Not sure if that's a typo or you misread. The Audeze LCD-4 is $3995.
That doesn't mean I think building a sputtering system is going to be cheaper or easy though. I've watched PhD chemists and professors struggle for years with vacuum systems to try to get what they wanted from them. Nothing about them is quick, easy, or obvious if you have specific needs and are starting from zero.
But I've also seen high school students build them as science fair projects and get basic results with guidance from people with experience.
I don't think I'd try to build any kind of vacuum deposition system from scratch for a hobby, but it's not my time or project.
That doesn't mean I think building a sputtering system is going to be cheaper or easy though. I've watched PhD chemists and professors struggle for years with vacuum systems to try to get what they wanted from them. Nothing about them is quick, easy, or obvious if you have specific needs and are starting from zero.
But I've also seen high school students build them as science fair projects and get basic results with guidance from people with experience.
I don't think I'd try to build any kind of vacuum deposition system from scratch for a hobby, but it's not my time or project.
LCD-4 sound horrible (to me). The only headphone I listened to that I liked was the $6000 hifiman susvara but I have made muchbetter stuff in DIY.
This zillion trace diaphram I'm trying to make is just another step in my experimentational adventures.
There are plenty of youtube videos of crude DIY magnetrons achieving good results for optical purposes. I don't need fancy molecular control of exotic substances during deposition (yet
) so a basic magnetron will do. However I cannot help myself in innovating everything I touch so I'm going to play around with the magnetic fields and stuff and make it as badass as I can as long as I can do it cheap enough. The most expensive part will be crafting a custom high vacuum chamber which will likely be beyond my ability to afford but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.I think the community on this website will be very interested in the result of my combined research when it is completed, of which I have been working on for quite some years.
I have been curious about the audeze line. I have been a grado headphone user for decades now (started when the SR60's came out), but they all feel like my head is in a vise. I don't like that and actually prefer little in-ear units like the etymotic. Sadly the earphones I use the most are my airpod pro's. They sound ok enough, and the usability is fantastic, so they win in my many non-critical listening sessions like mowing the grass or talking on the phone.
Sheldon