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Just listened to some Fostex T50RPs today... WOW! - Page 407

post #6091 of 10223
2/3/12 at 6:22am

I'm sorry for your Dead T50rp  redface.gif. No chance on creating a new solder "Dot" or scratching the varnish on the trace?
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by wje View Post

frown.gif  eek.gif --- After trying some various cable replacements, it appears that my solder "dot" on one my drivers has vanished.  I'm careful with the iron - properly tin the tip, 15V iron, etc. - yada, yada, yada.  Now, my beloved Fostex only have the right channel working.  Last evening, I felt as though there had been a death in my family - I actually loved them that much.  The updates to them - oh, how the sound changed and morphed into something that one could really appreciate when they would listen to them.  Now ... it's gone in just a flash.  [insert crying emoticon here]

 

However, I think I'm going to bite the bullet.  They have stock at Amazon where Amazon is fulfilling the orders for one of the vendors.  The price is $105.00 for a new pair.  However, I can get "next day" shipping and receive them tomorrow- Saturday for just $19.00 more.  I'm going to take that option.  The vendor that I purchased the original pair from on eBay - SonicFiber, was only charging $83.00 a few weeks back with free shipping.  Now, they've jacked their price to $119.00, with free shipping.  All the demand for these things is making the price spike a bit.

 

They are just a "fun" pair of headphones.  Even at $125.00 for a complete pair of headphones, I feel a bit less guilty about doing something stupid to them - unlike a $140.00 pair of Magnum drivers.



 

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post #6092 of 10223
2/3/12 at 6:28am

Hey shame on you. You should be proud to have Tim Horton coffee (Just kidding) wink_face.gif. I'm from the same castaway region (Québec) so I feel the pain.

For pad option I'm waiting for the new Hifiman Leather (Pleather??) replacement earpad at $20 + shipping. I currently have the SRH-840 and like them but I was curious on trying these one. I'll report back the differences when they arrived.

 

02-07-27742-df932f8508d0d82b5a2628fa12ec28ac.jpg

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by kalbee View Post


I never was able to get my elastics nice and tight... this may be what's keeping me. Another on the list to try :D
Will finally have time on Friday! woot!

 

Hm... new pads huh. I'd try though for the moment I'm strapped... and I don't know where to buy them!! Aaah availability is always a pain in Canada lol. Scratch that, in Quebec.

How much do FA-003 pads cost? maybe one day I'll finally grab them somewhere somehow. For now I'm saving for an e17.

 

Really want to try them Paradox too!! Sadly I live in the land of Tim Hortons.

 

 

Woops, forgot to add. Can anyone explain what sealing off the vents does exactly? When I was modding my HA-M750 I opted for creating more vents and it gave me better 'soundstage' so I was actually thinking of trying to remove the vent foam on the T50RP for testing. Seeing how everyone is quite adamant about reducing it's size, I'm starting to get a little confused. (also cause I am past bed time! 5h till I gotta wake up again so to bed I go!)



 

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post #6093 of 10223
2/3/12 at 6:46am

wje, what about the T20?  They reportedly are the same as the T50-RP, except the felt in the bass vents.  I believe BH still has them for around $60 + shipping.

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post #6094 of 10223
2/3/12 at 8:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ambchang View Post

wje, what about the T20?  They reportedly are the same as the T50-RP, except the felt in the bass vents.  I believe BH still has them for around $60 + shipping.


Thanks for the suggestion - and clarifying how close the T20s were to the T50RP.  I have the T50RPs coming via one-day shipping through Amazon, so I think I'll be good there.

 

However, a few weeks back, there was a local person on Craigslist selling the T20s (new and in the box) for $60.00.  Now, the listing has expired - and, I can't locate the person.  I kind of scoffed at it when I saw the ad because I had just placed my order for the $83.00 T50RPs and thought that $60.00 might be a little high - in the even they were a lesser headphone.  However, now I realize I should have made the move.  Sadly, Craiglist ads don't get cached on Google - so when they're gone, they're gone.  :-(

 

 

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post #6095 of 10223
2/3/12 at 9:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Navyblue View Post

For some reason my inner ear feel strained while listening to these. I thought I was listening too loud and I lowered the volume, until it is really quiet and it's hard to hear the details (the dark sound doesn't help too), and I still have the same sensation. I could listen to louder volume with other phones that I have and not feel strained.

 

I have the same feeling when I plug my K501 straight into an iMac, albeit less so. I wonder if there are distortion outside the audible range and I am sensitive to it? The jitter believers also believe that distortion from jitter made listening strained. The phone has about 50 hours on it btw.

 

Somewhere earlier in this thread, there is someone that listens so much to these during modding and his ears was ringing, and someone told him he was probably listening to it for too loud. I wonder, if he is experiencing the same thing? I haven't even mod mine yet.


Anyone experiencing this? I just listen one through one song with this and I can no longer stand it. it's really bad.

 

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post #6096 of 10223
2/3/12 at 9:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wje View Post


Thanks for the suggestion - and clarifying how close the T20s were to the T50RP.  I have the T50RPs coming via one-day shipping through Amazon, so I think I'll be good there.


I believe you gotta get the newest T20RPmkII though.  And I wouldn't trust they're the same until I saw the specs on the retail package.  Up until people on head-fi started believing they're the same (very recently), T50RP had a much higher rated power handling than the '20 or the '40, lending credence to Smeggy's (and others') claim that even as recently as last year, they were different.

 

The whole thing is confusing to me, especially with the internet (namely, head-fi and very many online vendors) as my only source of information, but basically I've been wanting someone to clear this up once and for all.  Especially if it means you can score basically the same headphone for like $60 and will tune the ports yourself anyway.

 

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post #6097 of 10223
2/3/12 at 10:51am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navyblue View Post

Anyone experiencing this? I just listen one through one song with this and I can no longer stand it. it's really bad.

 

Almost all T50RPs have a peak around 10KHz. It is not as immediately audible as one might think, despite what graphs show. Perhaps it is related to this?

 

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post #6098 of 10223
2/3/12 at 11:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hans030390 View Post

Quote:

Almost all T50RPs have a peak around 10KHz. It is not as immediately audible as one might think, despite what graphs show. Perhaps it is related to this?

mine don't have a peak at 10khz for some reason

T50RPRexFR.jpg

these were measured around christmas time. i did pretty decent i guess, but i have fixed the sub-bass issue with the right channel couple days ago since i haven't listened to mine since i gotten mine back due to most my headtime been getting used for pair of loaner SA5000 i been auditioning for past month and i been more busy nowadays.
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post #6099 of 10223
2/3/12 at 11:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hans030390 View Post

Quote:

 

Almost all T50RPs have a peak around 10KHz. It is not as immediately audible as one might think, despite what graphs show. Perhaps it is related to this?

 


 

Thanks.

 

Sorry, how does 10kHz sound like? tongue.gif Cymbals? Sibilance? FWIW, it is pretty dull and relaxed sounding to me. Btw at times I can not stand energetic trebles on headphones such as DT880/990 or SRH940, but those are immediately obvious to me.

 

I hope it is not my amp producing some kind of supersonic noise. I have no problem with other headphone, but it is my first orthodynamic.

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post #6100 of 10223
2/3/12 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Navyblue View Post


 

Thanks.

 

Sorry, how does 10kHz sound like? tongue.gifCymbals? Sibilance? FWIW, it is pretty dull and relaxed sounding to me. Btw at times I can not stand energetic trebles on headphones such as DT880/990 or SRH940, but those are immediately obvious to me.

 

I hope it is not my amp producing some kind of supersonic noise. I have no problem with other headphone, but it is my first orthodynamic.


check out SinGen: http://www.brothersoft.com/singen-81627.html . the Fostex are the most fatigue-free listen.  i wish they had just a little more bite.

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post #6101 of 10223
2/3/12 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RexAeterna View Post


mine don't have a peak at 10khz for some reason
T50RPRexFR.jpg
these were measured around christmas time. i did pretty decent i guess, but i have fixed the sub-bass issue with the right channel couple days ago since i haven't listened to mine since i gotten mine back due to most my headtime been getting used for pair of loaner SA5000 i been auditioning for past month and i been more busy nowadays.


Mine don't either....

 

index.php?action=dlattach;topic=17.0;attach=12;image

 

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post #6102 of 10223
2/3/12 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Navyblue View Post

I have a problem, I don't hear much wrong with the stock T50RP. biggrin.gif

 

Please bear in mind that my main (and so far favourite) headphone is AKG K501, known to have a lush midrange. Smooth, airy, and relaxed sounding. And not known to be a bassy headphone. I do not like headphones with energetic trebles, and in this categories are DT880, DT990, most of the Grados, and etc. I also do not like aggressive and fatiguing sound. I also dislike a smoothed over sound with no texture, and muffled sound (with certain material, I find Westone 3 sounded like speakers with broken tweeters biggrin.gif).

 

Bass goes rather low. There is a hump on upper bass and lower midrange. Midrange is smooth and upfront. Treble is smooth and rather extended. The airiness is there when called for, but not the most airy sounding headphone around. Headstage is rather small and typical of a closed headphone. Imaging is mediocre. Instrument separation and layering are also mediocre, but it may have to do with the small sound stage.

 

Frequency balance is close to what I consider perfect. Smoothness of the midrange and treble is its specialty I guess. Detail wise, I am not so sure, it is not a headphone that throws detail at you, so at times it sounded a bit smoothed over. But on a track that I am familiar with I actually hear people talking in the background that I have not noticed before, so it might be that I am not used to the smoothness of orthodynamic driver. I could use a larger sound stage, but I am not someone who emphasize imaging with headphones, I feel that headphones just can not do a proper sound staging. I also could use a better layering.

 

Comfort is fine for me. The ear pad can be deeper and seal better though.

 

I am not sure what to mod for, as it seems pretty good to me for a closed headphone. I think I probably won't be doing anything extreme. Any suggestion on the direction would be welcome. smily_headphones1.gif

 

Edit: On further thought, the dynamic seems compressed compared to other dynamic headphones that I heard, not sure if it is the property of orthodynamic driver. And I think I do hear the resonance, Michael Buble sounded like he is singing into a tin can.tongue.gif


Navyblue,

 

I own both of these headphones with great amplification and source, and my impressions are almost diametrically opposite of yours. I have owned and modded 3 pairs of the Fostex's, and out of the box, they have such a big low midrange hump that they are almost unlistenable for me. My K501's are the "bass heavy" version, and they go almost as deep as even the modded Fostex's, and rival phones like the Fischer FA003 for bass depth. The modded Fostex's are quite good, and exceed the K501's in certain respects, such as instrument weight, especially for non-classical genres. For even heavy large scale orchestral classical music, the K501's still rule, and have a larger and more believable soundstage, both width and depth wise. Of course, keep in mind that these are my impressions, with my 57 year-old ears! I would also love to hear LFF's T50RP's at some point, as I suspect his mods are miles ahead of mine!

 


Edited by CYoung234 - 2/3/12 at 11:50am
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post #6103 of 10223
2/3/12 at 11:56am

Thanks. smily_headphones1.gif

 

I agree the T50RP sounds very relaxed and unfatiguing, and I find it lacking in dynamic. (at least in stock form) I could not hear anything offensive, the only thing is my ears physically hurt after listening, which is weird.

 

I played with the software a bit. I don't find 10k is louder than the other tone, if not actually softer than 8-9k and 11-12k. What should I be looking out for?

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post #6104 of 10223
2/3/12 at 11:56am

LFF, I'm not hitting on you or anything, but has anyone ever told you that you've got a nice graph?

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post #6105 of 10223
2/3/12 at 12:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CYoung234 View Post


Navyblue,

 

I own both of these headphones with great amplification and source, and my impressions are almost diametrically opposite of yours. I have owned and modded 3 pairs of the Fostex's, and out of the box, they have such a big low midrange hump that they are almost unlistenable for me. My K501's are the "bass heavy" version, and they go almost as deep as even the modded Fostex's, and rival phones like the Fischer FA003 for bass depth. The modded Fostex's are quite good, and exceed the K501's in certain respects, such as instrument weight, especially for non-classical genres. For even heavy large scale orchestral classical music, the K501's still rule, and have a larger and more believable soundstage, both width and depth wise. Of course, keep in mind that these are my impressions, with my 57 year-old ears! I would also love to hear LFF's T50RP's at some point, as I suspect his mods are miles ahead of mine!

 


Hi,

 

I don't think my finding very different from yours though. I agree there is a low midrange and upper bass hump, and coupled with the laid-back-ness and lack of dynamic, they can make things seemed veiled and muddy for certain materials. As for how bad it is, I guess it depends on where does one want to draw the line. Personally, I think they sounded not far from what they cost, whereas the K501 is clearly not on the same league in technical abilities and presentation when compared to the unmodded T50RP. But the T50RP definitely sounded weightier than the K501, it reminded me of a much crappier HD650. Till now I still have my doubt that it could overtake the performance proven HD650 after modification, which is one headphone that I intend to get if I am not pleased with the T50RP and FA003, in case they are just another FOTM.

 

I think my K501 is also the "bass heavy" version. I find it interesting that, not only you have the T50RP and K501, you have the FA003. That is one headphone that I wanted to get initially, I ended up with the T50RP first because I unexpectedly won an auction. tongue.gif I'd be very glad if you could describe them (modded and unmodded) in relation to each other. And also the mod that you've done to the T50RP.

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