HAHA. I just want to make sure there is not a misunderstanding, but the mod involves cutting a piece of the stem of a tri-flange (it could be a bi-flange equally I guess) and then sticking that 3 or 4 mm stem to the nozzle of the earphone before putting it inside another eartip. It doesn't consist on converting a 3-flange into a 2-flange by cutting one of the tips. I thought from your comment you might have interpreted my post as "converting a 3-flange into a 2-flange by cutting the larger tip and then using that as a 2-flange".
The objective is basically to remove the Etymotic earphone 3 or 4 mm from your eardrum, which is supposed to increase the soundstage.
Welcome Aboard @toddverrone.I'm a fan as well.
Sadly. They need to make a mod available. A decade ago many people were selling mimic mods and they were freely published around the web. Maybe you can do a search?... I always wanted and XR’s bass with a B’s treble.I would like to but it is impossible to find anywhere.
The tuning kit can help with that. The brighter filters should bring the response closer to the original ER4B but I have yet to experiment with that. I actually sold both of my ER4 pairs. I only have the ER3XR currently.Sadly. They need to make a mod available. A decade ago many people were selling mimic mods and they were freely published around the web. Maybe you can do a search?... I always wanted and XR’s bass with a B’s treble.
Yes, stock tips. The large ones for me. They sound amazing with those.@RHO , @Count Arthur so you are both using the Blessing with the stock tips?
I don’t think they’ll get you to that same balance with the filters. The 4b was done with resistance and capacitance in the cable. I used the red filter in the B to reduce the pin a gain a couple dB.The tuning kit can help with that. The brighter filters should bring the response closer to the original ER4B but I have yet to experiment with that. I actually sold both of my ER4 pairs. I only have the ER3XR currently.
Stock tips for me too, the smallest ones that came in the box.@RHO , @Count Arthur so you are both using the Blessing with the stock tips?
I haven't done this mod because I haven't received my ER2SE yet, I just read about it. Originally it was for the ER4S, but I think it should work for the ER2SE. You can read about it in the original thread. I will send you a PM because it is in a different forum. It is unclear to me whether the step might fall of the end of the new tip and cause a serious problem in your ear, but I guess the way these ear tips are made it would be very unlikely, since nobody else showed convern about that.So you are just adding an extension tube between the ear tip and the shell? Is there a picture anywhere that shows this? The ER2 series has a somewhat of a greater soundstage because the driver is further back in the shell but the extension mod is new to me.
Having had (and tried) a lot of IEMs over the years, I currently have the following:
Honorable mentions (both owned and borrowed from friends):
-Shure KSE1200: Easily the best technical performer, married with good but not perfect FR (great extension on both ends and lack of any kind of bothersomeness in the entire range, just as smooth as the Etymotics), although they're very tip dependent regarding to sound, only foams worked for me. Comfort was good, build quality so-so, but the whole energizer thing was such an inconvenience for a plug&play listening experience and a deal breaker for me. It clipping a lot at high volumes too, so not worthing the hassle, unless you pursuit the best technical performance with proper noise isolation.
The QKZ VK4 is a great bargain and would be my only headphone/earphone if my ears were more comfortable with IEMs in general.
To put it in perspective, here's their frequency response compared to the week regarded Blessing 2 Dusk.
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