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Your thoughts on reshelling and adding drivers to SE535 please!

post #1 of 11
5/30/11 at 7:10am
Thread Starter 

Hey guys,

 

  i recently exchanged emails with Unique Melody Australia  about reshelling my old SE535s for a better fit and discovered that they cld for a price, add 3 more drivers to the 535s and make it a 6 driver custom hybrid IEM.

 

I'm starting to feel a familiar beast in me stir again, exhorting me to loosen my purse strings in the never-ending chase for more awesome sound! >.<

 

That aside, i thought i'd ask around the forum to see if anyone has had any experience with adding drivers to IEMS or more specifically, the SE535s. I love their sound, but i SHURE wouldn't mind any improvements that can be made to an already great package. 

 

Of course i'm also wary that i just might ruin an already great pair of earphones, perhaps the synergy between the current drivers on the SE535 would be ruined by the invasion of alien drivers rather than augmented.

 

I did a little search on the forums, but the available literature on adding drivers hasn't been very informative. If i'm wrong, i'd apprecaite a push in the right direction! I'd also appreciate any thoughts or comments by you guys with or without experience of this sort.

 

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post #2 of 11
5/30/11 at 9:08am

I've added to mid drivers to my triple fi 10 ,tbh i prefered them before but with proper eq they sound really good,It should should sound better than before but it will have a differnet sound signiture .My tf10 went from V shape to a blanaced phone with a little bass emphisis.

 

Not sure about se535 though ,what company and what drivers are they gonna add? like mid,bass treble? and see if they can add in a extra crossover since your'll have 6 overall drivers.

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post #3 of 11
5/30/11 at 10:22am
Thread Starter 

Good question Henry, i didn't think to ask that. I'll send UM an email and let you know

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post #4 of 11
5/30/11 at 11:22am

You should contact Maodi. He had SE530's reshelled with 3 drivers added. I bought it off of him and they are currently being reshelled by UM.

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post #5 of 11
5/30/11 at 3:03pm

I would never do it and don't know why anyone else would.  Millions of dollars of research went into making SE535 sound as best as it could.  I would never mess with it.  If you are seeking a different sound sig, seek out a different IEM.  There are dozens and dozens of high end selections to suit anyone's needs.

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post #6 of 11
5/30/11 at 3:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spyro View Post

I would never do it and don't know why anyone else would.  Millions of dollars of research went into making SE535 sound as best as it could.  I would never mess with it.  If you are seeking a different sound sig, seek out a different IEM.  There are dozens and dozens of high end selections to suit anyone's needs.



Btw when they add in new drivers they dont just like... well add it in..., they cross reference with a frequency graph of the iems and tune in accordingly.

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post #7 of 11
5/31/11 at 9:57am
Thread Starter 

So i talked to UMAus and this is what he had to say
 

 

Quote:
The Miracle vs the SE530x6.  
 
The SE530 is a lush IEM.  Smooth midrange, pretty ordinary extension down the bottom, similarly flat high's, decent space and transparency.  The SE530x6 opens up the highs and increases extension at both ends of the spectrum.  Because the bass drivers however were designed for a lush sounding IEM, you won't quite get the separation, transparency and depth of bass that the Miracle offers.  There are lots of other things, but if I had to sum it up;
 
SE530 - Smooth, lush, more prominent mids than the Miracle, though not quite as refined.  Good sense of space  though not huge (great left and right, but not so good up and down) and good extension at the top and bottom end though lacking in texturing/layering.  Forgiving with low quality recordings and live use because of smooth mids.
 
Miracle - Balanced, a bit more edgy and seems to have more energy over the mellow SE530.  Balanced mids, tingly and energetic highs.  The low end is very well textured and extends extremely well.  Spacious and accurate in soundstage.  Bit more revealing with a low quality source.
 
I am biased, but I would definitely go for the Miracle if i could afford it.  Not necessarily cos its simply more expensive, thus better, but rather, we engineered it from the ground up to sound the way it does, and we didn't use any of the drivers in the SE530 for a reason...we simply don't think they sound as good over what we have in the Miracle.  That being said, we wouldn't offer the SE530x6 upgrade if we didn't think it still sounded smashing.

 

I didn't ask what sorta drivers or crossovers are in the SE530x6 , feel abit embarrassed for asking so many questions already confused_face.gif, and i reckon what the quote above roughly answers that question in terms of performance.

 

I reckon Spyro has a point though, might be better to sell the 535s and go for something engineered by them from the ground up. Adding drivers and reshelling is prolly more of a solution for IEMS that need reshelling or repairing. What do you guys think?

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post #8 of 11
7/4/12 at 10:57am

im also behind a better sound from my se 535s ... ... i thot of cable upgrades ... like the toxic cable cryo treated 99.99999% pure silver  or the baldur mk2 ... 

 

but for the price of the the pure silver cable i might as well add a twfk knowles ba 

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post #9 of 11
7/4/12 at 4:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by velvet undergrd View Post

So i talked to UMAus and this is what he had to say

I talked to them about the exact same thing. He also recommended going with the miracle. It was only a few hundred more to go with the miracle over the se530x6.  Actually if I added what they charge to the original price of my se535s then it works out cheaper for the miracles.

 

After everything now I still like having my se535s unchanged.  They are smaller so I can fall asleep with them in and I also wear them under my motorcycle helmet.  You can feel them run out of steam down low and up high though. A bass boost in my e17 helps a little.  There isn't one piece of music in my collection that sounds better on the se535 over my miracle and merlin.

 

The merlin is another option over the miracle. I love my merlin too. The merlin feels more spacious and has me looking over my shoulder sometimes cuz I'm hearing stuff coming from the doorway to my study. Still If you want a straight upgrade from the 535 then the miracle is it. It's like the 535 on steroids with nice forward mids that are a bit less metallic than the 535, more sparky extended highs and similar bass but with a little subwoofer added down low.

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post #10 of 11
7/5/12 at 12:23am
Thread Starter 

I know what you mean Wahu, i went with the miracles in the end and gave the 535s to my girlfriend. I'm pretty happy with the miracles, but i do steal the 535s back sometimes out of nostalgia. The 535s lack detail in comparison to the Miracles, but there's something musical abt them that the Miracle just doesn't have.

 

I'm getting the gf Beat Audio Silver cables for her birthday, that way i can enjoy em too! xD
 

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post #11 of 11
7/5/12 at 2:46am

Yeh I know what you mean. I didn't shop around cuz I found the 535s lacking at all, I was just curious what else was out there. I got the merlins first and I immediately noticed a lack of intimacy with the mids. My brain had to adjust to that a bit. Then I got the miracles out of curiosity and found them to be a step back in the direction of my 535s. Now after adjusting to all three I can swap between them much more easily and appreciate each of them for their own merits. If I had to pick only one it would be the merlin funnily enough. It is the best at fooling me into thinking I'm at some kind of venue. The soundstage feels wider than the miracles too.

 

Still I think you made the right decision getting a miracle over adding drivers to the 535s. If you add drivers you will be getting like an imitation miracle and the essence of the 535s will be gone anyway.


Edited by wahu - 7/5/12 at 3:19am
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