DIY Headphone ideas?

[charliemopps]

I want to strait up build some headphones. I've a 3D printer so all the plastic bits aren't that big of a deal, but the drivers are what's difficult.

Parts express has a few small, full range drivers that seem like they'd work. There are these:

https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/292-618_Visaton_K_28_Specifications.pdf

Which are your typical headphone drivers. But I thought I could do a little better than that. Most good headphones use proprietary drivers you can't buy unfortunately.

I found:

https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/264-922-tang-band-w1-1925sb-specifications.pdf

or

https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/296-252_AuraSound_NSW2-326-8A_Specifications.pdf

Is there any reason I couldn't use one of those? I've done some back of the napkin calculations and it looks like I could put them in 3D printed ported enclosures that wouldn't be overly large, especially if I stuffed them. It's only be $20 for a pair of drivers so it's not even that expensive of an experiment. I'm just wondering why I don't see any other attempts to make DIY headphones out there. So I'm assuming there's some big pitfall I'm missing.

Any ideas?

 

[hollowboy]

I've a 3D printer so all the plastic bits aren't that big of a deal

I'd suggest saving about 100 hours of work by re-using some old headphones. Like this:

https://www.stacydevino.com/2011/03...able-headphones-aka-ribbon-driver-headphones/

Personally, I'd pick up a pair of big bad 70s headphones from a vintage / 2nd hand shop, cos they are heavy and roomy.

I could put them in 3D printed ported enclosures that wouldn't be overly large

I may be wrong, but I don't think normal speaker stuff like ports would be meaningful with headphones. I think you'd just use the driver's direct response and add truckloads of eq.

I'm just wondering why I don't see any other attempts to make DIY headphones out there. So I'm assuming there's some big pitfall I'm missing.

Any ideas?

Look on a dedicated headphone forum or chuck appropriate terms into Google

I used "ribbon headphones DIY" to get the article linked above.

 

[xrk971]

I may be wrong, but I don't think normal speaker stuff like ports would be meaningful with headphones. I think you'd just use the driver's direct response and add truckloads of eq.

EQ is great (via DSP one can even do full convolution for FIR filters to make any headphone follow the Harman target response). However, several very nice headphones, even earphones use tiny bass reflex ports. DT770 being a famous one used by professionals for accurate sound monitoring. There is a little know Chinese made earbud called the VE Zen 2.0 that has a rather large bass reflex port for an earbud, but reviews report it to have extremely deep and satisfying bass.

Venture Electronics Zen 2.0 Review

If you need a decent headphone chassis and frame, earcups etc. as a basis - look at the Status OB-1. It is inexpensive but built like a $300 set of phones. Sound great in their own right and for $59 - will give you something to try to aim for if DIY'ing. Afterall, if you can't beat a $59 set of phones, should we bother?

 

[charliemopps]

I never start any project trying to save money. I'm doing it for the sake of doing. Once I get it right, I'll upload the STLs to thingyverse so others can improve on it.

 

[xrk971]

DIY hardly saves money, but is a way to vastly improve upon performance of commercially available products. I am just saying that the bar is set rather high given the $59 price point. I went down this path about a year ago and was planning on 3d printing the frame, earcups holders, etc and then use Visaton B80 full range drivers. Once I heard a pair of DT880's and OB-1's I sort of gave up. I concentrate on the Class A amp that drives the phones now.

Much easier to make progress there...

 

[hollowboy]

However, several very nice headphones, even earphones use tiny bass reflex ports.

I wouldn't have guessed that. Thanks for the info.

If you need a decent headphone chassis and frame [...] for $59

At 2nd hand shops / ebay you can find big, solid headphones like this for around $20.

I've repaired some (AKG) headphones, and had a lot of trouble soldering the delicate wires. The joins kept breaking after a few days. Hence, if I was going to DIY a pair, I'd start with the bulkiest headphones I could find.

 

[charliemopps]

Wow this thread is going off the rails. Anyways, I ordered:

https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/296-252_AuraSound_NSW2-326-8A_Specifications.pdf

It might take me a while to cad the headset but once I get it done I'll pop back in with the results.

 

[freddi]

- looks like a good driver choice - for clunky vintage cans, I really like the Stanton Dynaphase 60 (2-way) http://i.imgur.com/GTkioSj.jpg