[Hanzilein]

Just go to Daiso, buy kids toys, a capsule sponge with dinosaurs or animal shape, they looked like capsules, but they melted with hot water and sponge animal popped out from there. Thats exactly the sponge used as dampers, soft density with lots of cavities, dont use solid sponge. I know Singapore got Daiso. I bought ones for my kids when in Japan last year but maybe they have in daiso singapore. I dont have the packaging but i still have the sponge animals. Will post up picture later in this post.

You can buy 'toys' like sponges in Japan?
So if some IEMs sound a bit harsh, you put in the sponge?

Next time I come across a kids store here in Germany I have to look

 

[DynamicEars]

Yeah I gotta give your sponge mod a try soon. I have seen these sponge animals in my kids' toy box, this is literally like taking sweets from a baby =(
Anyway @DynamicEars do u know which specific frequencies does this sponge mod affect? I don't have any measuring rigs on hand.

I cant answer exactly for the frequencies, but for sure it will tame the edge of 3khz above. It just made the edge smoother, like if the graph showing as sharp end, it will rounded them. Maybe push down a bit but just a very little. Sound will not much affected as youre using foam eartips.


*edit : hahaha no im not taking his sweets, he has grew up and dont play with that animal sponge anymore, so its not a harm, beside that i trade the animal sponge with much more expensive Lego

 

[Seazer]

Actually the earbuds foam have more density than the one in sony iems, so they will muffle the sound more. As attached, the left foam from animal sponge is less in density, with more holes / cavities.
Its been a long journey too for me to find the sponge, and just accidentally found this kind of sponge (and very weird i found them in my kids toys), and for me they seems worked the best to date, smoothen the edges without losing details, or almost unaudible lost in crispness / details.

Is this how you get the animal sponge?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjATegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw3v5yHCakm8K_W1ezF56YUS

 

[DynamicEars]

Is this how you get the animal sponge?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjATegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw3v5yHCakm8K_W1ezF56YUS

Exactly!!!! Thats the one!

 

[Slater]

Is this how you get the animal sponge?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjATegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw3v5yHCakm8K_W1ezF56YUS

You can get them at any dollar store for $0.49-$0.99 (ie pound land in UK). I've even seen them for $0.25. You can also get them on Aliexpress.

 

[BadReligionPunk]

ALL ABOARD THE SPONGE HYPE TRAIN!

 

[Seazer]

You can get them at any dollar store for $0.49-$0.99 (ie pound land in UK). I've even seen them for $0.25. You can also get them on Aliexpress.

Yeah I'm gonna check my local 99 Cents Only Store

 

[Seazer]

ALL ABOARD THE SPONGE HYPE TRAIN!

I'M UGLY AND I'M PROUD!

 

[DynamicEars]

ALL ABOARD THE SPONGE HYPE TRAIN!

LOL! I will laugh if everyone are suddenly buying animal sponge as the next hype. BTW it is nice for iems that have harshness, edgy, or sibilance, or bright highs. For already smooth iem they dont need this, for example BLON BL-03, maybe they already have damper inside, I havent check yet and didnt bothered to check.
But usually a lot of budget iems sound harsh and have edginess. bqeyz is 1 exception in budget iems with BLON (because maybe already have sponge inside). But for KZ they are very helpful

 

[BadReligionPunk]

Yup. Toy sponge manufacturing is ramping up. This sector has seen rapid decline over the past few years, but for some unknown reason is expected to grow an est. 125% YOY.


We may need to have our own Sponge thread here where we can discuss spongy related stuff? :laugh:

 

[Makahl]

LOL! I will laugh if everyone suddenly buying animal sponge as the next hype. Btw it nice for iems that have harshness, edgy, or sibilance, or bright highs. FOr already smooth iem they dont need this, for example BLON BL-03, maybe they already have damper inside, I havent check yet and didnt bothered to check.

Oh, I checked it some days ago and Blons don't have any damper material inside the nozzle. However, the screen grill has an acoustic cloth similar to nylon which certainly has some acoustic propriety to smooth the peaks. If you replace the filter for a simple mesh it'll sound considerably brighter. And... my 3M micropore filter considerably darker which gives a bass-head vibe.

 

[DynamicEars]

Oh, I checked it some days ago and Blons don't have any damper material inside the nozzle. However, the screen grill has an acoustic cloth similar to nylon which certainly has some acoustic propriety to smooth the peaks. If you replace the filter for a simple mesh it'll sound considerably brighter. And... my 3M micropore filter considerably darker which gives a bass-head vibe.

Thanks for the info, yes 3M micropore made overall darker, because they are too solid, pores are not big enough, they muffle the mids-highs area. Maybe i should try mesh grill + animal sponge on the BLON someday, but it will be a hassle for me to get exactly same size nozzle grill for BL-03.

 

[Makahl]

Thanks for the info, yes 3M micropore made overall darker, because they are too solid, pores are not big enough, they muffle the mids-highs area. Maybe i should try mesh grill + animal sponge on the BLON someday, but it will be a hassle for me to get exactly same size nozzle grill for BL-03.

+1. But you can poke a hole to decrease the damping and the mid/highs get "on point" again.

Spoiler

 

[DynamicEars]

+1. But you can poke a hole to decrease the damping and the mid/highs get "on point" again.

Spoiler

Been doing that actually for past iems, still i found animal sponge worked the best for me, as the flow of the sound not only coming from 1 hole (thinking of wide bore vs small bore). But thank you for that, appreciate it!

 

[Coldheart29]

Hmm, will have to try out this sponge mod on my ZSTs, would be really nice to have a bit of damping in that pesky 3-4khz area.