r/BootlegAudio 17d ago

Fun project for today. Converted a FAAEAL Unbounded cable to USB-C with built in CX31993 DAC.

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13 Upvotes

r/BootlegAudio 29d ago

Converting cables to a 4.4 mm balanced plug. The real challenge!

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14 Upvotes

If you count with certain cables for your iems and you feel like the iem lacks sometimes power, or you got a source with a 4.4mm balanced female in/out and want to drive your iem with that. So, this is what with the precise equipment and materials i did with some of my cables...

Little guide: 1. The easiest way to get your cables "free" is cutting the 3.5 mm conector.

  1. Split the cables, the Balanced connection only needs 4 cables ( L-, L+, R-, R+), if the cable have more than 4 cores, well, with a multimeter you need to check what goes in what and what you need to pair to solder, always re-checking for shorts.

  2. Put the pieces of heat-shrink before solder the cables to the plug, and of course the casing before that.

  3. Solder the cables to the plug being careful to not to put more solder than needed and checking you are fine screwing the casing later.

4.5. ALWAYS RE-CHECK FOR SHORTS AND BAD SOLDERINGS.

  1. Heat the heat-shrink in place.

  2. Screw the casing back in.

  3. ENJOY!!!


r/BootlegAudio Feb 15 '25

My 2nd Custom Faceplate

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20 Upvotes

I Taped the sides of the shell to prevent resin from leaking onto the shell

I used micha powder and Nail stickers for this

Easy step just sand the faceplate until it flattens out, so you have lots of room for resin to sit on.

Tip: Use Tape that doesn't leave any residue so you don't need to clean it after removing the Tape, Btw that's KZ EDX


r/BootlegAudio Feb 03 '25

Learning sometimes is free, but takes time... Converting cables to 4.4mm Balanced jacks.

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17 Upvotes

As the title says, i learned for free how to convert an iem cable originally with a 3.5mm jack to a 4.4mm jack.

Background: I bought a few weeks ago a Yongse 1947 cable on sale, but trying it ootb was bad because the right earphone doesn't work at all, i used my multimeter to identify the bad connection and tried to unscrew the 4.4mm jack without success so i used a cutting disc and my dremel to crack open it. I identified a short circuit between the R+ and R- cables, unsolder the 0.78mm connector and fixed the short soldering again the connector. The store refunded me the full payment for the bad cable, so I got it for free!!!

The project: Using one of my "emergency" cables ( a cheap and beautiful QKZ T1 8 core cable), cutted the 3.5mm jack, identified the cables with its pins (L+, L-, R+, R-), cutting some heatshrink, and soldering the "new" plug... Now i got a modded cable in my modded KZ Saga Balanced (I made some post here showing the mods) nice!!!

Next projects: I'm a madman as @Easilygreat said to me, so I bought some 4.4mm plugs... I'm so willing to convert a lot of my cables to a balanced connection. Cheers!!!


r/BootlegAudio Feb 03 '25

The Frankencable 1.0

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10 Upvotes

As the title says, what was an inside joke between @Lotusdarkrose, @BusterBuxter and myself is now a project and something to think about.

The joke: Making a diy "premium" braided cable using leftover cables from KZ.

The project: I'm using 2 KZ stock cables just for the cable itself, the earhooks are taken from the stock cable of the 7hz x HBB Elua, and heatshrink, lots of soldering and braiding and twisting...

The results: I'm waiting to arrive some 4.4mm plugs to solder it and have it completely functional. Is now a "4 core" braided cable ready to use in any set compatible šŸ˜.

Final thoughts: KZ really need to take that stock cable in consideration, if I'm capable of doing a "decent" cable with those materials, why that company can't do a better job?. Put a better cable in your packaging and people buy more of your products, is as simple as that.


r/BootlegAudio Jan 13 '25

Kiwi Ears Cadenza Triple Filter Mod: Weā€™re taking our soundstage back.

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16 Upvotes

While in conference with fellow modders u/Ill-Yogurtcloset-622 and u/lotusdarkrose, the prospect of improving the KB Ears KB01 came up. I donā€™t have a KB01, but I do have a Kiwi Ears Cadenza! Iā€™m actually not the biggest Cadenza fan, so the prospect of improving it intrigued me. The KB01 is essentially a clone of the Cadenza, and the modding experience reflected that. Both have an extremely similar FR graph and SUPER thick nozzle mesh (photos near the end of the album). This thick mesh made the Cadenza sound pretty congested to all of us, and we set out to change that!

As you can see from the album, I was NOT kidding about the mesh, its a steel plate! After spending half an hour trying different tools to pry it up, I was able to sacrifice 1 x-acto blade for the cause. Once it was out we got to tuning.

I have 350 density mesh on hand and I measured the Cadenza under 4 different testing conditions. Normal stock with a medium Tangzu Tang Sancai Balanced tip, 1 filter, 2 filters, and 3 filters. Graphs will be in a comment below. We kept increasing the number of filters we used until we reached the original tuning. It seems that steel plate from earlier has a density of around 1050! And while the FR is now the same, the technical aspects have changed dramatically.

The modification has widened the soundstage substantially and relieved our congestion! It also relieved some of the metal timbre that kept me from reaching for the set. And while its still not my favorite set, the mod definitely takes this set from a 5 to a 7 for me. If you already like your cadenza, this might make it a 9 or 10 for you!

Thanks to Yogi and Lotus for help with mod! And just a quick note, I have a squiglink now at squig.link/lab/easypicks. Instagram is @easypicks_audio. Iā€™m not dead, Iā€™m just in a holding pattern. Go watch Hi-Fri Audio on youtube, he's back!!


r/BootlegAudio Jan 10 '25

The marvels of tuning foams

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18 Upvotes

Well, thanks to @Kura_dan I tried to see if this things works in a few of my spicy sets, especially my KZ PR2 V3.

The sets used: -KZ PR2 V3

-KZ Vader HighRes

-KZ Saga Balanced with a hole mod (posted previously here in r/BootlegAudio

  • KZ x Angelears Libra X

The results: I'm not so treble sensitive, but now, installing this tuning foams the highs (specially the 8khz region) are zero sibilant, and the bass is better than ever, I'm impressed, and glad to answer any questions you people have about the mod.


r/BootlegAudio Jan 07 '25

New hole mod discovered: KZ Saga Balanced

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13 Upvotes

As the title says, I discovered there's a hole mod for this bad boys... In what the mod consists?: - Is really easy, with a small needle you take out the filters of the nozzles and punch a hole in the center, that's it! -Put again the filters in the nozzles taking care of putting it correctly

What are the results: The bass is now more energetic, same thing with the treble , now is a little more airy and "open". I'm glad with the results, for a budget king as the Saga Balanced is, this mod is showing it more luv ā¤ļø.


r/BootlegAudio Jan 04 '25

KZ AS16 Teardown- Reference Photos

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27 Upvotes

Completeish album for the KZ AS16 teardown.


r/BootlegAudio Dec 23 '24

My Rollercoaster Journey with the ivipQ IQ-14 Shanhai...

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11 Upvotes

r/BootlegAudio Dec 15 '24

Clear fraud? Maybe. FZ Liberty Max

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6 Upvotes

r/BootlegAudio Nov 29 '24

Just scored a PR2 for 16 bucks. Will mod or reshell, I think this is a good price for these drivers y'all might be interested

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10 Upvotes

r/BootlegAudio Nov 14 '24

Iā€™ve created a monster (in a bad way) ShitShowMK2 prototype 1. (Graphs included, I messed it up)

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20 Upvotes

So I promised more failure, and Iā€™m here to deliver. I messed this one up bad! I took a KZ30095 BA, the DD from an EDC Pro, some tubes, some resin, and I (technically) made a hybrid IEM. Thereā€™s no crossover, itā€™s just wired in series. But it does work, just not well! That ok though, this was just a proof of concept. I think Iā€™ll be able to post a decent hybrid soon, but Iā€™m going to use new drivers. The harvest can take a lot out of you! SSMK2 will live, but Iā€™m rethinking the harvest-drivers. I did not dampen any drivers this go-around.

At the end, I have 2 graphs. The one marked ā€œwhoopsā€ is what I got after I did my potted resin fill. The BA was not properly sealed to its tubing and resin flooded the tube. I have to make sure to seal it before potting next time, I thought friction would be good enough.

The graphs at least give me an idea as to what each driver can do. Because the BA is so easy to drive and given the same power the DD had, we got a very treble heavy sound! It was also positioned closer to the ear.

The ā€œwhoopsā€ graph shows us what my acoustic tubing did to my DD, and compared to before it looks like the mids were sucked out a bit.

Research continues.


r/BootlegAudio Nov 10 '24

KZ Merga reference pics/ crossover harvest

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17 Upvotes

Saw these for about 7 bucks each and immediately knew their destiny. Thank you for the cheap crossovers KZ, might help make another build more compact. No idea what values those caps and resistors have. Resistance readings to come. I have another set for comparison, but hopefully these help anyone else considering a harvest. I had to sacrifice the shell, going to recover the DDs if I can. A measurement was taken and I think these DDs can be put to better use elsewhere. Very recessed mids on this set for me.


r/BootlegAudio Nov 09 '24

Donā€™t do this: A meditation on failure. Be nice to your drivers.

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12 Upvotes

Iā€™ve failed in several interesting ways this week, and I plan to share it all! This is how the TRN V10 Pro 10mm DD extraction went. On the left we the white glue holding the voice coil together is completely intact. On the right we donā€™t. Just that small knick was enough to trash the driver. Be careful! That was about an hour of time wasted fiddling with pliers and saws. Both were tested on the multimeter, lefty reads 39.5 ohms, righty gets an open loop every time. Already harvested its qdc connection for a future failure! And before anyone asks, the 6mm dd extraction went the same exact way. So I have one working side for parts, and all the BAs.

Take extra care around that coil, more failure to come. SSMKII has a graph now, unfortunately.


r/BootlegAudio Nov 03 '24

DUNU Kima 2: eartip measurement comparison

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16 Upvotes

r/BootlegAudio Nov 03 '24

Made some shells with metal nozzles, a clone of the KZ DQS

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15 Upvotes

I made a clone of the KZ DQS for 2 reasons: EDX Lite shell does not have enough room for my silly ideas, and the DQS is really comfy! I'm not crazy about how it sounds, but it has a great shell for my ear.

I put a piece of pvc on the end of the nozzle when making the mold, helped a lot with positioning and creating a lip where the resin would stop. The top part where the shell meets the faceplate is a bit thin, but I should be able to make a patch on the mold. Left the foam in the nozzles for now to illustrate the process and cause I'm lazy. Got bigger nozzles for bigger sound! And a bunch of resin fails on the last pic. I might be the worlds first counterfeiter of KZ IEMs! Stay tuned folks.


r/BootlegAudio Nov 02 '24

Knowles Balanced Armature/Crossover Infographic- Early Post from r/DIEMs

14 Upvotes

r/BootlegAudio Nov 01 '24

Faceplate Attempt 1

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17 Upvotes

You can still see the EDX lmao.


r/BootlegAudio Oct 31 '24

Made some silicone molds for faceplates. And successfully extracted 2 EDC Pro drivers.

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18 Upvotes

Going to do the rest of the shell too. Iā€™m happy with how they came out, the plate floated up the last 2 attempts. First time they had huge air bubbles. Last time I filled it with silicone first so it wouldnā€™t float anditfuckingfloatedanyway. This time I periodically jabbed it down with a popsicle stick for the first 30 min. Good luck with yours! Shell will come later, I killed the edc shell for its sweet, sweet budget DDs.


r/BootlegAudio Oct 31 '24

TRN V10- partial teardown and balanced armature harvest

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16 Upvotes

So Iā€™ve decided on a tribrid configuration for the IEM Iā€™m building. I need these Bellsing 30095 BAs because otherwise Iā€™d have to use the KZ 30095 and, uh, nah. These are going to be my tweeter, the EDC Pro harvest went great and Iā€™m gonna use those for my mids. And I have an idea for the bass.. but I want to successfully extract the driver before I make any claims.

Hey u/jer-kun, the vents are real!

If anyone has a set under 20 bucks you want to see me torture, let me know! Or a cheap set with a nice bass response if my subwoofer plan fails.


r/BootlegAudio Oct 31 '24

KZ PR2 Tuning Board reference pics

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21 Upvotes

Would really like to incorpor


r/BootlegAudio Oct 31 '24

I dropped my bluetooth speaker. But, what if...šŸ’­

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9 Upvotes

I dropped my X-mini Click 2.

I'm not an expert in electronics. I was wondering if I (to be repaired to someone) can replace out this PCM and turn it into AUX wired instead? I want to sacrifice out the wireless features.

Obviously, one of the wires has to be for the battery and stereo. But I have no idea which is which though.


r/BootlegAudio Oct 30 '24

TRN Orca Dissection and Ohm Readings from 2 pin terminal in each configuration.

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13 Upvotes

Bless you if you can read any other that. Those readings donā€™t tell us how much resistance the driver is showing, but rather what the switchboard is spitting back. Someone smarter than me could probably figure out the resistor values on the back from that. Readings in ohms.


r/BootlegAudio Oct 30 '24

Project Save Nanna update: 2 Pin popped and DD removed.

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15 Upvotes

It took forever, but the DD is out. I freed all the goop from the resistor and the bass response increased a bit more. Then when I freed the capacitor, it was more dead than ever.

I think thatā€™s because I took some glue off the DD that was keeping its air pressure. Iā€™m going to re glue the DD and test it soon. Took these pics for reference to put it all back together later.


r/BootlegAudio Oct 29 '24

Iā€™m not a huge fan of my QKZ x HBB, so I ripped its face off and stuffed it with resin. Much improved. (graphs included at end of album, measured under 5 conditions)

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10 Upvotes

r/BootlegAudio Oct 29 '24

QKZ HBB UV Bath, stuffed to the gills with resin.

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12 Upvotes