DIY 7.1 Sorround Headphones ala the Razer Tiamat

[Pakhtun]

Hey guys I just had an idea for a DIY headphone from seeing the razer Tiamat:

http://www.hitechreview.com/uploads/...amat-7.1_2.jpg

As you can see, it has five drivers(4 tweeters and a subwoofer) in each ear. From what I've read, they're OK for music but excellent for surround sound applications. Since they work through 4 dual channel connectors (plus 1 for the mic) as well as USB (correct me if I'm wrong), I was wondering if it would be feasible to make my own headset with a similar earcup design, using drivers from identical headphones and two smaller subwoofers embedded in a wooden/plastic plate all inside a headphone housing that I could either make myself or modify from some one of those big passive noise cancelling safety headphones that you wear at shooting ranges etc.

I'm not going for the greatest audio quality, just a cool 7.1 headset. As far as I can tell, it has a remote, but that's for controlling the volume and such. I'm pretty sure there's some form of post-processing going on in there, definitely some amplification for that (relatively) large subwoofer (using USB power? I don't know ). I don't have the electronics knowledge necessary to design my own custom amp for this, but I could DIY an existing amp design if something like this exists. I tried to find an existing project that did this, but the only thing I could find was the one where you put two pairs of earbuds inside an over-the-ear headphone for 5.1 surround, and that's not what I want.

So, in your expert opinion, is this possible/worthwile? Any thoughts/suggestions? Any place I could get good parts online? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[sgrossklass]

Originally Posted by Pakhtun

I'm pretty sure there's some form of post-processing going on in there, definitely some amplification for that (relatively) large subwoofer (using USB power? I don't know ).

A 40 mm driver is not particularly large, actually it's a perfectly normal size for full-size headphones and tends to be a good compromise between bass and highs response. Some manufacturers are also using 50 mm ones, and some Sony models even ship with 70 mm ones (though these are predominantly know for their bass...).

Besides, large membrane area means higher efficiency, all else being equal, so larger drivers would be expected to be easier to drive. That's why PA loudspeakers tend to have bass drivers 32..40 cm in diameter. Smaller ones would not only require enormous amounts of amplifier power, but also go up in smoke at the levels required.

As far as multi-driver "surround headphones" are concerned, they usually are not cost-effective. HRTF processing with regular 2.0 headphones still has them beat, and two good drivers tend to sound better than 5 crappy ones.

[Pakhtun]

Oh thanks for the correction! I didn't realize virtual surround would be better. In that case, i'll stick to my g35. But in any case, would it still work? I'm guessing just sticking in the drivers in a configuration similar to the tiamat's and then wiring them to the separate channels for the 7.1 surround would work. I'm just surprised that with so many awesome DIY projects floating around the interwebs nobody's tried this yet.

[Roymer]

I'm interested in aquiring some great sounding surround sound headphones, but the price tag is usually ~150$, I could afford those (Something like Logitech g35), but I'm wondering if I can make my own headphones cheaper and for the same quality (well, not actually the same crystal-clear quality, but really close). I was planing on aquiring a set of cheap, confortable headphones (something like Panasonic SHP 2500) and re-fitting more speakers like in a Razer Tiamat 7.1 array. I have been stacking headphone drivers for some time in the hopes of one day making a dyi surround sound pair of headphones. It was stated above that two good drivers tend to sound better than 5 crappy ones. But what if all the drivers are good quality?

[Roymer]

I'm interested in aquiring some great sounding surround sound headphones, but the price tag is usually ~150$, I could afford those (Something like Logitech g35), but I'm wondering if I can make my own headphones cheaper and for the same quality. I was planing on aquiring a set of cheap, confortable headphones (something like Panasonic SHP 2500) and re-fitting more speakers like in a Razer Tiamat 7.1 array. I have been stacking headphone drivers for some time in the hopes of one day making a dyi surround sound pair of headphones. It was stated above that two good drivers tend to sound better than 5 crappy ones. But what if all the drivers are good quality?

[aphocus]

Your Problem is that the drivers are far too close to your head, the shell will create lots of occlusion and destroy the 3D image.

A good pair of headphones are designed as a whole, drivers and the shell interact together, so swapping drivers from two good sounding headphones can result in poor sound quality, not to say you shouldn't try, but it won't be easy.

I would as sgrossklass suggested get a soundcard with a good HRTF, people seem to like the Asus Xonar DG which I think you can pick up on Amazon for $23 otherwise look for the "dolby headphone" feature.

The other thing to suggest would be google for "Grado DIY project" which has some tips on modifying headphones to get better sound.

But in the end if people can justify spending $300 on a Graphics card even though most games are still designed to work on a 7 year old Xbox 360 or PS3, why can't they justify spending a bit on a pair of headphones (excluding all people who are in fact on a tight budget).

On a side note, I wonder how hard it would be to do an entirely Analog HRTF this way you don't have to worry about the soundcard drivers being buggy slow and allow Linux and Mac users to have some love as well.