Bilavideo
Caution: Incomplete trades.
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2008
- Posts
- 3,101
- Likes
- 128
I love my UM3X but sometimes the warm signature is a little too much, even for an IEM that is remarkable for its natural sound and otherwise well-balanced tone. By accident, I removed the white filters from the sound outlet and found the sound to be a little more open, with a little more sizzle in the HF. But instead of losing the bass, I got to keep it. I think it's because I was in the process of giving my stems a "condom."
I'm not trying to be perverse. I just found that, even with my olive foamies, there was a gap in the fit, just enough to leak air, preventing that tight pressure that makes bass more dynamic. Lots have been said about how customs do such a great job of maintaining the seal. There's more to it than sound isolation. Great bass requires a tight seal because pressure lost through the back end disables the drivers to puff that extra pressure to the eardrum. If you get bass, it still doesn't kick until you make sure you've created the earphone equivalent of "acoustic suspension" in loudspeakers. Makers of loudspeakers - including DIY enthusiasts - go so far as to calk their cabinets, to make sure they're airtight. What they're doing large needs to be done small in the world of the in-ear monitor. Customs are legendary for this, but even universals can be tweaked to maximize the seal.
That was my intent when I created a "condom" for my stems. A piece of standard, professional-grade, tubing is cut and then stretched over the tubing. This is not easy but (stop laughing) if you work it, you can get it on (stop laughing again). This will increase the diameter of a certain part of the earphone (stop laughing again).
Long story short (OMG), when you put your cushions on, it'll be a much tighter fit (cue Cheap Trick). The result is a seal that at least cuts out the leakage occurring between the cushion and the stem. This won't address other areas of leakage, but I found it to be remarkably effective - and it made a noticeable improvement in the quality of my bass. The nice thing about this tweak is that it allowed me to remove my white filters and get all the HF my UM3X could serve up without sacrificing the quality of the bass.
I'm not trying to be perverse. I just found that, even with my olive foamies, there was a gap in the fit, just enough to leak air, preventing that tight pressure that makes bass more dynamic. Lots have been said about how customs do such a great job of maintaining the seal. There's more to it than sound isolation. Great bass requires a tight seal because pressure lost through the back end disables the drivers to puff that extra pressure to the eardrum. If you get bass, it still doesn't kick until you make sure you've created the earphone equivalent of "acoustic suspension" in loudspeakers. Makers of loudspeakers - including DIY enthusiasts - go so far as to calk their cabinets, to make sure they're airtight. What they're doing large needs to be done small in the world of the in-ear monitor. Customs are legendary for this, but even universals can be tweaked to maximize the seal.
That was my intent when I created a "condom" for my stems. A piece of standard, professional-grade, tubing is cut and then stretched over the tubing. This is not easy but (stop laughing) if you work it, you can get it on (stop laughing again). This will increase the diameter of a certain part of the earphone (stop laughing again).
Long story short (OMG), when you put your cushions on, it'll be a much tighter fit (cue Cheap Trick). The result is a seal that at least cuts out the leakage occurring between the cushion and the stem. This won't address other areas of leakage, but I found it to be remarkably effective - and it made a noticeable improvement in the quality of my bass. The nice thing about this tweak is that it allowed me to remove my white filters and get all the HF my UM3X could serve up without sacrificing the quality of the bass.
