[Armaegis]

   
Looks like the linked balsa wood leading edge comes in no smaller than 6 mm x 6 mm. The T50RP partitions along their widest dimension is 3.5 mm x 35 mm length. I have not been able to find balsa leading edge material that may work for this application. I think we will have to try and CAD model wave guides, designed to "fit."
 
For T50RP, I'm thinking we need CAD-designed "wave guides" (Not Fazors) ~ 3.5 mm width x 3.5 mm tapered height x 35 mm length for a total of 4 lengths on the ear side and 4 lengths on the rear side of the drivers.
 
Thoughts?
 
~BMF

 
Juryrig a fazor from straw halves?

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

Juryrig a fazor from straw halves?

Good idea, Armaegis. Maybe those little Starbucks coffee stirrers cut in half, lengthwise and glued onto the partitions?

 

[Armaegis]

That or just regular straws cut in half lengthwise.
 
Although I wonder if a "fazor" would be effective considering the larger openings of the Fostex driver vs the narrower slits in the Hifimans and Audezes which is what causes those uneven wave fronts in the first place.
 
On my modded HE-6, I have felt and other damping in front of the driver which effectively flattens/averages out any wavefront coming from the driver (though with a touch of smear, which isn't necessarily a bad thing).

 

[ZGLISZCZ]

   
Looks like the linked balsa wood leading edge comes in no smaller than 6 mm x 6 mm. The T50RP partitions along their widest dimension is 3.5 mm x 35 mm length. I have not been able to find balsa leading edge material that may work for this application. I think we will have to try and CAD model wave guides, designed to "fit."
 
For T50RP, I'm thinking we need CAD-designed "wave guides" (Not Fazors) ~ 3.5 mm width x 3.5 mm tapered height x 35 mm length for a total of 4 lengths on the ear side and 4 lengths on the rear side of the drivers.
 
Thoughts?
 
~BMF

I put link to balsa pieces just to give example I didn't really check their sizes, I think that balsa might be a bit too soft. I think the best way would be just get thin piece of hard wood that fit to dimensions and just make bewel with sandpaper. I think thats the easiest and cheapest way. for tXXrp 35mm lenght is too long because there is plastic crate behind the dampening. or you want to install it on top of dampening paper, or remove plastic crate? that was actually one of the reason I was thinking about custom driver enclosure. I believe it will need to be glued even if it will be printed element or it will jitter. BMF can you give me dimensions for your audeze's "stator with magnets" I will try to make this Fazor like wave guide for you and any other that would like to try it.I will use my lovely ZBrush as I think I found a way to measure dimensions for 3d print.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

  I put link to balsa pieces just to give example I didn't really check their sizes, I think that balsa might be a bit too soft. I think the best way would be just get thin piece of hard wood that fit to dimensions and just make bewel with sandpaper. I think thats the easiest and cheapest way. for tXXrp 35mm lenght is too long because there is plastic crate behind the dampening. or you want to install it on top of dampening paper, or remove plastic crate? that was actually one of the reason I was thinking about custom driver enclosure. I believe it will need to be glued even if it will be printed element or it will jitter. BMF can you give me dimensions for your audeze's "stator with magnets" I will try to make this Fazor like wave guide for you and any other that would like to try it.I will use my lovely ZBrush as I think I found a way to measure dimensions for 3d print.

 
I wouldn't remove the plastic grid on the back of the drivers. Doing so would sacrifice the stock white damping material. I'd place the wave guides over the grids, as shown. I used a digital caliper to make the measurements. 
 
I loaned my LCD2 to a friend. I'll ask for them this weekend to make the measurements. Thank you!
 
 

 

 

[MuZo2]

Let me check. I think should be few mins job.

 

[MuZo2]

Wait there are 3 magnets, so your description is wrong. We need wave guides over magnets.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

I understand.  
 
T50RP drivers are much smaller than the big planars. The rows of holes in the magnet frames are very small and close to one another. I think it would be difficult making wave guides small enough to fit between the rows of holes/directly over the magnets, but perhaps not impossible.
 
Without destroying the plastic grids that support the magnets, placing the wave guides over the magnets would put them directly on the white damping materal at the rear( possibly easier to do on the ear side). In this config, there would be a lot of space beneath the wave guides. I don't think the wave guides would function as planned. Instead, I think the wave guides would be an obstruction to the sound waves and essentially further dampen the drivers on both sides.
 
I was thinking an alternative approach to try would be to guide the sound waves as they exit the plastic grids on both sides of the drivers. This is all just conjecture, though. We won't know until someone tries both approaches. The least invavsive, fully reversible approach I described is the way I'd go before permanently altering the drivers.  
 
Quote:

  I put link to balsa pieces just to give example I didn't really check their sizes, I think that balsa might be a bit too soft. I think the best way would be just get thin piece of hard wood that fit to dimensions and just make bewel with sandpaper. I think thats the easiest and cheapest way. for tXXrp 35mm lenght is too long because there is plastic crate behind the dampening. or you want to install it on top of dampening paper, or remove plastic crate? that was actually one of the reason I was thinking about custom driver enclosure. I believe it will need to be glued even if it will be printed element or it will jitter. BMF can you give me dimensions for your audeze's "stator with magnets" I will try to make this Fazor like wave guide for you and any other that would like to try it.I will use my lovely ZBrush as I think I found a way to measure dimensions for 3d print.

 
 

  Wait there are 3 magnets, so your description is wrong. We need wave guides over magnets.

 

[tarsonis]

If any is interested I offer a set of 3D printed baffle with a set customized HM5 pads in the sell/trade section. The 3D baffle weight is about double than the stock. no need for mass load. Designed to work with the original driver frame. Pics and measurments included

http://www.head-fi.org/t/739131/3d-printed-baffle-customized-hm5-pads-for-the-fostex-t50rp/0_60#post_10977300

 

[ZGLISZCZ]

   
 

But aren't the sound wave already "messed up" after going through dampening?

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

  But aren't the sound wave already "messed up" after going through dampening?

Absorbtion, dispersal, and controlled venting the backwave is necessary in a closed or semi-closed headphone like T50RP. 
 
I don't know, but suspect, that wave guides on the ear side may benefit SQ more than on the rear side in closed headphones.

 

[ZGLISZCZ]

  Absorbtion, dispersal, and controlled venting the backwave is necessary in a closed or semi-closed headphone like T50RP. 
 
I don't know, but suspect, that wave guides on the ear side may benefit SQ more than on the rear side in closed headphones.

I think the same,

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

  I think the same,

With bipolar ortho drivers, the back wave is 180 degrees out of phase with the front wave. In closed headphones, the trick is to nullify the backwave so it doesn't reflect and bounce back to and through to the ear side in order to keep the ear side front wave "pristine."
 
In open orthos, the backwave is not so troublesome. Simply vent it out the open rear side, lightly damp the rear side if needed, and make sure there's a good seal at the pad-to-head junction so that sneaky back wave can't get in an muck up the front wave.

 

[PETEREK]

 

[ZGLISZCZ]

I was thinking also about wave guide and dampening similar to the one on this sketch. Hope its readable, arrows show sound wave. Obviously sound wave doesn’t travel straight but part of it might be reflected that way and it might improve dampening and sound stage. What do you guys think? You can interpret this image as top or side view.