Just listened to some Fostex T50RPs today... WOW! - Page 411

Last evening, when assembling my pair again ... for the 12th time, I did realize I had some reflex dot possibilities.  However, I also had the 1/8" thick sheets of closed cell craft foam with an adhesive backing.  I covered 2 of the 9 squares on the back of the drivers.  This, for me, did the right thing for the treble to lift the sound enough to my liking.

 

I haven't used the "teased" cotton balls yet.  I did try the pads of cotton the first time around.  I'm not sure of hearing the difference between them, or not.  I should try the balls this time around, though.  Also, I haven't closed any of the bass vents off, yet.  I'm kind of keeping those open for fear that I'd be building the T40RP, which has the same drivers and the vents are closed off.  However, the criticism with the T40RP seems to be with the cup size.  Being of a smaller volume area, the sound is weakened and it's a harder headphone to modify.

You're not crazy, and you're not alone.  I finally got around to performing a few mods a few days ago, and while I was too conservative, they changed the sound enough to make my T50RP's sound decent.   I listen relatively quietly (sometimes very quietly), but I noticed a feeling of pressure and dull discomfort pretty much the first time I listened to them extensively, just like you.  I feel it right now in my left ear, which is what brought me back to the forums this morning...and lo and behold, someone else is posting about it.  It's tolerable for me, but I am a little vaguely concerned about whether something might be causing damage.

Edited by SobbingWallet - 2/5/12 at 11:43am

 

Sorry for the long delay to respond. I had to try to remember what mods I made to my T50RPs! First off, I am not sure I would waste my money on the Fischer FA-003 at this point, as, for me at least, the T50RP can be modified to far exceed the Fischer's capabilities. Stock though, the FA-003's are far better, IMO. They are actually quite good phones for some types of music, but I find the sound stage to be pretty constrictive, and the overall sound of properly modified T50RP's significantly outpaces them in all major areas I can think of (lows, mids, highs, soundstage, overall believability). The pads are nice, though...

 

Now, as far as the T50RP's, mine are a modified version of the Rastapants 2 840 that Mr. Speakers has so kindly put together. I used original Dynamat to line just the backs of the cups, which are then covered with Paxmate. I believe the center pillar thing is covered with Paxmate as well. The baffles are covered with Plasticine that is fairly heavy and tapered out to the edges. I have removed the white covering on the driver back and am using an electrical tape reflex dot on the cenrer square. I have about 2 cotton balls teased inside the cups. I did not seal the cup seams at all. Finally, I believe I have the original black felt over the 4 baffle strips on the inside, and I think they are all still open (no electrical tape to block them off). On the ear side of the driver, I left the felt in place and covered it with a layer of original dynamat and a layer of Paxmate. I have cut out the black felt over the driver, and I use Shure 840 pads with a rolled up gauze pad to wedge the back of the pads.

 

Finally, keep in mind that the AKG K501 really needs good amplification to shine IMO. I am extremely happy with the overall sound of my pair, although the thing I like about the T50RP's compared to them is the greater weight they give to instruments, particularly electronic instruments. For classical music, from chamber to large scale, I prefer the K501's. For rock, pop, etc., I prefer the Fostex's.
 

 

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Just wanted to chime in here and say I more or less agree with this. I picked up the Brainwavz HM5 (FA-003 clone) due to so many people claiming they have an excellent, neutral sound. Well, to be honest, I was disappointed by them. I could not see what the hype was about. I gave myself a break from the T50RPs and headphones in general for a couple days, and then I tried out the HM5s again. The HM5s still have a slightly weird sound to my ears, but I found myself thoroughly enjoying them during that listening session. I then switched back to my modded T50RPs. No comparison. The modded T50RPs can be a bit more bass-light than the HM5s, but I could not find one thing the HM5 did better than the T50RP. I couldn't even really find one area where they were evenly matched.

 

The HM5/FA-003 seem to be excellent for the price. I would put them in the same league as something like the HD598. A nice pair of modded T50RPs, however, will blow them out of the water if you have the source and amp to back it up. If you don't factor in a good DAC/amp into the cost of the T50RP, the T50RP + modding materials gives you much, much more for your money than the HM5.

While I haven't had a pair of AKG headphones for an extended period of time, I do think you are correct regarding how the Fostex headphones will relate to certain music types.  Clearly, blues, jazz, rock and pop are really comfortable being played through the Fostex phones.

if you mod and tune the fostex right they should be perfect for just about all genres of music and be good all-rounders.

I've asked this before, but would anyone be interested in some of the felt I used directly behind the drivers for my mod? I seem to be the only one using this specific felt. It's super cheap on Amazon, but I'm willing to send out small samples (enough for a mod!) for free to anyone interested in trying it out. I'd be especially interested to see if someone could get some measurements using it. I'd like to get my own FR measuring setup going eventually.

 

Shoot me a PM for details if you're interested!

 

Do you have a link to the special felt on Amazon - or a name that it goes by?  Is it a thick felt - sort of like a double thickness felt?  Have you seen anything like it at the craft stores?  I've seen some pretty rugged and heavy stuff at Michaels and was just wondering if it was similar or the same thing?

 

Thanks,
 

 

While I agree that they can be good all-rounders, they will have a hard time matching the soundstage and sense of air and 3-dimensional sense of a good pair of open headphones like the AKG K501 or K1000. Of course, every headphone I have ever heard pales in comparison to a good speaker setup for that same quality.

 

Respectfully disagree.  When done right these have fantastic imaging.  I have not heard the 1000 but I felt these did better than the 501s
 

 

 

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I won't make you dig for my previous posts.  Here is the felt I'm talking about. I have not seen anything like it in craft stores. It is quite thick (1/8"), yet fairly soft and very flexible. If you check out the T50RP mod links wiki, there is a link to my most recent posting about my mods and how I utilized the felt behind the driver (I pulled my idea from the KODA headphones).

the secrete to good imaging is the air response.bringing out the air response(around 14k) adds air and space to the sound/instruments. too much air will sound annoying and irritating and can do the opposite and screw up the overall imaging ability. the fostex is one headphone that gets things like cymbals right with no artificial sizzle or weird type of sssssss sound and has good sense of space. improving the openness as well can be simple as giving the driver the illusion it's in a bigger enclosure(think speakers and sub-woofers). ployfill works wonders full-filling this job cause it will give the driver an illusion of a bigger enclosure. in order to work you have to stuff good amount(like a full handful....well depending on hand size of course) to work properly. the same fundamentals of speaker stuffing implies for headphones as well. it's not rocket science.

Finished one cup of T20RP-mk2 yesterday, sans earpads. Should get the second one today, don't have to think, only replicate. Hope it would sound well.

 

The driver in T20RP-mk2 seems to be the same as in T50RP. It looks the same, Fostex states same part number for replacement driver, power rating on the box is 2000mW, and markings on the diaphragm say "FOSTER dp29 sz1d" - seems to be the same as on T50RP. The only differences, it seems, are that T20 have silver-painted cup holder beams, there is no cap on swivel joint inside the cup, and no stuffing in the cup at all - only dust cover on bass ports.

 

For those with ear fatigue - are your baffle vents open? Maybe there's some overpressure present.

 

Okay, I went back and listened to a couple of pieces of classical music that I use for comparison (Phillip Glass Symphony #8 and the CSO/Bernstein Shostakovich Sym. #1 & 7), and I stand by what I said, although I will admit that both headphones do a very good job. The Shostakovich Sym. #1 is very chamber-like and has good spatial representation. I should add that I have performed with a number of the musicians on this particular recording, so I have a fair idea of what they sounded like live. To my ears, the AKG's provide a more 3 dimensional wider and deeper soundstage. Again, this is my headphones and my ears using my system, so, your mileage will vary! I suppose we just have to agree to disagree. BTW, I like your mods very much. My Fostex's are a variation of your Rastapants 2 840 mod.
 

 

Edited by CYoung234 - 2/5/12 at 5:22pm

Don't know if this would be feasible for you two and the betterment of the T50RP modding but you could always swap pairs to see if the difference is in the mods or the setup itself. If both pairs sound different on the individual setup you'll know it's the modding difference and if that is the case than can always adjust mods accordingly.