[gridlock]

I recently purchased the HiFiMan HE-5LE and although I like a lot about them, have a couple of issues with tonal balance.  There appears to be a couple of peaks that bother me, one in the upper bass / lower midrange area that add a bit of unnatural weight to certain tracks, and worse, a treble peak which adds some sibilance and hurts my ears at times.  I only have about 40 hours of burn-in on them, so maybe some additional time will smooth them out a bit.
 
But I discovered a solution that works quite well; I got the idea from seeing a photo of the thin protective cloth on the inner side of the outer grill on the newer HE-6, which shows a cottony like substance.  I happened to have a box of 3 inch square gauze pads, which I cut and placed in the inside of each ear piece against the protective cloth.  The nice thing about gauze, is that it is thin and multi-layered, so it is easy to use a different number of layers to get the desired effect.  I tried varying the number of layers, and currently settled on four.
 
What the 'mod' did was exactly as I wanted; it reduced some of the treble harshness and sibilance that I was experiencing.  It also seemed to reduce low bass ever so slightly, but not to a point that is an issue. The midrange seems to shine right through.  I tried first placing the gauze on the inside of the outer grill, but that did not have the same effect.  I could also lightly tape or glue the gauze to the inside of the earcup, since they are removable, in order to hide the gauze, and might do that after the phones are fully broken in and I am satisfied with the overall presentation.
 
Has anyone tried this with either any of the HE-X models, or any other phones?

 

[Happy Camper]

I've been using the pad covers to keep the pads clean. I found the same results with them.

 

[HiFlight]

When I had my 5LE's, I replaced the thin inner covering of the grille with German Maestro dust covers. They are a little bit heavier than the OEM covering and resulted in a very pleasing SQ without noticeable peaks.   I think the pair was about $16.  They did need to be trimmed just a bit, then  fit nicely inside the grille. 
 
Quote:

I recently purchased the HiFiMan HE-5LE and although I like a lot about them, have a couple of issues with tonal balance.  There appears to be a couple of peaks that bother me, one in the upper bass / lower midrange area that add a bit of unnatural weight to certain tracks, and worse, a treble peak which adds some sibilance and hurts my ears at times.  I only have about 40 hours of burn-in on them, so maybe some additional time will smooth them out a bit.
 
But I discovered a solution that works quite well; I got the idea from seeing a photo of the thin protective cloth on the inner side of the outer grill on the newer HE-6, which shows a cottony like substance.  I happened to have a box of 3 inch square gauze pads, which I cut and placed in the inside of each ear piece against the protective cloth.  The nice thing about gauze, is that it is thin and multi-layered, so it is easy to use a different number of layers to get the desired effect.  I tried varying the number of layers, and currently settled on four.
 
What the 'mod' did was exactly as I wanted; it reduced some of the treble harshness and sibilance that I was experiencing.  It also seemed to reduce low bass ever so slightly, but not to a point that is an issue. The midrange seems to shine right through.  I tried first placing the gauze on the inside of the outer grill, but that did not have the same effect.  I could also lightly tape or glue the gauze to the inside of the earcup, since they are removable, in order to hide the gauze, and might do that after the phones are fully broken in and I am satisfied with the overall presentation.
 
Has anyone tried this with either any of the HE-X models, or any other phones?

 

 

[shipsupt]

Fang certainly recommends a long break in ( in the hundreds of hours neighborhood) for all the HE-X models, so after receiving my LE's yesterday they are getting the break in treatment now. And obviously I am no help with your question on modding! It does sound similar to the mods that I've read about... I'll search and see if I can dig up the link...
 
Edit - Found some 6Moons articles that reference removing the grill clothe and the rear damping material.
 

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/hifiman/system_3.html
 
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/hifiman2/4.html