Be it turntables, mixers, headphones, MIDI equipment or speakers: DJs and producers are using a lot of expensive gear. These 3D printed items for bedroom producers and DJs – for use in studios and for gigs – may help you with a few nifty and cheap solutions (some are also quite funny).
3D Printed Item #1: Mixer Replacement Faders
What is it? A replacement fader for sliders that about any mixer or equalizer uses.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed.
Who should print this? Everyone who just lost one of those slider things and needs a quick replacement. It was made for a Mackie mixer, but those are similar on other models.
Download: Free on Thingiverse
3D Printed Item #2: Two Line In Audio Mixer
What is it? An audio device that merges different audio sources to one output.
How much work is needed? The printing is easy, the rest is a bit of soldering simple electronic components.
Who should print this? You got one great set of speakers, but you want different audio sources, like PCs and audio players, to use them without having to switch the audio plugs? This is for you.
Download: Free on Thingiverse. You’ll find also some instuctions there.
3D Printed Item #3: Headphone Desk Hook
What is it? A hook to rest your headphones on right on the edge of your studio desk.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed.
Who should print this? Anyone who just needs a place to put his headphones away.
Download: Free on Thingiverse
3D Printed Item #4: Voronoi Omega Headphone Stand
What is it? A headphone stand, consisting of mostly holes.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed. You may want to print it with support, which needs some cleanup.
Who should print this? Anyone who wants to put his headphones somewhere where they can be seen and look good.
Download: Free on Thingiverse.
3D Printed Item #5: Headphone Wall Mount
What is it? A place to store your headphones and roll up the cable.
How much work is needed? 3D printing, drilling, screwing the thing to the wall, untangling that damn headphone cables and winding them up. Done.
Who should print this? Probably a good way of storage for anyone with too many different pairs of headphones.
Download: Free on Thingiverse.
3D Printed Item #6: A Table Cable Clip Holder
What is it? A 3d printed thingy to hold your cable ends next to the desk (and next to the headphone holder if you want to).
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed.
Who should print this? Everyone who is fed up with hitting their heads underneath the table because you’re looking for the right end of a cable.
Download: Free on Thingiverse.
3D Printed Item #7: Speaker Array
What is it? An array of twelve speakers arranged on the faces of a dodecahedron.
How much work is needed? Other than the 3D printed parts, you’ll need 12.3″ speakers, and a lot of cables, screws and bolts. So a trip to the hardware store becomes inevitable.
Who should print this? Everyone who wants to use their own stylish point source for music needs which also looks great and needs a project for the weekend.
Download: Instructions and all sources and downloads can be found on Instructables.
3D Printed Item #8: Darth Fader
What is it? Another fader replacement.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed.
Who should print this? People who record, master, or just love movie scores.
Download: Free on Thingiverse.
3D Printed Item #9: Pioneer Mixer Knob
What is it? Another replacement, this time for a turning knob.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed.
Who should print this? Anyone who lost his mixer knob. Which is strange but may happen on rare occasions. We don’t judge.
Download: Free on Thingiverse.
3D Printed Item #10: CD Wall Holder
What is it? In times of Internet and USB sticks, this is not for everyone. But this gadget holds CDs and is flat so you can put it on the wall.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed. And a screw or glue to fix it to your wall.
Who should print this? The old hipsters may have some vinyls hanging on the wall, but if you want to be progressive but still kind-of-hipster, you can decorate your walls with CDs.
Download: Free on Cults3D
3D Printed Item #11: Vinyl Record
What is it? A vinyl record you can listen to on your vinyl player.
How much work is needed? To create your own record, you’ll need to use some of the mentioned software in the instructions and a lot of computing power. This is a projected for technically advanced 3D printing and music enthusiasts. And be careful with the bass frequencies when mastering.
Who should print this? Someone who has access to a really high-precision 3D printer and a lot of time on their hands to experiment with this. The first results you will get will sound horrible. With a bit of tuning, you may get something that is okay – but not comparable to vinyl.
Download: Full instructions on the process can be found on Instructables. But you can watch the video first and listen to the results they produced:
3D Printed Item #12: Daft Punk 7″ Vinyl Adapters
What is it? Those are two versions of vinyl adapters for use with 7″ vinyls - the ones with the big holes in the middle. They incorporate the iconic helmets of Guy Manuel and Thomas Bangalter.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed. But to achieve the multicolor base like in the pictures, you need to switch filaments.
Who should print this? Everyone who loves Daft Punk and maybe even owns their vinyl releases.
Download: Free on Thingiverse here (Guy Manuel) and here (Thomas Bangalter).
3D Printed Item #13: Pac-Man & Ghosts Faders
What is it? Faders/sliders in the design of another popcultural icons- Pac-Man and the Ghosts.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed.
Who should print this? Everyone who wants to bring a smile to the studio or wants some retro feeling while producing 8bit music.
Download: Free on Thingiverse.
3D Printed Item #14: Trellis Soundboard
What is it? Let me quote the project description: “Push a button, it plays a sound!”
How much work is needed? You need some electronics and to program the software to use your custom sounds. The result has integrated speakers and will play 16 different sounds by the push of a button.
Who should print this? You always wanted a soundboard? Clapping noises or a drumroll when you make a joke? Laser sounds, sirens – you can have it all when you take the time to finish this project. A bit of experience with soldering and microcontrollers will help.
Download: Free instructions on Cults3D.
3D Printed Item #15: XLR Cable Retainer
What is it? A retainer for Neutrik type XLR cables – the piece that holds the bare cables inside the plug case.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed. But you’ll use this with plugs, pins and cables.
Who should print this? The cable guys that solder their own cables, exchange plugs and customize cables from components.
Download: Free on Thingiverse
3D Printed Item #16: Parallel Line Tool for Musical Notation
What is it? A plastic holder for up to 5 pens to draw 5 parallel lines for staves.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed.
Who should print this? Music teachers or composers who want to use a big whiteboard for notation.
Download: Free on Thingiverse.
3D Printed Item #17: Ghostly DJ Clip
What is it? A clip to roll up the excess cable of your headphones at a gig.
How much work is needed? Only the 3D printed part is needed.
Who should print this? Get tangled with your headphone cables or get them stuck and suddenly rip them off your head when you make a sudden movement, all just because the cable is far too long? You need this.
Download: Free on Thingiverse
3D Printed Item #18: Flame Controlled MIDI Controller
What is it? We’ve seen a lot of MIDI controllers, but this one’s special. It‘s a MIDI controller, activated by the flickering of a flame.
How much work is needed? You need the case and also some electronics. Plus a candle.
Who should print this? Anyone looking for that analog warmth on his MIDI data? Seriously: If you want a really unpredictable, random MIDI source, which is also good looking, this is the thing to build. Map the data it to “Pan” on your Hihats and control the sensitivity with the knob.
Download: Free from Instructables.
3D Printed Item #19: Hand Cranked Vinyl Player
What is it? This is a printable hand-cranked record player for vinyl discs. It fits into a 15 cm cube.
How much work is needed? You need the parts and 5 minutes for assembly. Best test it on an old, used 78 record.
Who should print this? Anyone who’s interested in manipulating his vinyl collection in a new and interesting way. No replacement for a proper turntable, though.
Download: Free from Thingiverse.
3D Printed Item #20: EZ-Key MIDI Guitar
What is it? The guitar features 4 arcade buttons and 6 LED push buttons. The guitar can be used as a MIDI instrument, video game controller and even DJ controller. You can customize and configure your guitar to be whatever you want.
How much work is needed? This project uses the E-Z Key bluefruit wireless controller from Adafruit.
Who should print this? If you can spare two days on 3d printing and have no problem with 77 soldering points, this is your weekend project.
Download: Free from Thingiverse.
License: The text of "20 Best 3D Printed Items for DJs and Music Producers" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.