james444
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2004
- Posts
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- 2,808
Disclaimer: Try this at your own risk.
Introduction: I got the Samsung IG900 for 99 euros from Amazon Germany and thought the price was a steal for a triple driver hybrid. That was BEFORE I heard them.
Quick Review:
Overall: Really quite nice for the price, except for their obnoxious treble. The IG900's stock tuning has probably the sharpest treble I've ever heard.
Measurements: link
Trial and error: My usual damping attempts (teabags, alcohol swabs, filters) turned out to be no match for the IG900's razor-sharp treble. Although I liked almost everything about these phones apart from their hellish spike, I was about to return them. As a last resort, I decided to effectively block the tweeter's direct path to the ear drum. That's how this mod came into being...
The Samsung LEVEL IN / IG900 "last resort mod":
Things you'll need: A pair of Shure black foam "Olive" tips. A spare small bore tip (e.g. Sony Hybrids). A small piece of Blu-Tack.
The offending tweeter sits right behind this metal grill:
Cut two thin slices off the spare tip's stem. You'll need these to mount the Olives on the nozzle:
Place the slices on the nozzle. There's a small notch in the nozzle that will keep them in place:
Take a very tiny amount of Blu-Tack and roll it into a ball:
Press the Blu-Tack gently against the center of the grill to block the tweeter's direct path to your ear drum:
De-core the Olives by pulling the foam gently but firmly off their stem:
A de-cored Shure Olive:
The IG900 have a vent where the nozzle exits the housing. As you put the tips onto the nozzle, you must not block that vent:
Leave a gap between tips and housing to avoid blocking the vent:
Here's how the completed mod looks like. My take is that the tweeter's treble energy gets partly absorbed and partly deflected by the Blu-Tack. The Olive's energy-absorbing foam helps to decrease treble sharpness even further. Mids and bass remain widely unaffected.
Subjectively, my IG900 sound significantly less spiky and better balanced now. Of course that's just based on listening impressions though and I don't have measurements to back them. Still, I thought I'd share this mod in case other IG900 owners might find it helpful.
Introduction: I got the Samsung IG900 for 99 euros from Amazon Germany and thought the price was a steal for a triple driver hybrid. That was BEFORE I heard them.
Quick Review:
- Pros: price / build / ergonomics / quality bass / good soundstage / high detail resolution.
- Cons: mids sound a bit distant / excessively thin and sharp treble
Overall: Really quite nice for the price, except for their obnoxious treble. The IG900's stock tuning has probably the sharpest treble I've ever heard.
Measurements: link
Trial and error: My usual damping attempts (teabags, alcohol swabs, filters) turned out to be no match for the IG900's razor-sharp treble. Although I liked almost everything about these phones apart from their hellish spike, I was about to return them. As a last resort, I decided to effectively block the tweeter's direct path to the ear drum. That's how this mod came into being...
The Samsung LEVEL IN / IG900 "last resort mod":
Things you'll need: A pair of Shure black foam "Olive" tips. A spare small bore tip (e.g. Sony Hybrids). A small piece of Blu-Tack.
The offending tweeter sits right behind this metal grill:
Cut two thin slices off the spare tip's stem. You'll need these to mount the Olives on the nozzle:
Place the slices on the nozzle. There's a small notch in the nozzle that will keep them in place:
Take a very tiny amount of Blu-Tack and roll it into a ball:
Press the Blu-Tack gently against the center of the grill to block the tweeter's direct path to your ear drum:
De-core the Olives by pulling the foam gently but firmly off their stem:
A de-cored Shure Olive:
The IG900 have a vent where the nozzle exits the housing. As you put the tips onto the nozzle, you must not block that vent:
Leave a gap between tips and housing to avoid blocking the vent:
Here's how the completed mod looks like. My take is that the tweeter's treble energy gets partly absorbed and partly deflected by the Blu-Tack. The Olive's energy-absorbing foam helps to decrease treble sharpness even further. Mids and bass remain widely unaffected.
Subjectively, my IG900 sound significantly less spiky and better balanced now. Of course that's just based on listening impressions though and I don't have measurements to back them. Still, I thought I'd share this mod in case other IG900 owners might find it helpful.
