Introduction: Beats by Joanna & Crystal (DIY Headphones)

Materials

  • 4 Neodymium Magnets- 1 cm
  • Copper Wire (28 AWG Wire)-Depends on how many coils you want (ex.25,35,45,etc.)
  • 2 Plastic Cup-8 ½ cm diameter at the widest
  • Electrical Tape- Depends on how much you choose to need
  • Aux Plug- 5cm
  • Sandpaper- 5 by 5
  • You can Purchase any extra materials you'ed like to decorate you headphones how every you want

Where to Purchase Materials?

  • Michaels- magnets, plastic cup
  • Home Depot- Copper wire, electrical tape, Sand Paper
  • Amazon- Aux Plug
  • Or any store that you find convenient or you can also find these types of materials at Fry’s Electronics

Once you have purchased/gathered all the materials listed you can proceed onto step 1

Feel free to ask any questions in comment section below :)

Step 1: Wrapping the Coil

  1. You want to start off by cutting out about 8 meters of the wire and then cut half of the 8 meters so that your left with 2 strands of 4 meter wire.
  2. Then wrap the copper wire to make your coil as many times as you want, but you want to leave at least 2 inches out of each end (I found the wrapping the wire around 50 times produces a better sound than just wrapping 25, 35, or even 45 times, but make sure once you’re done you secure it with some sort of tape make 2 coils one for each ear)
  3. You may be wondering why do voice coils vibrate?
    • Well voice coils vibrate because there is a magnetic field that the current flows through. Since the of the magnetic field of the voice coil is different to the magnets magnetic field, both of the magnetic fields attract each other (opposites attract) thus causing the coils to push inwards. This is why we hear the sound of the music we are listening to because of the vibrations

Step 2: Sanding Coils

  1. You want to start off by gathering the coils you just wrapped and the sand paper.
  2. Then your gonna sand the ends of your coil make sure that you sand 1 1/2 inches them thoroughly because if you don't the sound your headphones produce won't be as loud as you may expect.

Step 3: Assembling One of the Side of Headphones

  1. When assembling the first side of the headphones you want to start by gathering the cup, one of the coils you made, 2 of the neodymium magnets, and 18 inches of electrical tape.
  2. Once you have gathered all your materials you to start assembling it all together so to start off grab the cup and turn it up side down and wrap it with electrical tape for that you would need about 6 inches of electrical tape
  3. Then place the magnets as centered as you can your gonna want to place one magnet on the outside and one on the inside of the cup
  4. After you have place both magnets place one of the coils that you made on the outside of the cup and using a 2 pieces of electrical tape create an "x" sort of shape when taping them down( Don't tape them down too tight because if its too tight the voice coil won't be able to produce any sound/ or the sound might not be loud enough)

Step 4: Connection to the Aux Plug

  1. First you want to take both of the ends that you sanded while the coil is still on the cup, take the aux cord and twist off the plastic black covering so that you can see two terminals
  2. Once you can see both terminals you are going to get one of the ends of the coil that is sanded and then you are going to attach it to one of the terminals to have a firm connection (repeat for other end of coil)

Step 5: Assure

  1. All you need to do for this step is connect the aux plug to any device that you own that can play music.
  2. Plug in the aux cable to your device and play music
    • If you are having trouble hearing any audio it might just be the connection so you want to make sure that the connection that you have is very firm

Step 6: Adding a Diaphragm (Optional)

  1. For my headphones i added a plastic diaphragm (ice breakers box)but you can use what ever you'd like (foil, wax paper, plastic, etc.)
  2. What we did is we added holes in the diaphragm with push pins so that the sound can travel

Step 7: Create the Other Side of the Headphones

  1. Create the other headphone by (repeating steps 2-5) (6 is optional)
  2. Use the rest of the materials

Step 8: Connecting Both of the Headphones

  1. To start off each of the ends of both coils will need to be attached to 2 more pieces of coil (make sure that each end of the new wire that you are connecting has been sanded)
  2. Then twist them tightly so that you can make sure that sound will be produced
  3. After that repeat the same step for the other headphone
  4. Once you've completed that you now want to connect the copper wires to the aux plug

Step 9: Conformation

  1. To make sure that you have the right connection plug in the aux connection to any electronic device that you have that plays music
  2. If it plays music CONGRATULATIONS YOU DID IT!!!!!
  3. But if yours doesn't work its OKAY DONT WORRY just follow these simple steps
    • All you need to do is go back and sand your wire more and reconnect your wire to your aux plug and make it secure so that you it can play music
    • And your all set have fun using your DIY Headphones ;)
    • Comment if you have any questions or need any clarifications about any of these steps

Step 10: Enjoy :)

Did You know that the three most important components of a speaker/headphone are the magnets, the voice coil, and the diaphragm. The magnet is one of the most important parts of the speaker because its is the magnetic field, and the voice coil is important because it acts as the current for the magnetic field to flow through, and the diaphragm is important because it amplifies the sound/ the vibration.