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3D Printed Speakers: An Overview - 3DPrint.com

One unforeseen 3D printing application is in the production of speaker parts and even entire speakers. This particular area is surprisingly vibrant, with many hobbyists using 3D printing to make their very own designs come to life. But, commercial companies are also making money off of 3D printed speaker components in very high-end applications. So, we thought it was time to look at the field as a whole to see what has been going on in 3D printed speakers.

In 2009 Cornell researchers 3D printed a fully functional speaker:

“We’re trying to move the printing away from just printing passive parts made of plastic or metal, to printing integrated systems, active systems that can do something,” says associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Hod Lipson. Lipson led the project with graduate students Apoorva Kiran and Robert MacCurdy… the loudspeaker is a relatively simple object, consisting of plastic for the housing, a conductive coil, and a magnet. Silver ink was used as the conductor and a viscous blend of strontium ferrite was used to create the magnet.”

Hod again showing us that he’s lightyears ahead.

This dodecahedron speaker was shared in Thingiverse in 2012. Projects such as this Raspberry Pi based speaker have been created a number of times as well. And many people have made speaker rings, other spare parts for speakers or things such as wall mounts.

People have even produced horn based speakers, as shown above, or holders for Google Minis. It’s clear that the maker community is really working towards making speakers more extensible and integrating them into our lives. There’s even a Reddit community devoted to DIY audio.

Paul Ellis’s Polymate3D is doing something much more advanced by creating speaker drivers, magnets, and designs and sharing them. The open design movement has not really taken off, but this kind of thing could enable many more people to build much more advanced speakers. In contrast to most of the projects listed in this post, this could truly revolutionize speakers. Below, we can see how Thomas Sanlanderer 3D prints an entire Paul Ellis speaker.

 

Mass Portal material extrusion printers and Covestro TPU were used for a sieve to reduce interference on these Audiolens speakers.

Disney showed off 3D printed speakers in 2014. Their idea was to use 3D printing for housing to integrate the speakers into our every day lives and, of course, give them mouse ears and the like. They also wanted to show that “both audible sound and inaudible ultrasound can be produced with the same design, allowing for identifying and tracking 3D printed objects in space using common integrated microphones. ”

In 2015, Formlabs showcased flexible SLA resin in its speaker design.

Boaz Dekel’s Aleph speaker has been in development since around 2015. 3D printed on a Stratasys Connex PolyJet machine, the unique design integrates a diffuser, reduces resonance, and is optimized so that it “allows wavefront diffraction to propagate the sound cleanly in a room.”

In 2019, Czech design studio DEEPTIME showed off its speakers, 3D printed from sand. The shape of its Spirula speakers were inspired by ammonite shells. The team touts their unibody design and unique forms.

in 2020, IKEA, together with Teenage Engineering, encouraged us to design and 3D print add-ons to the Swedish furniture giant’s Frekvens speakers. I really believed that IKEA was going to go huge with this, but they didn’t.

26 hour print.

Available on Thingiverse, the Back Load Horn speakers are a doozy of a project, if you’ve got a week to spare. Here you can learn how one user made them.

Node Audio’s super high end HYLIXYA speakers are a now very recognized form. Made with 3D Systems’ powder bed fusion, they’re futuristic and use a radical new shape to engineer superior sound. 3DPrint.com was even given a virtual walkthrough tour of their production process. You can watch that below.

All in all, we can see that there are a number of trends in 3D printing speakers that are notable.

  1. People are using 3D printing to integrate speakers into cars, their homes, and surround them with enclosures to make them fit into their world.
  2. There is real open source and maker activity going on, which aims to democratize the fabrication of speakers. This seems rather far off, but it would be quite exciting if we could produce an entire speaker. This has been demonstrated a few times, but it is not yet easy or perfect.
  3. High-end companies are using 3D printing’s design freedom to manufacture better speaker components, housings, and parts, such as diffusers, to increase the performance of their sound products. Increasingly, 3D printing could play a part in high-end audio and we may at one point see more of this occurring.

Will we all 3D print our speakers at home? This is very unlikely, as we’re mostly lazy and/or busy. Will every speaker be 3D printed? Also highly unlikely, since traditional methods make for inexpensive high-performance products already. Will we change the sound landscape somewhat with uniquely performing shapes and components? This is probably the most likely scenario. Listen to this space.

Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.

Tagged with: 3d printed speaker • 3D printing speakers • Aleph Zero • aleph2 • diffusers • hylixya\ • hylizya • mass portal • Node Audio • sound • speaker components • speakers

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6 models for 3D printing of speakers. Realize your idea

What is a speaker? This is not just an opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of music. The 3D printed models are a broad view of the solution, from Star Wars-inspired designs to physics-based designs. We have compiled our rating of 3D printed speaker models that pump the most

As a rule, speakers are mostly made of wood and have a boring rectangular shape. And only a few commercial projects have managed to change this by creating products of a higher level and interesting design. Next, we present to your attention a range of desktop speakers with an interesting design. Although in fact, who can forbid you to print products on a larger scale? But before we start, here are some tips:
• The walls of the 3D printed speaker enclosure should be as rigid as possible. This will avoid resonance, which means that the sound will be cleaner.
• A 5mm thick wall with more than 50% fill can provide the basis for a compact cabinet that delivers quality sound.
• The inside of the speaker cabinet should be covered with a soft material. You can use acoustic wool used for damping in loudspeakers. It can even be ordinary wool or glass wool. The sound will be softer, warmer, as the unwanted resonance that creates a piercing sound will be leveled.
Let's get straight to the models...

Model - Spirula

Akemake has introduced a model inspired by the most emblematic design in the field of high-quality sound. We are talking, of course, about the famous Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus speakers. To eliminate negative side effects, they still need some kind of additions. That is why the body took a spiral shape. As a result, unwanted resonances are significantly attenuated, resulting in a much cleaner sound. The best solution is to complement the design with quality material. Wood is ideal for this, as it has the best acoustic characteristics. And for printing, you can use Wood PLA, which will also achieve relative success.

Model - Nomoon

The sphere is one of the most difficult shapes to make, especially when there is some other design on the surface in addition to everything. In this case, 3D printing is the ideal solution. Through 3D printing, it is very easy to create a variety of spherical products with a design.
Initially, Nomoon was not supposed to imitate the Death Star, at least, Rich Olsen, the creator of the design, did not pursue such a goal. But as it turned out, the image of a frightening space station came in handy for solving this problem. The model can be adjusted to the size of the speaker, which is also a big plus.

Model - Super Bass Speaker

This model allows you to enhance the reproduction of low frequencies, which is very useful when it comes to jazz or modern dance music. And everything is based on physical laws.
At the very beginning, we noted that for high-quality sound it is necessary to acoustically isolate the front surface from the back. The Super Bass Speaker has a so-called transmission line that shifts the sound wave until it matches the front wave. This is how frequencies are amplified.

Model — Egg-shaped speakers

These speakers are distinguished not only by their original design, but, as practice shows, they are also capable of reproducing very high-quality acoustics. Everything is explained again by physics. In standard rectangular speakers, parallel walls can create negative effects in sound that detract from the overall quality. As a result, the waves are reflected, superimposed, and can interfere with each other, as they are in each other's way. The most ambitious form in the field of Hi-Fi and Hi-End is the egg. The speaker also accompanies the egg-shaped Heine Nielsen, which creates a bass reflex. In simple terms, the speakers are equipped with a hole in the front, which outputs the bass frequencies.

Model - Dodecahedron

Sean Michael Ragana invites you to surprise yourself and your friends with a dodecahedron speaker equipped with 12 speakers. Each of them is directed in its own direction. A very interesting model that allows you to achieve the effect of "sound around".

Model - Modular speaker

Modular speaker offers Paul de Jong for building. This model uses an interesting acoustic effect. You can print a rod of any length, resulting in different performance. If the speakers are placed side by side and connected to the same channel of the amplifier, then the acoustic effect increases in proportion to the number of speakers - that's the math. That is, if you place two speakers side by side, you can get the effect of 4 working freestanding speakers. Such rulers can often be seen at large concerts that are held on the street.

All models presented in the article can be downloaded for FREE on the site thingiverse.com

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3D printed speakers - 6 projects that pump the most

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3D printed speakers - 6 projects that rock the most


From Star Wars-inspired designs to complex designs using physical phenomena. Let's take a look at some of the coolest 3D printed speakers out there. Immerse yourself in the exciting world of sound!

Traditionally, most hobbyist speakers have been made of wood and shaped like boring rectangular prisms. Only commercial and high-level projects have dared to be more complex and exotic.
Next, we'll take a look at some fun and interesting 3D printed desktop speakers, but there's nothing stopping you from printing larger volume speaker boxes!
Before we dive into the list, here are some general tips for 3D printed speakers:
• The stiffer the cabinet walls, the less unwanted resonance, and therefore the sound will be cleaner. A 5mm wall with more than 50% infill will create a compact enclosure with good sonic properties.
• Acoustic wool for damping loudspeaker enclosures: The interior of the enclosure should be lined with a soft sound-absorbing material such as wool or glass wool. This will produce a softer and warmer sound as it eliminates the resonances that produce a piercing sound.

1. Spirula


Akemake's Spirula is inspired by one of the most iconic designs in the world of high-fidelity audio: the famous Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus loudspeakers make the most of their listening experience, but they still need something to eliminate the negative side effects.
To this end, this "box" takes on a helical shape, attenuating unwanted resonances and producing a cleaner sound. In addition to the characteristics of its shape, it is best if this design is made of wood, mainly because of the better acoustic properties. Plastic-printed Wood PLA has also been a relative success.
Thingiverse user Renaud Renaud suggests https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:27

2. Nomoon


One of the most difficult shapes to build is the sphere, especially if the surface needs to have a specific design. Once again, additive manufacturing comes to the rescue. With 3D printing, it's easy to create spherical designs with all kinds of customization.
Rich Olsen, the creator of Nomoon, didn't intend to imitate the image of the Death Star, but the frightening space station was perfect for the task. What's more, the design is fully parameterizable, allowing adjustment of the speaker bore diameter.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:590871

3. Super Bass Speaker

Early on in our journey, we saw the need to acoustically isolate the front of the speaker from its back to avoid sound cancellation. One of the ideas based on the principles of physics is the famous "transmission line".
Here the backward sound wave has to pass through a long channel in the hope that it will be completely extinguished. Since this is practically impossible, the transmission line must at least "shift" the wave to match the frontal wave front, resulting in amplification rather than attenuation.
Super Bass Speaker by Ozkal Özsoy is supposed to boost low frequencies, giving excellent reproduction of jazz and dance music.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2664657/makes

4. Egg speakers


These egg-shaped speakers not only have a unique design, but also provide a very remarkable acoustic effect.
In traditional rectangular prism speakers, parallel walls create undesirable sound reproduction effects. This is due to the fact that inside the acoustic box, the waves are reflected and interfere with each other when they are on the same path. The solution to this problem is one of the most ambitious shapes in the hi-fi and hi-end world: the 9 egg shape0005 In addition to the roundness of the egg-shaped Heine Nielsen speaker, this is what is known as the bass reflex. This means it has a hole that allows low frequency sounds to contribute to the front sound.
https://www.thingiverse.com/dr_frost_dk/about


5. Dodecahedron columns


If you want to surprise your friends, we recommend this design.
The Dodecahedron Speaker by Thingiverse user Sean Michael Ragan actually has twelve speakers, each pointing in a different direction.

Learn more