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Orthodynamic Roundup - Page 807

post #12091 of 21645
10/16/09 at 5:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjarnetv View Post
i like humps; my modded t30 now has a hump at around 40-30hz and i like it
By golly, if you can make the headphone give you a leg up in the bottom octave (20-40Hz), I say run with it.

Have you posted descriptions of your final final final T30 mod? Any photos?

Is this close to the final version? http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5357424-post7209.html

.
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post #12092 of 21645
10/16/09 at 5:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mypasswordis View Post
Do you have thin sheets of rectangular foam on each side of the drivers? I find removing them makes a big difference in sound.
do you like it better with or without?
i only have speaker cloth on both sides of the driver, no foam.

i did seal the drivers to the "openings" on both ends by replacing the foam supports with "cardboard bitumen" and bluetack gaskets. i think it worked quite well.
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post #12093 of 21645
10/16/09 at 5:47pm
I don't have the Float with me right now, but from my memory, removing the foams on the sides close to the ears increases detail and decreases the overall haziness. The treble seems to slope upward to the upper limits of my hearing, though, which makes things bright, sometimes to the point of being piercing. I should try instead only removing the foams on the outsides and also trying speaker cloth sometime. The Floats are definitely highly moddable.
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post #12094 of 21645
10/16/09 at 5:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wualta View Post
By golly, if you can make the headphone give you a leg up in the bottom octave (20-40Hz), I say run with it.

Have you posted descriptions of your final final final T30 mod? Any photos?

Is this close to the final version? http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5357424-post7209.html

.
not sure how many felt layers there are now, but i think there's a whole lot, as kabeer was the last one to open them up.
i removed the stock pads and felt lens after i got them back (now using only the old sony pads), and that really turned out to be the most important mod, as it tamed the midbass and removed the "veil"

the felt lens hiding under the stock pads:
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post #12095 of 21645
10/16/09 at 6:00pm
just tried stuffing a strip of memory foam underneath the stock t20 pads, in the lower back, giving them a hump similar to lambda pads.
so far it seems to be relieving some of the pressure from the ears.
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post #12096 of 21645
10/16/09 at 6:10pm
I tried to mod my LCD-1 after all. I used a foam gasket to seal the pads. But it sealed the magic pixies out, so I had to remove it:

Headstage became 2-dimensional (but did not collapse into a thin line like with leather pads) (the 3D headstage is a good thing about the LCD-1 that I'd like to keep).

Bass became a bit louder/punchier except for the lowest bass (that I wanted to increase by the mod).

Maybe together with other mods the gasket can do magic, but on its own it was a disaster.
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post #12097 of 21645
10/16/09 at 10:40pm
So did someone here pick up that T40v1 off ebay? $40 + ship is an entirely good deal on one of those.
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post #12098 of 21645
10/16/09 at 11:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ericj View Post
So did someone here pick up that T40v1 off ebay? $40 + ship is an entirely good deal on one of those.
I wish it was me. Need to load search notifications so that when one hits the 'Bay, I find out about it...
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post #12099 of 21645
10/16/09 at 11:06pm
Dammit. But I finally completely weaned myself off from Ebay... well, for headphones, at least. Someone did indeed get a good deal.
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post #12100 of 21645
10/17/09 at 1:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wualta View Post
Threaded? Oh, we gotta see photos or at least a quick sketch of this scheme.

Questions:

1) Is the center electrode basically a rivet? Does it have to be drilled out to disassemble the driver?

2) I've always assumed the center electrode's connection to the diaphragm depended on being clamped in the magnets and that there's no glue of any kind involved (except the dabs holding the magnets together). Have you seen any corrosion in any of these center electrodes?

.
Yes the electrode is a brass rivet which holds the tab. The top has to be ground out to remove the tab and open the drivers.

The driver itself is held in place by a small section of the rivet - the glue merely helps to hold the sides of the driver in place.

a few images , the first you have seen but will help demonstrate what I was getting at.







..dB
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post #12101 of 21645
10/17/09 at 1:45am
Took my first pass at dampening cetoole's RP18s tonight.

Everything is better with TransPore, at least in the ortho kingdom.

They sound remarkably like my T10s with a fuller sound and more impact, though the T10 will reproduce a little lower bass. The midrange in the RP18s is just a little recessed and I know what I have to do to fix it. The highs are remarkably well extended and will improve with the new cable. Their sound stage was very good, widest of all the orthos I've heard. I'm really happy with the sound and the improvement for a first pass. The new cable goes on tomorrow night, then a quick audition and I'll revise the dampening.

Only bad news is, cetoole may decide to keep them after all. But he hasn't seen the bill for the cable yet or my middleman markup.
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post #12102 of 21645
10/17/09 at 3:19am
Thread Starter 
Bravo, BMF. I'm glad to see someone finally get a full nelson on the RP 18. It may never sound like a T50v1, but I'll bet it'll come close.

..and bravo to dBel84 for his continuing to bravely go. What we thought would be fit only for the landfill turns out to respond to care and patience. What did the precise failure mode turn out to be? Looseness of the connection caused by loose tolerances or external shock?

I hear Kabeer's got this particularly supercilious French HP-50S....
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post #12103 of 21645
10/17/09 at 3:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wualta View Post
Bravo, BMF. I'm glad to see someone finally get a full nelson on the RP 18. It may never sound like a T50v1, but I'll bet it'll come close.

..and bravo to dBel84 for his continuing to bravely go. What we thought would be fit only for the landfill turns out to respond to care and patience. What did the precise failure mode turn out to be? Looseness of the connection caused by loose tolerances or external shock?

I hear Kabeer's got this particularly supercilious French HP-50S....
Speaking of the Fostex T Series... Which of the T__RP headphones is the best? And are they likely to be better than modded YH-3s? They are getting rather reasonably priced at Musician's Friend. I'm thinking about picking up a pair of the T20RP, T40RP, or T50RP.
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post #12104 of 21645
10/17/09 at 5:37am
Thread Starter 

It's more complicated than saying which one is "best". They can all be best, depending. The 1978 NA-market T50 has the flattest response out of the box, but try to find one. The T20v2 is the one with the most potential but it also takes a lot of cut and try to unlock that potential. The ones you'll find in the stores now are Mk II versions of the 20/40/50 and have the advantage of being available and affordable. Harder to get at the last drop of potential (you have to cut the driver out and transplant it into another headset for that) but they can be made to sound good with simple mods.

There aren't any real clinkers in the bunch (well, the original 1978 T20 never sounded quite right to me, but that's me), so it depends on what's most important to you. Do you thrill to the smell of contact cement and gasp in ecstasy when confronted with Fiskars, felt and fiberglass? You'll want the T20RP, the one we call the T20v2, ie, from the generation before the ones in the stores. Do you gag at the idea of Obsessive-Compulsive DIY and want a 'phone that will show you what this ortho thing is all about with a mod that takes 5 minutes? Get the original T40RP (the one pictured in the auction ericj mentioned). Do you want a 'phone that sounds, y'know, kinda pretty good out of the box that you can modify later as your ears get trained ( = pickier)? Go for the ones in the stores, with the T50 version preferred because it starts out sounding a little better, so the mod will be easier. EDIT: I think the T40RP MkII is a very close second. Surprisingly, I didn't think the T20RP MkII sounded as good as its only slightly-more-$ brothers. Odd.

The HP- and YH-3 have turned out to be something of a crapshoot. Some have lots of potential. Some are just okay. So if you buy one sound unheard, it'll be impossible to tell if the Fostex will be better. The rule of thumb around here is, get both. They're not that expensive.

It's worth repeating that the only headphone Fostex aimed at the audiophile market was the 1978 NA-market T50. All the rest are meant strictly as pro audio tools. You're not supposed to be using them, you're not supposed to know about them, you're not supposed to like them, and you're certainly not supposed to expect them to sound as good as it turns out they can sound. Any goodness we get from them is over the fence and under the table. A secret, spooky thrill.

Does that help at all?


Edited by wualta - 10/22/11 at 4:32pm
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post #12105 of 21645
10/17/09 at 11:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wualta View Post
Bravo, BMF. I'm glad to see someone finally get a full nelson on the RP 18. It may never sound like a T50v1, but I'll bet it'll come close.
I've never had the pleasure of hearing a T50v1, but the fact that they sound so similar to my beloved T10s on the first pass means they have some serious potential beyond what I did already. Cetoole asked if I tried other pads yet and I have JMoney leather Denon and AKG pads, T20 pads, and W11 pads (but those are really reserved for my Kenwood KH-82s) that I'll try. I think the Denon pads will really work well, but I'll have to tweak the dampening.

Tonight will be an enjoyable evening of RP18 modding and listening.

Also finished rythmndevil's YH100s. Reassembled and shipping them out today after I take pics.
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