Ever since I own the EX700, I have been looking for a way to reduce the unbearable harshness over 6~8kHz region. No, it isn't because of the bad music files nor bad source. I have burn-in my EX700 for over 200hrs now, tried various sources including DAP, PCDP, PC, CD player, etc with both lossless and lossy music, but the harshness is still there. After experimenting with various kind of foam (to replace the original foam in the nozzle), I realize changing foam usually result in either too little or too much change, and neither are desired. My goal is to mod it in a way that only the harshness will be reduced while there will be minimum impact on other freq. After months of playing around, I am happy to report that I have found what I was looking for.
[Important] This mod is only for those who find EX700 harsh sounding.
Materials needed: EX700, a very small tweezer (I use the one on my Swiss Army knife), a pair of ER6i's filters, a small needle.
Here is the EX700 before and after the mod.
First, use the small tweezer to grab hold the foam inside the nozzle. You will find that the foam is not attached to the side of the nozzle but only glued at the end. Pull the foam out very slowly and eventually the glued end will break clean from the end of the nozzle (Area B in red on one of the following pictures). You should know by now that the foam is actually attached to the housing of the transducer (which blocked half of the nozzle inside).
For those who are not familiar with the inside of EX700:
Now use the small needle and punch a small hole on the ER6i filter. The size of the hole should be less than 0.5mm in diameter. You should try to make the smallest hole you can in the first trial (in case you need adjustment later). You will notice that the filter has a small gap (blue in color) on the top - make a note here.
Now, place the mod'ed filter in reverse into the nozzle. It should fit very snugly. Make sure that the gap on the filter is facing forward (align with the unblocked part inside the nozzle, Not area B)
If you feel like the sound is reduced too much, you can take the filter out by tweezer and enlarge the hole with the needle (be sure not to overdo it). The best result I have is around 0.4~0.5mm. Make sure the hole of both filters are about the same diameter.
I'll advice you only attempt one side of the earpieces first to find the best hole diameter for you, than followed by the other side. Take note that the hole diameter has a major impact on the quantity of treble in the final sound.
Overall, the harshness can be reduced by 6~9dB which resulted in a more pleasing sound. Bass impact might be slight reduced but it is very difficult to notice (unless you are A/Bing with an unmod'ed pair). Since the treble (especially the harshness) is reduced, the overall sound signature will become slightly warmer in comparison to the unmod'ed sound. Enjoy.
[Important] This mod is only for those who find EX700 harsh sounding.
Materials needed: EX700, a very small tweezer (I use the one on my Swiss Army knife), a pair of ER6i's filters, a small needle.
Here is the EX700 before and after the mod.
First, use the small tweezer to grab hold the foam inside the nozzle. You will find that the foam is not attached to the side of the nozzle but only glued at the end. Pull the foam out very slowly and eventually the glued end will break clean from the end of the nozzle (Area B in red on one of the following pictures). You should know by now that the foam is actually attached to the housing of the transducer (which blocked half of the nozzle inside).
For those who are not familiar with the inside of EX700:
Now use the small needle and punch a small hole on the ER6i filter. The size of the hole should be less than 0.5mm in diameter. You should try to make the smallest hole you can in the first trial (in case you need adjustment later). You will notice that the filter has a small gap (blue in color) on the top - make a note here.
Now, place the mod'ed filter in reverse into the nozzle. It should fit very snugly. Make sure that the gap on the filter is facing forward (align with the unblocked part inside the nozzle, Not area B)
If you feel like the sound is reduced too much, you can take the filter out by tweezer and enlarge the hole with the needle (be sure not to overdo it). The best result I have is around 0.4~0.5mm. Make sure the hole of both filters are about the same diameter.
I'll advice you only attempt one side of the earpieces first to find the best hole diameter for you, than followed by the other side. Take note that the hole diameter has a major impact on the quantity of treble in the final sound.
Overall, the harshness can be reduced by 6~9dB which resulted in a more pleasing sound. Bass impact might be slight reduced but it is very difficult to notice (unless you are A/Bing with an unmod'ed pair). Since the treble (especially the harshness) is reduced, the overall sound signature will become slightly warmer in comparison to the unmod'ed sound. Enjoy.
