of said driver. Mostly seen in sub units and full range units. Think of it like an internal damper plus an electrical crossover combined.

 

[swtnate]

Big time question for the group. Over the last few years of building all these different configurations Ive been married to the ED29689, TWFK, SWFK, and WBFK. For my high frequencies/ tweeters & mids. Recently, Ive had a breakthrough using the 2389 and the 2389D whenever shell real estate is ample. One struggle is the relatively lower outputs of these drivers in the sparkle portion of the spectrum Along with a max 110dB to 115dB before adding the necessary capacitor(s) to shape the curve. I have been really anxious to try out the new RAU super tweeter from Knowles. However, the response curve is still pretty meh. The only plus is the lack of mid trail before getting to the highs. So, theres a question in here somewhere! . What gives?!? what is the RAU compared to its counter parts WBFK and SWFK? How does it stack up in circuit? Does it really offer comparable performance to

 

[musmecca]

Big time question for the group. Over the last few years of building all these different configurations Ive been married to the ED29689, TWFK, SWFK, and WBFK. For my high frequencies/ tweeters & mids. Recently, Ive had a breakthrough using the 2389 and the 2389D whenever shell real estate is ample. One struggle is the relatively lower outputs of these drivers in the sparkle portion of the spectrum Along with a max 110dB to 115dB before adding the necessary capacitor(s) to shape the curve. I have been really anxious to try out the new RAU super tweeter from Knowles. However, the response curve is still pretty meh. The only plus is the lack of mid trail before getting to the highs. So, theres a question in here somewhere! . What gives?!? what is the RAU compared to its counter parts WBFK and SWFK? How does it stack up in circuit? Does it really offer comparable performance to

The short answer is you will still need a tweeter/fullrange in conjunction with an RAU. It appears (per the graph) that it doesn't hit 100DB until the 7K range, so something else is going to have to pick up the slack....this guy is just for "sparkle" in my opinion. My worry is everything else will need to be attenuated so much that the overall output will sound flat. I've got most of the new knowles drivers and am currently working up designs, so take what I say as guidance until I actually get some builds done. If anyone has completed some builds, I'd love to hear as I'm still prototyping.

 

[swtnate]

The short answer is you will still need a tweeter/fullrange in conjunction with an RAU. It appears (per the graph) that it doesn't hit 100DB until the 7K range, so something else is going to have to pick up the slack....this guy is just for "sparkle" in my opinion. My worry is everything else will need to be attenuated so much that the overall output will sound flat. I've got most of the new knowles drivers and am currently working up designs, so take what I say as guidance until I actually get some builds done. If anyone has completed some builds, I'd love to hear as I'm still prototyping.

This is what I suspected. Im totally fine with it only being for that 7k+ area. Im just struggling to see where and how it is a real improvement over the WBFK or the SWFK.

 

[musmecca]

This is what I suspected. Im totally fine with it only being for that 7k+ area. Im just struggling to see where and how it is a real improvement over the WBFK or the SWFK.

This is what I suspected. Im totally fine with it only being for that 7k+ area. Im just struggling to see where and how it is a real improvement over the WBFK or the SWFK.

When I've used the sonion est's, I've used them in conjunction with other tweeters. I use a highpass so I'm not wasting energy (normally about 3K for me() but I only use the est to add sparkle and some high end breath....if that makes sense. It can add some dimension to even wbfk/swfk constructs....I never use them without "help". The appeal of the RAU is that's ALL it does...without that big transformer that takes up SOOOO much room in a build. Not sure yet if the RAU needs a highpass...one of the things I gotta figure out.

 

[swtnate]

When I've used the sonion est's, I've used them in conjunction with other tweeters. I use a highpass so I'm not wasting energy (normally about 3K for me() but I only use the est to add sparkle and some high end breath....if that makes sense. It can add some dimension to even wbfk/swfk constructs....I never use them without "help". The appeal of the RAU is that's ALL it does...without that big transformer that takes up SOOOO much room in a build. Not sure yet if the RAU needs a highpass...one of the things I gotta figure out.

ok! Now its starting to click with potential! If theres no need for a series capacitor to get the highs to cut through that would be amazing! Im curious though how the FR could remain consistent across multiple driver configurations.

 

[swtnate]

@piotrus-g have you been gathering data secretly on this pretty sweet little unit? I wonder if they will beat out Knowles in the race to be first in the market.

https://sonion.com/sonion-hybrid-module/

 

[piotrus-g]

This is what I suspected. Im totally fine with it only being for that 7k+ area. Im just struggling to see where and how it is a real improvement over the WBFK or the SWFK.

Anything above 10kHz is big improvement in RAU over WBFK/SWFK

When I've used the sonion est's, I've used them in conjunction with other tweeters. I use a highpass so I'm not wasting energy (normally about 3K for me() but I only use the est to add sparkle and some high end breath....if that makes sense. It can add some dimension to even wbfk/swfk constructs....I never use them without "help". The appeal of the RAU is that's ALL it does...without that big transformer that takes up SOOOO much room in a build. Not sure yet if the RAU needs a highpass...one of the things I gotta figure out.

It needs a high pass, even though the levels are lower below 7kHz they will still affect the rest of FR, you'll also have an impedance problem as it will decrease overall impedance of the whole set up.

@piotrus-g have you been gathering data secretly on this pretty sweet little unit? I wonder if they will beat out Knowles in the race to be first in the market.

https://sonion.com/sonion-hybrid-module/

Actually I don't know much about this module. I think it's been quite a while it's been available and Knowles has one too - I think it's DD+RAN set up. Bellsing also has one which is DD+BRC305 I think.
Overall these are mass-market solutions for super easy and fast assembly, so you might be looking at MOQ in thousands from Sonion and Knowles.

 

[swtnate]

PSA for those of us that purchase in small batch components. The last round of black and clear flush mount female 2-pin connectors I received from Aliexpress are INCREDIBLY sensitive to the iron. I typically use my solder at 360-365. Well within range of the Knowles recommendations. These pins will loosen considerably after a couple three taps at that temperature. Im trying to figure out a micro sized heat sync and will keep you posted. If you typically have .75 male pins… it might be high time to have some .78 pinned cables handy. Its heart breaking to see…

 

[swtnate]

Another tidbit to save some a few thousand heartaches. If you are doing traditional PnP builds and incorporate silicone lacquer in your workflow, I would highly recommend Biopor AB UV Lack from Dreve. It builds much more full on the impression, brushes like it was sprayed, and flows out like a champ after being on the turning wheel for 5 minutes. Its a hefty cure time though, 9 whole minutes. Due to it being fully cured by the light, theres nothing to linger behind and give you fits when using two part silicone investment such as Fotosil.

 

[Arski]

This is parallel wiring and its the only way Ive ever used this driver series. Certain 33 models pack a SERIOUS punch and can get a bit loose and inaccurate if not tamed pretty well. On the other hand, the way it handles the sub frequencies of an 808 will get your ears percalating. Its great paired with a 2389 for an exceptional straight forward, no frills, work horse of an IEM. Easy to wire up and simple to install. Although, be mindful of the two back vents between the solder pads. If you use flux to any degree, when soldering drivers, be extremely mindful of their placement.

I did few updates and modification to my 33&2389 circuit and came up with this result. It will be a onstage CIEM. It’s pretty flat and I can’t tell if it’s good or not, regarding to a ear freq response is it gonna be ok or harsh in the 3k area?