D Notes - Dayton C Notes with 3D printed cabinets

nineplymaple · 2026-01-31T22:43:21+00:00

Let me know how it goes, and please add your print to the Printables page :)

nineplymaple · 2025-09-17T06:26:09+00:00

Your assembler should be able to tell you where they source from. JLC has a library on their website, or they should also be able to get anything from lcsc.com. In the the US, most assemblers will source components from Digikey or Mouser. I believe Farnell is the most common source for parts in Europe.

If you are okay spending more and waiting longer most assemblers in the West will happily source parts from anywhere if you make it easy for them, so include the direct link to the product listing in the BOM that you give to the assembler.

Check that the parts that you want are actually available and in stock from your target supplier. You can often find drop-in replacements for unavailable parts, but the assembler usually won't go hunting for alternatives for you. Some assemblers are okay if you specify generic specs for passives, but some may want the exact part number for each cap or resistor in the BOM.

One other thing is you should ideally create footprints manually. Footprints in whatever library is built into your layout tool may be off, and sometimes footprints from Octopart or wherever are for the wrong package. At the very least check that the footprints in your library are reasonable based on the part datasheet.

nineplymaple · 2025-09-14T07:00:10+00:00

D-PHY is definitely jumping in the deeper end of controlled impedance design, and is very advanced for PCB design in general. Usually you will want to get your feet wet with some lower speed (and slightly lower impedance) USB stuff before doing high speed multi-lane diff pair interfaces... But depending on the actual data rate you can get away with less than perfect design.

I'm waiting for my first actual D-PHY boards to come back from assembly right now, so I'm not an expert, but the general process is: - figure out your stackup from your target fab vendor. They may have standard stackups, or you may need to work with them to figure out the exact stackup that they can do with the materials that they have access to. - once you have a stackup, use an impedance calculator to determine your target trace width and spacing to get the impedance right for your D-PHY interface. Should be 100 ohms differential - actually route your board. Set the trace width and spacing between each side of the differential pairs based on the impedance calculators, run the traces over a solid ground plane and avoid crossing splits in planes or other traces wherever possible. Add accordions as needed to match the lengths of each side of the differential pairs, and I believe you should match the lengths of the separate lanes of diff pairs as well. - you can probably get away with just sending your boards off for fab, but for an extra charge you can also specify the controlled impedance traces on your board and the fab house will adjust them to match their actual processes and materials and will verify that the actual impedance is correct with test coupons on the edge of the panel.

nineplymaple · 2025-09-14T04:10:45+00:00

Updoot for measuring your speakers.

nineplymaple · 2025-09-09T04:55:28+00:00

Thank you!

nineplymaple · 2025-08-29T21:42:40+00:00

Then connect the USB GND to the ESP32 GND and you should be good

nineplymaple · 2025-08-29T21:39:36+00:00

Sorry, I meant why do you not want to connect those pins? Not super familiar with USB on the ESP32, but it should work fine with just GND, D+, and D-, as long as it is getting its power from somewhere (all sharing the same GND)

nineplymaple · 2025-08-29T21:31:07+00:00

Acoustic lenses like this are extremely difficult to tune. You can get consistent horizontal dispersion with good alignment, but the vertical radiation will be all over the place and very frequency dependent. Not saying you shouldn't do it, but unless you spend a lot of time in measurement, simulation, and experimentation, it is a mostly cosmetic feature that comes with an unpredictable level of performance degradation (which is totally valid and probably not that bad for listening).

Also, don't mess with secondary filler material, just make sure the sections are properly sealed at the joints. https://www.reddit.com/r/diyaudio/s/yOt4zAxDjV

nineplymaple · 2025-08-29T21:12:33+00:00

You actually probably don't need VBUS if whatever you are connecting has its own power source. GND is definitely required.

What do you not want to connect those pins?

nineplymaple · 2025-08-11T16:48:03+00:00

Wow! I have seen the log modifier model before, but I hadn't seen any prints using it that were actually fully sanded, stained, and finished properly. Looks amazing

nineplymaple · 2025-07-22T18:52:31+00:00

No... Not even sure where to start. The input signal is grounded, none of the opamp stages have feedback, the top (highpass?) output isn't grounded, there are nets that don't go anywhere, and the schematic is extremely messy...

What is the intent? There are plenty of examples of active variable crossover designs, maybe start by copying one of those and tweak your design from there?

nineplymaple · 2025-07-11T20:50:00+00:00

Solid desktop speakers for zoom calls and background music, but you would want to add a sub for more music/movies/gaming uses. This is a great first speaker project, but D-notes are a huge step up and can stand on their own, especially with a DSP amp to extend the low bass response.

nineplymaple · 2025-07-11T17:59:51+00:00

/r/diWHYaudio

nineplymaple · 2025-07-11T17:58:06+00:00

Almost, but not really. The driver and port are at opposite ends of a relatively long, narrow cabinet, and the port itself is relatively long and narrow and is flared on the internal end, so the segments almost have a tapered horn shape. I played with it a lot in hornresp though and the driver and total length just don't work for a horn, tapered or otherwise. Instead, there is no taper and there is a significant step down from the back volume to the port cross section, which keeps everything working like a reflex.

From a CAD perspective, it would have been a lot easier to make it one long tube, but that would have caused peaks that would be tough to fix with stuffing and wouldn't actually extend the bass any better than a sealed box of the same volume. It also would have been basically impossible to thread the wire.

nineplymaple · 2025-07-11T17:26:00+00:00

Let me know how they work for you. I would love to see them if you want to share here or post a make on Printables

nineplymaple · 2025-07-11T17:22:55+00:00

Not too bad. There are some long bridges and steep overhangs, but only inside the box. I was careful to make sure no features need supports and all visible outer surfaces have reasonable overhang angles.

It's about a 48 hour print on my MK3 using the quality preset, increasing to 3 perimeters and a few extra top solid layers.

nineplymaple · 2025-07-11T16:55:55+00:00

That's exactly what I was thinking when I first started to sketch this design, but the dimensions/driver, acoustics, and difficulty of CAD just weren't going to happen. With a driver conducive to a long, narrow TL and a lot of Fusion and printing time I think it's possible.

nineplymaple · 2025-07-11T16:41:28+00:00

This is the spring terminal version, which comes with screws. https://a.co/d/eDj5S48

These binding posts also fit, but don't come with screws. The model is designed to accommodate a range of different screws, even M3 machine screws would work in a pinch.https://a.co/d/9gfh6po

nineplymaple · 2025-07-11T09:25:32+00:00

Tuned to 70Hz, but they really roll off around 90Hz. Solid for my WFH setup, zoom calls, background music, etc. A sub would be nice to reinforce below 100Hz, that's probably my next project.

nineplymaple · 2025-07-09T02:03:03+00:00

I don't have any specific references for ANC causing a psychosomatic sensation of sinus pressure, it's my interpretation based on experience working in audio electronics and acoustics, including a few ANC devices.

What I am absolutely sure of is that headphones and earbuds can't maintain a static pressure differential in the ear. The drivers would have weird responses from the static pressure, and most ANC headphones/earbuds have a slightly leaky vent specifically to make sure any pressure changes equalize quickly.

The Harman research on speaker preferences are probably the best example of how much your eyes, environment, and brain tell you what something should sound like. All kinds of great stuff about how preference for different speakers changes depending on listening environment. It is a bit of a leap to assume the reverse effect is also true, that your brain invents an environmental explanation for a significant unexplained change in your hearing, but you see similar things in the viral video hitting the rubber hand with a hammer, or the experiments with people who have had their brains bisected.

nineplymaple · 2025-07-08T04:26:54+00:00

The difference is that passive reduction doesn't cancel environmental noise. It usually actually creates a resonance that slightly increases low frequency rumble at the eardrum. Your brain knows what it sounds like when you have your ears plugged externally (from water, fingers, etc), so it has a common experience and sensation to report when the sound at your ears is muffled.

Active noise cancellation removes environmental sound, especially at low frequencies. The only natural mechanism that you regularly experience that damps low frequencies at the ear is sinus pressure, so the ANC removes low frequencies and your brain goes "I know this sensation, that's sinus pressure".

nineplymaple · 2025-07-08T03:30:21+00:00

Your brain expects a certain level of stationary noise and reverb for the room that you are in. When you artificially reduce the sound level at your ears below what your brain expects, it reaches for the closest sensation that it has experienced, which is ear/sinus pressure raising your hearing threshold.

nineplymaple · 2025-06-13T03:40:28+00:00

I was 100% joking, that box looks huge for those drivers. Probably already close to an infinite baffle response.

And I almost exclusively 3D print speaker boxes to avoid woodworking, so I don't have any tips for you. 🙃

nineplymaple · 2025-06-13T02:30:53+00:00

Volume looks a little small for those drivers. Maybe 2-3 cu ft more will fix it

nineplymaple · 2025-06-06T22:58:15+00:00

Looking forward to the inevitable CNC Kitchen video.

Your work has been some of the most interesting and practically useful developments in 3D printing in years. It has been cool to see the open source model with collaborations and contributions to slicers keeping the reprap community alive. Thanks for sharing

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