[sfwalcer]

IT'S OFFICIAL!!! This thread is dedicated to nick n's awesome sauce modded Fostex T50RP all the way from Canned Land to SF and now hopefully across the world as well. Just spreadin' dat lovin' for these nickerfied ones so for those head-fiers that's in my mini-nickerfied audition tour please stand up and feel free to post your thoughts, impressions, and anything that comes to mind for good or bad. No need to hold your tongues here since transparency and uncensored discussion is the best avenue for learning, improvement, and growth.
 
So without further ado MOD ON!!!

 
Two Nickerfied T50RP variants:
 

 

One "bass enhanced" version while the other has more treble emphasis/ extension............

 

[sfwalcer]

Reserved.

 

[waynes world]

I'm down with a sub

 

[sfwalcer]

I'm down with a sub

^
Show us your nickerfies Masa' WAYNE.
 
Pics or it didn't happen!!!

 

[purrin]

I believe these are the bass heavy versions.
 

 

 
Pounding and sizzle. Wasn't painful or anything like that. Just not my cup of tea - sort of gave me a headache.

 

[purrin]

 

 
Slightly less pounding and just as much sizzle.

 

[hans030390]

Hmm, based on my experience with various T50RP headphones (modded, such as Mad Dog, Alpha Dog, ZMFxVibro, etc.) and extensive measurements I've taken of those, these "nickerfied" T50RPs look to have fairly poor harmonic distortion results. At higher frequencies, I consider harmonic distortion to be considerably less pleasant than harmonic distortion in the bass. Treble bump is quite strong and will certainly give them a bright, sharp, or sizzling sound. The bass heavy versions seem to have a slight rise in the response from 1-5KHz or so, and while it looks subtle, it is likely to give them a certain "glare," "hot," or "thin" sound. At least the bass has fairly decent harmonic distortion results? I know the Alpha Dog and ZMFxVibro both have elevated bass, which a lot of people seem to like.

 

[sfwalcer]

  I believe these are the bass heavy versions.
 

 

 
Pounding and sizzle. Wasn't painful or anything like that. Just not my cup of tea - sort of gave me a headache.

^
LoL can you match the graphs with the pics of the Nickerfied Cans please. For us simp out there. : P
 
Oh and what do you mean by "sizzle"??? And where is it coming from exactly.
 
This is a test to see how good your hearing vs. your measurements are.
 
No pressure though. :  )
 
 

  Hmm, based on my experience with various T50RP headphones (modded, such as Mad Dog, Alpha Dog, ZMFxVibro, etc.) and extensive measurements I've taken of those, these "nickerfied" T50RPs look to have fairly poor harmonic distortion results. At higher frequencies, I consider harmonic distortion to be considerably less pleasant than harmonic distortion in the bass. Treble bump is quite strong and will certainly give them a bright, sharp, or sizzling sound. The bass heavy versions seem to have a slight rise in the response from 1-5KHz or so, and while it looks subtle, it is likely to give them a certain "glare," "hot," or "thin" sound. At least the bass has fairly decent harmonic distortion results? I know the Alpha Dog and ZMFxVibro both have elevated bass, which a lot of people seem to like.

^
Engrish PLEASE!!! I don't speak audiophile lingo. : P
 
Just for the record, one set is brighter sounding overall due to more emphasis on the treble/ highs extension. But it doesn't get overly bright to the point of where there is sibilance or harsh.
 
The "bass enhanced" version on the other hand has more weight to its notes, slightly darker background and less bright overall but still has very good treble/highs extension.
 
If you are hearing sibilance or all bass that shouldn't be the case with them, cuz overall they both are fairly balanced across the sonic spectrum.
 
Oh and speaking of the Mad Dogs and ZMF, i already auditioned the 3.2 doggies and the ZMF version 1s. Mad Doggies is great and I would put them on par with these Nickerfires but i can't say the same for the ZMF version 1 mods.
 
Will post those impressions on here when the tyme is right. In the meanwhile keep those impressions/graphs coming purrin'.  BRING IT ON!!!

 

 

[purrin]

The one with the funky headband (foam wrapped around it) with the label "used" was less bassy.
 
By sizzle, I mean "sss ssss zzz zzz ssss zzzz". Both U shaped. I prefer the one with less deep bass. The mods sorta reminds me of the GS1000.

 

[sfwalcer]

  The one with the funky headband (foam wrapped around it) with the label "used" was less bassy.
 
By sizzle, I mean "sss ssss zzz zzz ssss zzzz". Both U shaped. I prefer the one with less deep bass. The mods sorta reminds me of the GS1000.

^
Yeppp bingo you pass the 1st test, the ugly pink foam wrapped headband is indeed the less bassy set that has more treble emphasis. You'll be surprised that some even get easy one wrong. haha
 
The mid-range is actually pretty good on these sets and i don't hear anything recessed in their mids, but yeah there is more bass and treble emphasis on that brighter/ less bass set fo' sho.
 
Hold up let me google what a GS1000 is real quick.
 
You hear any Zzzzzzzsssssssss on the bass enhanced versions??? Not talking about the treble extension why of course, something that is outta' the norm.

 

[sfwalcer]

   
Hold up let me google what a GS1000 is real quick.
 

^
Unless you were talking about a GS1000 Suzuki....
....
 
 
 
 
..... but for some reason i think you are talkin' about these $1K flagship Grados!!!

 

 

[GREQ]

Perhaps I have the strangest 'nickerfied' Fostex of the bunch... the make-up pads crossed the Atlantic to get here only to be planted in a T20MKII *gasp!*
Other than using plasticine in the mod instead of plastidip, these are done to specification.
 

(yes, it also doubles up as my secondary gaming headset - mic from a creative fatal1ty headset)
 
I hear what you guys are saying about treble sizzle and 'tizz' but I can't fully agree with it. Of course my ears could just be faulty, but this is one of the tastiest FR signatures I've ever heard.
I was previously using bluemonkeyflier's paxmate lattice mod + godran rockwool so that is my ONLY fostex-mod comparison (although another German headfier told me it was somewhat similar to the Paradox). That mod had ridiculously good isolation (an awesome side-effect of using sound-isolation material - actually isolated better than my Sennheiser Momentum) but I felt was lacking some air and 'thunder' - the bass was too tight for my needs.
Nick's mod gave so much more air, but for me most critically a bit of thunder in the bass.
 
I'm not a treble-head and it's sort of a part of music that often goes under my radar, but this mod kind of made me appreciate 'good treble' for the first time, not in technical ability but in presentation. I feel that it just reaches through the whole sound without ever being too much.
A good example of 'too much' for me would be Radiohead Creep, where the cymbals in the chorus are almost always piercing, so this is my go-to song for treble hotness testing.
I couldn't stand listening to this song on flagship level headphones (for example HD800, K812) but somehow with Nicks mod I get very similar treble volumes but a softer, more delicate presentation that doesn't make me want to throw the headphones off in a fit of rage.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

  Perhaps I have the strangest 'nickerfied' Fostex of the bunch... the make-up pads crossed the Atlantic to get here only to be planted in a T20MKII *gasp!*
Other than using plasticine in the mod instead of plastidip, these are done to specification.
 

(yes, it also doubles up as my secondary gaming headset - mic from a creative fatal1ty headset)
 
I hear what you guys are saying about treble sizzle and 'tizz' but I can't fully agree with it. Of course my ears could just be faulty, but this is one of the tastiest FR signatures I've ever heard.
I was previously using bluemonkeyflier's paxmate lattice mod + godran rockwool so that is my ONLY fostex-mod comparison (although another German headfier told me it was somewhat similar to the Paradox). That mod had ridiculously good isolation (an awesome side-effect of using sound-isolation material - actually isolated better than my Sennheiser Momentum) but I felt was lacking some air and 'thunder' - the bass was too tight for my needs.
Nick's mod gave so much more air, but for me most critically a bit of thunder in the bass.
 
I'm not a treble-head and it's sort of a part of music that often goes under my radar, but this mod kind of made me appreciate 'good treble' for the first time, not in technical ability but in presentation. I feel that it just reaches through the whole sound without ever being too much.
A good example of 'too much' for me would be Radiohead Creep, where the cymbals in the chorus are almost always piercing, so this is my go-to song for treble hotness testing.
I couldn't stand listening to this song on flagship level headphones (for example HD800, K812) but somehow with Nicks mod I get very similar treble volumes but a softer, more delicate presentation that doesn't make me want to throw the headphones off in a fit of rage.

 
I'm with you. My version of nick n's MemFoam Mod sounds good, to me. I don't hear Boom, sizzzzle, or distortion, FWIW.
 
We all have different "ears and gears," though, so there is no "Right" or "Wrong." You like something, or you don't...'nuff said.
 
My "nickerfized mod" version sounds great out of HA-1 and GS-X mkII amps, with HA-1 DAC and Meitner MA-1 DAC.

 

[purrin]

I wouldn't worry about the high distortion too much. As a reference, I'll align 1k at 87db. The fact that this headphone has elevated bass and treble means that I was probably taking the distortion measurement at higher level than otherwise. At normal listening levels, I really didn't hear any serious distortion out of the ordinary. This mod however is slightly less sensitive to other T50RP mods (MadDog is the most efficient)
 
While I don't like the U shaped tonal response, the thunderous bass, the air, etc. - the creator of this headphone certainly had a target - and met that target. Something to be appreciated.

 

[sfwalcer]

  I wouldn't worry about the high distortion too much. As a reference, I'll align 1k at 87db. The fact that this headphone has elevated bass and treble means that I was probably taking the distortion measurement at higher level than otherwise. At normal listening levels, I really didn't hear any serious distortion out of the ordinary. This mod however is slightly less sensitive to other T50RP mods (MadDog is the most efficient)
 
While I don't like the U shaped tonal response, the thunderous bass, the air, etc. - the creator of this headphone certainly had a target - and met that target. Something to be appreciated.

^
Yo head-pi_rate cracker el capitan, since you seems to know where all the cookie crumb falls on these nickerfies can you do some waterfall charts on these please???

 
i would love to see if your fancy pirate measurement gadgets will detect one crucial flaw on one of the sets of these nickerfies and see if you have good enough ears to hear this issue as well.
 
Just a simple test, no pressure meng.