{"id":3035,"date":"2024-01-26T15:51:10","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T06:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/?p=3035"},"modified":"2024-01-26T15:51:12","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T06:51:12","slug":"20240126","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/en\/blog\/20240126\/","title":{"rendered":"Comparison Test of Titanium Housings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-bogo-language-switcher\"><ul class=\"bogo-language-switcher\"><li class=\"en-US en current first\"><span class=\"bogoflags bogoflags-us\"><\/span> <span class=\"bogo-language-name\"><a rel=\"alternate\" hreflang=\"en-US\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/\" title=\"English\" class=\"current\" aria-current=\"page\">English<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"ja last\"><span class=\"bogoflags bogoflags-jp\"><\/span> <span class=\"bogo-language-name\"><a rel=\"alternate\" hreflang=\"ja\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/\" title=\"Japanese\">\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I created titanium housings through CNC machining as an alternative to the titanium 3D-printed housings used in LOAK-PROTOTYPE, and conducted sound tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"3030\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/DSC09545-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3030\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"3031\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/DSC09546-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3031\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The test earphones are made of the same wood and tuning as the LOAK-PROTOTYPE01 (LP01) Snakewood and 02 (LP02) African Padouk demo units currently on hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The titanium-bodied earphones (LOAK2 Titanium prototype) are shown in the photo above and are slightly greyish compared to the LOAK2 (stainless steel body).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-id=\"2767\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DSC08631-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2767\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" data-id=\"2759\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DSC08613-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2759\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sound of two different earphones with the same tuning was compared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In terms of appearance and build quality, it&#8217;s evident that LOAK2 Titanium (prototype) from this test outperforms. The precisely machined housing follows the design accurately without any distortion or uneven surface finish. In contrast, the 3D-printed housing, due to its manufacturing method, cannot achieve a perfect circular shape as designed, resulting in slight distortion and uneven texture on the surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sound Comparison<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As expected, there are noticeable differences in sound between the two titanium housings. Even though both are titanium, there is a hardness difference between 3D printing and machining, as indicated by the manufacturer, and this difference is reflected in the sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 3D-printed housing earphones produce a smarter (tighter) sound compared to CNC-machined ones. The sound contours are distinct and the response feels quick, creating an open and spacious sound with good clarity. However, there is a slightly stronger presence in the high frequencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, earphones with CNC-machined housings have a slightly softer sound, and the sound lines feel slightly thicker. Especially in the mid-low range, there is more fullness. While the high frequencies are a bit milder compared to the 3D-printed version, the spatial depth seems to decrease, and the sense of openness in the sound is weaker. Additionally, the sound is a bit slower and smoother than the 3D-printed version, maintaining an overall unified feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My Impressions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Initially, I perceived the difference in sound between the sharp and solid 3D-printed housing and the soft and mild sound of the CNC-machined housing as a matter of personal preference. The difference in sound is minimal, akin to choosing between the highest hardness of snake wood and rosewood in terms of wood selection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, after repeated listening, it became clear that earphones with 3D-printed housings sounded more refined and sophisticated, with nuances of sound resonance, gloss and tension that are difficult to capture in a frequency graph.This aspect is challenging to articulate, closer to a subjective feeling of being impressed or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the slight difference in sound, which may not be apparent without direct comparison, and considering that some aspects can be covered by wood selection, the disparity between the 3D-printed and CNC-machined housings may be more of a matter of personal preference. However, focusing solely on &#8220;sound quality,&#8221; the comparison between these two earphones suggests a difference in superiority beyond personal sound preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion (as planned, subject to change)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To be honest, due to the inherent instability in the 3D-printed earphone housing as a manufacturing process, I had planned to discontinue the use of 3D-printed housings for earphone production. However, after comparing the sound, I am now reconsidering. If I can reduce losses and improve yields through design revisions, it may be possible to continue (although the price will undoubtedly increase). I intend to explore this through trial and error with manufacturing partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nevertheless, the CNC-machined titanium housing has excellent finish quality and a balanced sound, so I plan to finalize it as the LOAK2 with a titanium body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In accordance with the plan, once the current stock of 3D-printed housings is depleted, I am considering temporarily suspending orders for LOAK-PROTOTYPE. Since the stock is not large, those who prefer the 3D-printed version may want to consider it sooner. While I will continue to explore the possibilities of 3D-printed titanium housings, the price will undoubtedly increase, and the production of the next batch is currently undetermined, so please consider it early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LOAK-PROTOTYPE03, ahead of schedule, will be discontinued for the production of the 2nd batch and marked as SOLDOUT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I created titanium housings through CNC machining as an alternative to the titanium 3D-printed housings used in LOAK-PROTOTYPE, and conducted sound tests....","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/?p=3033","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","en-US"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3036,"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/revisions\/3036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.634ears.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}