DIY Headphones

A lesson in prototyping.

The problem: my friend does not like earbuds because they fall out. And does not like headphones because they are too hot and put too much pressure on his head.

My plan: make a hybrid earbud/headphone taking design cues from old walkman headphones.

First I designed some different cups for the earbuds and 3d printed those to test.

Five iterations:

Then I soldered a sacrificial pair of drivers and seated them in the new cups:

The earbud cups are then attached with zip ties to a very lightly clamping frame. This allows them to be adjusted up and down to the size of the wearers head.

The final product:

My friend was very happy with the final result and it made a perfect Christmas present!