jeffisflyboy
Head-Fier
Its been 3 months since I bought my westone 3 from authorized dealer here in the philippines. I'm first struck by its soundstage and fast performance, but I can't help but notice the sibilance on vocals whenever there is a letter "S" in the lyrics. Using a foam tips reduces the intensity of this sibilance but in return pushes the treble a bit veiled. Being interested on this topic http://www.head-fi.org/t/663273/se530-535-acoustic-filter-mod-more-sq-improvement-than-cables-dampers
I decided to order some knowles acoustic dampers from knowles and try to change the filter myself.
How It Goes:
Referring to the previous topic about shure se535 damper modification and tha classes of each filter and its resistance, I decided to buy the 330 ohms, 680 and 1000 ohms but the problem is there is no available 680 ohm on mouser electronics, So I just decided to bought the 330, 1000 and 1500 ohms. It took 5 days before I received those filters.
The Removal of Stock Damper:
Removing the stock damper from westone 3 is not so easy because it is positioned in inner part of the nozzle. At first I tried to remove it trying not to damage the mesh but its impossible to remove it without pushing through the mesh, so I have no choice. I'm a bit worried of what I'm doing because I might ended up breaking the nozzles in the process, but fortunately, I removed it
wew.
Its not that I'm making bad immage on westone, but I'm not sure of what material they are uses with the stock damper. I just noticed that when I managed to removed the damper together with the damaged mesh, I noticed that the mesh is made up of a paper like material, which is I'm not sure if it really help in smoothing the sound from the drivers. hmmmm.
Anyway, go to the testing of the new dampers that I bought, here are the impressions:
Note: I just use shure yellow foam tips instead of silicon tips because of the consistent sibilance on the sound.
330 ohms Gray:
Lows: The lows have more quality and body but not punchy at all. It still retain the quality of the original stock damper but has just a little more quality in sound. Still no problem on any genre of songs.
Mids: These are the area where nit has an improvement. The details on the mids become more clear, I can say that there is much more clear details on 330 than the stock, but not to the level that it becomes analytical. Its just more clear so some details that I haven't heard before are now coming out.
Highs: The soundstage indeed has improve in terms of separation, airiness and depth, so there is a sense of a bigger soudstage but not a very big improvement. Its just has a more airier and more depth soudstage. The cymbals have more presence and the vocals, but the bad news is it enhances the sibilance a little more, and I also noticed the timbre became a little thiner.
1000 ohms brown:
Lows: The lows on these dampers have more presence, has more body and quality but I noticed that it starting to sound muddy.
Mids: The mids became a bit veiled on these. Details are still present but it seems to dulled the presentation because of the muddy lows.
Highs: Sibilance is still present but tamed a little, but presence of the clashes of cymbals are not that bright anymore unlike in 330 ohms.
1500 ohms green:
Lows: Very muddy sound on lows than the brown damper. More juicy bass but greatly affects the entire spectrum.
Mids: Details are push back and became more veiled in presentation.
Highs: Same as the mids, the highs has lesser presence but sibilance is still there, it just tamed a bit more.
So having tested all those dampers, I just decided to permanently insert the 330 ohms dampers. I just can't live without those soundstage and details in the sound. I just uses the shure yellow foam tips which is, based on what I heard does'nt lessen the sibilance but decreases its intensity so that its not painfull on my ears. Maybe someday if I have the money, I will reshell them and see if it will improve the sound more.
I decided to order some knowles acoustic dampers from knowles and try to change the filter myself.
How It Goes:
Referring to the previous topic about shure se535 damper modification and tha classes of each filter and its resistance, I decided to buy the 330 ohms, 680 and 1000 ohms but the problem is there is no available 680 ohm on mouser electronics, So I just decided to bought the 330, 1000 and 1500 ohms. It took 5 days before I received those filters.
The Removal of Stock Damper:
Removing the stock damper from westone 3 is not so easy because it is positioned in inner part of the nozzle. At first I tried to remove it trying not to damage the mesh but its impossible to remove it without pushing through the mesh, so I have no choice. I'm a bit worried of what I'm doing because I might ended up breaking the nozzles in the process, but fortunately, I removed it
Its not that I'm making bad immage on westone, but I'm not sure of what material they are uses with the stock damper. I just noticed that when I managed to removed the damper together with the damaged mesh, I noticed that the mesh is made up of a paper like material, which is I'm not sure if it really help in smoothing the sound from the drivers. hmmmm.
Anyway, go to the testing of the new dampers that I bought, here are the impressions:
Note: I just use shure yellow foam tips instead of silicon tips because of the consistent sibilance on the sound.
330 ohms Gray:
Lows: The lows have more quality and body but not punchy at all. It still retain the quality of the original stock damper but has just a little more quality in sound. Still no problem on any genre of songs.
Mids: These are the area where nit has an improvement. The details on the mids become more clear, I can say that there is much more clear details on 330 than the stock, but not to the level that it becomes analytical. Its just more clear so some details that I haven't heard before are now coming out.
Highs: The soundstage indeed has improve in terms of separation, airiness and depth, so there is a sense of a bigger soudstage but not a very big improvement. Its just has a more airier and more depth soudstage. The cymbals have more presence and the vocals, but the bad news is it enhances the sibilance a little more, and I also noticed the timbre became a little thiner.
1000 ohms brown:
Lows: The lows on these dampers have more presence, has more body and quality but I noticed that it starting to sound muddy.
Mids: The mids became a bit veiled on these. Details are still present but it seems to dulled the presentation because of the muddy lows.
Highs: Sibilance is still present but tamed a little, but presence of the clashes of cymbals are not that bright anymore unlike in 330 ohms.
1500 ohms green:
Lows: Very muddy sound on lows than the brown damper. More juicy bass but greatly affects the entire spectrum.
Mids: Details are push back and became more veiled in presentation.
Highs: Same as the mids, the highs has lesser presence but sibilance is still there, it just tamed a bit more.
So having tested all those dampers, I just decided to permanently insert the 330 ohms dampers. I just can't live without those soundstage and details in the sound. I just uses the shure yellow foam tips which is, based on what I heard does'nt lessen the sibilance but decreases its intensity so that its not painfull on my ears. Maybe someday if I have the money, I will reshell them and see if it will improve the sound more.