Sony EX90 Modding thread!

[desman10143]

yeah the ones I bought on ebay will be arriving in a couple days and even thought i don't have them yet they look real and he has 100% feedback for over 800 items

edit:
this is the message he gave me when i asked him if they were fake:

Hi Pat, All of our Sony earphones are certainly genuine. We purchase directly from the Sony factory in person. You failed to tell me who made the accusations, and to also tell me the accusations they made, so I can not answer them. We offer a return/refund on all of our products if anyone is dissatisfied at all, and I am sure this person was also offered this, if they notified us of their dissatifaction. But it seems a little strange that they are so unhappy, but did not return them for a refund, sounds to me like there is more behind this. Maybe you should have messaged one of our many hundreds of satisified customers as well. Our listing states that they are genuine, and the listing also shows you what you receive in our package. But in the end, to buy from us or someone else is entirly up to you.
Best Regards
R.A

[desman10143]

Originally Posted by d.phens

Are they noise cancelling as description said?
Can you hear ambient sounds when you have them in your ears (but the music isn't playing yet)?

thanks!

they aren't noise cancelling they are noise isolating if you put the mods on. note that i dont have them yet as i said but i know they dont have noise cancelling like the bose qc2 or anything else like that

[d.phens]

Okay! Sounds cool. So stay in touch until if you get them. If there is true metal material (aluminium ?) on the backside of earphone shells they're likely to be genuine.

Do you have any cans to compare them to?
Maybe you can loan your friends better phones like PortaPros or anything you see as recommended on this forum.
I'm still thinking of contacting an EX90 owner, buying the EX082 for him and sending him the $6 needed for shipping to my friend in Houston who can then ship them to me along with other stuff I've bought here .

[desman10143]

I used to have some Sennheiser mx500s but they sucked/broke so I really only have Sony Mdr v150 (I am only a kid so I cant get alot of headphones).

On an unrelated note my dad just found a 1950's symphony porta-amp for a blues guitar or something like that, he may be selling is anybody interested?


edit: I should've posted the porta-amp thing in the buy-sell category but I won't because I'm not sure he is selling yet.

[Vinman]

I did the wax mod along with the foam/screen removal thing. Not a night and day difference, but certainly a difference. I notice a much clearer mid-section with perhaps tighter, more defined bass. The soundstage is incrementally improved.

Certainly worth the time to melt some candle wax and loose the screens. I didn't try the plastic film as it seemed too many peeps were having trouble keeping it on. There was enough good feedback re. wax, that I gave that a try.

[Superbaldguy]

I went through two sets of EX90's, too uncomfortable but they sounded terrific - is there any way to improve on that issue? The stem angle was just too unbearable.

[Vinman]

Originally Posted by Superbaldguy

I went through two sets of EX90's, too uncomfortable but they sounded terrific - is there any way to improve on that issue? The stem angle was just too unbearable.

I don't see how. I can certainly understand how these things are very ear shape dependant - sort of an odd design. They do sound better once the "open" architecture is closed up.

[desman10143]

I just received the mdr-ex082 from hong kong, one person in his feedback said that they were aftermarket but these are definitely oem sony im not a big fan of the around the neck headphones but the sound on these is excellent i will experiment with the different ear fittings and the mods.

[kramer5150]

Just a little bump...

I still enjoy these de-foamed. I find my sources warm enough, with plenty off bass for my tastes, so I leave the vents open.

They're part of my office rig, where the "J" cord helps keep my keyboard clear of clutter.

More bassy, but less refined than the PK1.

[Juff]

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but...

Well, first: Hello everybody. I'm new to this amazing (and even a bit freaky ;P) forum. I really admire it!

Okay. ^^ Now let's come to the interesting part:
I just buyed a pair of Sony's MDR-EX90(LP)!

I'm not an audiophile, but I love earphones and always wanted a good pair for some decent music quality (--> I gotta say: I'm an iRiver-fan, too).
And I have to admit: I'm a 'lil Sony-fan as well. ^^ I already had the MDR-ED31(LP) and several old Sony models. These modesl were just "cheap" (max. 25€ for the ED31) and nothing special. No in-ear-model yet (I don't like this kind of earphones thaaat much) and no "upper-class"-earphones.

Well, I always liked and even loved (and even still love) my ED31. They are amazingly bassy and were the perfect earphones for my hip-hop- and trance-music (don't call it techno! :P). But now: I wanted more!
I discovered my love for other genres like rock/metal (but also simple pop) again and the over-bassy ED31 weren't enough. So I decided to buy the EX90 (I got them for 45€ and I think they are worth this price) days ago and received them today.

My first impressions were: nice and very (VERY! ^^) clear sound. I wasn't used to this sound so it was a bit new and even strange. But I liked it! =)
Uhmmm... after listening to various genres (hard-trance, jumpstyle, rap, r'n'b, rock, pop), I missed the bass. The good old bass of my ED31.
Of course, the EX90 are superior, but the bass... *grrr*

Already while looking for the EX90 I found this forum (and thread) and so I decided to go for some mods that are described here:
1. I took some foamies (of old earphones) and modded them to fit to the EX90
2. I filled two of the three holes with wax (see Cantello's pictures on page 4)
Now the sound is quite better and becomes more and more amazing to my ears.

Now I just wanted to ask: should I still mod anything? Should I also fill the third (mid-) hole (with a hole ofc)? Is it better to take cling film/tape to seal the holes? Is it really recommandable to remove the lil grill of the tubes (the "germanium-mod)?

Thanks for any answer/tip. And if I'm wrong anywhere or said something stupid: I'm sorry! I'm just new and my english isn't perfect.

Best regards

Juff

[secretasianman]

Just my 2 cents - loved the cling film mod; I did the geranium mod out of boredom, but the difference wasn't drastic. My source is a mere sansa express and mp3's at 160 (I'm kicking the habit). I used a straightened staple to punch the hole in the cling film and to superglue the filter back on after the geranium mod.

After cutting out the filters (really simple - took <5 seconds each) and removing the foam, I gunked up the filters with superglue, so I enjoyed them naked for a while. Then I got paranoid and replaced them with ex51 filters (too thick, sonically 'darkening'), and am now using small scraps of Costco/Kirkland "Japanese Green Tea" bags - the kind in the opaque mesh bags. It seems like it'll keep out the nastiness, and it lets out lots of sound.

[extremecarver]

Well I got some of that 10€ inclusive shipping Hongkong EX082. After the cling mod they outplay my AKG 530 with ease (driven by Cmoy 2227 Opamp). Don't know if they are genuine or not though. When I removed the cover on the "canal" there was no foam or anything behind but I can see down to parts of the driver. Otherwise however they feature all of the pros and cons told about the Ex90/85 series. They are hard to drive, too analytic and cold without the mod and great quality overall. Ordered 2 spare ones from the seller just in case they will break down. Much cheaper than ordering one pair hear. I don't think they are fake as I can't believe that fake earphones outrun most sub €100 phones I've listened too till now.

The chinaphones have much more clarity and punchier bass than the AKG 530 after the mods. The bass is much louder too if not equalized down. Furthermore they are much more comfortable to wear for my ears (not getting warm), don't distort or clip at high volumes on bassy music if driven from a good source (like Bloodhound Gang, Patrice or Bob Marley). Only lacking a bit of "room" to the big phones and they isolate better while not having the feel of closed headphones or the AKG 324P and Senn 300cx that didn't sound anyway as good and broke down after very short use (and those were bought directly of Amazon so chance of fake is very low).

Without holes the bass is even a bit too strong so I lower bass on the equalizer. Funny is that they sound great both from my cmoy as well as from my Archos 202 XS but absolute crap from my laptops Intel HDA internal or from the my Terratec Aureon 5.1 USB MKII (which on the other hand can drive the AKG 530 reasonably that are unlistenable to on the Archos) meaning that the bass distorts and clipping occurs even at low volume, I don't get how a source can drive one headphone great and another not at all even though the AKG 530 are low Ohm too.

However I don't really manage to get holes into the clingfoil because no good tools here at all so I just lifted it up a bit, don't think that they . If the not having a hole damages the drivers, well then I will just not do it on my spare phones. For now fully isolated without hole and enjoying The Zombies with full pleasure. If completely wrapped up (only back hole left open) in clingfoil they isolate as good as any other in canal earphone but don't give me the closed feeling of Cx 300 or AKG 324P.

Edited: Added some things, no response yet after this at time of editing.

[Maki]

Picture of mine, gutted and with the kidney shaped openings filled with silicone sink sealer. I left the centre hole open. This is a tremendous mod. The phones are now extremely punchy, dynamic and the bass is great.

[brianbrant]

I'm new here. Old, too. But also a former recording studio designer and engineer. Noting some other posts, I may NOT be the oldest in the heap.

Few people in my small orbit understand my quivering love of Sony MDR EX90 earphones. I have more than several, and try to find interesting clones on ebay. I ran into a truly tragic pair, but at least they performed much better than the stock, genuine EX51 model, which seems to be one of Sony's most popular, and for $10, I couldn't go too wrong. Then I discovered this forum...

The past few days I've been aggressively burning in the Chinese clone, hoping to get a more open soundfield. A big change occurred within an hour, but little improvement since. Here I am, day three of the burn-in, and this forum catches my eye. Of the mods suggested, I decided to do a quickie experiment and taped two of the three holes with standard Scotch mending tape (not cellophane) since that's all I had at hand.

I tried on the clones...

What a unexpected discovery! An astonishing improvement in overall quality, with a major boost to the low end. I can't really assess other aspects of the sound because I was too saddened that these clones were so cheesy since I got them I was unable to listen beyond my tears. I just felt a 72 hour burn-in would do everything possible and leave it at that. All I can claim without question is these Chinese "90"s went from tragic to not-bad-at-all. Except for a slightly smooth high end, as though the peaks were buffed with wool (which was present originally), the change overall is unbelievable.

I'm going to try this minimal (but dramtic) mod to my genuine Korean-made 90s, which are the best 90s of my collection, and jaw-dropping in every possible way without any mod other than a standard 72 hour aggressive burn-in. Next will be the genuine Japanese version and then the most recent genuine set, the Malaysian build, when it comes next week.

In sum: what a great discovery this forum. I'm not by nature afraid of messing with any gear, but until my cheap Chinese clones came along, I thought the 90s couldn't get much better, especially the Korean made version. If $10 junk (admittedly based on a really decent, simple design, of course) can sound like $100 heaven, this forum has made my day, week and probably a few months.

Thanks, all, for your efforts and suggestions.

bb

ps:

While I was waiting for this post to preview load, I ran back to the 90s with my X-acto knife, removed the tips and cut out the protective fabric. I could see the drivers - nothing between me and them. Not to worry, I figured. $10.00, remember? Another wonderful shock: the upper frequencies were shiny and edgy, just like Yello (my burn-in disc) intended.

Again, what a find!

[brianbrant]

I've been wearing the formerly horrible Chinese 90s almost constantly since I made the two modifications. The overall sound is still immensely satisfying. I only use Insignia mp3 players, and my compression is not a very high-quality 128kb/s, but still, what a sound!

To deal with the completely open tube, I applied four tiny dots of superglue around the outside top of the perimeter. I cut a foamy into a small patch, slightly larger than the outside diameter of the tube and placed the foam patch onto the top and let the bond dry thoroughly. Once dry, I used a very sharp scissors and cut around the edge.

Because the foam is so thin and accoustically transparent, it protects without affecting the sound an iota. The original cloth seal was apparently very dense in weave, probably great for 400 thread-count sheets, but not as a grille cloth. The tips snapped back on perfectly.

As far as a more permanent closure for the holes (call them ports, openings, whatever), and to be able to 'tune' the earpieces, I devised what may seem extreme, but the end result is ideal for two reasons: an absolute seal and the ability to 'adjust' the amount of airflow from pin-sized to nearly the size of the center hole.

The process:

Using a wood file, which produces relatively large filings compared to a metal file (to file wood, not made *of* wood), I ground down a piece of black plastic. Not the hard plastic found in little boxes and such. The consistency of plastic used, say, on soda twist tops works best. I mixed a soup of epoxy and plastic filings, which gives a beautiful, dense consistency yet affords a smooth texture when buttering the mixure into the hole. Because of the particles of plastic in the mix, the product stays put and doesn't sag into the fabric. Sold and sure, the finish is easy to 'adjust' as it hardens.

In working out the size of any remaining opening of the center hole, the application of the mixture is the same, but the edges need to be worked from the perimeter into the center, as with the two others, but more slowly because any tuning hole has to be anticipated.

Before making any of these permanent changes, I used standard Scotch mending tape, which created an absolute seal. It was an easy process to work out the size I wanted to remain as a vent in the center hole by simple removing and readjusting the tape. The difference in sound was slight until the breathing hole was near pin-size. Too teensy on the Chinese fakes, so I have about 50% reduction in the center hole size, now permanently rendered by the epoxy/plastic product.

This was a fun, if slightly OCD, task. It helped a state of mild dispair at my bad luck become a needed victory.

And if I'm taken away and placed in an asylum for the profoundly disturbed, I owe it all to you...