[ZGLISZCZ]

  Has anyone tried 3d printing IEM shells?  

I believe you can do that just like any other design but it will be tricky, you need to know sizes of internal driver etc. to fit it inside shell, also without 3d scan of your earcanal it might be hard to design proper shape of enclosure that will fit perfectly. 

 

[elchacon]

Any recommendations on the best 3D printer to get? I've been looking through different guides, like 3DForged.com's and 3DHubs' guide.
 
I'm leaning towards the QIDI TECH I, but any suggestions would be helpful!

 

[hasmac]

My first 3D printed headphone parts, if they're useful to anyone else please feel free to download the designs from Tinkercad or Thingiverse
These were done on an UP! Plus mini 3D printer.
The slider kit I could have done on an LPKF PCB mill or Gravograph laser cutter, it's only a 2D solution, but I didn't have any suitable stock material to hand, it was easier to just print it. 
 
Beyerdynamic DT48 Slider Kit
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/8g37GGwZ88Z-beyerdynamic-dt48-slider-kit
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2156747
 
CMOY_BB Front Panel - made to fit the CMOY_BB circuit board into a 71x25x100mm project box.
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/j2O9YiFa0Z6-cmoybb
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2156733
 
Y cable splitter - work in progress, I've yet to print this myself
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/lwLZduMPx1F-y-cable-splitter
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2156712
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Taavi Lipamae]

Actually that's awesome!
Recently I bought a LulzBot Taz 6 3d printer. For me it was a hard choice which printer to buy, because there are so many printers out there, 
I tried to follow these guidance : http://3dinsider.com/3d-printers-for-sale/ and It actually helped me to find a good one. 
My budget was really limited, so I found some variants for less then 400 USD.  Awesome! 

 

[sainteb]

-edit-

 

[dgindlespergerd]

Love mine

 

[DrivenKeys]

Well, it seems perhaps time to bring this thread back to regularity. Considering you can buy perfectly serviceable printers for under 200 bux, complete with some premium features, I've decided to cool it on buying headphones and use that can cash for something that will allow me to realize my designs overnight. Good drivers can be had cheaply, and I think we could start designing and sharing to create a truly unique corner of this community.

I used to love carving wood and making molds for fiber/resin, it's just a ton of messy work, and easy to ruin small details. Yes, designing in 3D and learning all the ins and outs of the printer takes time. Unlike hand-fabrication, the initial effort will exponetially save time for future projects. Of course, my $200 printer won't make perfectly smooth results, but it will make a product I can quickly refine without much effort. While planning my first cup, I've collected several old phones and supplies before the cost and time comparison to 3D printing couldn't be ignored. Of course, I'll always love pure hand-fabrication, but we've got some huge potential here.

So, I'm going to keep studying and posting here. My Anycubic Kossel Plus arrives in a few days. This delta printer is very highly regarded in the entry-level range, which is becoming a very, very hot market. One of the reasons I chose Anycubic is their reputation for customer service. All of the cheap printers can come with problems, Anycubic sends out new parts as soon as they hear a complaint (2 weeks from China, but still!). I just wrote to their Aliexpress store about a glass bed I ordered, and they rushed out my order just for writing. I purchased the Kossel from their US store for $188 with a coupon. If I weren't so impatient, I would have ordered it from their Aliexpress store from China for $150. They have similar pricing for the i3 Mega, thier simple cartesian printer that's well-known for reliability and accuracy. I did all this research before plugging in an open box $120 Monoprice mini-pro (now being returned). Even that tiny, pre-assembled printer can make a good set of cans. Considering the potential here, I can't see how any electronics hobbyist can resist.

I've been a professional digital artist, but it's been a couple years. I'm learning the basic tools now, they look a lot easier than Maya! Hopefully, I'll have a 40 mm baffle for my dt770 cup ready by the end of the week. I'll keep you guys posted.

Also, if anybody can recommend any speaker/headphone design software, I would really appreciate it. I haven't studied speaker design in over 20 years, and hate doing all the math.

 

[frank2908]

I guess you are familiar with fusion360, it ise to use for this level.
For making 3d printed headphones, I have a few suggestion:
Petg is better, it has lower resonance frequency and amplitude, you have to design them thicker to make them more rigid. PLA is stiffer but very bad at resonance
Between the baffle and cup its best to use eva foam 1mm tape to stick on baffle, then everything will be sealed when you screw in the cup
Buy a ton of micropore and double sided foam tape. Micropore is similar to the white paper you see on beyerdynamic or other phones.best to seal the holes with them
On baffle and cups, make tones of tuning hole, then seal them with micropore or seal completely. Its better to make your design flexible for tunning
I design my earpads to be attached to baffle by magnet (5mm diameterx 2 mm thick) so tunning and pads swap is quick
You probably need new and different earpads, brainwavz is cheap and good place to start. Don't bother with expensive pads yet

 

[DrivenKeys]

I guess you are familiar with fusion360, it ise to use for this level.
For making 3d printed headphones, I have a few suggestion:
Petg is better, it has lower resonance frequency and amplitude, you have to design them thicker to make them more rigid. PLA is stiffer but very bad at resonance
Between the baffle and cup its best to use eva foam 1mm tape to stick on baffle, then everything will be sealed when you screw in the cup
Buy a ton of micropore and double sided foam tape. Micropore is similar to the white paper you see on beyerdynamic or other phones.best to seal the holes with them
On baffle and cups, make tones of tuning hole, then seal them with micropore or seal completely. Its better to make your design flexible for tunning
I design my earpads to be attached to baffle by magnet (5mm diameterx 2 mm thick) so tunning and pads swap is quick
You probably need new and different earpads, brainwavz is cheap and good place to start. Don't bother with expensive pads yet

Thank you, this is all excellent advice. I'll start with the pla for baffles and prototyping, and upgrade to petg soon. It's pretty amazing the resonant differences. Considering Beyer went abs with the consumer cups, I hoped abs would sound good. I understand the structural differences between printing and injection molding, so I'm not that surprised. I may also experiment with pla dampened with plasti-dip spray inside. It's not dynamat, but I have an extra can just sitting there. I could also smear plasticine clay into the grooved surface...

For a simple cup, have you ever experimented with printing an inside liner layer with wood, then a stiffer outer layer of petg? I bet that bonding them together with silicone adhesive could provide some nice dampening. Best of both worlds? I've found several wood choices out there, I wonder how cork sounds...

Micropore! The medical tape, right? I read about it somewhere on head-fi over a decade ago. I've also had success attenuating certain frequencies with different thicknesses of iron-on backing and embroidery stabilizer. For my semi-open and closed designs, I wanted to make baffles imitating Beyer's, with big, cloth covered openings. When I get adventurous, I may want to print a baffle right onto the cloth. Of course, save the printer; if I must super-glue them post-print, so be it.

I see so many Brainwavs here. In my eyes, they're a bit pricey for what you get, until you go sheep. Then again, they've led this industry. Of course the imitation will be cheaper. I'd never pay 60+ for a pad unless I've finally reached the point of chasing perfection, and 40 is really pushing it. I thought it might be fun to stick with the Aliexpress competition. Time will tell. Pricing isn't that different when you go fenestrated sheep, but pleather, hybrid, and velour all have some great Ali choices for just a few bux. Of the few Ali pads that actually have brand names, I like Defean, but some of the no-names have softer foam.

I love the magnet idea! I had thought to try a hifiman-style twist-ring, but the magnets seem so much easier and more durable.

To make drivers modular, I think I may adapt the metal ring from broken 52mm camera UV filters. They're fairly flat and threaded, and would be very easy to transfer between baffles. I've already grown tired of pulling apart and cleaning glue whenever I pull a driver from a baffle, so this makes sense. The 3D printing plastics are soft enough to be threaded with a spare ring. Heck, with the upgraded board and drivers I just bought, I wonder if I can reliably print those narrow threads...Not getting my hopes up, just wondering.

 

[frank2908]

You can ofcourse make your own pads, which I realised too late after buying almost earpads possible ( stax, audeze, brainwavz, fostex,....) And wanted to make one to my own size. Best material is lambskin leather ofcourse, but I also made one pair from cheap micro fiber towel from decathlon, you can buy from any place have them cheap. Its the same material as the marketing people called " alcantara", comfy, do the job, thin
For filament, you can get away with pla if you print something like the beyer baffle and stick medical tape on it, since there is very little surface area for it to vibrate. For cups, pla is bad.
Composite material like wood, its too soft and doesn't have any benefit , carbon fiber pla give good aesthetic but not stiffer, I forgot how it affected the resonance. i havent haven this but carbon fiber nylon is interesting enough, its strong, fiber filled and should produce something similar to the luna plastic sennheiser used on their hd800.
I also had some idea to print bronze filled pla directly on the parts, so you have printed ready damping material like dynamat ( since they are heavy, design them like a pattern)
With filled filament, be sure to buy yourself a steel hotend, it wear the nozzle quickly

 

[DrivenKeys]

You can ofcourse make your own pads, which I realised too late after buying almost earpads possible ( stax, audeze, brainwavz, fostex,....) And wanted to make one to my own size. Best material is lambskin leather ofcourse, but I also made one pair from cheap micro fiber towel from decathlon, you can buy from any place have them cheap. Its the same material as the marketing people called " alcantara", comfy, do the job, thin
For filament, you can get away with pla if you print something like the beyer baffle and stick medical tape on it, since there is very little surface area for it to vibrate. For cups, pla is bad.
Composite material like wood, its too soft and doesn't have any benefit , carbon fiber pla give good aesthetic but not stiffer, I forgot how it affected the resonance. i havent haven this but carbon fiber nylon is interesting enough, its strong, fiber filled and should produce something similar to the luna plastic sennheiser used on their hd800.
I also had some idea to print bronze filled pla directly on the parts, so you have printed ready damping material like dynamat ( since they are heavy, design them like a pattern)
With filled filament, be sure to buy yourself a steel hotend, it wear the nozzle quickly

Ohhhh, I love 'alcantara', I had no idea I could find it so easily. You've got it, I've been planning to make pads when I have the time. My roomate has an excellent sewing machine, but I don't always have access. I've been wondering what foam choices are around. Memory is great and all, but I wonder if there's anything like the stock Beyer foam available. I really like how it eventually molds to my head. Memory always has the same pressure points, or is so soft you need a lot for proper support.

That carbon fiber nylon looks pretty awesome. Something for a little down the line. I'm getting the printer well setup before trying tougher materials. Anycubic's kit is one of the best $200 printers around, but another hundo makes it super-awesome, especially with Ali prices.

I've already purchased a SKR V1.3 32 bit board and TMC2209's from BigTreeTech. I know it's not needed to get started, but after looking at the improvements the board gives to Delta printers, I know it will be a first upgrade anyway. I was just researching the best hot end, but want to learn more. What hot end do you like? The E3D V6 is super popular, what else is good?

If you haven't yet, I recommend Teaching Tech on Youtube or Patreon. This guy is amazing at teaching this stuff quickly. He recently posted a video experimenting with non-planar slicing. It's in it's infancy, but is possible to experiment if the nozzle can be long enough (sans attachments. no cooler = no bridging). Another project for down the line, but something to consider.

 

[frank2908]

I just saw the video today haha. He's good
Memory foam is your bet material, its not too hard to find. Other foam I had deteriorated in 4 or 5 years, and its a mess
So far I encountered 3 different memory foam density, so where you buy is important, needless to say, the softer the better. I bought a baby memory foam pillow and to my luck, inside the cover are 2 different foams, one 15mm thick, a bit more open cell, good for flat pads. The other is very soft, tapered, and best for making angled pads. I'm not sure its easy to find. When I was a student, I just send email to those brand online offer " free sample" for their memory foam bed. Ended up with 4 packs of 12x12x5cm blocks

 

[DrivenKeys]

I just saw the video today haha. He's good
Memory foam is your bet material, its not too hard to find. Other foam I had deteriorated in 4 or 5 years, and its a mess
So far I encountered 3 different memory foam density, so where you buy is important, needless to say, the softer the better. I bought a baby memory foam pillow and to my luck, inside the cover are 2 different foams, one 15mm thick, a bit more open cell, good for flat pads. The other is very soft, tapered, and best for making angled pads. I'm not sure its easy to find. When I was a student, I just send email to those brand online offer " free sample" for their memory foam bed. Ended up with 4 packs of 12x12x5cm blocks

Lol, that's a great idea to ask for samples. I've lucked out there by accident on other projects, not sure why I never thought of it. I love the baby pillow idea, I'll look into it. It seems like I just haven't found the correct memory foam, perhaps I need to slim the foam near my zygomatic arch. This is where I feel pressure points with firmer memory foam. I still prefer the firmer foam, as it maintains distance from my ear. The softer foam works, but only with a huge donut. Too little, and the pads crumple under the clamp, the speaker contacts my ear, and it's downhill from there. I'll keep trying, I have some Ali angled pads on the way. Every time I'm aware of unusual pressure with memory foam, I'm reminded how supple the Beyer pads had become with a little use. If I can get that comfort for a couple years, it's well worth replacing every once in a while. Heck, many of my headphones haven't lasted that long.

Alternatively, I may design a cup with the baffle set deeper in. Then I can use softer, slimmer memory foam pads and still avoid ear contact. I'm not getting younger, and these ears just keep moving futher out....

 

[NiTROAUDiO]

Hey there is there anyone here who can help me print the 3d prints of the m1069 mods I need. I can't afford a printing service anyone who can help me would be greatly appreciated.