Head(aname) and 3D Printed Headphones in General

[DoomSlayer]

Hello, everyone. I've been stalking this forum without an account for a long while now. I am far from an audio mixing expert, and I rely on this site as part of a gamut of review sources I use to select headphones on the rare occasion that I need a new pair. I am the proud owner of a 10-year-old HD 595 and a slinger of molten plastic. Introduction over.

I signed up to pick your brains about 3D-printed headphones. I love both hobbies and wanted to know if anyone here has tried 3D printing a set before and what the experience was like. I like the aesthetic design that Head(name) has going on. Still, I am hesitant about purchasing their parts kits as, in my experience, part kits (not necessarily audio-related) can sometimes comprise the lowest-end hardware (e.g., Voron kits if you're into 3DP).

What are your trusted sources of drivers and other parts? Would I be better off scavenging parts from a pair of broken eBay cans? My expectations about sound quality are almost non-existent, and this is more of a fun weekend project I could potentially do with the kids. That said, I would also like to avoid building something I hate to use. I guess I am trying to say that I'm just trying to get my feet wet and not invest too much time or money into this project at first. Sorry if this came out a bit rambley and if I have omitted anything that would help you make recommendations.


Addendum: If I built these using the standard parts kit, would this be something you would be willing to see reviewed? I would be willing to mail it to whoever wants to measure them.

 

[kemmler3D]

Hello, everyone. I've been stalking this forum without an account for a long while now. I am far from an audio mixing expert, and I rely on this site as part of a gamut of review sources I use to select headphones on the rare occasion that I need a new pair. I am the proud owner of a 10-year-old HD 595 and a slinger of molten plastic. Introduction over.

I signed up to pick your brains about 3D-printed headphones. I love both hobbies and wanted to know if anyone here has tried 3D printing a set before and what the experience was like. I like the aesthetic design that Head(name) has going on. Still, I am hesitant about purchasing their parts kits as, in my experience, part kits (not necessarily audio-related) can sometimes comprise the lowest-end hardware (e.g., Voron kits if you're into 3DP).

What are your trusted sources of drivers and other parts? Would I be better off scavenging parts from a pair of broken eBay cans? My expectations about sound quality are almost non-existent, and this is more of a fun weekend project I could potentially do with the kids. That said, I would also like to avoid building something I hate to use. I guess I am trying to say that I'm just trying to get my feet wet and not invest too much time or money into this project at first. Sorry if this came out a bit rambley and if I have omitted anything that would help you make recommendations.


Addendum: If I built these using the standard parts kit, would this be something you would be willing to see reviewed? I would be willing to mail it to whoever wants to measure them.

Welcome to ASR, fellow 3D printing-for-audio enthusiast!

I've never 3D printed headphones before but I've seen it done - a guy in my previous co-working space was prototyping a commercial design with 3D printed parts. It seemed to work really well, he was even going to the extent of tuning them, making swappable drivers, etc. Not sure what came of it, but if you want to DIY some cans I think it's probably the most viable way for most DIYers.

I will say that the parts seem a bit overpriced. E.g. you can get what I assume to be much better drivers for less money from Aliexpress, this is after about 90 seconds of searching: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802998175696.html ... these are supposed to be replacement parts for a $1200 set of cans... I don't really doubt it either: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800711171995.html

If you have the gumption and CAD skills I don't see why you couldn't design the whole thing. Scavenging a steel headband from a broken pair at the thrift shop or eBay should be good but I'd be wary of scavenging drivers, they're probably screwed up by the time you get to them.

If you want to use the Headamame files though, I would buy their parts. Trying to fit different driver assemblies into an existing design will be nearly impossible and the tuning will be way off.

I will say... even though I used to work at a company that sold headphones, I have no idea how to tune headphones acoustically. Measuring headphones is also hard and requires a pretty expensive jig to do well. So in terms of dialing in the final 10% of sound quality, you're really on your own.

 

[Roland68]

Hello, everyone. I've been stalking this forum without an account for a long while now. I am far from an audio mixing expert, and I rely on this site as part of a gamut of review sources I use to select headphones on the rare occasion that I need a new pair. I am the proud owner of a 10-year-old HD 595 and a slinger of molten plastic. Introduction over.

I signed up to pick your brains about 3D-printed headphones. I love both hobbies and wanted to know if anyone here has tried 3D printing a set before and what the experience was like. I like the aesthetic design that Head(name) has going on. Still, I am hesitant about purchasing their parts kits as, in my experience, part kits (not necessarily audio-related) can sometimes comprise the lowest-end hardware (e.g., Voron kits if you're into 3DP).

What are your trusted sources of drivers and other parts? Would I be better off scavenging parts from a pair of broken eBay cans? My expectations about sound quality are almost non-existent, and this is more of a fun weekend project I could potentially do with the kids. That said, I would also like to avoid building something I hate to use. I guess I am trying to say that I'm just trying to get my feet wet and not invest too much time or money into this project at first. Sorry if this came out a bit rambley and if I have omitted anything that would help you make recommendations.


Addendum: If I built these using the standard parts kit, would this be something you would be willing to see reviewed? I would be willing to mail it to whoever wants to measure them.

I would stay away from these kits, they seem like a waste of money and a toy. They are probably a long way from your HD 595. Are there any tests of these kit headphones?

You can find many thousands of templates and STL files for headphones worldwide and a very professional 3D printing project was already presented at Canjam 2015.
You can get a well-functioning 3D printer for €/$120-200 these days, or have it printed by a service provider.

There are countless drivers on Aliexpress, eBay and in many shops worldwide, or as spare parts. Planar drivers are also available now and you can also find enough instructions for DIY Planar drivers.

However, you should ask yourself why you want to do this, you can get good headphones on the Hifiman website from just $109, an Edition XS from $239 store.hifiman.com

 

[DoomSlayer]

If you have the gumption and CAD skills I don't see why you couldn't design the whole thing.

I could see that as something I could sink my teeth into! That said, I am already eyeballs deep in expensive hobbies, and I must be careful how I waste my money.

However, you should ask yourself why you want to do this

The reason is that it sounds like a fun project. I already own many 3D printers, and it would be far from the most complicated or expensive print I've done. $80 in filament + $110 in parts is something I can eat. The value comes from the project itself, not necessarily the resulting product. It would be great if it didn't sound like absolute garbage, but I won't double the price to get there. I'd instead make them with the crappy parts, listen to them for a bit, and hang them on the wall to look at from time to time.

It hadn't occurred to me that anyone was DIYing headphones any other way (stupid oversight on my part). I will seek out some education on DIY sound and go from there.

 

[Roland68]

I could see that as something I could sink my teeth into! That said, I am already eyeballs deep in expensive hobbies, and I must be careful how I waste my money.


The reason is that it sounds like a fun project. I already own many 3D printers, and it would be far from the most complicated or expensive print I've done. $80 in filament + $110 in parts is something I can eat. The value comes from the project itself, not necessarily the resulting product. It would be great if it didn't sound like absolute garbage, but I won't double the price to get there. I'd instead make them with the crappy parts, listen to them for a bit, and hang them on the wall to look at from time to time.

It hadn't occurred to me that anyone was DIYing headphones any other way (stupid oversight on my part). I will seek out some education on DIY sound and go from there.

$80 for filament? Do you want to start mass production right away?
Just use different search terms and you'll be busy for days.
diy headphone 3d

 

[kemmler3D]

I could see that as something I could sink my teeth into! That said, I am already eyeballs deep in expensive hobbies, and I must be careful how I waste my money.


The reason is that it sounds like a fun project. I already own many 3D printers, and it would be far from the most complicated or expensive print I've done. $80 in filament + $110 in parts is something I can eat. The value comes from the project itself, not necessarily the resulting product. It would be great if it didn't sound like absolute garbage, but I won't double the price to get there. I'd instead make them with the crappy parts, listen to them for a bit, and hang them on the wall to look at from time to time.

It hadn't occurred to me that anyone was DIYing headphones any other way (stupid oversight on my part). I will seek out some education on DIY sound and go from there.

$80 in filament? Dang, you're going to print 12 pounds of headphone parts?


Anyway, seems like you have the right idea about DIYing them. It's mostly a "because I can", "the journey is the destination" kind of thing, but I think it could be rewarding, and it would be really interesting to follow your progress.

 

[DoomSlayer]

$80 in filament? Dang, you're going to print 12 pounds of headphone parts?


Anyway, seems like you have the right idea about DIYing them. It's mostly a "because I can", "the journey is the destination" kind of thing, but I think it could be rewarding, and it would be really interesting to follow your progress.

I may have over estimated the total material by an order of magnitude. Don't drink and math at 3AM. That's how bridges collapse.