CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

Lobby => DIY => Topic started by: dBel84 on March 30, 2014, 04:56:03 AM

Title: portable headphone project - long overdue
Post by: dBel84 on March 30, 2014, 04:56:03 AM

This project has been a long time comming. I have had the head-band and turned cups for at least 5 years and the final vision for which drivers etc has changed many times. The motivation came when my son accicentally killed my iems which I use for travel and as I am not a fan of iems, I decided to explore options for travelling. I love my Yamaha YHD1's as they are small and light and reasonably efficient, but they are open and not travel friendly. This got me to thinking about using this driver for a closed headphone. I happen to have had a closed YHD2 which someone stood on at RMAF a few years ago and they have never been quite the same. Tyll wrote a short blurb about them here  http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/diy-orthodynamic-headphones-dbel84-page-3 

It was finally time for me to acknowledge that their time had come to an end and thus came the inspiration to dust off the cobwebs from the "fake" AT-ESW9 frame and take a closer look at the raw cups I had been given ( iirc it was our beloved smeggy )

First I had to drill holes so that the forks of the headband would hold them correctly

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/414FAC50-0BBD-4A35-BDA4-49E3498E2935_zpsbgdehhiy.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/414FAC50-0BBD-4A35-BDA4-49E3498E2935_zpsbgdehhiy.jpg.html)

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/37F1BFD7-A28D-4D94-B158-DCB423CFBC49_zpseznualtt.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/37F1BFD7-A28D-4D94-B158-DCB423CFBC49_zpseznualtt.jpg.html)

Next came the trickier part to free hand grind down the edges so that I could make them round

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/0D6CB3D7-E45D-434D-8928-172F60C595BC_zpsnu7qfu4n.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/0D6CB3D7-E45D-434D-8928-172F60C595BC_zpsnu7qfu4n.jpg.html)

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/6A27F0E0-811A-4A46-82BD-339432FCC463_zpsvpbnjjcf.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/6A27F0E0-811A-4A46-82BD-339432FCC463_zpsvpbnjjcf.jpg.html)

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/D7CBDBA6-2F06-421B-AF53-042EC130E7EE_zpsgqsayd7u.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/D7CBDBA6-2F06-421B-AF53-042EC130E7EE_zpsgqsayd7u.jpg.html)

I then made baffles to hold the drivers

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/15B344BC-4667-4129-B9FB-60850771D059_zpssanhthmj.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/15B344BC-4667-4129-B9FB-60850771D059_zpssanhthmj.jpg.html)

and finished rounding off the cups

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/6738A9E0-0E23-423B-9041-3E38DC6EE522_zpsb3enkenu.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/6738A9E0-0E23-423B-9041-3E38DC6EE522_zpsb3enkenu.jpg.html)

Then used some natural wax and coated, steel wooled and polished X eternity ( at least 7 times )

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/6850A4C3-1B1D-4743-878B-1B6D7F74F478_zpshmgbpema.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/6850A4C3-1B1D-4743-878B-1B6D7F74F478_zpshmgbpema.jpg.html)

and finally assembled them after tuning / tweaking and getting an opinion from Tari

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/6498AB99-83A4-4CF8-B594-994B1C41FC0E_zpsnlsymh2d.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/6498AB99-83A4-4CF8-B594-994B1C41FC0E_zpsnlsymh2d.jpg.html)

(http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg104/dBel84/misc%20Headphones/0E133422-AA4E-4017-890A-90EBAEFFBB50_zpsx8amnehb.jpg) (http://s246.photobucket.com/user/dBel84/media/misc%20Headphones/0E133422-AA4E-4017-890A-90EBAEFFBB50_zpsx8amnehb.jpg.html)


Final take is not too shabby - have a good FR per my ear and are compact enough to travel , need to test the isolation but they might work as intended.

..dB

Title: Re: portable headphone project - long overdue
Post by: n3rdling on March 30, 2014, 05:02:01 AM

Those look neat.  Stuff the cups with anything?

Title: Re: portable headphone project - long overdue
Post by: dBel84 on March 30, 2014, 05:08:19 AM

but of course - i always forget to take pics of that part but this is a rather complicated mulitlayer treatment. There was a relatively large amount of space in the cup with a small driver. but it is nothing new - some foam and felt

..dB

Title: Re: portable headphone project - long overdue
Post by: firev1 on March 30, 2014, 06:52:29 AM

Very very nice dB!

Title: Re: portable headphone project - long overdue
Post by: lmswjm on March 30, 2014, 03:41:42 PM

Beauteous, I have ATH-ES10's w ESW9 pads. Awesome portable, I wish it sounded ortho good though.

Title: Re: portable headphone project - long overdue
Post by: zerodeefex on March 31, 2014, 04:30:48 AM

nice looking cans, Don!

Title: Re: portable headphone project - long overdue
Post by: Thujone on March 31, 2014, 09:27:28 PM

I really really REALLY like the look of those, great job!  :)p1

Title: Re: portable headphone project - long overdue
Post by: Tari on April 01, 2014, 10:19:29 PM

These were a surprise as Don gave me no forewarning before plopping them down.  They handily beat another pricey full-size ortho which shall remain nameless.  For a small, portable, closed effort, it was definitely nice to listen to, even if Rasta music isn't my forte.


I still like my modded HP-1's though, they're by far the cheapest cans in my "regular rotation" drawer.