Dear people of the linus tech tips and the world ( competition )

[Minibeast]

Do you have an engineer? Like I stated before, the scale of the operation can and will affect the complexity of the designs... and when it comes to audio gear, physical design is closely related to how the pair will sound...

 

For example...

Let's say that you have drivers tuned for bass emphasis, but the design of the earcups do not allow for adequate air movement, then the bass would either sound subdued or muddy depending on the properties of the earcup...

Another example would be having a generally good earcup design (good acoustic properties within the human hearing frequency range), but the drivers are of poor quality, then you would end up with bad cans...

 

I can put more research into this by looking at market samples from other companies... but then again, I'm not as experienced as I sound...

 

Some advice I can give you at this stage, is that you find an initial target market/demographic that you want to penetrate... Is it targeted at audiophiles, at 'audiophiles', at hipsters, etc.? By defining this, a general direction for design language and even engineering can be determined... Another piece of advice is to focus on the 'now' while planning for 'tomorrow'...

 

From what I read on the post that I quoted, a dragon scale will serve as the company's branding... and the design of the cables is that of three cables, braided together in some manner... From an engineering point of view, I can assume that the three cables will carry left, right, and ground, respectively, assuming that this cable is terminated by your standard 3-pole 3.5 mm plug... With a designer's point of view, I can use this as a part of the design and make it resemble a dragon's tail by sleeving the cable in an appropriate material with appropriate patterns...

 

I'm going to make the assumption that the product that will come out of this contest will be the one aimed for a general market... Thus it could be the 'bass emphasized' line that you speak of...

 

Other assumptions would be the general branding/design language... Since the company's branding is the dragon's scales, it would be appropriate that the design language for the products would follow suit... (a counter example would be Corsair Gaming and their 'tramp stamp' logo)

 

I'm just pooling together most of what I learned from my classes here and I'm sorry if ever I sound rude... (I become like this when it comes to brainstorming products...)

 

 

 

With good enough people and enough money to support the design, what you said about having a pair being both open and closed may be possible...

you sir are a badass and epic . Iv already saved youre writting and taken notes . With some one like you , I am sure I will succeed .

[EpicGeekonFire]

What is your audio company exactly? Also any logos/anything official yet?

 

Its a good idea, but how are you gonna stand up to the other brands already out there?

 

Also the design isn't everything, someone with electrical knowledge still needs to design the internals and wiring. 

[Lutkeveld]

you sir are a badass and epic . Iv already saved youre writting and taken notes . With some one like you , I am sure I will succeed .

 

Don't quote such large pieces of text 

[Minibeast]

What is your audio company exactly? Also any logos/anything official yet?

 

Its a good idea, but how are you gonna stand up to the other brands already out there?

 

Also the design isn't everything, someone with electrical knowledge still needs to design the internals and wiring.

if AIAIAI can hold its own , I can so do to . And yes this is why I have 4 lines of headphone products . You pick the one witch we or the company suggest on using in the genre . And how do we surtify that the headphone is for that genre , why the company will colabe with small time artists .

[Minibeast]

Don't quote such large pieces of text 

and I thought you gave up on the idea .

[EpicGeekonFire]

if AIAIAI can hold its own , I can so do to . And yes this is why I have 4 lines of headphone products . You pick the one witch we or the company suggest on using in the genre . And how do we surtify that the headphone is for that genre , why the company will colabe with small time artists .

 

Any logos? Even a name yet? 

[creatip123]

if AIAIAI can hold its own , I can so do to . And yes this is why I have 4 lines of headphone products . You pick the one witch we or the company suggest on using in the genre . And how do we surtify that the headphone is for that genre , why the company will colabe with small time artists .

 

To keep it real, you gotta think about the real production process and/or cost itself. You said you wanna produce your own design (not going with the design that's already out there), right? How are you going to produce it? You said going to China, now that's actually a good idea. Next, you got the design, you go to China, then you gotta choose the method of producing it. Molded? CNC? Handcrafted?

 

If you're going with molding method, and you got your own design, that means you have to make a new mold. That kind of mold could cost 80+ grand, no shit. I know, because I have a relative that made his own mold, for plastic products. Initial production cost will be high, until you have enough for the mold's break even. After that, the production cost drops very steep. It's cheaper for long run and mass production. Also you can produce literally more than a thousand product in a day (depending on the product naturally)

 

Hifiman is one good example. They use the exact same mold for all of their product line. Well, the older products anyway. The newer products got different shapes and designs. 

 

With CNC, you can craft a smoother finer product, without paying a big sum of money upfront for making a mold. Bad thing is the cost stay the same throughout the time, and you can't produce a lot of products in 1 day. 

 

Handcrafted will be the slowest, maybe cost the most, and it's hard to have a standard of consistency of the products. 

 

All in all, you gotta think of the production cost, and how much you gonna sell it, vs the quality and performance of the product itself. No point in selling a headphone that's about the same level as a M40x, for $300, for example. 

 

To be honest, if you haven't thought about this, and about all the things digitalhermit wrote above, you're not exactly ready to plunge into a production line....

[Oktyabr]

It might be a fun project.  My time is pretty limited but I'll see if I can't come up with at least a few rough conceptual sketches.  "dragon scales" + "Pure Audio Masters".  Got it.

I've dabbled with various 3D modelling and rendering packages over the years.  A speaker concept I was playing around with:

 

 

I've entered logo contests in the past too (no, I didn't win):

[Minibeast]

To keep it real, you gotta think about the real production process and/or cost itself. You said you wanna produce your own design (not going with the design that's already out there), right? How are you going to produce it? You said going to China, now that's actually a good idea. Next, you got the design, you go to China, then you gotta choose the method of producing it. Molded? CNC? Handcrafted?

 

If you're going with molding method, and you got your own design, that means you have to make a new mold. That kind of mold could cost 80+ grand, no shit. I know, because I have a relative that made his own mold, for plastic products. Initial production cost will be high, until you have enough for the mold's break even. After that, the production cost drops very steep. It's cheaper for long run and mass production. Also you can produce literally more than a thousand product in a day (depending on the product naturally)

 

Hifiman is one good example. They use the exact same mold for all of their product line. Well, the older products anyway. The newer products got different shapes and designs. 

 

With CNC, you can craft a smoother finer product, without paying a big sum of money upfront for making a mold. Bad thing is the cost stay the same throughout the time, and you can't produce a lot of products in 1 day. 

 

Handcrafted will be the slowest, maybe cost the most, and it's hard to have a standard of consistency of the products. 

 

All in all, you gotta think of the production cost, and how much you gonna sell it, vs the quality and performance of the product itself. No point in selling a headphone that's about the same level as a M40x, for $300, for example. 

 

To be honest, if you haven't thought about this, and about all the things digitalhermit wrote above, you're not exactly ready to plunge into a production line....

well my plan was to make the cheap products in china , the high end stuff will be built in here at Finland , parts will be obtained or made in ireland or other country in europe . But ofcores im not going to do the " hand crafting " from the get go , start with small products , build them in in china and slowly , start to make mid quality headphone with CNC . Onec the company reaches a degree of growth , I will jump start hand making the high end stuff .

[Minibeast]

It might be a fun project.  My time is pretty limited but I'll see if I can't come up with at least a few rough conceptual sketches.  "dragon scales" + "Pure Audio Masters".  Got it.

I've dabbled with various 3D modelling and rendering packages over the years.  A speaker concept I was playing around with:

 

 

I've entered logo contests in the past too (no, I didn't win):

It might be a fun project.  My time is pretty limited but I'll see if I can't come up with at least a few rough conceptual sketches.  "dragon scales" + "Pure Audio Masters".  Got it.

I've dabbled with various 3D modelling and rendering packages over the years.  A speaker concept I was playing around with:

 

 

I've entered logo contests in the past too (no, I didn't win):

Did you know that KIBISI , a design team works with the audio company AIAIAI ?! See my plan is to have a design person or a team that works on the looks and feels while achiving the goal of the company . And leaving the design to the person , I or a team can considerate on the specs and hardware and sound .

[NannerBeans]

 

Did you know that KIBISI , a design team works with the audio company AIAIAI ?! See my plan is to have a design person or a team that works on the looks and feels while achiving the goal of the company . And leaving the design to the person , I or a team can considerate on the specs and hardware and sound .

Audio doesn't really work that way. The design affects the sound so it has to be either one person working on the whole thing or a team that is working together. You can't have one person design it and have the other person in charge of the hardware. 

[SSL]

 

 

Audio doesn't really work that way. The design affects the sound so it has to be either one person working on the whole thing or a team that is working together. You can't have one person design it and have the other person in charge of the hardware. 

 

 

This thread seems to consist mostly of bizzare fantasy.

[NannerBeans]

This thread seems to consist mostly of bizzare fantasy.

Well I didn't want to be too harsh...lol

[SSL]

Well I didn't want to be too harsh...lol

 

Fortunately, I have no such inhibition.

[NannerBeans]

Fortunatly I have no such inhibition.

To be honest, the first time I read the post I thought it was a troll. 

[Minibeast]

Any logos? Even a name yet?

logo is in WIP ( Work In progress ) . Companys name is Pure Audio Masters

[Minibeast]

To be honest, the first time I read the post I thought it was a troll.

no I was serious , and I was going to give out the proze to the winner . And yes I know design efrects the audio and so on . I and the hardware team and the designer will work in collabe in some stages in the process of the product.

[Minibeast]

Well I didn't want to be too harsh...lol

go hard or go home , slander me and ill keep on learning . The more you criticize me , and tell im full of bs , the more soild the first product will become .

[creatip123]

well my plan was to make the cheap products in china , the high end stuff will be built in here at Finland , parts will be obtained or made in ireland or other country in europe . But ofcores im not going to do the " hand crafting " from the get go , start with small products , build them in in china and slowly , start to make mid quality headphone with CNC . Onec the company reaches a degree of growth , I will jump start hand making the high end stuff .

 

In all honesty, if that's your plan, then don't go to China, save the travelling money. You're going with a new design, so it's either go with molding, with the 80+ grand cost of making a new mold, or go with CNC, which will cost quite high/product, which won't put you in competition with existing brands. You got no other choices. And seriously, you can't march in a factory and say, 'make me 10 pieces of this design'. You'll just gonna get ignored, not worth their time. They're dealing with orders of hundreds, thousands, even tenth thousands pieces. 

 

Please, for your own sake, keep it real, and do some more intensive researches on how a mass production line operates.

 

Your dream is good, your spirit is good. What's left is to connect it to the real world. You're trying to fly to the moon on a soft drink bottle rocket. For starter, how much initial capital do you have? 10 grand? 100 grand? 

 

If you're really inclined to make a new brand and produce something, start with something that's simpler. Maybe your own brand of audio cables, amps, or stuffs. It's better to start with assembly line, not production line. 

[rcarlos243]

I am going to be the CEO of my audio company and i need youre help .

I am holding a headphone design competition and the winner will be rewarded with a prize . The prize wont be something huge nor small .

I will give the prize though paypal .

Thies are the ruels of the competition :

1. Find a unique shape design of the headphone . You can not rip off a brands shape and design .

2. You must design and decorate the CABLE as well . How you ask ? Well theres 3 cables witch are " knotted together " . The intire headphone is youre canvas , even the cable .

3. I will pick 2 design winners , one is my pick and the other one will be a community pick win .

4.youre style , youre choice , make it more of youre thing you know ?! Make the design that makes you speak out and reach out to you're audience . I will display youre work in the off topic section of the Linus tech tips forums . There will be a poll , the one with the most picks from the linus tech tips community , wins the community prize .

Those are my conditions and ruels . Submit youre work though : ridvandalkilic@hotmail.com .

I will revile the winner in the off topics section .

The winner will be hired to work on future designs and works .

 

[Minibeast]

In all honesty, if that's your plan, then don't go to China, save the travelling money. You're going with a new design, so it's either go with molding, with the 80+ grand cost of making a new mold, or go with CNC, which will cost quite high/product, which won't put you in competition with existing brands. You got no other choices. And seriously, you can't march in a factory and say, 'make me 10 pieces of this design'. You'll just gonna get ignored, not worth their time. They're dealing with orders of hundreds, thousands, even tenth thousands pieces. 

 

Please, for your own sake, keep it real, and do some more intensive researches on how a mass production line operates.

 

Your dream is good, your spirit is good. What's left is to connect it to the real world. You're trying to fly to the moon on a soft drink bottle rocket. For starter, how much initial capital do you have? 10 grand? 100 grand? 

 

If you're really inclined to make a new brand and produce something, start with something that's simpler. Maybe your own brand of audio cables, amps, or stuffs. It's better to start with assembly line, not production line.

yeah I get what you mean . Im not THAT crazy to start big right off the bat . Ill just creat a few prototypes in my garage ( the ghetto way to start a business ) and then slowly start climing . And this is to the people who helped me in this forum , thank you . Youre names and youre forum names will be in craved in the prototypes .

[Lutkeveld]

Difficult thing is the upfront cost. Doesn't matter if you make 2 or 2000, you'll have to pay moulding cost. Maybe look at premade headbands and 3d printing the earcups.

[Minibeast]

Difficult thing is the upfront cost. Doesn't matter if you make 2 or 2000, you'll have to pay moulding cost. Maybe look at premade headbands and 3d printing the earcups.

got a used headset , ganna tear it down to look what makes a headphone a ,headphone . Just to get an idea and work it out from there .

[Lutkeveld]

Keep in mind that it looks a lot simpler than it really is. It's a driver and an enclosure, but you can't just throw any driver in any enclosure and expect good sound. That's where the engineering comes in

[SSL]

Keep in mind that it looks a lot simpler than it really is. It's a driver and an enclosure, but you can't just throw any driver in any enclosure and expect good sound. That's where the engineering comes in

 

There must be a lot of engineers on head-fi, then: http://www.head-fi.org/t/424842/beyerdynamic-dt880-closed-back/135