[s1rrah]

  I picked up the 535 again for the first time in probably a month. Between the spacious soundstage of the E5c and the bass (with added isolation) of the 846, the 535 has been idle. I remember putting the 535 away for a week to give the Ultrasone IQ a fair listen. I thought the IQ had a classy, elegant, and well behaved sound, then I put the 535 back on and man (what can I say). The 535 sounded like a live concert in comparison. Well, here we go again....
 
The 535 is not going back in the starting lineup. The 846 is too smooth, but I'm not going to forget I have the 535. It's still really good (IMO) . If I'd found Viper4Android (V4A) before I bought the 846, I would still be using the 535 every day and probably wouldn't have purchased the 846. V4A solved the sub-bass issue. The 535 goes deeper than I previously thought. Again, the 535 is not the 846, but it would have been good enough at the time (with the right audio software backing up Poweramp).

 
I really want to hear the 846 ... but I just can't accept a 1000 dollar upgrade over the SE535 (mostly because of my personal financial situation; had I more money, I'd buy it in a heart beat).
 
That said ... I agree with you ... the naturally flat, very neutral, somewhat mid centric default voicing of the SE535 is incredible.
 
Further ... with some EQ? It gets *really* fun. I use mine with a Cowon J3 and with various EQ settings, the bass can become monster like, and super deep and clean with the SE535 ... no matter the volume. Which is another thing I love about them ... they scale to the loudest points without ever distorting. I think your ears would blow before they distorted .. 
 
I've mentioned it before in a review I did of the 535's that they EQ very very well and the bass can be anything, anyway you want it. But I still find myself, very often, enjoying the default sound sig. 
 
Still want to hear the 846 ...
 

 

[MiRaCL]

The next step for me is to try different dampers / filters from Knowels. 
 
The only upgrade so far is changing out the stock cable that came with the 535, this helped a lot.
Bought the Cadence cable by Fonebone frome ebay witch is silver i belive. The sound is much better and the cable is softer, so better for comfort.

 

[Spyro]

That's a great point. I always wondered why Shure and Westone are the only two universal IEM companies whose IEMs can tolerate high volume with no distortion. Its a main reason I tend to stick with those 2 companies mostly. What's so hard about designing an IEM that way. I dont care if it sounds like gold.....if it distorts when you turn I up its crap.

 

[spook76]

That's a great point. I always wondered why Shure and Westone are the only two universal IEM companies whose IEMs can tolerate high volume with no distortion. Its a main reason I tend to stick with those 2 companies mostly. What's so hard about designing an IEM that way. I dont care if it sounds like gold.....if it distorts when you turn I up its crap.

I could not agree more. In my experience Westone and Shure scale beautifully. I tried to amp my ie800s and found them distorting and it was one of the reasons I sold them.

 

[truckdriver]

I could not agree more. In my experience Westone and Shure scale beautifully. I tried to amp my ie800s and found them distorting and it was one of the reasons I sold them.

 
Perhaps dual vents don't allow for much control or isolation.
 
I almost made the mistake of plugging my IE8 into my Galaxy 1 (with Voodoo) and the bass up +15db for my E5c. You'd think that much bass boost would distort on the E5c, but it doesn't. It would have been a disaster on the IE8. Good thing I caught it before I turned the music on.

 

[Spyro]

Spook76 - Thanks for that info. Another IEM crossed off my want list. And I do see this more with dynamics. They just cant handle the volume.

Its like driving a super fast sports car and having it start to shut down and run rough over 70mph

 

[spook76]

Spook76 - Thanks for that info. Another IEM crossed off my want list. And I do see this more with dynamics. They just cant handle the volume.

Its like driving a super fast sports car and having it start to shut down and run rough over 70mph

That is exactly the correct analogy. Until I was married my favorite car was a Ford Mustang Fastback I had as a kid while fast it felt loose at high speed. My current car the Porsche Panamera is like butter at 120mph totally in control

 

[truckdriver]

That is exactly the correct analogy. Until I was married my favorite car was a Ford Mustang Fastback I had as a kid while fast it felt loose at high speed. My current car the Porsche Panamera is like butter at 120mph totally in control

 
Nice!!  And where are you driving 120mph? No, wait, don't tell me. A cop might be a hobbyist here. 

 

[spook76]

Nice!!  And where are you driving 120mph? No, wait, don't tell me. A cop might be a hobbyist here. 

Alligator Alley in Florida. The road between Ft Lauderdale and Naples. 70 miles through the Everglades almost ruler straight and fairly flat.

 

[MiRaCL]

It's weird how much impact the different inserts have on the sound. The stock foam tips that came installed with the 535 gave me very little bass and was tireing to wear. The yellow foam inserts where a little better. The rubber / silicone ones gave me really nice bass.
Waiting for the Star inserts from westsone now.
 
Next will be to change out the filters/dampers.

 

[failai]

  i don't know that post you are talking about if you found it please share
for me .... first time i played it .. it was very bright ... more sibilant than now .....now it has warmer and slightly more defined bass than new .... less to no sibilance unless the recording or the song is sibilant by itself 
i guess it is about 200 -250 hours for now ( i don't count them frankly 

) 
just enjoy your iem and get a quality recordings and a good rig and it will reward you 

 
 

Hey Mmet, I think I found that post - not on this forum though, it was from a chinese audiophile forum 

 

 

[failai]

  It's weird how much impact the different inserts have on the sound. The stock foam tips that came installed with the 535 gave me very little bass and was tireing to wear. The yellow foam inserts where a little better. The rubber / silicone ones gave me really nice bass.
Waiting for the Star inserts from westsone now.
 
Next will be to change out the filters/dampers.

 
I agree - the silicones do indeed give more bass. But the foams (IMO) are more comfy and allow me to use my 535 for longer.
 
In terms of comfort:
Yellow foams > black foams > silicones... (the triple flange are too big for my ears)
 
And the sound and bass (IMO) quality is the other way round!

 

[ubs28]

  It's weird how much impact the different inserts have on the sound. The stock foam tips that came installed with the 535 gave me very little bass and was tireing to wear. The yellow foam inserts where a little better. The rubber / silicone ones gave me really nice bass.
Waiting for the Star inserts from westsone now.
 
Next will be to change out the filters/dampers.

 
Maybe also take a good look at the DAC + Amp. The yellow foam should provide an excellent seal. If you got a light bass, it must be the source. 

 

[mrip541]

I just put my 535s through the wash in my pants pocket.
 
Life sucks.
 
That is all.

 

[s1rrah]

  I just put my 535s through the wash in my pants pocket.
 
Life sucks.
 
That is all.

 
I did the same thing to an earlier pair I had, and to tell you the truth, it didn't seem to affect the performance at all. As soon as I realized what I had done, I wedged the buds into the vents of a window unit air conditioner and left them there with it running all night. The next day they played fine. 
 
Go figure.
 
Also washed a Sansa Clip DAP at the same time ... the air conditioner trick fixed it too ... played like a champ.