DIY Headphones

[John EH]

Just for fun I printed a set of 3D cans that I found on Thingverse.  They use Dayton Audio CE Series CE38MB-32 1-1/2" Mini Speaker Black 32 Ohm speakers that cost $2.50 each.

I won't lie to you and say they are the greatest thing since sliced bread but they are way better than you'd think they would be.

John

[John EH]

This is a link to the original project

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2120892

Listening to Garcia & Grisman: Arabia and it's AWESOME.  Again, way better than you would expect.  And you can get in there and tune them a bit to your liking.

[Doc B.]

Very cool. I have had designing a headphone kit in the back of my mind for some time.

[Deluk]

I think there would be a market for a couple of kits here, one with everything to complete the build and one with just the printed parts for you to get the remainder. Latter one would at least give you a bit more of a challenge. For better drivers some brand name broken cans might be the way to go. There will be a few of those around I'm sure.

[John EH]

I initially thought ABS plastic would be a poor choice for construction material but when I thump on my Sony MDR-7506 or similar it's apparent that stuff is plastic although probably more dense.  Other than the looks of the headphone I'm still fairly stunned how great the inexpensive Dayton drivers sound.  Plasticine is used to cover the holes around the back of the speakers which means you could remove it, use more, use less, stuff with dampening material.

I guarantee you could tune these cans to your liking (somewhat).  I did an A/B on my Crack with those DIY cans and Audio-Technica ATH-M50x and while the M50's won it wasn't by as much as you'd like to think.  Especially when you start comparing price points.

I'm building a second pair now.  This will be the experimental pair.  I'm an old timer here who always took my vinyl sign cutter and personalized my gear with some weird play on words name.

Which is why I'm naming the 2nd pair "Beats Off"