[VanHai]

Hi, i am the newest member. Thank you for those who provided tips and templates, i have built my open-alpha dog in blue.
https://imgur.com/a/s0RsFQG

 

[DenverW]

So I've been working on these now that I have more time (thanks coronavirus!) and I wanted to ask the 'dumb question of the day!'

So I'm using a 3.5 female connector on the cups, and I am a bit lost on the soldering connections between the connector and driver. There are three prongs, 1-3, listed as 1. Sleeve - Ground, 2. Tip - Left Channel, 3. Ring - Right Channel. So as far as which of these connect to the + and - connection on the driver...?

I looked through the forums posts but didnt find my answer, so I was wondering if one of you lovely people could help out, as this is the first time I've recabled a headphone before and I don't want to gaff it up!

 

[VanHai]

So I've been working on these now that I have more time (thanks coronavirus!) and I wanted to ask the 'dumb question of the day!'

So I'm using a 3.5 female connector on the cups, and I am a bit lost on the soldering connections between the connector and driver. There are three prongs, 1-3, listed as 1. Sleeve - Ground, 2. Tip - Left Channel, 3. Ring - Right Channel. So as far as which of these connect to the + and - connection on the driver...?

I looked through the forums posts but didnt find my answer, so I was wondering if one of you lovely people could help out, as this is the first time I've recabled a headphone before and I don't want to gaff it up!

The Tip is + and the Ring is - . Plug the male 3.5mm to the 3.5mm female connector and use a Multi-meter to measure the connectivity from the back of the male to the 3 prongs of the female to see which prong is the Tip or Ring. Then you can solder the Tip prong to + side of the driver and Ring prong to - side of the driver.

 

[homerograco]

Nice. They look bigger than the open alpha spec. Or maybe your work on them has made them larger than life.

These are based on v2 drivers, which are round and also have a round baffle. My initial plan was to mod open alpha's 3D model, but I ended up making a new one from scratch. The v2 driver is set within a cylinder and it takes quite some space, so I decided to make the cups also a bit bigger to compensate. The diameter is about the same as Open Alpha's (but round instead of elliptical), and about 1cm deeper.

 

[VanHai]

These are based on v2 drivers, which are round and also have a round baffle. My initial plan was to mod open alpha's 3D model, but I ended up making a new one from scratch. The v2 driver is set within a cylinder and it takes quite some space, so I decided to make the cups also a bit bigger to compensate. The diameter is about the same as Open Alpha's (but round instead of elliptical), and about 1cm deeper.

Nice can, i also have a set of round drivers from T40 (45mm v2) and plan to build them in the future. Did you use the original baffles from the headphones for your cups or you transfer the drivers to a new baffles that you created?.

 

[homerograco]

Nice can, i also have a set of round drivers from T40 (45mm v2) and plan to build them in the future. Did you use the original baffles from the headphones for your cups or you transfer the drivers to a new baffles that you created?.

Thanks!

I used the original baffles - 1) because I started to take one of the drivers apart and noticed it is quite fragile, and became afraid of damaging it, and 2) the original baffles are pretty solid and have a nice shape. So I just kept them in my mod.

Attention though: the baffles attach to the cups via 3 screws and the screw heads are supported by a neck on the base that goes deeper than the actual baffle. Here you have two options, you either design your cup with a recessed hole to compensate for the screw head or you remove the necks and use different screws with wider heads to hold the baffle from the outside. I went for option #2, but it is irreversible.

 

[VanHai]

Thanks!

I used the original baffles - 1) because I started to take one of the drivers apart and noticed it is quite fragile, and became afraid of damaging it, and 2) the original baffles are pretty solid and have a nice shape. So I just kept them in my mod.

Attention though: the baffles attach to the cups via 3 screws and the screw heads are supported by a neck on the base that goes deeper than the actual baffle. Here you have two options, you either design your cup with a recessed hole to compensate for the screw head or you remove the necks and use different screws with wider heads to hold the baffle from the outside. I went for option #2, but it is irreversible.

Great!. Thank you.

 

[corndan]

The Tip is + and the Ring is - . Plug the male 3.5mm to the 3.5mm female connector and use a Multi-meter to measure the connectivity from the back of the male to the 3 prongs of the female to see which prong is the Tip or Ring. Then you can solder the Tip prong to + side of the driver and Ring prong to - side of the driver.

As a side note to this, if you're using mono connectors in and stereo jacks, you can also tie the ring and sleeve prongs together to make a more likely connection with the mono connectors.

 

[Silent Xaxal]

These are based on v2 drivers, which are round and also have a round baffle. My initial plan was to mod open alpha's 3D model, but I ended up making a new one from scratch. The v2 driver is set within a cylinder and it takes quite some space, so I decided to make the cups also a bit bigger to compensate. The diameter is about the same as Open Alpha's (but round instead of elliptical), and about 1cm deeper.

Do you have any pics from when you were building these?

 

[homerograco]

Do you have any pics from when you were building these?

I only have these 2 below, but you cannot see the cups' internal side. Later I can remove the ear pads and send some baffle shots as well

 

[Silent Xaxal]

I only have these 2 below, but you cannot see the cups' internal side. Later I can remove the ear pads and send some baffle shots as well

Nice, nice.

You willing to share your 3d model for the cups?

 

[homerograco]

Nice, nice.

You willing to share your 3d model for the cups?

Yes! In the zip folder you will find .obj files for the cups (left and right) and a ring to be glued on the cups. The reason for this ring is that I noticed my headphones had bad seal and realised that the earpads where not touching the lower part of my head. So I made the ring to compensate for that, and got much better seal.

Note that I designed these to have earpads sitting on top of the cups, and not sliding under the baffle, like what ZMF does with the Blackwood.

 

[DenverW]

All done! I'd like to thank the artist formerly known as "Mrspeakers" (Dan Clark Audio!) for the fun this project has brought me. Very generous of them to release this into the community.

How do the they sound? Well, these easily beat out every TOTL headphone available. They crush the 009s, HD800S, and Focal Utopia. At least, in my head they do, and I have quite the imagination.

I do have a pair of original Alpha Dogs which I used to compare. The DIY are thicker in the low end by quite a bit, so I'll have some mild adjustments to make. I used wool inside the cups (like the alpha prime). Overall, I couldn't be happier with the result. These have a very similar sound signature to the fostex X00 or e-mu teak sound. Great soundstage!

 

[homerograco]

All done! I'd like to thank the artist formerly known as "Mrspeakers" (Dan Clark Audio!) for the fun this project has brought me. Very generous of them to release this into the community.

How do the they sound? Well, these easily beat out every TOTL headphone available. They crush the 009s, HD800S, and Focal Utopia. At least, in my head they do, and I have quite the imagination.

I do have a pair of original Alpha Dogs which I used to compare. The DIY are thicker in the low end by quite a bit, so I'll have some mild adjustments to make. I used wool inside the cups (like the alpha prime). Overall, I couldn't be happier with the result. These have a very similar sound signature to the fostex X00 or e-mu teak sound. Great soundstage!

Very nice job! Did you paint them yourself? And how much wool are you using? Mine have pretty much the whole cup filled with it. They sound quite thick, with some detail in the upper registers.

 

[dnalekaw]

For anyone interested, here's what the inside of my Alpha Primes look like:

Rear damping follows lattices of paxmate sound deadening foam, with stiff felt over the rear bass port. Both Alpha Primes I have had do not contain any wool, instead just a single cotton ball rolled out and laid around the central post.