[lllandline]

I've just torn out the dampers (foam inside them, which I thought was just a thin filter) and oh god why this things were used in the first place.
EX800ST's sound so much better, treble has more texture and has better extension, overall their muffled sound is fixed.
This dampers are big, actually, so I'm not surprised that sound changed that much.
Not like this is another IEM, but, uh, yeah, I don't want to buy EX1000's anymore.

 

[MONVMENTVM]

I've just torn out the dampers (foam inside them, which I thought was just a thin filter) and oh god why this things were used in the first place.
EX800ST's sound so much better, treble has more texture and has better extension, overall their muffled sound is fixed.
This dampers are big, actually, so I'm not surprised that sound changed that much.
Not like this is another IEM, but, uh, yeah, I don't want to buy EX1000's anymore.

Interesting! Could you provide some more details?

• Can it be reversed or are the dampers destroyed once they are pulled out?
• Does it worsen the the 7k treble peak that the EX series is infamous for? Or does it just extend the treble range? I can see this being a double edged sword since the dampers are mainly treble filters anyway (could extend treble range but at the same time it could increase that 7k peak again like on the EX600 and EX1000).
  
• Have you also tried combining this with the tape mod? Here my version of it: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-800st-7550-tape-mod-2-0.911916/

 

[lllandline]

Interesting! Could you provide some more details?

• Can it be reversed or are the dampers destroyed once they are pulled out?
• Does it worsen the the 7k treble peak that the EX series is infamous for? Or does it just extend the treble range? I can see this being a double edged sword since the dampers are mainly treble filters anyway (could extend treble range but at the same time it could increase that 7k peak again like on the EX600 and EX1000).
  
• Have you also tried combining this with the tape mod? Here my version of it: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-800st-7550-tape-mod-2-0.911916/

This mod is irreversible, foam will be torn and twisted (I used small metal wire bended to create a hook small enough to get into their nozzles) and pulled out. Foam is glued to the nozzles, but only at the top.

Due to 5-6kHz (that's what graphs show and reducing that frequencies in parametric EQ eliminates sibilance) peak being not in the upper treble, this mod actually weakens it overall. I really absolutely don't understand why so much damping foam was used, even for mixing with ear fatique in mind.
It extends treble range significantly. Before I couldn't hear "echoes", small treble details, because they were dampened completely, now I can hear small nuances in their sound, and treble has pleasurable texture. Though, they still sound grainy and soft, but that part is what I actually like about EX800STs.
Any barriers catch higher frequencies first, which is why you can hear your neighbour's subwoofer from across the street, while not hearing anything else, and that mod eliminates the barrier.
Overall, they sound more transparent.

Be careful, don't damage the drivers, they sit deep, but it is possible to insert wire too far.

Yes, but not your version. Blocking vents completely doesn't change much, just bass becomes boomy and soundstage shrinks.

 

[MONVMENTVM]

This mod is irreversible, foam will be torn and twisted (I used small metal wire bended to create a hook small enough to get into their nozzles) and pulled out. Foam is glued to the nozzles, but only at the top.

Due to 5-6kHz (that's what graphs show and reducing that frequencies in parametric EQ eliminates sibilance) peak being not in the upper treble, this mod actually weakens it overall. I really absolutely don't understand why so much damping foam was used, even for mixing with ear fatique in mind.
It extends treble range significantly. Before I couldn't hear "echoes", small treble details, because they were dampened completely, now I can hear small nuances in their sound, and treble has pleasurable texture. Though, they still sound grainy and soft, but that part is what I actually like about EX800STs.
Any barriers catch higher frequencies first, which is why you can hear your neighbour's subwoofer from across the street, while not hearing anything else, and that mod eliminates the barrier.
Overall, they sound more transparent.

Be careful, don't damage the drivers, they sit deep, but it is possible to insert wire too far.

Hmm... will have to think whether I want to perform this. I generally like the way how the 800ST sounds now and I'm a bit treble sensitive.

Yes, but not your version. Blocking vents completely doesn't change much, just bass becomes boomy and soundstage shrinks.

Yes blocking the vents completely makes it boomy and the soundstage definitely shrinks. You definitely need to punch a hole into the tape. But I still found it a little too boomy, which I think turns out better with my mod... especially since you can tune it to produce as much or as little bass as you prefer.

 

[lllandline]

Hmm... will have to think whether I want to perform this. I generally like the way how the 800ST sounds now and I'm a bit treble sensitive.



Yes blocking the vents completely makes it boomy and the soundstage definitely shrinks. You definitely need to punch a hole into the tape. But I still found it a little too boomy, which I think turns out better with my mod... especially since you can tune it to produce as much or as little bass as you prefer.

It makes treble better. Not in the way of making it louder, it just extends further. Mid peak sounds considerably weaker.
I can't say I'm treble sensitive or a treblehead, I like when things sound more or less real, and low-res feeling treble cut-off provided by dampers made me really disappointed at first and made me cope with EX800ST's later.
There is no reason for not doing this mod other than wish to sell them later, because in stock version EX800ST's are impaired in upper treble region.
I would've said that EX800ST's dampers are a failed mod themselves, to be honest, because they do nothing about that mid peak.

 

[MONVMENTVM]

It makes treble better. Not in the way of making it louder, it just extends further. Mid peak sounds considerably weaker.
I can't say I'm treble sensitive or a treblehead, I like when things sound more or less real, and low-res feeling treble cut-off provided by dampers made me really disappointed at first and made me cope with EX800ST's later.
There is no reason for not doing this mod other than wish to sell them later, because in stock version EX800ST's are impaired in upper treble region.
I would've said that EX800ST's dampers are a failed mod themselves, to be honest, because they do nothing about that mid peak.

I could see that they did this in order to make the EX1000 "better" than the EX800 but who knows.

 

[MONVMENTVM]

OK screw it I just did it. First on one side, then the other with listening to some songs before and in between. The difference is not huge as you said but the sound is certainly more airy now and the treble more detailed (obviously). I like it it... reminds me a bit of my GS1000 with the big soundstage and strong bass (from the tape mod) and sparkle in the treble.

Edit: OK, funny... detail retrieval is way superior to before. E.g. in James Brown - Super Bad you can now hear some slight mechanical squeeking in the background... like the pedals or something on the drum kit are not oiled lol. However "Ssss" and stuff like that in vocals sometimes are hot/sibilant e.g. on Queens of the Stone Age - Now One Knows. I didn't hear it before in that tune. However I'm pretty sure it's in the recording and not an over exaggeration of the 800STs.

Edit: Pedals squeeking in James Brown - Sex Machine as well haha.

 

[lllandline]

OK screw it I just did it. First on one side, then the other with listening to some songs before and in between. The difference is not huge as you said but the sound is certainly more airy now and the treble more detailed (obviously). I like it it... reminds me a bit of my GS1000 with the big soundstage and strong bass (from the tape mod) and sparkle in the treble.

Edit: OK, funny... detail retrieval is way superior to before. E.g. in James Brown - Super Bad you can now hear some slight mechanical squeeking in the background... like the pedals or something on the drum kit are not oiled lol. However "Ssss" and stuff like that in vocals sometimes are hot/sibilant e.g. on Queens of the Stone Age - Now One Knows. I didn't hear it before in that tune. However I'm pretty sure it's in the recording and not an over exaggeration of the 800STs.

Edit: Pedals squeeking in James Brown - Sex Machine as well haha.

I think that they sound like an endgame now, considering the fact that all engame IEMs has their flaws (and haters).
EX1000 was rated S by crinacle even though they have an even bigger upper mids spike, which makes me think that TOTL IEMs aren't that magical and out-of-this-world, and what we're hearing now is as good as it gets.
I hope that I'm wrong, I still wanna buy Sony M7 in the future.

 

[MONVMENTVM]

OK screw it I just did it. First on one side, then the other with listening to some songs before and in between. The difference is not huge as you said but the sound is certainly more airy now and the treble more detailed (obviously). I like it it... reminds me a bit of my GS1000 with the big soundstage and strong bass (from the tape mod) and sparkle in the treble.

Edit: OK, funny... detail retrieval is way superior to before. E.g. in James Brown - Super Bad you can now hear some slight mechanical squeeking in the background... like the pedals or something on the drum kit are not oiled lol. However "Ssss" and stuff like that in vocals sometimes are hot/sibilant e.g. on Queens of the Stone Age - Now One Knows. I didn't hear it before in that tune. However I'm pretty sure it's in the recording and not an over exaggeration of the 800STs.

Edit: Pedals squeeking in James Brown - Sex Machine as well haha.

I think that they sound like an endgame now, considering the fact that all engame IEMs has their flaws (and haters).
EX1000 was rated S by crinacle even though they have an even bigger upper mids spike, which makes me think that TOTL IEMs aren't that magical and out-of-this-world, and what we're hearing now is as good as it gets.
I hope that I'm wrong, I still wanna buy Sony M7 in the future.

Geez... did you just pull out the foam or did you remove the that plastic disc on top as well? At first I thought that was part of the housing but turns out it's simply some plastic foil with a hole inside that's glued in there (probably to keep the foam from falling out). I decided to pull that out as well now and the hell do these things sound big now. Bigger soundstage, even airier and clearer sound... absolutely ridiculous how these sound in combination with the tape mod.

 

[lllandline]

Geez... did you just pull out the foam or did you remove the that plastic disc on top as well? At first I thought that was part of the housing but turns out it's simply some plastic foil with a hole inside that's glued in there (probably to keep the foam from falling out). I decided to pull that out as well now and the hell do these things sound big now. Bigger soundstage, even airier and clearer sound... absolutely ridiculous how these sound in combination with the tape mod.

lol I actually wanted to do that long time ago, but by drilling, which was too destructive and all.
Well, here it goes... will report soon.

 

[MONVMENTVM]

lol I actually wanted to do that long time ago, but by drilling, which was too destructive and all.
Well, here it goes... will report soon.

Yeah I thought the material seemed fairly soft and bendable when I was pulling out the foam so I suspected that it's not really part of the casing, so I pulled carefully and realized it has to be just stuck in there.

 

[lllandline]

Oh my god it's real.
The soundstage and big sound.
NOW they sound like an in-ear cans.

 

[lllandline]

Yeah I thought the material seemed fairly soft and bendable when I was pulling out the foam so I suspected that it's not really part of the casing, so I pulled carefully and realized it has to be just stuck in there.

You know, this is absolutely awesome, this thing we've just found out.

 

[MONVMENTVM]

Yep.

• Eagles - Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over Live Acoustic)
• Ray Charles - Fever
• Nina Simone - Baltimore
• Nina Simone - Sinnerman (Live in New York 1965)
• Pink Floyd - Time
• Deftones - Passanger
• Daft Punk - Get Lucky
• Daft Punk - Doin' It Right

These tunes so far sound out of this world on those modded 800ST/7550.

 

[MONVMENTVM]

OK so I've done some more experimentation. I find the 800ST with both the foam filters and the "plastic discs" removed to be super revealing in that it sounds amazing with good recordings but a little "hot" or fatiguing on others (example: James Brown - Hot Pants... the sound is crisp but the percussion is a bit much after a few minutes). Similar to crinacle's description of the EX1000: "Outstanding imaging and detail retrieval though can be intense to listen to."

While not a big deal, I still had the foam cylinders lying around relatively intact, so I decided to put them back in without the "plastic discs" and see what happens. Turns out not much lol. The airy, "bigger" sound is still there but the trebles is just a bit less bright. So it turns out that the discs provide the biggest change in sound to the 800ST.

What's even funnier, is that some people have already experimented with the EX1000 and inserted some kind of adapters into the nozzles which provided a similar darker sound as the 800ST. Here a pic:

Original post with descriptions: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/son...00-gr10-and-e-q5.539500/page-194#post-9244871

So here is my theory now: the biggest sonic difference between the EX1000 and the EX800ST is the disk on top of the foam cylinder in the 800ST. There's a foam cylinder in both IEMs, however it makes a relatively small difference (just the treble is affected a little). The disk on the other hand is exactly what makes the soundstage smaller and provides the darker, more laid back, less airy and less detailed sound.