I just happened to try some narrow bore silicone tips. They weren't too narrow to kill too much bass but they did improve the treble to my liking. I feel a little better liking the more expensive 100 again.
1: Sansui SS-100: Rockwool felt and stock damping in earcup. Pads replaced with modified Shure SRH-550DJ earpads. Best of the bunch by a significant margin, very flat and clear. A tiny bit smeared in detail when compared to the ER-4S, but simultaneously more neutral and realistic sounding. Not comfortable. Don't sound good without proper amplification; these might have more room to scale.
2: Etymotic ER-4S: Using the foam tips and orange filters I got from a friend. Much more comfortable and still about the same as the stock frost triflanges soundwise: slightly dark sounding with treble peakage. Detail microscope. Good soundstage. Midrange tone is dead on. Don't play loud very well. Low bass roll off.
3: Pioneer Monitor 10-II: Foam frontwave damping (creatology around driver, open-cell over driver). Foam around driver in earcup and crammed into the driver vents. Rear cup covered in foam and poly-fil. Stock pads replaced with Brainwavz HM5 pleathers. Converted to dual entry using parts from a second, broken M10-II. Various cosmetic mods and touch-ups. By far my most involved project here. Sound is like the TH900: Boosted bass and treble but maintains good clarity and detail throughout the frequency range. Probably not as detailed as the TH900. Extremely good soundstage. These aren't bad by any means, but they are quite colored, which keeps me from using them often (these will probably see more work due to this).
4: Toshiba HR-810: Earcups closed with electrical tape from the inside. Felt stuck to rear of cup. Stock pads replaced with decayed and cleaned Pioneer SE-700 earpads. These probably aren't done either. Very good; flat and crisp. However, the lack of seal on the ear side prevents them from pushing bass. I had non-decayed SE-700 pads on them before, which allowed them to physically slam your skull, but one got damaged and as a result I had to change them to something else. Trying to find another earpad that works well before sending them off to their new owner.
5: Pioneer SE-500: Literally the exact same situation as above, to a worse extent. Cups closed with tape, felt layered with that. Pads do not seal and bass does not slam. Quite bright and not pleasant sounding. These have potential, but the problem here is that the pads are an odd shape, so suitable replacements are much harder to find. My only idea at this point is more extreme mods involving converting them to over ear and modifying the yoke structure.
1.Yamaha EPH-100. Dethroned the Narmoo S1 simply by changing the tips. The S1 has slightly better bass but the 100 has much better treble and has a better fit.
I was using wide bore tips for a while because they fit so well but that made the 100 a one trick pony to my ears. Especially going from a smartphone to a Fiio X1 to an iBasso DX50.
D7000
HE-400 modded with grill removal/Audeze pads/Lohb's suspension headband mod fed via speaker taps
D5000
D2000
X1
Ultrasone Performance 840 with Alpha pads (portable setup is my best basshead combo with Cayin C5)
Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250Ohm - 9/10 (detailed, exciting, great soundstage, a bit too much treble)
Denon AH-D1100 - 8/10 (detailed, enjoyable, a bit too much bass and too little treble)
Koss KSC75* - 7/10
Sennheiser PX 100-II - 7/10
Sennheiser PX 100 - 7/10
Grado iGrado* - 6.5/10
Koss KSC50 - 6.5/10
Havi B3 Pro-1 - 4.5/10 (clearer than other in-ear headphones I own, but completely lacking bass)
MEElectronics Sport-Fi M6 - 4/10 (better bass than the Havi, but lifeless otherwise)
Samsung in-ear that came with Galaxy Note 2 - 4/10 (lifeless)
Audio Technica ATH-ANC23 - 4/10 - (lifeless)
Panasonic RP HJE300 - 3/10 (muffled, lifeless, bassy)
* Now broken. Grade is based on memory, in relation to other headphones I own.
2. Core Cool V2. I used to dog the V2 because I compared to the Yamaha but that was a mistake. I like the V2's bass despite not being as good as the Narmoo S1's bass but the V2 doesn't have the S1's excessive treble.
3. Brainwavz R3. I have a love/hate relationship with it mainly because of the fit but I love them for jazz. The R3 has great isolation and bass which are key for commuting on a bus. The T2
4. Knowledge Zenith DT5. The DT5 could be ranked where the Core Cool V2 is because it has better treble than the V2 & S1 but it falls behind with less bass impact.
5. Tuna X6. The best soundstage that I have heard in a budget IEM.
1: Sansui SS-100: No change in mods here, though I'm considering doing something to boost the upper midrange, and maybe even tuning the bass a bit looser.
2: Etymotic ER-4S: Now using yellow filters and Shure biflange eartips. General character remains unchanged but more bass and better comfort has been achieved.
3: Pioneer Monitor 10-II: earpad change to Brainwavz angled velours. More foam in front of the driver. Low bass rolls off now but everything is much flatter, speedier, and more neutral. Still, not a very pleasant listen. I want more bass. Might change the pads again.
4: Sennheiser HD700: Filter paper over driver. Creatology foam covering the inside of the enclosure. Rear of driver dampened with blutak and dense felt. Nice sounding until you hit 6kHz. These have a peak that I can't seem to get rid of. Continuing to work on this.
It is an exceptional HP, and the comfort is incredible! Listening to a little Floyd on my 560 presently and they are hot ands uncomfortable. Which surprises me, I thought they were quite comfortable until I had the HD800 (& HEK).
Looking forward to the Norne Draug 2 finally arriving, from past experience it warms the sound of the 800 up, adds quite a bit of bass slam, and makes the soundstage even more expansive.
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