[Ziadax]

Most seem to be against the cheaper Chinese EXK to MMCX adapters yet some have said they are decent for the price. Has anyone tried these from Aliexpress?

I use these on my EXK right now and they've been working fine for over 6 months now, but I don't switch cables very often so can't comment on durability for those that do

 

[kms108]

As long as it's not a metal thread, you can consider it, metal thread adapters is known to damage the actual ear piece.

I you want to a oem one, you gonna have to pay over USD 200, which used the original sony contact.

 

[Zelcroft]

I use these on my EXK right now and they've been working fine for over 6 months now, but I don't switch cables very often so can't comment on durability for those that do

That already sounds better than some of the other Chinese ones that people say fall apart almost instantly.

As long as it's not a metal thread, you can consider it, metal thread adapters is known to damage the actual ear piece.

I you want to a oem one, you gonna have to pay over USD 200, which used the original sony contact.

I'm sure the one with the original contacts are well worth the price. Was just hoping for a more affordable alternative that doesn't split in half upon the first cable insertion.

 

[kms108]

I have tried those chinese one, but they were not so good, but those were the very early made ones, the above link seems ok, I have the one with original contact it's well made, it's just that it's very expensive, and are you willing to pay for it.

 

[Pricklyears101]

Hi guys!

Been awhile since anyone's posted anything here so here I go. For anyone that's still looking for a good and affordable source to pair with the ex1k, I may just have something for that: E1DA powerdac v2. Bought it mainly cuz I plan to use the e1k for desktop use and wanted to try PEQ since common EQs can't really tame the peaky treble and it has a ex1k to harman preset built in. Won't cost you your kidney or your mortgage and it's the size of a cmoy amp.

First impressions after a few hours of using it, it definitely solves the biggest bane for some, if not most people. That peaky treble! It's gone! Finally! All the sparkle you can ask for and no sibilance!
Maybe it's just the harman curve, but it gives the ex1k a fun tuning, and subjectively not in a bad way. I've heard alot of stuff tuned this way, but never sounding like this. Especially that soundstage...
Only flaws i can think of is that it's now primarily a desktop setup, and you need to have 2.5mm balanced cables. But hey, no more sibilance!

 

[Erfan Elahi]

Hello everyone,

So I grabbed a used one and took a try on the this ex-flagship. My source is ZX300. So here is what I felt:

I felt it as little flat, especially on the lows. But later after some brain burn, I started enjoying the solid metallic hits

The treble is really appreciative, detailed and crispy sparkle. Bright, but not fatiguing. But for bright mixes it is still little harsh. Micro detail retrievals are very good. but some background notes not much closer. So sometimes need to extra attention.

Depth is deep, instruments positioning, space and separation is very good. But not much scaled close by engagement. But it wins for it's price I think.

This is awkward, the only negative side I felt is on the mids. I tried Dream Theater albums which I always play at first to test smoothness of any IEMs as they are perfect balanced on all frequencies and sad to say it feels some cracky and distorted. I also tried some soft melodic female and male vocal emotional songs - they shined pretty good, but less emotional and touchy.

Volume needs really high even on balanced port. Normal listening between 60 - 90 high gain, depending on the record. Not discomfort fit issues or from stock tips. Otherwise liked this IEM.

What I am thinking if the previous owner has dropped it anyhow. Are DD based IEMs are drop sensitive like BA based IEMs ? Or the negativity I felt on mids are actually it's original tuning ?

 

[Raketen]

Hello everyone,

So I grabbed a used one and took a try on the this ex-flagship. My source is ZX300. So here is what I felt:

I felt it as little flat, especially on the lows. But later after some brain burn, I started enjoying the solid metallic hits

The treble is really appreciative, detailed and crispy sparkle. Bright, but not fatiguing. But for bright mixes it is still little harsh. Micro detail retrievals are very good. but some background notes not much closer. So sometimes need to extra attention.

Depth is deep, instruments positioning, space and separation is very good. But not much scaled close by engagement. But it wins for it's price I think.

This is awkward, the only negative side I felt is on the mids. I tried Dream Theater albums which I always play at first to test smoothness of any IEMs as they are perfect balanced on all frequencies and sad to say it feels some cracky and distorted. I also tried some soft melodic female and male vocal emotional songs - they shined pretty good, but less emotional and touchy.

Volume needs really high even on balanced port. Normal listening between 60 - 90 high gain, depending on the record. Not discomfort fit issues or from stock tips. Otherwise liked this IEM.

What I am thinking if the previous owner has dropped it anyhow. Are DD based IEMs are drop sensitive like BA based IEMs ? Or the negativity I felt on mids are actually it's original tuning ?

AFAIK DD aren't generally as sensitive as BA are to jarring impacts, though that's not to say they are impervious- also, in addition to driver damage both types of drivers are sometimes mounted with glues that can get brittle with aging etc...

I can't say I have heard crackle or distortion in the mids, but they are the weak point of the IEM. at least personally have noted an odd tone at times and I think there are some others that have commented to that effect. Probably a consequence of the brightness, so you may want to experiment with tips/fit (for me being able to get a slightly deeper fit did not completely fix but improved the balance somewhat).

Regarding volume, they are fairly sensitive and fairly low impedance, so shouldn't be too hard to drive to listenable volumes (but I tend to listen at low volume anyways so maybe I'm wrong here). Sometimes this issue can be caused by clogged nozzle filter, poor contact on cable contact points (oxidation or looseness) or bad solder joints (though it would be unlikely for both L and R to have bad soldering).

Thanks for sharing your impressions.

 

[hemipowered007]

Hello everyone,

So I grabbed a used one and took a try on the this ex-flagship. My source is ZX300. So here is what I felt:

I felt it as little flat, especially on the lows. But later after some brain burn, I started enjoying the solid metallic hits

The treble is really appreciative, detailed and crispy sparkle. Bright, but not fatiguing. But for bright mixes it is still little harsh. Micro detail retrievals are very good. but some background notes not much closer. So sometimes need to extra attention.

Depth is deep, instruments positioning, space and separation is very good. But not much scaled close by engagement. But it wins for it's price I think.

This is awkward, the only negative side I felt is on the mids. I tried Dream Theater albums which I always play at first to test smoothness of any IEMs as they are perfect balanced on all frequencies and sad to say it feels some cracky and distorted. I also tried some soft melodic female and male vocal emotional songs - they shined pretty good, but less emotional and touchy.

Volume needs really high even on balanced port. Normal listening between 60 - 90 high gain, depending on the record. Not discomfort fit issues or from stock tips. Otherwise liked this IEM.

What I am thinking if the previous owner has dropped it anyhow. Are DD based IEMs are drop sensitive like BA based IEMs ? Or the negativity I felt on mids are actually it's original tuning ?

I use the zx300 balanced, volume floats 75 or so dependant on track. Mids arent forward by any means, the bass on the ex1000 is stunningly detailed and deep, so if youre not hearing that probably need to tip roll. The ex1k is very very tip dependant, really any decent iem is. Their signature takes a while to get used to if youre coming from another iem but i personally love these things to death. If someone ever makes an iem that combines the ex1k and audiosense t800, ill be done.

 

[Pricklyears101]

Hello everyone,

So I grabbed a used one and took a try on the this ex-flagship. My source is ZX300. So here is what I felt:

I felt it as little flat, especially on the lows. But later after some brain burn, I started enjoying the solid metallic hits

The treble is really appreciative, detailed and crispy sparkle. Bright, but not fatiguing. But for bright mixes it is still little harsh. Micro detail retrievals are very good. but some background notes not much closer. So sometimes need to extra attention.

Depth is deep, instruments positioning, space and separation is very good. But not much scaled close by engagement. But it wins for it's price I think.

This is awkward, the only negative side I felt is on the mids. I tried Dream Theater albums which I always play at first to test smoothness of any IEMs as they are perfect balanced on all frequencies and sad to say it feels some cracky and distorted. I also tried some soft melodic female and male vocal emotional songs - they shined pretty good, but less emotional and touchy.

Volume needs really high even on balanced port. Normal listening between 60 - 90 high gain, depending on the record. Not discomfort fit issues or from stock tips. Otherwise liked this IEM.

What I am thinking if the previous owner has dropped it anyhow. Are DD based IEMs are drop sensitive like BA based IEMs ? Or the negativity I felt on mids are actually it's original tuning ?

If you felt that it sounds flat and dry, maybe it's because it's tuned to sound that way? It's not necessarily a bad thing, it comes down to personal preference in the end, though some factors also might affect your impressions include the type of music you're listening to and what type of iem/sound sig you're comparing it with. For me, I personally love warm and smooth sound sigs, and having my first neutral to bright sound sig takes time to adjust and I finally understood why people love this type of sound sig, paired with certain types of music. But after some listening, if i feel that they're still lacking in certain aspects, that's when i try to adapt them to my use case scenario, before deciding that this isn't working and having to buy another pair.

That's what got me to where I am right now, having to use PEQ for it cuz the sliders for GEQs don't reach the frequency points where I need them to. And whaddya know, for my use case they worked! Now i can listen to more types of music. Speaking of this, now i'm tempted to rockbox my ipod 5g which has been collecting dust cuz if its peq functionality, imod it and pair it with a decent hpamp.

 

[Erfan Elahi]

AFAIK DD aren't generally as sensitive as BA are to jarring impacts, though that's not to say they are impervious- also, in addition to driver damage both types of drivers are sometimes mounted with glues that can get brittle with aging etc...

I can't say I have heard crackle or distortion in the mids, but they are the weak point of the IEM. at least personally have noted an odd tone at times and I think there are some others that have commented to that effect. Probably a consequence of the brightness, so you may want to experiment with tips/fit (for me being able to get a slightly deeper fit did not completely fix but improved the balance somewhat).

Regarding volume, they are fairly sensitive and fairly low impedance, so shouldn't be too hard to drive to listenable volumes (but I tend to listen at low volume anyways so maybe I'm wrong here). Sometimes this issue can be caused by clogged nozzle filter, poor contact on cable contact points (oxidation or looseness) or bad solder joints (though it would be unlikely for both L and R to have bad soldering).

Thanks for sharing your impressions.

These are very important points you mentioned. Actually so far I spent around 8 hours with these by the time I wrote my post. I was impressed with the soundstage and imaging normally you expect this level from $1k+ IEMs. But only got disappointed as distortion made me feel it as life less, or just like zooming a low-res picture. Before I was listening with Zeus, so I missed the smooth mids and the extra gravity I felt on the lows. This is the reason I described the lows section of the EX1000 as a little 'flat'. So I just became curious if it is normal tuning and others feel the same or if the only DD became faulty.

So far I only used stock foam-silicon hybrid. I will try the normal stock silicon as well as my other tips collection. Anyways the EX1000 does deserves appreciation. But this is not an end-game. Which is why Sony engineers made the Z1R and other signature series IEMs today.

I use the zx300 balanced, volume floats 75 or so dependant on track. Mids arent forward by any means, the bass on the ex1000 is stunningly detailed and deep, so if youre not hearing that probably need to tip roll. The ex1k is very very tip dependant, really any decent iem is. Their signature takes a while to get used to if youre coming from another iem but i personally love these things to death. If someone ever makes an iem that combines the ex1k and audiosense t800, ill be done.

Mids are definitely forward on the EX1000, but by A-B comparison, vocals from Zeus feels more emotional and touchy.

 

[Tawek]

for me best tips for ex1000 https://symbioeartips.com/termek/symbio-w/

 

[Pricklyears101]

For anyone looking to retrofit existing cables for the ex1k by replacing mmcx/2pin connections to exk connections bought from aliexpress, I went that route and in good faith i cannot recommend it. The plastic keeps disintegrating within just a few months of use and I've exhausted 2 pairs in a matter of 6 months. Best is to just stick with the original cables if you still have them or hunt remaining rkex1000lp cables online and reterminate them to balanced (cuz you can use adapters for single ended outputs but not balanced output to single ended cables), or use eu4a adapters as mentioned way back when. The other kind of adapter, which is just the screw thread to flat mmcx, I hope users have a much better experience with those than I did with mine.

Also worth noting, I wouldn't recommend the sonyxkimber cables for iems either after using them for awhile. Sound changes abit(subjective) but most importantly it's super stiff and the plastic sheath has a tendency to crack after awhile. Not something you'd want especially if you paid for them at retail price (fortunately I didn't).

Phew, what a ride it has been, pairing it with different sources, tips, cables and finally something as simple as a PEQ that finally got the job done for me. For those still in pursuit of perfection, never stop trying! You'll find the magic combo eventually, which may or may not be the ex1k and it'll all be worth it in the end(I hope)! Merry xmas everyone! May the community remain always supportive and tolerant...

 

[Anonelbe]

If people are still looking for replacement cables for their EX1000, www.plussoundaudio.com will terminate any of their iem cables with Sony EX connectors. I use a balanced copper cable from them along with Final Audio E tips to tame the EX1000's treble, and I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[WHO23]

Hi guys!

Been awhile since anyone's posted anything here so here I go. For anyone that's still looking for a good and affordable source to pair with the ex1k, I may just have something for that: E1DA powerdac v2. Bought it mainly cuz I plan to use the e1k for desktop use and wanted to try PEQ since common EQs can't really tame the peaky treble and it has a ex1k to harman preset built in. Won't cost you your kidney or your mortgage and it's the size of a cmoy amp.

First impressions after a few hours of using it, it definitely solves the biggest bane for some, if not most people. That peaky treble! It's gone! Finally! All the sparkle you can ask for and no sibilance!
Maybe it's just the harman curve, but it gives the ex1k a fun tuning, and subjectively not in a bad way. I've heard alot of stuff tuned this way, but never sounding like this. Especially that soundstage...
Only flaws i can think of is that it's now primarily a desktop setup, and you need to have 2.5mm balanced cables. But hey, no more sibilance!

For those of you that have QQ Music, there's an DTS EQ profile for Sony EX1000 that removes the peaky treble overall makes it just so much smoother and fuller sounding. The DTS EQ also works somewhat with the 7550/EX800ST but the treble is not as pronounced. I've tried the DTS EQ on the Audio-Technica MSR7 and Sennheiser HD650 too but effects are not as pronounced as that on the Sony EXK series.

 

[mochill]

The linsoul gold cable already make ex1k thicker sounding without loss in resolution. Awesome stuff