Just listened to some Fostex T50RPs today... WOW!

oh, no when you put those on your head they turn you into a sex machine.

has anyone know if the drivers are small enough to fit in a sextett enclosure? i have spare sextett lp parts laying around and was thinking if i ever did in fact do any modding to these is try them coupled with the passive membranes of the sextetts and see how they go from there. they should be fine though power wise cause so far these love power so some resistance added from the passive drivers shouldn't stress the driver any much more. i noticed this when i tried the studio drivers coulped with sextett lp membranes. the passive membranes put extra acoustic restraint on the studio drivers from capturing the bass frequencies allowing the driver to be pushed harder but the 240 studio drivers distorted if driven with too much power or pushed when i did testing. curious see how planer drivers respond to passive membranes from sextett housings.


EDIT: with some more listening to these i just can't get over the treble....not brightness.no artificial sizzle. just right. sound like they have amazingly fast treble and air energy and i'm very sensitive to treble.

That'd be like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole... literally... If you can get your hands on an old round Fostex driver or an SFI, those can be transplanted... http://www.head-fi.org/t/569510/ortho-transplant-orthosex-sfi-into-akg-k240-sextett-lp-in-progress

armaegis said:

That'd be like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole... literally... If you can get your hands on an old round Fostex driver or an SFI, those can be transplanted... http://www.head-fi.org/t/569510/ortho-transplant-orthosex-sfi-into-akg-k240-sextett-lp-in-progress

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well that's not gonna happen. i guess i just keep the spare parts just in case cause i probably have better chances getting extra sextett drivers than any type of round ortho drivers. great thread btw. been reading up on it now and find it interesting.

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wdahm519 said:

These are dead flat.  There is a tiny bit of roll off at 20Hz and maybe 30Hz, but after that I could not hear much discernable difference in volume between any other frequency I tried.

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I suppose i'm confused about flat headphones because this reminded me of when i learned about full spectrum compression and the loudness war, and how up to the 1980s there were usually significant differences in volume between instruments if so intended by the group. so, i thought flat headphones presented frequencies as they were mixed, without coloring, but when i read that there is no discernable difference in volume between frequencies, it's confusing me.

 
 
 
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That's how I recabled a Manufaktur DT770/600Ω once: 
 
Team Single Entry FTW <3

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That looks awesome, but I don't think the L->R cable on the T50RP's gonna budge though.

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yokochamas said:

I suppose i'm confused about flat headphones because this reminded me of when i learned about full spectrum compression and the loudness war, and how up to the 1980s there were usually significant differences in volume between instruments if so intended by the group. so, i thought flat headphones presented frequencies as they were mixed, without coloring, but when i read that there is no discernable difference in volume between frequencies, it's confusing me.

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Can someone else chime in with the technical stuff?
I remember reading somewhere that an actually flat FR won't sound flat to a human ear because we perceive different frequencies as louder/weaker than others, blah blah. something like that.
 
To me, the T50RP stock is definitely not flat. There's an upper-mid suckout, a louder mid-high peak then upper-end extension drops quite a bit.
 

randomzash said:

That looks awesome, but I don't think the L->R cable on the T50RP's gonna budge though.


Can someone else chime in with the technical stuff?
I remember reading somewhere that an actually flat FR won't sound flat to a human ear because we perceive different frequencies as louder/weaker than others, blah blah. something like that.

To me, the T50RP stock is definitely not flat. There's an upper-mid suckout, a louder mid-high peak then upper-end extension drops quite a bit.

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yes. accurate headphone will not sound same level of volume across the frequency spectrum cause the human ear is less sensitive to some frequencies compared to others. that's why i don't understand people try to argue with me saying in order to have a balanced sound(what i take meaning flat and accurate with no accentuation of any part of frequency) is the frequencies from 20hz-20khz all have to have the same volume level. it doesn't work that way. if headphone was ruler flat it still will not sound the same due to human hearing roll-offs and cut-outs and will be God awful bright and ear piercing if the treble and air frequencies are flat cause how close the drivers are and if you still have your hearing intact in the high frequencies.

speakers,amps,dacs and rooms are meant to be ruler flat. not headphones.

If our definition of measuring "flat" does not equate to a headphone sounding "flat" across all frequencies, then the measuring methodology is to blame, not the human ear.  The human experience is always the reference and final word.  So accurate headphones certainly should not be louder or brighter at certain frequencies, if so that means they are not truly accurate. 

rhythmdevils said:

If our definition of measuring "flat" does not equate to a headphone sounding "flat" across all frequencies, then the measuring methodology is to blame, not the human ear.  The human experience is always the reference and final word.  So accurate headphones certainly should not be louder or brighter at certain frequencies, if so that means they are not truly accurate. 

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that's what i was trying to say. just saying if headphone was flat to most people due to speakers being so close to the ears the high frequencies will sound very bright unless there was massive dampening to take into consideration of course i would assume. but frequencies should naturally roll-off here or there across the spectrum cause that's normal. that's why things like diffused-field or free-field is technically more accurate when it comes to headphones.

Will any acoustic foam work? Does it have to be paxmate? I'm trying to figure out the relative costs.
 
Electrical tape for reflex dot - Check
Dynamat - I need to buy that. I figure it will be close to $20
Plasticine - I need to buy that. Probably less than 5 dollars.
840 pads - I need those. Another $20
The headphones themselves - $80
 
Acoustic foam/Paxmate - $5-20 dollars
 
So for the sound quality you guys give it, $130 dollars should be worth it. It's something of a pain in the ass to have to order this all separately.

i got bored and got tired of the midrange resonance going on. i decided it's time to stuff something in the cups. it was insanely easy to open and all i did was stuff cotton balls in them so the resonance will be slowed. they had zero dampen in the cups and some little felt over the port.....horrible. no wonder they had resonance. after stuffing the cotton in there.....holy crap did they just get cleaner sounder.....especially the midrange. no more annoying midrange resonance. you guys weren't kidding what simple modding can do to these. the bass also tighten up much more. i also mention i'm using with pair of leather(not pleather stuff the newer 240 models use) 240 sextett pads on them with cotton stuff in to give pads more fluffness and i'm running them off of speaker outputs.. the fostex sound amazing now.

Do you need to modify the headphone to change the pads? 
 
If you're tired of answering the same answers over and over go and share what you know on this wiki ! http://wiki.faust3d.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fostex_T50RP

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swoosh said:

It's something of a pain in the ass to have to order this all separately.

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Not really, it's life man!
 
 

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hennyo said:

 
Not really, it's life man!
 
 

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Oh.. so that's why life can be a pain in the ass

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rexaeterna said:

i got bored and got tired of the midrange resonance going on. i decided it's time to stuff something in the cups. it was insanely easy to open and all i did was stuff cotton balls in them so the resonance will be slowed. they had zero dampen in the cups and some little felt over the port.....horrible. no wonder they had resonance. after stuffing the cotton in there.....holy crap did they just get cleaner sounder.....especially the midrange. no more annoying midrange resonance. you guys weren't kidding what simple modding can do to these. the bass also tighten up much more. i also mention i'm using with pair of leather(not pleather stuff the newer 240 models use) 240 sextett pads on them with cotton stuff in to give pads more fluffness and i'm running them off of speaker outputs.. the fostex sound amazing now.

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I've measured it and just plain cotton does a little.  Acoustic foam has a much greater effect, and with cotton is excellent if you fiddle with the port tuning.  However, I've not come up with a combination that can actually sound right/measure well with the stock felt and the various pads I have.  The bass is always a problem, rolling off too fast with the stock felt.
 
The only pads I don't have are the Fisher 003.  If anyone wants to donate to the cause and is ok with me sewing socks on so they can be used on the T50, I'll give them a try.  I'll return then with the socks, as value-add to thank you for supporting a good cause...