I just bought it and fininshed my modding. I shat my pants so hard, it went through my pants. This earphone and mod should be written down in history. I'm just laughing at myself for not believing how good it will be. I'm from S.Korea, have no connection whatsoever to the seller and Michael. I guarentee you this is frikken awesome. Holy molly.... dam.... I have SSP, Starfield, Blessing 2, Variation, Simgot EW100 etc, and it's literally slightly below to Variation. Which is ridiculous. After 3 years of collecting earphones, I was curious how would it feel to mod my earphone, and coincidently saw this video and I'm glad I was able to see this video and have given me a wonderful gift. Thank you so much Michael for sharing this information. God Bless You
@byntkktrnn I bought a micro drill from Ali and it wasn't that difficult since the hole was there already. If it's your first time buy the set of different size drills and make the hole bigger little by little until you get the sound right. It's super easier than you think. But becareful not to pierce it too deep (better draw a marker on the drill)
I have a set of the X-Ones otw. I have a friend willing to help me with the mod. I am confused about the exact procedure with the vent and the needle to get the bass shelf in place though. Perhaps you could do another video further explaining the technique? Anyways, Thanks for all you do for our community!
I have xsl x-one , was sad as the sound was bassy bloated , ran burn in 100 hour , not much happened, can you detail on how large in mm is the bass vent ?Thank you
Hi Michael, thanks for tbe video... Just pulled the trigger on Ali. Great price, €50 shipped. Will pick up the extra gear later this evening. Looking forward to modding this one.. 👍👍
Well i'm in. Orders placed. Looking forward to this adventure. Thanks for putting this out there. @Michael Bruce can you elaborate more on tuning the filter? Any idea how many holes and needle diameter etc? Also have you seen the XSL X9 1DD+1BA? Nice looking resin shell for very little $$$.
It seem that @hariramv7764 was right , took a bit of thick needle and pierced the nylon on bass vent , and surprise , the mid and highs appeared !!!! Btw I did it on my risk , but it was worth it , did not add the filter , but the difference in the sound was amazing ! Thank you Bruce !!!
Have to warn you for those who are thinking for modifying X-One , if the hole is too "large" the sound goes "flat" , hardly any bass , but mids and treble are there ! Luckily you can "close" the vents.
I got this iem and I 100% agree that stock it is massively disappointing with bloaty bass but there is something there. I ain't too comfortable with modding and they are just sitting around but imma keep an eye on future modding progress. This iem is also offered under the name Hanadomi B2 if you did not know.
xsl x-one was tuned to copy the freqency graph of final audio a8000. a8000 had good reviews, it seems to be another proof that two iems with identical graphs do not sound the same
So I imagine this set is going to be your new labaratory subject? 😀 I expect that Fat earth mod is incoming, it is a good thing that it has some good punch so with drilled vents it still should be great. Ordered myself a piece for having some fun.
I have these for a month (not important how I got to them) and was not very impressed after switching to them from S12 mod (one of yours). Last evening did your mod to X-One and got а pretty good result - they got a lot of wider stage and highs popped up better to balance the bass which itself got cleaner. I do not know how DM is replaying but these are very good W-shape replay after this mod. Just my version is - removing the mesh dark dampener below the grill and putting in the nozzle half of your 5x5 foam dampeners. Of course opening the vent as much as possible.
@@Viewer13128 i removed the nozzle grill and mesh to make sure nothing was muffling the trebble but there was no difference in trebble. i did not try the michael bruce mod that consisted in opening the front vent because this mod would have lower the bass but it cannot increase trebble. my guess is that the internal cavity of the shell that does offer a line of sight between the driver ans the nozzle may be the reason for lack of trebble/sparkle/air because dark magician with the same driver has good trebble and its internal configuration has the driver shooting straight in the nozzle.
The original Dark Magicians lacked a front port and relied on a single back port for the tuning. If the goal is to match the x-one's sound to the Dark Magician's, my guess would be to actually block the front port completely and to open up the faceplate, and fill up a portion of the cavity with something like hot glue without obstructing the back port. edit: Nevermind, just realized the Dark Magicians have a port on the nozzle stem lol. But I still think a better way to hone in the base would probably still be to take away some of the back volume. Less chance of somehow destroying the drivers.
I'd like to give it a go, for $55 who cares if I mess it up. Are you going to post a how to? Where to get the 400 value damper, and where to get a needle to poke the filter "from the side"?
you are so enhtusiastic that this time again you convinced me to empty my pocket of $50 (after s12 and olina :) but i had to return x-one, it was too dark (where is the trebble ? even when removing nozzle filter still no trebble to be found). opening the front vent ill reduce bass but will not add the missing trebble.
Good question. I'd say that Sting has DD mojo all the way which counts for something. The fellow that lent me it to mod said it somehow stages like Glamdring which means pretty damn good. That makes it one of the best staging DD sets.. really cool. As far as olina, this driver comes across different but maybe better. My tastes have evolved to use more flat pinna gain tunings that let the stage go crazy while reining in shout. Also plenty of midbass is good for Metal and beyond.
well, lost the left earbud of my Olina in the Airport. Used your double filter suggestion. so need new set. Olina SE or this one Michael? And if this one, the "new version" currently on Ali, or the Old version, which I assume would be the Hanadoni b2?
Help! I tried to "tame" bass a bit more , but it seem the "hole" at the bass vent is too large , so the sound signature now is more flat! Any suggestions would help . Does anybody know the value of the damper on the bass vent? Thank you !
As a vocalhead, the OG MiM DM is in my mind for way back then. If you ever manage to get an "easy enough" mod, or even make something like the glamdring and "sell" the mod you do/apply, i would be all in!! I would even be able to spend 200€ to get something like it. Given the msrp of the og DM, i think it would be a win-win situation, right?
Tanya filter will work? Or link please. Also the bass vent is some sort of nylon right..so if we heat the needle little bit..it will go in nicely or easily?
will put the tanya hydrophobic mesh on the nozzle (not sure if it close to 400) and i will try your idea of the hot needle to melt nylon mesh of the front vent, i am planning to open it completely (melt it completely) and then sticking one or two or three layers of nozzle filters filters mesh i have from olina accesories on the outside to reduce the air coming out of the vent to my liking like we do on a regular front vent mod, hope the $50 will not be flushed to the toilet because they can change the driver inside at any time at the time i buy it (today is july 26th and it might be already too late)
You must truly have golden ears to have sussed this out from such a seemingly generic set. I am definitely interested in seeing where this initiative goes in the future. Great video & here's hoping that this project comes to fruition!
It wasn't my golden ears, it was the hard work of @badguygoodaudioreviews and @highfri figuring out it was the same driver. Thanks to them, I knew I had to try.
Wait so I dont need to actually take these apart i can just drill the vent and put a 400 damper on the ear piece? and use EQ instead of tuning it? Should i buy the black version?
I just got feedback from the seller that they somehow reduced 2-3db on bass. Now that its different from your unit, should I be making even smaller hole for the front bore hole?
Anyone have tips on the microneedling to reduce the bass? I really like the look, fit and general sound of these but I want the bass reduced. Also the deep gray colorway is divine!!!
a needle should go 0,2-0,3mm in ,a poke ie. a small hole should be enough to "release" highs and mids , beware not to go "deeper" , on other side is the driver
Hey Michael! One quick question, how does the depth insertion usually affects the sound again? More or less high frequencies? It's not so much the different tips that affect sound, rather the depth insertion right? Cheers!
@@MichaelBruceShortbus Alright. Man, I just bought a Tea 2. Put on the stock tips, S size, and thought yeah great set but where's the bass? I boosted some 90 Hz and it was good! Super wide, open soundstage, and slamming thanks to the EQ. Then I realized the S tips weren't sealing properly lol (although the iems were secured in the ears, not moving at all, inserted deep). Now using larger tips and unfortunately that wide space is a bit gone hehe. A fun unexpected experiment. Thanks for the reply again
