[mchurgin]

After having a new E5 for a week I thought the sound was very good, very full range, great bass and great highs with a little EQ. Very comforatable to wear for me compared to Ety's. Also very easy to get a good seal with large flex sleeves. BUT! The memory cable has to be the most uncomfortable thing to wear behind your ears. I prefer to wear the phones in front insted of behind my head but I tried every way possible and copuld not get them to feel good.
I thought that w/out the memory teflon coating and the thin wire inside the audio cable itself would be very comfortable. Just lke the E1 or E2.

So I took avery fine tip exacto knife and cut along the wire in the coating. I removed the wire and the plastic coating exposinfg the actual teflon coated audio cabe. I removed it don to about 1" form the earphone itself.

Now I can wear it in front or behind and it it very light and confortable. I dont really understand the benifit of it being there. Anyone who has tried the phones and like the sound but not the heavy feeling at the ear this is easy to do. Takes about 20 min. total. Must be patient and have good hands otherwise you will cut the audo cable.

 

[evolushun]

i own a pair of shure e5, and the mod sounds great, but i wouldn't do it to mine considering how much i payed for them, i mean one slip of the hand and thats £300 worth of kit wasted. But that said good hands needed.

 

[MadDog]

Quote:

Originally posted by mchurgin I thought that w/out the memory teflon coating and the thin wire inside the audio cable itself would be very comfortable.

I totally agree with you that memory fit cable gotta go..

 

[KellDammit]

the memory fit cable does have to go. mine went. much better.
i don't mind wearing the cable down my back, but i sometimes prefer it down the front....
at any rate, there is only one (well, two, but i'll get to that later!) potential issue i can see with this mod...when you trim the sleeve back, i'd assume the small stress-relief cuff has to go. i couldn't slide mine up...this could lead to some wire creasing/breakage over the long run. i guess the comfort's worth the risk...

the second issue was...murphy's law. i nicked one of the insulators. said nick has grown into a lovely little rip...so if you're gonna do this mod, for god's sakes be CAREFULL!

hopefully, the out of warranty repair cost won't be the equivalent to sodomy...but the worst part'll be missing 'em while they're gone!

as a couple asides, does anyone have the e5 zipper-spool case? is it identical to the e2 one? also, how are the triple-flange sleeves? do they make a real difference??

kell

 

[mchurgin]

I checked with Shure and they told me the website is incorrect and the E5, E5c DO NOT come with the zip case. You cannot wind the E5 around the spool. The cables are to stiff. Espically with the memory fit teflon. They told me that both the E5 and the E5c ship with the velour pouch only.

When I cut mine off I left about 3/4" where they meet the earphone itself and then out a pin head size bead of silicone around that point. There will be no creasing because it is so close to the earphone you cant wind it up thaqt tight.

I have to say that I am very fortunate to have had someone do this mod for me with a great pair of hands. He has 1000's of hours of model building experience and works on smaller detrails than cutting the teflon memory cable off. He actually thought it was effortless and had no concerns about nicking the audio cable. I must admit I was a wreck while it was being done. Like waiting for surgery to be over.

 

[KellDammit]

ahhh, the hands of a surgeon. i myself, am cursed with the hands of a sturgeon. now i'll go through ER hell, waiting for mine to get back!

Thanks for the info on the zip case, i was wondering about that, and i didn't wanna force 'em into my e2 case. the velour pouch is kindof a bummer, and the hardcase they come in is...well, a little...big.
i can see the logic there, though.

i think i see how you mean about the cut. if that negates the creasing issue, it sounds like we have a winner! I'm going to call shure and see if they can fix 'em to not have the memory-fit parts...i wonder if they'll even do it? i doubt it, but it never hurts to ask. i'll keep you posted...

 

[mchurgin]

And by the way, I forgot to mention that when you take off the memory cable teflon, wait till you see how nice they coil up and actually do fit in the velour pouch.

 

[evolushun]

is it possible to post a pic of the modified 'phones, i want to see how the mod was done and how it looks without the memory form cable.


thanks

 

[mchurgin]

Here is a pic of the modified earphones. Note the thicker part about 3/4" from earphone is the original memory fit cut at that point.

 

[mchurgin]

For anyone who wanted to see a picture of the mod, it is posted larger than originally done in the above post.

Sorry about that.

 

[MadDog]

Sensaphonics, the people who manufacturs the similar canal phones (only theirs are customized) as e5, told me they used to have the similar memory fit cable around the ears but it caused few problem for softer type ear pieace, not to mention about the discomfort it results for their customers, so they decided not to make the phones with the steel wire inside the cable.

So, I think you guys are doing the right thing

Did it results less stress on your ear as the cable becomes lighter? Doesn't it get coily without the hard wire?

It's very tempting but I really don't want to ruin the phone.

 

[evolushun]

cheers for the pic,

was wondering did you cut all the way to the phone jack input?

 

[mchurgin]

No,No,NO...

The memory fit section is only about 3-4 inches coming out the earphone. It is made up of a thin peice of wire covered by another layer of teflon. This is to bend around your ear.

That is the only part you want to take off. And remember to leave a lttle at the earpeice itself. You actuall cant take it all off becase it goes into the plastic case.

The rest of the audio cable is a stiffer cable than most. It too is comprised of a teflon outer shell. But you do not want to touch, modify or cut this. This is where the risk of cutting the cable is. Even though it is stiffer than most it still wraps nicely behind the ear. If I can get someone later to take a picture of it in my ear I will post it.

 

[evolushun]

sorry my fault, i should of read it more carefully, i see now by what you mean by looking at the picture. I would be grateful if you can show a pic of it in your ear, as now i am tempted to do the mod myself thanks to you.

 

[skagen]

I don't know man. For that kinda dough, the earphones should not be needing ANY kind of modification at all...