[EagleWings]

Hello,
 
I tried something and I am not sure if it was a placebo effect. I do not have the required equipment to do an actual measurement. It’d be great if someone could confirm or contradict my observation.
 
I was looking at @castleofargh's FR comparison graph and I thought, may be I could use it to tune the sound of my IE80 to my needs. Although I like IE80 for what it already is, I wasn’t a big fan of its mid bass hump which veiled the mids a bit. And also it was a little short on sub-bass in its minimum bass-port setting. Opening the bass-port helps the sub-bass and increases the impact but starts sounding boomy.
 

 
 
Looking at castleofargh’s graph, I realized,
 

• Opening the bass ports, helps increase the sub-bass. But apparently it also increases the mid-bass to an extent.
• Tape-mod tames down the mid-bass but it also tames down the mids a little bit.

 
So here is what I did to get the sound that I now like.
 

• I opened the bass-port to a 2-3 setting
• Tape-mod with 3 layers of tape for a firm seal
• Adjusted my EQ to the below setting to counter the effect that tape-mod had on the upper-bass, mids and lower-highs.

 

 

 
It is not a day/night difference but definitely perceivable. But what I am not able to tell is if it is a placebo effect or if it is for real.
 
Another question you all might have is ‘What is the purpose of opening the bass-ports when you are going to do a tape-mod and cover it with a layer of tape?’ Now that is the question I am trying to find the answer to because I feel like I do hear a difference between closed-bass-port tape-mod and open-bass-port tape-mod.
 
If someone here has the time and equipment to measure the FR of these variations and could compare it, that’ll be nice.
 
Thanks!!

 

[Tail]

   
 

• I opened the bass-port to a 2-3 setting
• Tape-mod with 3 layers of tape for a firm seal

Why would you do that? Open bass port then close it with tape? The whole point of taping the port should be to seal it (at least how I looked at it...) 

 

[EagleWings]

  Why would you do that? Open bass port then close it with tape? The whole point of taping the port should be to seal it (at least how I looked at it...) 

 
I open the bass-port to increase the sub-bass, and do the tape-mod to control the mid-bass. 
 
When you have time, try this: Select a track with some nice bass beats, preferably sub-bass. 
 
1. Close the bass-port and do the tape-mod and listen to the track
2. Open the bass-port to the fullest position and do the tape-mod and now listen to the track again. 
 
Check if you can hear the difference. Because I do. So I am not sure if it is a placebo effect or the difference is for real..

 

[castleofargh]

 the tape mod is like the ultimate setting of the bass port. when you turn the screw, what you do (I imagine) is make the back vent smaller or bigger. if you tape it, it doesn't matter anymore on what setting you are. the vent is blocked.
so the one you're EQing is indeed the taped version alone.
 
 
and I might be ranting at this point, but don't put too much faith in my graphs. the overall shape of the signature should not be taken as significant in front of innerfidelity or golden ears or anybody making a measurement.
I wish I could offer something reliable, but I have no mean to verify that I do.
now the differences between settings are legit, I put some efforts into this to try and keep things as steady as possible and made several measures to check that I didn't move something by mistake.
 
 
anyway, boosting the mids a little can work pretty well with all settings. it's not possible to turn the IE80 into an ER4, the sound just sucks when you use too much EQ in the mids. now for the trebles, I advise to check with test tones if you really get the bumps where I measured them.
depending on our ear canal, how we insert the IEM or the tips used, there can be a lot of changes. for example, to my ears, with comply tips I get a little bump in the 8 or 9khz that obviously doesn't show up on this graph at all, and I don't get too much trebles past 10khz like the graph would suggest. in fact the quantity is pretty ok to my ear.
so the low end will be ok if you get the proper seal, else it can fall a good deal. the mids are most likely ok, I've now measured a bunch of IEMs and the mids seem to mostly follow others.
but past 7 or 8khz it's free for all. just changing tips and insertions can give me up to 10db resonances sometimes, and with the insertion, the frequency where it occurs moves slightly.  so I really suggest anybody playing around with an EQ, not to put too much faith in the treble measurements(on any website for that matter). trust your ears first!

 

[Tail]

   
I open the bass-port to increase the sub-bass, and do the tape-mod to control the mid-bass. 
 
When you have time, try this: Select a track with some nice bass beats, preferably sub-bass. 
 
1. Close the bass-port and do the tape-mod and listen to the track
2. Open the bass-port to the fullest position and do the tape-mod and now listen to the track again. 
 
Check if you can hear the difference. Because I do. So I am not sure if it is a placebo effect or the difference is for real..

Once vent is taped it sounds the same to me no matter how much you opened it before taping, which is backed up by physics. If you seal the port = no air in inside. You can open it as much as you want, once it's taped it's sealed. I think it just might be placebo you are hearing, because the vent is sealed. No point in opening it then sealing. 

 

[EagleWings]

   the tape mod is like the ultimate setting of the bass port. when you turn the screw, what you do (I imagine) is make the back vent smaller or bigger. if you tape it, it doesn't matter anymore on what setting you are. the vent is blocked.
so the one you're EQing is indeed the taped version alone.

 

  Once vent is taped it sounds the same to me no matter how much you opened it before taping, which is backed up by physics. If you seal the port = no air in inside. You can open it as much as you want, once it's taped it's sealed. I think it just might be placebo you are hearing, because the vent is sealed. No point in opening it then sealing. 

 
With all due respect, I do understand that tape-mod seals the bass port completely.. That is exactly the reason why I was baffled at the first place when I heard the difference.. I did try it again a couple of times this morning to verify if it was a Placebo effect. Turns out, I do hear a difference between the close and open port while on tape-mod (for reasons I'm not able to figure out). May be, my tape mod is not effective enough or.. the the tape itself is acting as a vibrating membrane.. I don't know.. Anyways.. Thanks for checking that for me. I just quit experimenting and am back to listening music..

 

[fsi22]

I currently own an IE60 & plan on getting the IE80. I would like to know from anyone who's listened to both, does the IE80 also have the same midbass bloat?

 

[james444]

  With all due respect, I do understand that tape-mod seals the bass port completely.. That is exactly the reason why I was baffled at the first place when I heard the difference.. I did try it again a couple of times this morning to verify if it was a Placebo effect. Turns out, I do hear a difference between the close and open port while on tape-mod (for reasons I'm not able to figure out). May be, my tape mod is not effective enough or.. the the tape itself is acting as a vibrating membrane.. I don't know.. Anyways.. Thanks for checking that for me. I just quit experimenting and am back to listening music..

 
Just thinking out loud, as I haven't tried it myself... but even with closed vent, bass depends on remaining air volume behind the driver. Which is arguably slightly different, depending on whether the screw or the tape is sealing off the rear cavity. So, yeah, I wouldn't be all that surprised if there were indeed a slight audible difference.

 

[castleofargh]

argh!!!! you're going to force me to untape mine and measure. I used something that really doesn't want to come off(metal tape with really strong adhesive surface) to limit movement as much as possible and keep the metal look on the plate.
oh well I'll try to remove it later without making too much of a mess, but I hate all of you.
 
 
 
 
 
 
just a little.

 

[krismusic]

argh!!!! you're going to force me to untape mine and measure. I used something that really doesn't want to come off(metal tape with really strong adhesive surface) to limit movement as much as possible and keep the metal look on the plate.
oh well I'll try to remove it later without making too much of a mess, but I hate all of you.






just a little.

Why disturb it if you are happy with the sound?

 

[Rocket786]

Hello.  This is my first post on Head-Fi, and I've been reading up on the IE80's for a few days now.  I'm about to forego the second hand Ebay market and get a pair from Amazon straight up.  However, I still see that some people have received fake headphones even after ordering from Amazon?  I'm a little concerned to spend ~$300 on a pair and not even know if I'm getting the proper product.  
 
I saw that Sennheiser has implemented a security system with a QR code to verify the authenticity of it's products.  Do the IE80's come with this security system?  I apologize if this question has been answered somewhere deep within this thread, but I thought I'd ask.  I'd feel a lot better if the IE80's ship with this QR code now days so I can feel confident I got what I paid for.
 
Thanks in advance to whoever answers!

 

[EagleWings]

  Hello.  This is my first post on Head-Fi, and I've been reading up on the IE80's for a few days now.  I'm about to forego the second hand Ebay market and get a pair from Amazon straight up.  However, I still see that some people have received fake headphones even after ordering from Amazon?  I'm a little concerned to spend ~$300 on a pair and not even know if I'm getting the proper product.  
 
I saw that Sennheiser has implemented a security system with a QR code to verify the authenticity of it's products.  Do the IE80's come with this security system?  I apologize if this question has been answered somewhere deep within this thread, but I thought I'd ask.  I'd feel a lot better if the IE80's ship with this QR code now days so I can feel confident I got what I paid for.
 
Thanks in advance to whoever answers!

 
Yes, the current IE80's come with that verification system. Amazon is actually an authorized Sennheiser dealer. But when other sellers bring in their stock of products to the Amazon warehouse, chances are, if one of those seller's stock had fakes, it might get mixed with Amazon's stock of the product. To be on the safe side, you could buy from SonicElectronix.com or BHphotovideo.com. 

 

[EagleWings]

   
 but even with closed vent, bass depends on remaining air volume behind the driver. Which is arguably slightly different, depending on whether the screw or the tape is sealing off the rear cavity. So, yeah, I wouldn't be all that surprised if there were indeed a slight audible difference.

 
Yes.. I'd imagine that is a possibility too..
 

  argh!!!! you're going to force me to untape mine and measure. I used something that really doesn't want to come off(metal tape with really strong adhesive surface) to limit movement as much as possible and keep the metal look on the plate.
oh well I'll try to remove it later without making too much of a mess, but I hate all of you.
 
just a little.

 

 

[Tail]

   
 
With all due respect, I do understand that tape-mod seals the bass port completely.. That is exactly the reason why I was baffled at the first place when I heard the difference.. I did try it again a couple of times this morning to verify if it was a Placebo effect. Turns out, I do hear a difference between the close and open port while on tape-mod (for reasons I'm not able to figure out). May be, my tape mod is not effective enough or.. the the tape itself is acting as a vibrating membrane.. I don't know.. Anyways.. Thanks for checking that for me. I just quit experimenting and am back to listening music..

Yeah I didn't think about that, maybe your tape was thinner, less glue on it so it let some air pass. But for me it was exactly the same from closed bass knob to fully opened, once I taped it.
 
Also there isn't any logic (any logic I can see, I don't say you lie or something) in increasing sub bass with opening port and reducing mid bass by closing it with tape. It's the bass that gets altered all together. You may have sense of better sub bass because midrange sounds clearer due to less bass, but it really does have less bass overall (both sub and mid).
Bass port is supposed to alter sub bass, but since it's all connected (1 driver, can't separate frequencies) and IE80 already has problems with mid bass it also increases mid bass too. I don't see how opening port a bit can increase sub bass and closing it up with tape reduce mid bass. It's the same port that works the same way. 
 
I don't want to sound like I'm flaming or something, you know what you hear I guess, but it really makes no sense to me at all, which extensive listening I've done has proven to me even tho it didn't need proving.
 
Guess this is too subjective matter tho, especially because maybe your tape lets some air in

 

[159650]

The other day I turned up the bass on my IE8 to level 2 and my head exploded. 
 
That is all