BUILDING HEADPHONES
This part of the audio world seems more cool and relatively easy to begin with.
Though When I say 'begin with', it implies when you get the necessary parts for that.
1. Now where can I get a good driver to make a headphone? i found these - USD$15.00 - 1 Pair Dia 40mm Repair Parts Speaker Unit For Earphone headset - lunashops online shop
the specs seems too good to be true. but the thing is it is chinese. and even the rms power is not listed. there tech support responded by saying the factory wch supplies them dont provide complete specs.
what other, reliable, options are there.(i did google, thats why i am here)
I am also plannng to make it wireless. two modules seems promising, rn52 and csr 8650
2. with what additional payloads can it be made to work with bluetooth as well as the standard 3.5 mm jack. can it be made two accommodate both?
my questions may seems naive. but the truth is i dont have a headphone. so never had a chance to tinker with the innards.
3. so i am curious to know what other electronics go inside the headphones to make it work exceptionally hi-fi? in fact, is there any other electronics involved?
i have read a lot about headphone amplifiers, cmoy, o2, etc.
4. when are they required?
i dont mind going to any length to make a trully exceptional hi-fi headphone. love to learn.
This part of the audio world seems more cool and relatively easy to begin with.
Though When I say 'begin with', it implies when you get the necessary parts for that.
1. Now where can I get a good driver to make a headphone? i found these - USD$15.00 - 1 Pair Dia 40mm Repair Parts Speaker Unit For Earphone headset - lunashops online shop
the specs seems too good to be true. but the thing is it is chinese. and even the rms power is not listed. there tech support responded by saying the factory wch supplies them dont provide complete specs.
what other, reliable, options are there.(i did google, thats why i am here)
I am also plannng to make it wireless. two modules seems promising, rn52 and csr 8650
2. with what additional payloads can it be made to work with bluetooth as well as the standard 3.5 mm jack. can it be made two accommodate both?
my questions may seems naive. but the truth is i dont have a headphone. so never had a chance to tinker with the innards.
3. so i am curious to know what other electronics go inside the headphones to make it work exceptionally hi-fi? in fact, is there any other electronics involved?
i have read a lot about headphone amplifiers, cmoy, o2, etc.
4. when are they required?
i dont mind going to any length to make a trully exceptional hi-fi headphone. love to learn.
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When it comes down to acoustics I think headphones might actually be one of the trickier areas to actually be able to experiment and learn. Sure, they are small in size which makes them convenient to tinker with but it also makes them much more sensitive and specialized/harder to repair/more difficult to adapt to your needs. I'm sort of newbie myself but this is my experience this far. Everything gets a little harder to do when the parts and electronics are smaller.
1: I've been on a quest for good OEM drivers too but to no avail. You want a speaker with a frequency response curve that extends well below a 100Hz, preferrably below 20. One thing to keep in mind though is that, apparently, headphones and stock drivers are tested in very different ways. That means that a driver with a specified lowest frq resp in the kHz area might reproduce bass very well once it's built into a headphone and in good and sealed contact with the ear.
Here's a thread that lists some possible sources for drivers:
Buying drivers/micro speakers for DIY headphones
2: This is a little out of my comfort zone but I suppose you'd want to make your cables detachable if you want to alternate between bluetooth and cable, so that's a start. Then you need some way to override the bluetooth when the cable is connected. Or you could just connect both cable and bluetooth transmitter in parallell and just turn off/don't use which ever one you don't feel like using at the moment.
3: What goes into hifi headphones are a high quality transducer capsule (driver) and a good cup design together with acoustic damping material, arranged together in a way that will produce whatever sound characteristics the manufacturer is going for. Usually that is a very flat and even frequency response curve. That makes the listening experience true to the recording you are listening to. That's even the meaning of the abbrviation "hifi", "high fidelity".
There is no electronic component that makes the headphone more hifi. It's all good design and a good headphone driver, nothing else.
4: A headphone amp is used to take the load of sound amplification off of any sound source you might be using and transferring it to a dedicated unit: the amp. This means that you can usually get a higher volume output (can me of relevance for phones with high impedances) but it also means that any inherent weaknesses in the soundcard of the sound source are eliminated. Meaning better sound quality, quicker transients, a cleaner, better sound in general. The O2 is a version of the CMoy design. O2 was made by this guy: NwAvGuy: O2 Headphone Amp
If you don't mind me asking, how come you are endeavoring to make a pair of phones from scratch if you don't have a pair that you are using at the moment? Your best bet for learning more would probably be to get a cheap pair and dissect them as you read and learn more.
Best
/K
1: I've been on a quest for good OEM drivers too but to no avail. You want a speaker with a frequency response curve that extends well below a 100Hz, preferrably below 20. One thing to keep in mind though is that, apparently, headphones and stock drivers are tested in very different ways. That means that a driver with a specified lowest frq resp in the kHz area might reproduce bass very well once it's built into a headphone and in good and sealed contact with the ear.
Here's a thread that lists some possible sources for drivers:
Buying drivers/micro speakers for DIY headphones
2: This is a little out of my comfort zone but I suppose you'd want to make your cables detachable if you want to alternate between bluetooth and cable, so that's a start. Then you need some way to override the bluetooth when the cable is connected. Or you could just connect both cable and bluetooth transmitter in parallell and just turn off/don't use which ever one you don't feel like using at the moment.
3: What goes into hifi headphones are a high quality transducer capsule (driver) and a good cup design together with acoustic damping material, arranged together in a way that will produce whatever sound characteristics the manufacturer is going for. Usually that is a very flat and even frequency response curve. That makes the listening experience true to the recording you are listening to. That's even the meaning of the abbrviation "hifi", "high fidelity".
There is no electronic component that makes the headphone more hifi. It's all good design and a good headphone driver, nothing else.
4: A headphone amp is used to take the load of sound amplification off of any sound source you might be using and transferring it to a dedicated unit: the amp. This means that you can usually get a higher volume output (can me of relevance for phones with high impedances) but it also means that any inherent weaknesses in the soundcard of the sound source are eliminated. Meaning better sound quality, quicker transients, a cleaner, better sound in general. The O2 is a version of the CMoy design. O2 was made by this guy: NwAvGuy: O2 Headphone Amp
If you don't mind me asking, how come you are endeavoring to make a pair of phones from scratch if you don't have a pair that you are using at the moment? Your best bet for learning more would probably be to get a cheap pair and dissect them as you read and learn more.
Best
/K
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Yeah, that's pretty much what I wrote.
But like I also wrote, you can't really expect the same performance in open air and in an enclosed design from a driver. If you enclose them in a good way the bass spectrum will extend further.
Your best bet for finding good drivers that are intended for high-end audio use is to purchase them as spare parts from one of the major manufacturers. Or use a pair of existing phones as "donor" phones.
Came to think about your bluetooth/3,5mm combo, as it's a matter of choosing input sources you could probably sort it out nicely with a selector switch. Not sure why you would want to use both though.
But like I also wrote, you can't really expect the same performance in open air and in an enclosed design from a driver. If you enclose them in a good way the bass spectrum will extend further.
Your best bet for finding good drivers that are intended for high-end audio use is to purchase them as spare parts from one of the major manufacturers. Or use a pair of existing phones as "donor" phones.
Came to think about your bluetooth/3,5mm combo, as it's a matter of choosing input sources you could probably sort it out nicely with a selector switch. Not sure why you would want to use both though.
I read someting about balanced armature speakers. it seemed interesting, in that it did not require any back space to give a good bass.
But i checked at the digikey listing for some of knowles BAS, its freq range was not that wideband, but its manual listed a very good performance over the entire range.
Even though I am curious to know how can i use them. Is it the same way like any other headphone driver?
No, balanced armature drivers uses a different way of producing sound. The have a small reed that vibrates in an enclosed space and have only one opening for the sound so the sound leaves the speaker through a small tube. Check out balanced armature speakers on youtube, there is a couple of good ones. I think Knowles audio has an explanatory one.
So far, the only use for balanced armature drivers I've seen is in-ear monitors (IEMs). If you check out the size specifications for them you'll see that they're really small too. That's because they're intended for use in in-ear applications.
So far, the only use for balanced armature drivers I've seen is in-ear monitors (IEMs). If you check out the size specifications for them you'll see that they're really small too. That's because they're intended for use in in-ear applications.
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