[fooltoque]

Tbh I already expected it to sound like that. I would cover it with something like tuning mesh or metal mesh used in IEMs to keep its aesthetics.

Or just add some foam inside when you finally decided to open it. I had to block most of my Lrey Grado earbuds open back mesh because of this exact problem.

By the way, and this is a warning for everybody, be careful of your surroundings if you try to search for "IEM DIY metal mesh" on Aliexpress. LOL

 

[droenald]

You too! Awesome comparison with Aurora, SBS, W03 pro.

As for 'hollowness', I can show you the EQ I was experimenting with to get rid of it. This was helping, although it didn't make it sound all that great. I tend to get frustrated with EQ, because I switch my buds between sources, so I didn't spend much time on it. The tape did a much better job.



For foams, I started out with Heigi's, which is what I use as a standard, because the stock foams tore when I was putting them on. I switched to FiiO crisp donuts as my first attempt to fix the hollow sound. They helped a little bit.



Honestly I'd like to open it up, but I'm nervous to. I don't want to break anything. If I can fix them without opening them up, I'd probably try that first. I'm a bit skeptical about how well a metal mesh would mimic the effect of micropore tape, though. Did it work well for your Grado's?
I guess if 1 layer was not enough, then I could try 2.

Wow! A 5db boost is pretty extreme and means you are nearly doubling the volume in that specific region of the frequency response. How about stuffing some foam into the hole and then carefully cutting off the protruding piece of foam with a scalpel so it is flush with the housing? You could try different types of foam. I think it should look ok. When you've found the correct foam and verified for a few days that it sounds great you could use one needle to push the foam in the hole aside and another needle to apply a tiny bit of glue into the opening, to ensure that the foam stays where it is and does not accidentally get pushed through the hole into the earbud. Fingers crossed! I am pretty shure you will find a good solution, knowing that you also build your own buds.

 

[droenald]

By the way, and this is a warning for everybody, be careful of your surroundings if you try to search for "IEM DIY metal mesh" on Aliexpress. LOL

Dammit! AliExpress does basically nothing for me here in Belgium. I cannot order the yinman 600, and with that search, only 6 results show up: a pair of running shoes, and some tuning parts for BMW cars.
Obviously I had to type in that search right away and was hoping for some outrageously ridiculous stuff showing up!

 

[Ace Bee]

My LREY W03 Pro's arrived yesterday!



They are a beautiful piece of art, and I love seeing them in my ears.

My first impressions for sound were not entirely positive though. They immediately sounded hollow to my ears, and I'm very familiar with this sound from tuning my own buds.
Several times I've made some buds and started working my way through the DIY Earbuds Test playlist:

And I get through the songs testing imaging and Bass/Treble, and I like it but I have this feeling that something might be wrong, and then I get to the first song for testing timbre, "android52 - Everyday (ZERO ONE) [ft. Puniden]", and I immediately know that I need to stop and change something. This is also where I would have stopped with this bud.

So I fiddled with EQ for a bit, with some success, but finally ended up putting micropore tape over the side vent.

This solved the hollow sound problem for me. They honestly sound amazing. Beautiful bass and expansive stage with no harshness like others have said.

Well it's not a great solution, because I love the aesthetics of that vent, and covering up the art is no solution. Plus I'm sure it changes the sound in ways that the creator did not intend. I'm sure that LREY experimented with damping that vent as well.

It's also of course just my own listening experience. Others have nothing but praise for the original sound of the buds.

I've spent a few hours with them so far, but I'm going to listen to them a lot from now on with both micropore tape on and off. I do love hearing the sounds that other people like, so maybe that sound that I'm perceiving as 'hollow' will grow on me! It surely won't be the first time that my impression of a particular bud changes over time.

Hi, I have the W03 Pro, and I use them in the following manner, with thin full foam:

I carefully pull them to the point they cover the vents on both sides entirely. May be try with a full thin foam and mount like this? They improve the sound tremendously.

@droenald that is me. I found my endgame in LREY. I have already ordered 3 more models from him And I really really love the W03 Pro still.

 

[mt877]

By the way, and this is a warning for everybody, be careful of your surroundings if you try to search for "IEM DIY metal mesh" on Aliexpress. LOL

You'll get better search results with "earphone dust mesh". Searches on AE can be unpredictable even with good search words. One time a search showed 3/4 a page of earbud drivers and the rest was ladies lingerie.

 

[droenald]

Hi, I have the W03 Pro, and I use them in the following manner, with thin full foam:




I carefully pull them to the point they cover the vents on both sides entirely. May be try with a full thin foam and mount like this? They improve the sound tremendously.

@droenald that is me. I found my endgame in LREY. I have already ordered 3 more models from him And I really really love the W03 Pro still.

Great that you found your endgame! However - can it be considered endgame, when you buy each and every bud of his and will be buying his new models when he will introduce them?
I guess it is like wine tasting. If you are into that you will want to try lots of different expensive wines to savour the different flavours...
You guys are so lucky in other parts of the world - every time I decide to buy some expensive wine, the wine boutique is closed for me. I found that I cannot source the Yinman 600 without going through the taobao, which seems time consuming. Then I decided on getting the DB1E through the german linsoul site. This one has a nice modular cable. After asking them about the terminations they told me it comes only with the 3.5mm plug. How stupid is that? Seeing I wont be able to source the 2.5mm plug, this is not happening either...
I find myself beeing limited to the better supermarket wine. Good for my wallet!
Right now I am pretty happy with the Faaeal Rosemary, Just using a bit of eq for treble and subbass extension and shaving off about 1db in midbass...
Sorry for whining again about AliExpress not working for me, I DO realize it's happening every 10 pages or so. Thanks for your patience everyone!

 

[fooltoque]

Wow! A 5db boost is pretty extreme and means you are nearly doubling the volume in that specific region of the frequency response. How about stuffing some foam into the hole and then carefully cutting off the protruding piece of foam with a scalpel so it is flush with the housing? You could try different types of foam. I think it should look ok. When you've found the correct foam and verified for a few days that it sounds great you could use one needle to push the foam in the hole aside and another needle to apply a tiny bit of glue into the opening, to ensure that the foam stays where it is and does not accidentally get pushed through the hole into the earbud. Fingers crossed! I am pretty shure you will find a good solution, knowing that you also build your own buds.

Don't read too much into the EQ numbers. I kinda suck at it still. But at least around 1k I feel like it needed a significant boost to sound 'normal' to my ears.

The foam suggestion sound great. I will try it. I do have some little pieces I got for another purpose.

Dammit! AliExpress does basically nothing for me here in Belgium. I cannot order the yinman 600, and with that search, only 6 results show up: a pair of running shoes, and some tuning parts for BMW cars.
Obviously I had to type in that search right away and was hoping for some outrageously ridiculous stuff showing up!

You'll get a better search results with "earphone dust mesh". Searches on AE can be unpredictable even with good search words. One time a search showed 3/4 a page of earbud drivers and the rest was ladies lingerie.

'Earbuds DIY metal mesh' gave me what I was looking for.
I don't know the association between IEMs and goth/metal lingerie, but ...the world is a big place.
I didn't buy any, I swear!

I bought 3mm diameter round black cotton paper and 3.7mm round metal mesh. I feel like something can be done with those 2 things.

Hi, I have the W03 Pro, and I use them in the following manner, with thin full foam:

I carefully pull them to the point they cover the vents on both sides entirely. May be try with a full thin foam and mount like this? They improve the sound tremendously.

@droenald that is me. I found my endgame in LREY. I have already ordered 3 more models from him And I really really love the W03 Pro still.

Thanks for the suggestion. With the mod, I think they sound fantastic and very different from anything else I have, so I'm enjoying my music in new ways. I've got them as my daily driver setup right now. Especially enjoying jazz.

 

[droenald]

Don't read too much into the EQ numbers. I kinda suck at it still. But at least around 1k I feel like it needed a significant boost to sound 'normal' to my ears.

I think I am reading the EQ numbers correctly - a 6db increase in volume corresponds to a doubling of sound pressure. By using a 5 db boost @ 1khz you are effectively nearly doubling the volume in that area.
But as long as you can tune sound with physical measures you don't need to eq. It is also a lot more elegant solution and you can plug in the earbuds in any source and will get a similar sound! With eq you are limited to the sources that can offer it....

 

[fooltoque]

I think I am reading the EQ numbers correctly - a 6db increase in volume corresponds to a doubling of sound pressure. By using a 5 db boost @ 1khz you are effectively nearly doubling the volume in that area.
But as long as you can tune sound with physical measures you don't need to eq. It is also a lot more elegant solution and you can plug in the earbuds in any source and will get a similar sound! With eq you are limited to the sources that can offer it....

Oh I didn't mean that you were reading the numbers wrong, I just meant that that particular attempt at EQ didn't necessarily result in good sound, so don't look too deeply into it. I only wanted to post the EQ numbers to show the area that I thought was resulting in a 'hollow' sound.

 

[mt877]

Dammit! AliExpress does basically nothing for me here in Belgium. I cannot order the yinman 600, and with that search, only 6 results show up: a pair of running shoes, and some tuning parts for BMW cars.
Obviously I had to type in that search right away and was hoping for some outrageously ridiculous stuff showing up!

I was very curious why AE (owned by Alibaba) does not / cannot ship certain items to the EU. A google search found the answer.

https://reads.alibaba.com/beginners-guide-to-sourcing-products-with-eu-certifications/

The gist of the article is that products must be EU certified or can't be sold / shipped to EU countries.

 

[droenald]

@ fooltoque Ok, Got it!

 

[Kyonnie]

Honestly I'd like to open it up, but I'm nervous to. I don't want to break anything. If I can fix them without opening them up, I'd probably try that first.

In my experience with Lrey earbuds, he uses strong adhesive because I tried opening mine, but I risked destroying the faceplate.

I'm a bit skeptical about how well a metal mesh would mimic the effect of micropore tape, though. Did it work well for your Grado's?
I guess if 1 layer was not enough, then I could try 2.

I used a modified foam cover with double-sided tape to cover my mind; it works great, but I prefer only covering portions of the mesh.

The foam suggestion sound great. I will try it. I do have some little pieces I got for another purpose.

I would probably put it inside, then use metal mesh to cover it. Not only will it prevent dust from getting in, but it also helps with the hollowness.

'Earbuds DIY metal mesh' gave me what I was looking for.
I don't know the association between IEMs and goth/metal lingerie, but ...the world is a big place.
I didn't buy any, I swear!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't AliExpress have an algorithm that gives results relevant to the user's previous searches and ordered items?

I bought 3mm diameter round black cotton paper and 3.7mm round metal mesh. I feel like something can be done with those 2 things.

It's very useful to me; it can be used when you decide to do vent mods.

 

[trevdawg94]

Now that i am re-reading your previous post, i see that you were being pretty clear, so i am the one that have to apologize for not paying enough attention the first time.
Hope you're recovering well.

Thanks for your concern, I appreciate it. That's good to hear, sometimes I'm a little off my rocker when I don't feel well lol. _insert apology here_

I am sorry for replying after so much time, specially after you already ordered the DB1E, but i still would like to stress out more about DB1E, things i should have emphasized before:

No worries, I was willing to take the risk based on what I've read about it so don't worry about feeling like you didn't give the whole picture upfront. I'm guilty of the same thing in my description of the OH Nightingale; I think people have a tendency to gloss over issues that aren't a deal breaker when they like something especially when it's new to them. But I'm glad you posted about the issues you have so others considering the DB1E are aware in case one of your issues is a deal breaker for them.

Its slim body, slick surface, and small diammeter make it not have a good fit in my ears, but as i haven't seen anyone else complaining about it, this can be just me. As fit changes drastically the sound of a earbud, having a better fit than what i have, will give you a different sound than the what i reported.

This just goes to show you how much just fitment varies from person to person, as the DB1E is about the same size as the RW2K which is the upper limit of what I can wear without discomfort. This might not be possible with 2-pin earbuds since the polarity will change but using the earbud meant for the opposite ear made a huge difference in the comfort of the RW2K for me. You could try a 2-pin to MMCX adapter which would let you correct the polarity as well as letting the earbud swivel for better positioning.

Have you looked into any rubber rings like the ones that come with some of Fiio's buds or plastic earclips that @samandhi made me aware of? Once my DB1E arrives I can give you the diameter of the area between the driver and housing for the plastic earclips if you want to try them. They helped a lot with keeping the RW2K in the correct position for me until I swapped the earbuds and felt that I didn't need them anymore.

When i get a loose fit with it, i find the mids stand out too much, to the point of shoutyness; in the most consistent fit i can get, i get what i had already described, flat, clean and clear sound, with nice highs, its a little thin overall, timbre can be off sometimes, soundstage is large, somewhat tall, not much deep, and while there is bass, it is little but clean. Now if i can somehow get a tight fit, or if i push it in my ears, the bass becomes more present and you can see its articulation, separation gets better, but stage width is reduced a little, the rest remains the same.

This sounds similar to what I was running into with the RW2K until I finally got the positioning correct, it's good to know that I need to watch the positioning of the DB1E as well before forming an opinion of them. I'm willing to sacrifice some bass presence and separation for better staging as I prefer the sound of the OHN when it's close to falling out of my ear versus when it's seated further in.

For reference, all that impressions were had outta my Tempotec V6, which is slightly warm. With more flat sources it may sound a little too bright.

I'll keep that in mind as well, I'm still playing around with the EQ on my Qudelix 5K to try and reduce some of the problem frequencies but I have other sources I can listen to the DB1E with.

Anyway congratulations on your new shiny!
I hope DB1E fits well in your ears and you like then. Looking forward to see your thoughts about it, whatever they are.

Thanks again for your thoughts on them, I appreciate it. Even if they're not my endgame I'm hopeful that they'll have a spot among the other buds I have.

 

[digititus]

Great that you found your endgame! However - can it be considered endgame, when you buy each and every bud of his and will be buying his new models when he will introduce them?
I guess it is like wine tasting. If you are into that you will want to try lots of different expensive wines to savour the different flavours...
You guys are so lucky in other parts of the world - every time I decide to buy some expensive wine, the wine boutique is closed for me. I found that I cannot source the Yinman 600 without going through the taobao, which seems time consuming. Then I decided on getting the DB1E through the german linsoul site. This one has a nice modular cable. After asking them about the terminations they told me it comes only with the 3.5mm plug. How stupid is that? Seeing I wont be able to source the 2.5mm plug, this is not happening either...
I find myself beeing limited to the better supermarket wine. Good for my wallet!
Right now I am pretty happy with the Faaeal Rosemary, Just using a bit of eq for treble and subbass extension and shaving off about 1db in midbass...
Sorry for whining again about AliExpress not working for me, I DO realize it's happening every 10 pages or so. Thanks for your patience everyone!

Start your own vineyard

 

[droenald]

I was very curious why AE (owned by Alibaba) does not / cannot ship certain items to the EU. A google search found the answer.

https://reads.alibaba.com/beginners-guide-to-sourcing-products-with-eu-certifications/

The gist of the article is that products must be EU certified or can't be sold / shipped to EU countries.

Wow, that explains a lot!
While EU regulations are very positive in some aspects like regulation of private data and how it may be stored and used in the digital age, it obviously also has its drawbacks. It is sad that it hinders smaller companies from doing business with innovative products in EU. It is totally understandable, that it makes no sense for instance for Yinman to go through a certification process. So this gives a huge advantage to bigger companies and big tech. Very unfair and bad for the competition.
It never even crossed my mind to check why Ali Express can send some Products to Europe and others not. I just kept running toward a wall bumping my head over and over again and getting more and more frustrated. Thanks!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't AliExpress have an algorithm that gives results relevant to the user's previous searches and ordered items?