[unispeed]

@csglinux Just thinking out loud here looking at some of your graphs between Trishd using Blue insert and Trishd using White insert;

• White (680) cloth with 2 foams directly in front of it (Trishd Blue insert) has more sub-bass and bass than Brown (1K) cloth with the same 2 foams in front of it (Trishd White insert)
• As the filter resistance in the stock position decreases, both the sub-bass and bass seem to go up
• The black insert (Red cloth) is an exception because it uses denser foam units and in so doing introduces another variable.

Does this mean that a Gray (330) cloth with the same foam pieces in front of it can net even more sub-bass and bass than the White (680) cloth? Has anyone ever Trishd modded a Gray filter?

 

[EastOne]

So you basically have a stock blue filter (white cloth) with revision 1 of my mod + the external vent. The standard mod is already mid-forward with the removal of the stock cloth at the inlet. By having the white cloth at the inlet you will be taming the mids a bit but then adding them back with the vent. Of course all those variables together might have a different result than what I just described.

To address what you said about using the foam at the end vs using filters... well, no 2 foams are the same length and adding insult to injury, they are not all positioned in the same place when you get them from Shure. So in reality everyone is hearing something slightly different when they are talking about "stock filters" and that's with everything else being the same. That is not so if using the Filter barrels. The cloths that we refer to as dampers actually come from the medical field. They were originally designed to filter particles in blood and that is why a Sonion Brown cloth will sound pretty much like a Knowles brown cloth which will sound like a Shure Stock white filter (brown cloth). The quality control here is extremely high and the results can be duplicated almost exactly when using the depth-tool outlined a few threads up.

Interestingly a White (680) cloth with foams in front of it can sound more bassy than a Brown (1k) cloth with nothing in front of it. I think there is a lesson to be learned here and its why Revision 6 is employing smaller resistances but placing them in strategic locations. What I'm trying to do is get close to the same bass response of the Trishd without loosing the high mids and the "air" gains in the 15-16k region. It may not be possible but that's what I'm shooting for with my current revision.

Yeah the first paragraph describes what I’ve done. When fitted without external vents it sounds darker than the stock filter and green, and I’ve had to vent them with double the cross sectional area I would vent the green knowles with, if that says anything.

 

[unispeed]

Just a heads up for anybody interested in the Engineer mod. The original post with the mod has been updated with the 6th and final Revision. Take this into account when reading the posts between this one and the mod post as the content may not apply. The original (but updated) post can be found here:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/se846-filter-mod.802350/page-15#post-15138382

 

[jmac700]

Just a heads up for anybody interested in the Engineer mod. The original post with the mod has been updated with the 6th and final Revision. Take this into account when reading the posts between this one and the mod post as the content may not apply. The original (but updated) post can be found here:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/se846-filter-mod.802350/page-15#post-15138382

I've been using the stock blue filters for a long time and have been happy with them, but I came across this post and became interested in modding the white filters. I've already purchased the required components to do the "A" or "B" version but don't know the sound differences between the two. What are the main differences sound wise between the "A Version" and "B Version" compared to the stock blue filters? Also, I've been inclined to simply remove the foam in the black filters and compare to the stock blue filters? In the end, I'm looking for a sound that keeps the bass and midrange of the stock blue filters, and adds less sibilant treble than the stock white filters and more soundstage, if that's possible.

 

[csglinux]

Big thanks to @unispeed for sending me his final (never say never though, right?) revision 6 engineering mod Here are some comparisons.

Firstly, the usual preamble and disclaimers about taking all these measurements as a relative comparison. Your ears are unlikely to respond exactly the way my coupler does, however, the comparative trends should be similar. Secondly, the following measurements are all raw, normalized to 94 dB @ 500 Hz. Thirdly, bear in mind that eartips have an enormous impact on frequency response. Just to remind everybody of this, here's a comparison (using the "Trishd" mod) of three different sets of eartips - Comply P-series foam, Shure medium olives and SpinFit Cp240 silicone tips:

I recently found myself in need of some really good isolation, but didn't want to go full Comply-P-series foam. (Comply foams isolate really well, but roll off the upper frequencies.) So here, all subsequent measurements are made with SpinFit Cp240 eartips. My reference point for each measurement is the "Trishd" mod. First the stock filters...

Stock white. Main result, relative to Trishd mod, is more mid-range:

Stock blue. Main result, relative to Trishd mod, is marginally more mid-range and less lower treble:

Modded blue. Main result, relative to Trishd mod, is more mid-range (similar to white, but not quite as much of an increase in the mid-range):

@unispeed's engineering mod, revision 6. Main result, relative to Trishd mod, is less mid-bass, more mid-range, less lower treble:

I tried pushing the Knowles' damper farther down the filter tube to see the effect. Starting at roughly 1/3rd the distance down the tube (above), I then went 2/3 and 3/3 (as far as it would go). The effect is a more pronounced version of the above mod in regards mid-bass and mid-range, but the treble starts to increase now too:

The effect of tempering the mid-bass is quite interesting. This is probably closer to the Harman target in that region. Along with that, you can also get an overall increase in treble if you push the damper in far enough. I found it was possible to reverse this mod (if you're careful) by hooking the damper with a small watchmaker's screwdriver and pulling it back out again.

My personal favorite mod is still the "Trishd" mod. I prefer its sound signature, the mod is free and doesn't require any other components, it's easy to do and easily reversible. But there's no right or wrong here. It's all down to personal preferences, so go wild and see what works best for you

 

[unispeed]

Sorry guys, I've been gone for the last week or so because I recently got married. As far as version A or B the main difference is that version A uses a brown cloth and Version B uses a white cloth. Version B is what I prefer. I especially reccomend it if you are more attracted to the stock white filter than a stock blue and like comply tips. Using this setup I forget I'm listening to IEMs. If you perform the mod to your blue insert you will have version B automatically due to the blue filter having the lower resistance White cloth. The white insert has a higher resistance brown cloth that accentuates mid-range. The black insert has an extremely high resistance red cloth.

I've been using the stock blue filters for a long time and have been happy with them, but I came across this post and became interested in modding the white filters. I've already purchased the required components to do the "A" or "B" version but don't know the sound differences between the two. What are the main differences sound wise between the "A Version" and "B Version" compared to the stock blue filters? Also, I've been inclined to simply remove the foam in the black filters and compare to the stock blue filters? In the end, I'm looking for a sound that keeps the bass and midrange of the stock blue filters, and adds less sibilant treble than the stock white filters and more soundstage, if that's possible.

 

[jsmiller58]

Sorry guys, I've been gone for the last week or so because I recently got married. As far as version A or B the main difference is that version A uses a brown cloth and Version B uses a white cloth. Version B is what I prefer. I especially reccomend it if you are more attracted to the stock white filter than a stock blue and like comply tips. Using this setup I forget I'm listening to IEMs. If you perform the mod to your blue insert you will have version B automatically due to the blue filter having the lower resistance White cloth. The white insert has a higher resistance brown cloth that accentuates mid-range. The black insert has an extremely high resistance red cloth.

Congratulations!

 

[tbritton]

Sorry guys, I've been gone for the last week or so because I recently got married.

What a hero! unispeed makes our IEMs amazing and "gets the girl" as well! The stuff of a great movie!

Congrats!

Terry

 

[csglinux]

Sorry guys, I've been gone for the last week or so because I recently got married.

Congrats from me also, @unispeed Although, some words of advice... Women don't tend to prioritize things very well. For example, they'll want a new kitchen table because the old one, whilst perfectly functional, is ever so slightly the wrong color. That's money that you could have instead put towards a new DAP that would have taken your THD from 0.0004% to 0.00038%. Priorities. Anyway, I promise to try to look at your engineering mod revision B ASAP...

 

[unispeed]

Congrats from me also, @unispeed Although, some words of advice... Women don't tend to prioritize things very well. For example, they'll want a new kitchen table because the old one, whilst perfectly functional, is ever so slightly the wrong color. That's money that you could have instead put towards a new DAP that would have taken your THD from 0.0004% to 0.00038%. Priorities. Anyway, I promise to try to look at your engineering mod revision B ASAP...

hahaha, thanks for the words of wisdom. ...unless of course I can convince her that spending large amounts of money on personal audio equipment is an investment...then again that might be a double edge sword as well

 

[unispeed]

After maaany hours with both version A and Version B of my ENGINEER MOD and feedback from people who have heard both, I STRONGLY recommend Version B to anyone interested in performing this mod. It really is a superior configuration, especially if used with foam eartips. I have amended the instructions for Version B. For version B simply perform all of the steps listed to the BLUE plastic insert instead of the WHITE one (since the BLUE inserts have foams those have to come out... no foam is used in this mod).

ENGINEER MOD (6TH REV.) VERSION B is the flagship of all my experiments with filters.

PS: all measurements done to my mod by @csglinux are of Version A. Version B is still a wild card as far as measurements go.

 

[Chupi383]

I have been following this thread for some time and am only now getting into filter mods. I don't have any spare filter tubes so thus far I've only been doing reversible mods, adding and removing bits of foam. I seem to be in the same boat as a lot of people: stock blue is okay but too dark, stock white is mostly good but too little bass and just a bit too bright. At least for the moment I've settled on something I don't think I've seen mentioned: white filter with the back bit of foam from the blue filter stuffed all the way down to the damper end.

Out of what I tried:
Black no foam: I love the sound of this except that it reduces the bump between 2 and 3 kHz, making female vocals feel empty.
Blue no foam: This is making me doubt my ears but it sounds almost harsher than stock white filter. Not liking this one.
"Modded" blue, front foam removed: Oh so close to what I'm looking for. Just a wee bit off.
Blue foam stuck in the front of the white filter: I was almost settled on this until I tried the Unispeed mod and heard how much sub bass I was missing with this.
Unispeed (white with 1 black foam all the way down and 1 blue foam about 1/3 down) : Intriguing and beautiful sound signature with rich deep bass, but I'm trying to get something more neutral sounding.
White with 1 black foam shoved all the way down (I just yanked the blue foam after trying Unispeed) : I like big bass, but it was a bit overstated in some tracks. So close though.
So I swapped the black (front) foam with a blue (rear) one.

I think there might be FOUR different kinds of foam pieces here. As far as I can tell, they appear to be the same material, but the "denser" ones are simply cut with a wider radius so they squish denser when put into a tube. Blue and black filters in mine all come with 2 bits of foam -- but as far as I can tell they aren't identical! In both cases the front piece is a little wider and a little shorter in length when removed. The back one looks less dense and is cut slightly narrower and longer. I haven't done a definitive test, but I suspect the back piece of foam will have less effect than the front piece since it's effectively less dense. I'm using the less dense rear foam from the blue filter in my white mod because I wanted a smaller change from stock.
If density is set by how much a foam is squeezed, that would explain why some of my attempts sounded off-balance between the two sides -- I may have inserted a foam a bit askew.
Side note: I know there are at least 2 revisions of SE846 and some filters come with just one bit of foam. Mine is a blue SE846 that came in a BT1 bundle I bought new last summer. The stock cable is the newer thinner sort, and the IEMs themselves have a silver colored surround piece of the MMCX connector.

One other note: I have found a long tipped pair of tweezers very helpful for inserting and removing foam bits. The one I have I think is designed for removing ingrown hairs, but it's perfect for everything from this to soldering tiny SMT components. It'll grab foams up to halfway down the tube; further in and I have to use a needle. I don't know if the needle I'm using is too thick, or possibly too fresh and smooth or what, but I always end up shoving the foam all the way down the tube and using the damper cloth to hold it so I can slide in next to it or partially impale it enough to grip it and drag it out.

Just a thought, has anyone tried stuffing things other than Shure foams and Knowles dampers into the filter tubes?

 

[LArule]

I just got my pair of shure se846 and i'm very excited to try out the mods posted on this thread starting with the famous blue filter mod. Just one question. I found that there are 2 pieces of foam lies next to each others at the top in each blue filter so am i suppose to remove both of them or just the piece of foam lies closest to the opening of each filter.

 

[Chupi383]

That depends how bright you want it. Try it both ways and see which you prefer. Also if you put foam back, note the depths it's at in the filters. The same piece of foam at the front, in the middle or all the way at the back will each sound pretty different since they interact with how frequencies resonate in the tube. For removing foams, I've found a sewing pin with the thinnest part of the tip bent slightly is good for fishing them out. Like, press a fresh pin against a rough surface and press and drag a bit to bend the tip to the side. It doesn't need to be much, just enough to catch in the foam. The back end of the pin is good for shoving them back in provided it isn't the sort with a big ball on the end. Just be careful not to damage the "cloth" stretched across the back end of the filter tube since that's an acoustic damper.

 

[xSDMx]

Eons ago I removed the foam from my blue filter. I'd like to put my blue filter back to stock. Does anyone happen to know what the stock foam configuration is (e.g., both foams stacked at end facing ear canal, denser foam closest to ear canal, etc.)? If possible, a picture would be super helpful. Thanks in advance!