[cute]

Quote:

Quote:

Ok, took Cash's advice.  Yes, the isolation is much lower.  It took me a while to figure out that I was hearing birds singing and not some super subtle audio on whatever track I was listening to.
 
Unfortunately without that cover piece these headphones don't really hold themselves together.  Few ideas:

This is where you bring in the Goop.

 
OMG.......

 

[zhyla]

Drilled out part of the logo area on the caps.  No perceptible difference.  It's an easy mod to test out cause you can just plug the holes with your fingertips.  Not enough material removed to do anything.
 

 
 
 

As I was marking where my drill holes were going a little shadow caught my eye.  See these little slits?  They're actually really tiny ports that are covered up by that thin gray foam stuff on the inside of the caps.  Very clever, and molded right into the caps.
 

 

[CashNotCredit]

Quote:

Drilled out part of the logo area on the caps.  No perceptible difference.  It's an easy mod to test out cause you can just plug the holes with your fingertips.  Not enough material removed to do anything.
 

 
 
 

As I was marking where my drill holes were going a little shadow caught my eye.  See these little slits?  They're actually really tiny ports that are covered up by that thin gray foam stuff on the inside of the caps.  Very clever, and molded right into the caps.
 

Yep. I tried removing the dampening and the Somic logo. It didn't do enough for me. These really need to be fully-opened, I feel, to sound their best, but kudos to you if you can find a way to work it out.

 

[kickin81]

Just completed Cash's initial mod. Instead of goop, I ran a thin smear of super glue on three places on the edge where the cap contacts the driver housing. I just wanted a temporary hold since I wanted these to be open yet not so open that my 2 year old son can get his hands in there ripping out the connections. By liberally applying the super glue, there's no mess.
 
WOW!!! I really like these now! The sound leaks, yes, but not as much as I had thought. It's not like you now have speakers facing outward. The music is still going into your ears.
Before the mod, I EQ'd these to the best of my hearing ability. Then compared them to my best EQ of my modded Senn HD439 and the EFI-82 was clearly behind my modded Senns in sound quality. After this mod, I found I needed to retune my equalizer. I noticed that each setting in the equalizer has a more acute range for best sound so it's less of a "guess" where to set each level at. Where I placed a dip in the 1k frequency, I found that I now had to raise it by a few dB yet it now sounds better if I bottom out the 500 frequency. Therefore I think by opening up this headphone, it changed the sound signature. Anyway, these are noticeably more crisp and clean sounding with the new EQ setting. The bass seems tighter and hits just as hard if not a bit harder than before. The highs can be tweaked to not be as harsh as before yet it's still able to maintain plenty of clarity without having a sudden drop off. And the sound stage has opened up. I now know what difference it is to listen to closed cans and open cans and I really like open cans effective immediately. Over all, this is now my most favorite over the ear headphone. That's not saying much because I don't have much of an inventory but honestly this is a headphone that kicks serious ass.
 
by the way, I am using Shure 840 pads in place of the original red pads and red filter/screen.
 
Quote:

As I was marking where my drill holes were going a little shadow caught my eye.  See these little slits?  They're actually really tiny ports that are covered up by that thin gray foam stuff on the inside of the caps.  Very clever, and molded right into the caps.
 

 
Thanks for pointing this out, Zhyla. The vent/slits seems to be enough for proper air movement. I say this because I peeled off the foam strip for each cap as you said and then slipped the caps back onto the headphone with music playing. I could not tell the difference in sound quality or soundstage between having the tape-less caps in place or removing them and making them completely exposed. Tomorrow after I get some sleep, I'm going to break the super glue seal, and reinstall the tape-less caps with the original screws and call it a day.
 
Thanks again to Cash for the mod and Zhyla for finding out about the vent. Until someone finds another mod (other than recabling), I'll keep this as is and grin from ear to ear everytime I have this on my head.

 

[zhyla]

Quote:

I could not tell the difference in sound quality or soundstage between having the tape-less caps in place or removing them and making them completely exposed. Tomorrow after I get some sleep, I'm going to break the super glue seal, and reinstall the tape-less caps with the original screws and call it a day.

 
That surprises me.  Both because I didn't find much difference with the big holes I drilled in the caps and also because Somic clearly designed those vents in there and decided they should be covered with tape.  A lot of design/effort for something that sounds better without the tape... but I will try it out and see how I like it.  Unfortunately that tape is a bitch to get off isn't it?

 

[kickin81]

I think you're right. I was quite tired at 1AM last night. Half awake actually. 

After I screwed in the caps, it sealed making these somewhat open. Still better than OEM but not exactly as open as before.
 
I have since punched out the vents using a small flathead screwdriver (ones designed for small screws) and although it's imperfect they do well in opening the end caps. Still not as open as if the caps were completely removed but still better.

 

[Death3man]

Which do you guys recommend?
The EFI-82MT?
Or the
MH643?
I im slighlty interested in perhaps buying one, but I don't know if its worth it.
Thanks

 

[BBEG]

I'm loving the MH463s more than my EFi's, but I only just started to take apart my EFi's for an OpeFi mod (catchy name). As for whether it's worth it, that highly depends on you and how you enjoy things. I don't have the experience to compare my 463s with high-end headphones, but I can say that I, personally, have thoroughly enjoyed them and don't think a single cent of that buy was wasted. I can think of criticisms for each of the headphones I own, but I don't feel any of them were bad buys. The EFi's might be the only buy I currently regret (since as a closed headphone I think the Uptowns sound better and are worlds more comfortable), but I'm determined to turn these into open headphones and see how they fare. Worst case scenario: they're a $45 mistake. Best cased scenario, I've got another pair of nice sounding headphones to enjoy that are lighter than the 463s.

 
 
Speaking of mods. Some quick observations:
 

• These are some ridiculously thin wires inside. They seem extremely delicate. I'm again considering the cable mod based on this alone. (This is a durability concern, not a sound concern.)
• The screws are either poorly fitted, or the holes are extremely easy to strip. Only one of the screws will catch when screwing the driver into that cup/ring/thing. I'm not sure how to address this quite yet.
• I'm not entirely sure what that metal clip is for. It was halfway popped out when I first unscrewed the cup/ring/thing from the back plate.

 
I am kind of excited at doing a side-to-side comparison with my 463s once I get the EFi's opened up and put back together.

 

[zhyla]

Quote:

 

• These are some ridiculously thin wires inside. They seem extremely delicate. I'm again considering the cable mod based on this alone. (This is a durability concern, not a sound concern.)
• The screws are either poorly fitted, or the holes are extremely easy to strip. Only one of the screws will catch when screwing the driver into that cup/ring/thing. I'm not sure how to address this quite yet.
• I'm not entirely sure what that metal clip is for. It was halfway popped out when I first unscrewed the cup/ring/thing from the back plate.

 

 
1.  As long as they're properly strain relieved I'm not too worried about this.  Might as well recable if/when they break, no real point in doing it now.
 
 
2.  I haven't had this issue, though I've only done a full disassembly twice.  I hate screws in plastic.  It's best not to try to get it too tight.
 
3.  It's the spring that that tensions the rotation of the cups.  Without them if you were wearing the headphones and pulled the cups away from your ear they would rotate to face the ground.

 

[peter123]

BBEG
I feel the same as you about regretting buying them.

Yesterday I removed almost the whole plastic back on them to get a change on the sound.

Not even that did much change.

I'd guess they're just not my cup of tea.

 

[kickin81]

As I was molding new caps for these, I bumped the headphones and they crashed to the floor. Unfortunately the impact ripped out the copper and blue connections from the left ear cup. I didn't take pictures before the accident so could one of you post or send me a picture showing the wire connections of the left ear cup? I would really appreciate it.

 

[zhyla]

Kickin, here's what I've collected so far, mostly right cup unfortunately:
 
http://s31.photobucket.com/user/zhyla_/library/Somic%20EFI-82MT?sort=3&page=1
 
I will take the left cup apart tonight if I get a chance.  Though if you look close I'm sure you can see where the wires ripped off the solder pads.

 

[kickin81]

Quote:

Kickin, here's what I've collected so far, mostly right cup unfortunately:
 
http://s31.photobucket.com/user/zhyla_/library/Somic%20EFI-82MT?sort=3&page=1
 
I will take the left cup apart tonight if I get a chance.  Though if you look close I'm sure you can see where the wires ripped off the solder pads.

Yes, a picture would be great! The left ear cup has wire connections from both the primary cable and from the right ear cup so it could turn out worse if I accidentally blow out my headphones as a result of improper wiring.

 

[boliud]

Does anyone know what material the red/black cloth is made out of?  I tried taking it off and it sounded too bright, the S vocals on some songs were a bit piercing.  I'm curious how this material works to attenuate the highs.  Also there are three black semi-circles underneath the cloth made of a different material that can be peeled off but cannot be put back on without some sort of adhesive.  What is this material made of and what is its purpose?
 

 

[kickin81]

I'm not sure about the red/black filter material. I took them off mine but I am using Shure 840 pads which has it's own cloth filter material and the sibilance is quite tame using that alone.
 
I've reconnected the wires that snapped off and it turns out an incorrect wiring job just gives off buzzing sounds when plugged in and doesn't destroy the drivers as I first thought.
This is my completed EFI-82's.

I just grabbed some aluminum mesh, molded it over the caps that the mesh will replace, cut the mesh to fit, and used blue tack that I had left over from modding my Sennheiser HD439s to keep it in place. Opefi's without exposing the wires. If I'm up for it, I might dismantle these again and paint the mesh black. But I'm liking it as is and I've already dismantled these at least 8 times now.