Just listened to some Fostex T50RPs today... WOW! - Page 130

Did anyone try the DT250 pads on the T50RPs?

I'm going to be making some round wood cups. The SRH840 pads are oval aren't they?. What are some recomendations for round woodies.

Maybe denon pads or JMoney pads for denon or the Stax o2's?

I really want to keep costs low for now.

Beyerdynamic Gel pads black OH YES!

Would that be hotter/warmer than the leather pads?

Originally Posted by BattleBrat 

Beyerdynamic Gel pads

I discussed it w/ a PM at Beyer, and he told me that these earpads only existed for their stellar isolation. But he told me that they sounded pretty bad...the same reason why they phased out the genuine leather earpads for the Manufaktur DT770/880.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry 

I discussed it w/ a PM at Beyer, and he told me that these earpads only existed for their stellar isolation. But he told me that they sounded pretty bad...the same reason why they phased out the genuine leather earpads for the Manufaktur DT770/880.

They completely owned the stock velours on my DT770/600s.  More comfortable, more isolation, and better sound.

Also, the black ones are supposed to have an extra layer of stuff on them to make them black which makes them uncomfortable so I'd go with the clear ones.

That's his exact reply:

I also very much enjoyed the former, much better bass and far less itchy than the stock velours...but I think they would have been too thick and prolly hardly fit the T50RP like the 840's.

There's a chinese seller for velours earpads on ebay, but personally I wouldn't use third party earpads that aren't endorsed by a real manufacturer: http://cgi.ebay.com/Replacement-Cushion-Fit-Superlux-HD681-Headphones-/250861305825

They also look too narrow on the inside for my pretty big ears.

I try not to take peoples word for it when it comes to audio, I trust only my own ears

Quote:

Originally Posted by KneelJung 

Thanks for the response mrspeakers. I appreciate the heads up on the tape. I just ordered some plasticine to replace the blue tack in the baffles and I'm going to try a combination of duct tape and cork in the cups. How does that felt work with the drivers, and do you know about where in the thread that discussion was going on?

 

I played with Micropore prior to my rastapants mod, which started using the Micropore/transpore then finished with felt.  Around pg 102, maybe earlier.  One of the guys had published some detailed drawings of his tape config that I'd tries out before we both ended up dumping that around the same time.  Maybe it was joelpierce?  Too lazy to look it up, but again, check the Rastapants and then go a few pages earlier....

BTW, right now I'm listening to my Rastapants with the O2 pads and really enjoying the result.  They cost a lot for the full leather, but darned if they don't sound better than the 840 pads, which were better than the 5000s.  Better isolation and a bit of reduction in the slight mid bass peak which was the only thing I'd never been able to fully tune out...

But they cost more than the mod'd phones, so unless you're going full woodies, probably is overkill...

Great job! :) and that banana stand \m/ (I'm using one too :D)
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4nradio 

Ditto! I too removed the white material from the driver back and found the mids improved. Now I'm experimenting with 3M Micropore tape covering all but the center "cell" (open rectangle in the grid) on the back of the drivers, and trying various materials in that center cell. Currently the center cells are filled with a small block of blue Scotchbrite pad.

 

With the driver back completely covered with one layer of Micropore, the bass was drastically reduced (but still better mids/highs than stock)... so, I left the center cell open for tuning purposes. 

 

I colored the white Micropore tape with a black felt tipped marker to improve the visual appearance when seen through the ear cup grills.  

 

I also have the cloth from the from of the driver removed, with only the cloth on the JMoney pads between the drivers and my ears.

 

BTW, these Fostex T50rp drivers are inside of an open style donor headphones (modified JVC HA-RX900). The sound is very nice... no loss of bass with these open style T50rp's! The change to open style also seemed to be the key to reducing the rolled off treble noticed previously when they were closed cups. 

 

Yeah, it was me.  The tape is a great way to do some powerful damping in an enclosure with almost no space, and it has a massive impact on the sound.  Felt, though, sounds a lot better if you have the room to fit it it there.

I'm not convinced I understand why you would use duct tape.  The whole point of the micropore and transpore is that they are breathable, and not designed to seal something off.  Cork, I would also be VERY careful with.  It's true that it's a good dampening material, but it's also going to change the volume of the cups, which always has a big impact on the sound.  Unless you have a good mathematical understanding of how sound works (which I don't), it's usually best to trust the companies with the volume of the structure itself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrspeakers 

I played with Micropore prior to my rastapants mod, which started using the Micropore/transpore then finished with felt.  Around pg 102, maybe earlier.  One of the guys had published some detailed drawings of his tape config that I'd tries out before we both ended up dumping that around the same time.  Maybe it was joelpierce?  Too lazy to look it up, but again, check the Rastapants and then go a few pages earlier....

 

BTW, right now I'm listening to my Rastapants with the O2 pads and really enjoying the result.  They cost a lot for the full leather, but darned if they don't sound better than the 840 pads, which were better than the 5000s.  Better isolation and a bit of reduction in the slight mid bass peak which was the only thing I'd never been able to fully tune out...

 

But they cost more than the mod'd phones, so unless you're going full woodies, probably is overkill...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrspeakers 

I played with Micropore prior to my rastapants mod, which started using the Micropore/transpore then finished with felt.  Around pg 102, maybe earlier.  One of the guys had published some detailed drawings of his tape config that I'd tries out before we both ended up dumping that around the same time.  Maybe it was joelpierce?  Too lazy to look it up, but again, check the Rastapants and then go a few pages earlier....

 

BTW, right now I'm listening to my Rastapants with the O2 pads and really enjoying the result.  They cost a lot for the full leather, but darned if they don't sound better than the 840 pads, which were better than the 5000s.  Better isolation and a bit of reduction in the slight mid bass peak which was the only thing I'd never been able to fully tune out...

 

But they cost more than the mod'd phones, so unless you're going full woodies, probably is overkill...

Thanks I'll check it out. I got up to and through page 60 last night so quite a ways to go. I'm interested in those o2 pads but dont know where to find them. I'm thinking that I'm eventually going to put some pants on these so investing in the pads now is not really an issue. I was initially considering just buying a pair of Thunderpants but decided on taking the full Fostex journey. The damping configuration I have at the moment has been the most preferrable. It's just blue tak in the baffles, a layer of felt in the pockets of the cup, and the felt piece removed from the lower vent.Right now the phone is resonating a plasticky sound that I want to try and diminish as much as possibe without compromising some other things in the presentation that I'm really enjoying.

Edit: I just read pages 102 - 104...interesting stuff. I could be tinkering with these things for a long time

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by joelpearce 

Yeah, it was me.  The tape is a great way to do some powerful damping in an enclosure with almost no space, and it has a massive impact on the sound.  Felt, though, sounds a lot better if you have the room to fit it it there.

 

I'm not convinced I understand why you would use duct tape.  The whole point of the micropore and transpore is that they are breathable, and not designed to seal something off.  Cork, I would also be VERY careful with.  It's true that it's a good dampening material, but it's also going to change the volume of the cups, which always has a big impact on the sound.  Unless you have a good mathematical understanding of how sound works (which I don't), it's usually best to trust the companies with the volume of the structure itself.

I'm not sure if anyone else is using cork and  tape I'm only up to page 60 but my thinking is just a thin layer of cork at the bottom of those pockets to help inhibit the sonic resonance that causes vibrational resonance in the plastic. The duct tape will also be in those pockets and on the sides that I currently dont have damped in anyway. My thinking is that the tape will be able to absorb some of the vibrational resonance but still allow for sonic resonance.

What is "sonic resonance?"  Mechanical resonance is bad, period, but cork isn't going to do much, IMHO.  Most of the mechanical energy is on the baffle which is the mount for the driver.  The back of the cup is less of a factor, but a little dynamat might be a great thing to try to help "clean it up."   You'd need so much cork that it would reduce the volume of the enclosure, which will cutoff the bass response and possibly create ringing in the driver, depending on how much cork you stuff in there...

I got my baffles mass loaded with plasticine.. Good results. I'm scared at how good these are sounding compared to my grados. Definitely gives the entry level grados a run for it. I don't think it'll ever match the timbre of the wooden grados. But, it does a LOT of things right. Next step, paxamate.. that should remove any plastic sound and leave them nice and clean. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrspeakers 

What is "sonic resonance?"  Mechanical resonance is bad, period, but cork isn't going to do much, IMHO.  Most of the mechanical energy is on the baffle which is the mount for the driver.  The back of the cup is less of a factor, but a little dynamat might be a great thing to try to help "clean it up."   You'd need so much cork that it would reduce the volume of the enclosure, which will cutoff the bass response and possibly create ringing in the driver, depending on how much cork you stuff in there...

Perhaps harmonic resonance would have been more correct, I dont know. My understanding of this stuff is very rudimentary.  Anyway I want to maintain the volume of the cup and believe a very thin layer of cork rather than felt may take up less volume than the felt. I also plan on using some duct tape in there to help dampen things a bit. I'll know after I try it, how it works. I'm replacing the blue tak with plasticine to improve the baffle damping. Right now I'm actually  pretty happy with it the way it is. Which is just blue tack in the baffles and felt in those pockets in the cup. It has this sort of caverny, echoey, platicky inorganic sound that's not quite right but my understanding is that can be tuned out via damping.