Just listened to some Fostex T50RPs today... WOW! - Page 301

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Originally Posted by hans030390 

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They are considerably more comfortable. They are thicker, softer, and have a wider opening in the middle. On top of that, they sound better! Completely worth the $20.

 

And I cannot stress how nice it is to cut out the fabric in the middle of the 840 pad.  I have the 840 pads on my head right now with one triple sized cotton ball behind the back of the pad to push it out a bit, and my ear doesn't touch the pads nor does it touch the driver.  They are completely free of external annoyances (and the sound is fantastic with them -- Definitely is the mods more than the pads, but comfort and seal are part of good sound to me).

Late to the party, I received my first pair of T50's yesterday.

Listening to them last night, sometimes, I hear a faint buzz/distortion coming from the right can.

Since these are brand new, no mods, I am wondering if I should return them as defective?

I'll try running them in some more this weekend, and see how it goes, but wondering what other's have experienced?

I know that returning them will probably cause a long wait, but I would rather return them and get a "good" set of cans, then live with this problem.

I was also wondering if it could be my amp, and the these cans could be more prone to tube noise then my 501's, but I"ll try a different amp tonight.

Randy

if it's the right, it could also be the connector into the left headphone.  If you have some contact cleaner, give it a good squirt and see if that helps.

Eh, there shouldn't really be buzzing with channel drop outs.  Buzzing may be a manufacturer defect.  Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to clean the contacts if you have the cleaner around, or you can look online for a good home chemical substitution (my guess is 99% isopropyl alcohol?)

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Originally Posted by randytsuch 

Late to the party, I received my first pair of T50's yesterday.

 

Listening to them last night, sometimes, I hear a faint buzz/distortion coming from the right can.

 

Since these are brand new, no mods, I am wondering if I should return them as defective?

 

I'll try running them in some more this weekend, and see how it goes, but wondering what other's have experienced?

 

I know that returning them will probably cause a long wait, but I would rather return them and get a "good" set of cans, then live with this problem.

 

I was also wondering if it could be my amp, and the these cans could be more prone to tube noise then my 501's, but I"ll try a different amp tonight.

 

Randy

Try some deoxit on the 3.5mm jack.  Usually clears it right up.
 

That was my initial impression when first hooking up my stock T50RP's: sounds pretty good; some messy resonances and roll-offs here and there, yes, but the potential goodness was apparent. After many minor and too many major mods, I ultimately came to the conclusion that, for me, the goal was to improve upon the inherent ortho sound quality present in the design, not drastically change the sound signature. A wise fellow head-fi'er (micmacmo) summed it up pretty well for me: paraphrasing, Sharpen Occam's Razor and aim for parsimonious mods...aka, "KISS" - Keep It Sweet and Simple. So, tweak here, tweak there and you most likely got nothing of substance wrong, at all.
 

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Originally Posted by ambchang 

So I got home after a trip with the stock T50RPs waiting, I tried them on, and shockingly, they sound pretty good.  My modded pair (overloaded plasticine on baffles, dynamat and paxmate on cuts, bass port felt removed and covered 75% with nashua tape, monster cable, Sony 5K pads) sounds very close to the stock.  Modded pair has better separation, better highs, smoother mids, but they are not drastic.  The sound signature is still pretty similar (you can tell they are the same headphones).

 

I am not sure what I did wrong on the mods, as I really expected the difference to be much greater.

^ to BMF

Good to know one of the Gods of T50RP mods are seeing it this way.  Admittingly, my confidence was a little shaken after hearing the stocks, the reason is because I have read quite a few posts stating how horrendous the stocks were, and overtime, I just forgot what the stocks sounded like.  I just thought I remembered them as horribly sounding too because I have read a few posts stating that, and was expecting a horrible sound when I got my stocks.

So when the stocks were actually quite nice sounding, and at least comparable to my modded pair, I begin to wonder if I did something deadly wrong.  Afterall, I compared my modded pairs to Grados (GS1000i, RS2i, RS1i, and 325i), Sennheiser (HD800, 650, 600), and Denon 7K, and quite honestly, I preferred my modded pairs to all except the 7Ks, and maybe the RS1i, and there is just no way that a supposedly horrendous sounding non-modded pair is even comparable to those pricey cans.  But I guess I have really weird ears.

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Originally Posted by ambchang 

^ to BMF

 

Good to know one of the Gods of T50RP mods are seeing it this way.  Admittingly, my confidence was a little shaken after hearing the stocks, the reason is because I have read quite a few posts stating how horrendous the stocks were, and overtime, I just forgot what the stocks sounded like.  I just thought I remembered them as horribly sounding too because I have read a few posts stating that, and was expecting a horrible sound when I got my stocks.

 

So when the stocks were actually quite nice sounding, and at least comparable to my modded pair, I begin to wonder if I did something deadly wrong.  Afterall, I compared my modded pairs to Grados (GS1000i, RS2i, RS1i, and 325i), Sennheiser (HD800, 650, 600), and Denon 7K, and quite honestly, I preferred my modded pairs to all except the 7Ks, and maybe the RS1i, and there is just no way that a supposedly horrendous sounding non-modded pair is even comparable to those pricey cans.  But I guess I have really weird ears.

haha there is a reason this forum has its name, the stock t50rp is absolutely outstanding for the price, and it only gets better with modding, have fun with the journey, cheer! 

The Sony 5000 pads are very bass-light.  I tested them out and they're quite thin below 100Hz. 

ambchang, you may not be very sensitive to resonance, which is the main problem with the stock T50rp.  I didn't hear anything horribly offensive about the FR except for a lack of bass, but the resonance did bug me quite a bit. 

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Originally Posted by wdahm519 

Well, closing the ports would lead to less bass and a more one-sided frequency response, so I doubt it was that.  I've done a lot of mods by now and I kind of like to think I know what I'm doing.  Perhaps I'll give it a try in the future, but BMF and I both got similar results so I have to feel like we were doing something right.  It can also just come down to personal tastes.  Your personal tastes and what you think sounds "solid" can vary extreme amounts to what my interpretation is of that.  That's the whole idea behind having so many different mods -- so people can find the taste that suits them best. 
 

EDIT:  Does anyone own the LCD2 that has tried the "latest" BMF mod, the "less is more" mod?  I'd like to know how their sound signatures compare - merely out of curiosity.

Hey, no offense mate  I'm not saying you don't know what you are hearing but I am saying that if you are hearing anything based on my design that is bass light you don't have the mod done right.  I can't see any way that they could sound thin as designed.  But your execution was not the same, so differences will occur.  By the way, there have been some mods I have tried where the open vent DID reduce bass output, quite a lot actually (we're talking 8-12dB below 100Hz), so don't assume more vent=more bass.  With most mods, yes, but not all...

Here's the frequency response of the 840 RP2 mod as I published...  

As you can see, there's a bit of a bump around 100Hz that gives these a lot of slam and "weight," though with the 840 pads the bass rolls off starting at 30Hz, there's still real output at 20. 

Of course, if you are a total bass-head, maybe this is "thin..."  I've not tested a phone loved by bass heads, so that's totally outside my knowledge.  

I will be testing (time allowing) a BMF transpore mod this weekend and can post time and frequency domain comparisons.  I'm totally open-minded.  If it's better, I'll be the first to use it....

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Originally Posted by mrspeakers 

The Sony 5000 pads are very bass-light.  I tested them out and they're quite thin below 100Hz. 

Agreed. In other words, the 5000 pads blow monkey chunks.
 

Anyone wanna go fishin'?

I received my little $15.00 package of Kryston "Heavy Metal Extra" tungsten putty today. It came in a neat little 4.5 cm round plastic container with cool graphics. I opened it up to find a postage stamp size square of putty that measures 2.7 x 3.0 x 0.4 cm and weighs in at a hefty 27 grams...just about 1 oz. This stuff is DENSE and HARD. It is too hard for our application and not sticky enough to stay in place, even if it could be worked into the baffle compartments. Hypothetically, IF it was possible to get it into the baffles, it would take at least 6 of these to flush mass load the baffles per side and add 324 grams to the stock weight of 330 grams (published). This would double the weight not counting anything else you might want to add such as acoustic foam, Dynamat, and so forth. At ~ $15.00 per container, that would set you back another $180.00. So, too dense, too heavy, too expensive and does not play nice with others. One of their other formulas may not be as dense/hard as the Heavy Metal Extra, but the price is the same; so, "No Deal!"

I used  my Acculab VI-4kg electronic scale to weigh the Kryston putty, Claytoons plasticine, and my homemade tungsten putty. I calibrated the scales with the supplied 2kg ingot and then measured each putty and 3 sets of headphones. The putty weights are *approximate* compared to the Kryston. I made little squares of plasticine and tungsten putty as close as I could match to the Kryston square, measured with a ruler. 

Kryston Heavy Metal Extra = 27 grams; ~ 1 oz.

Claytoons = 5 grams; 0.18 oz.

Tungsten Putty = 8.3 grams; 0.3 oz.

Stock T50RP without cable = 327 grams; 11.7 oz; 0.73 lb.

"Less Is More" mod without cable = 392 grams; 14 oz.; 0.875 lb.) --> Medium mass loaded tungsten putty "walls" ~ 1/2" wide surrounding the drivers and minimally into the baffle compartments out to 1/2" from the driver perimeter, cup bottoms Paxmate except central compartments and bass ports, Dynamat around drivers (ear side), self-adhesive black felt over Dynamat, 1/2 medium 100% cotton ball teased to 1/2" and sized for cup bottoms, 2 Kleenex rolled into 5" 'ropes' and placed under back side of ear pads, stock white driver felt and black bass port felt, dust cover over driver, stock pads and cable. Edit: Plasticine in outer cup rings.

"Transpore 1.5" mod without cable = 365 grams; 13 oz.; 0.81 lbs.) --> Flush mass loaded tungsten putty in the baffle compartments, cup bottoms/sides Paxmate except central compartments and bass ports, no Dynamat around drivers, 1/2 medium 100% cotton ball as above, Kleenex ropes as above, 1.5 layers of Transpore tape over naked drivers (3/4" tape: 2 strips side by side form 1 layer with ~ 1/8" overlap; 1/2 layer is 1 strip centered perpendicular overlaying first 2 strips), stock black bass port felt, entire dust cover intact, stock pads and cable. Edit: Paxmate in the outer cup rings.

Anyone's got one or two spare stock cable(s)? I can paypal, or trade for newplast + akasa or you tell me, please PM :)

Originally Posted by mrspeakers 

The Sony 5000 pads are very bass-light.  I tested them out and they're quite thin below 100Hz. 

So the sa5k's are bass light and the O2 have recessed mids? I get über-solid deep bass from the Eximus DP1 w/ the sa5k's

So I just found that the T50rp has a tiny little baffle vent- venting backwave into the ear chamber.  This is pretty cool especially if you are all able to get good bass with this vent left open.  It probably accounts for a big part of the sense soundstage you can get out of this phone.  None of the new orthos have such a vent AFAIK and I don't know of any vintage ortho that does either, though there may be some.  Pretty exciting IMO!