[Kugellager]

So here is my first attempt at a DIY over-ear and open back headphone. I started with this empty ice cream container to make the cups. The headband and the 3 drivers per side were scavenged from other headphones/earbuds. The covering on the headband is faux suede from a pair of old boots of my daughters. The screening is cut from a small trash can. The earpads are memory-foam pads I found on AliExpress. I am using 40 mm, 30 mm and scavenged earbud for the drivers. I am in the process of making a DIY cable but am currently using a braided TRRS New Fantasia cable I bought for my Sennheiser HD 598 cs cans.

I am powering this setup using the balanced output from my FiiO Q1 Mark II. The jack on the left ear cup is a 2.5 mm TRRS jack from Markertek. I have it wired the same as the Senn 598 jack so my cable is interchangeable.

My reasoning for doing a multi-driver headphone was because I like the bass and mids of the Senn's but the treble (cymbals/acoustic guitar/heavy metal music etc) lacked the detail/sparkle that it had in my crappy RP-HTX7 cans. I also had all these components just sitting around and wanted to see what I could do.

The 40 mm driver delivered good bass in their original headphones so I utilized them as the bass driver. I opened three holes in the felt on the back of the drivers as other driver modders have done to improve bass. I then placed it near the rear of the ear cup with the idea that it would sit closest to the cartilage near the rear of the ear and conduct the bass tones into to skull to better "feel" it. The 30 mm driver is toward the front of the cups with the idea that the ear would guide the mids as they normally would. Lastly, I positioned the earbud driver, as best as I could, in line with my ear canal to provide the treble and hopefully more detail I was searching for. Lastly, I played around with the opening size on the outer cover, testing them out as closed, partially open and wide open as in my final configuration. The bass and soundstage were significantly better with the widest opening.

To my surprise, it has worked reasonably well. These DIY cans have a little less bass than the Senn's but the treble detail I was looking for. The drivers are cheap cast-offs, so I'm not sure of the distortion levels, but to my inexperienced ears, they don't sound half bad.

More later...

DIY Headphone Gallery



John
];')

 

[Kugellager]

Deleted

 

[legopart]

Try to upload with https://imgur.com/upload
I never tried to upload with this site, I do not think that it possible.

I will continue to read: I not like the "Sennheiser HD 598" and the TRRS cable (that I suggest because I try it)
hear like great building, will be happy to look at it

Check the balance connector for any shorts!

Using doal system different drivers could fix the highs but will create some distortions on the bus (or versa)
Its good Idia but bad too.
some old systems uses dual driver solution, for more stage extension and more loud sound
40mm+30mm
you can see it as:
1- dual driver system
2- 2Way system, where one side trying to complete another.

for overcome any frequency distortion, company using 2+Ways system with a Crossover that lows down the frequencies or the loudness of drive problematic ereas.

If you have some time to test some crossover then try to add bipolar 2.2uF In serial to 30mm driver.

do the drivers connected in serial or in parralel ?

 

[Kugellager]

Are you referring to the Fantasia balanced cable? I read on here and other places where people had quality issues with that cable. The first thing I did when received the cable was check it for continuity and that the TRRS pin assignments on the cable matched the Sennheiser 598 pinout. So with my cable, everything checked out as good.

Regarding the multi-driver setup I used in the cans:

I have been thinking about adding crossover components but have not done that yet.

When I wired the drivers I wanted the impedance to be between 15-20 ohms. The specs for the 40 mm and 30 mm drivers are 32 ohms nominal and the earbud driver is stated to be 19 ohms. To approach the impedance I wanted, I wired the 30 mm driver and the earbud driver in series and put them both in parallel with the 40 mm driver. Measured impedance for each side is about 17 ohms.

The loudness of the two larger drivers 'seems' similar but I can't be certain. I am not too concerned about the loudness of the earbud overpowering everything else as it is relatively far from the ear since it is not positioned as it was designed. It does 'seem' to add the detail I was looking for. But I don't have any way to test anything. If Tyill Hertsens was still at InnerFidelity, out of my own curiosity, I would have tried to see if he was willing to do a measurement as he used to offer for DIY headphones.

Anyway, I hope that answers your questions.

John
];')

 

[Kugellager]

Long term update.

I haven’t used these much over the past few years as I’ve really been enjoying my Sennheiser HD598 cs and Phillips Fidelio X2HR cans. The DIY cans do not hold up to the other two. Today I decided to play around with some felt to try to improve the ‘mushy’ bass and get rid of some of the booming resonance of the earcups.

I ended up covering the open-back opening entirely with felt and it made a HUGE difference. The booming resonances were gone, the bass was tighter and everything
sounded a little cleaner overall. Still not quite as good sounding as the other two but a lot closer and actually satisfying to listen with. Tested them on Skrillex, Knife Party and Metallica and was happy with the results.

If the headband just had a bit more clamping force they would be amazing. Bass clarity goes way up with just a tiny bit more force.

John
];’)