[stellarelephant]

Hey soomeone tested the t50 rp mk 3 with the aune x1s ? the amp is powerfull enough to drive them ?

I haven't heard M1S but going purely off of the specs, I'd say almost certainly no, not enough power. My xDuoo X3 gives 250mW into low impedance load vs. only 180 mW from M1S specs. To use my player without an external amp I have to set volume to nearly 100% and the dynamics are sorely lacking. M1S would probably not even get loud enough.

Edit: Oops you said X1S. That thing can put over a watt into a low impedance load! Possibly a good match but I can't speak from experience.

 

[ZABAL]

Anyone else have both of them ?

 

[stellarelephant]

Picked up a used Onkyo receiver. Feeding it digital coax from my Echo soundcard. This is the best I've heard my T50 Mayflowers so far.

The new beast is a TX-SR607, and it could put 90W of discrete Class AB power into 7 speaker channels...so the power supply is hugely overkill for a dedicated headphone amp. I can see all the transistors inside (not ICs), screwed to one huge heatsink. I'm still not sure what exactly drives the headphone output, but it gives these cans a level of body and clarity that is a huge step up from the headphone output from my Echo, my Pocket Class A amp (also pictured) and both of my portable players.

These T50s have great transparency. For the first time I can hear the difference between DACs quite easily. I've found that it sounds best when I let the Onkyo do the decoding, rather than decoding with the Echo and sending analog to the receiver. Not sure yet what is inside DAC-wise...probably just a mid-level AKM or TI part. Still, it does 24/96 and it must be implemented well because it kills everything else I currently own.

I am quite pleased for the moment, but eventually I'll try connecting my cans to the main L&R speaker terminals for MAXIMUM POWER...

 

[Stenso]

Hi Stellaelephant, I also picked up an Onkyo for the same reason. I feed it from my MacBook via a squeezebox touch, controlled from my iPad. It really makes planars sing, providing all the power, giving great depth and vitality.

 

[sman789]

Picked up a used Onkyo receiver. Feeding it digital coax from my Echo soundcard. This is the best I've heard my T50 Mayflowers so far.

(...)


I am quite pleased for the moment, but eventually I'll try connecting my cans to the main L&R speaker terminals for MAXIMUM POWER...

Very nice, I have a similar Onkyo (HT-R540) powering my T40RP mk3s. I never knew connecting headphones directly to the terminals was a thing! Keep us posted.

Have you ever experienced finicky-ness with the orange cable? Mine works terribly with phones, it triggers voice command input all the time. With dedicated DAPs, it'll cut in and out on either L/R channels when you barely move it.

I'm going to replace the jack on one end this weekend.

 

[trellus]

Very nice, I have a similar Onkyo (HT-R540) powering my T40RP mk3s. I never knew connecting headphones directly to the terminals was a thing! Keep us posted.

Have you ever experienced finicky-ness with the orange cable? Mine works terribly with phones, it triggers voice command input all the time. With dedicated DAPs, it'll cut in and out on either L/R channels when you barely move it.

I'm going to replace the jack on one end this weekend.

It’s notoriously bad, I use a V-Moda cable

V-MODA Extended Audio Cable (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MYTR7KQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_HNctAb2VCDC6Q

 

[sman789]

It’s notoriously bad, I use a V-Moda cable

Thanks, I have plenty of other cables and use a 90 degree connector for the input. I actually like the locking mechanism and the color of the original cable, hopefully my soldering skills hold up for it.

 

[George Taylor]

The orange cable on mine has a short or something in it, came that way new. Also have gone with the V-Moda as well. And I'm with you, it bummed me out because I actually like the original as well.

 

[trellus]

Thanks, I have plenty of other cables and use a 90 degree connector for the input. I actually like the locking mechanism and the color of the original cable, hopefully my soldering skills hold up for it.

The orange cable on mine has a short or something in it, came that way new. Also have gone with the V-Moda as well. And I'm with you, it bummed me out because I actually like the original as well.

I actually prefer the stock cable, too, as I like the locking mechanism, but both of my orange cables (one that came with brand new T50RP MK3, one that came with a used T20RP MK3 I picked up from a fellow Head Fi'er) are gimpy, which leads me to believe they just tend to be poorly made.

Although, come to think of it, the one that I am using with my T20RP MK3 isn't as bad, it cuts out only occasionally, but it still requires a little jiggling now and then -- I still use it sometimes, although I always the V-Moda with the T50RP.

 

[stellarelephant]

My Mayflowers v1s came with the amazingly comfy Shure 1540 earpads, but the stock Fostex strap did indeed give me a sore spot right on the crown of my head.
Until now! I finally bought the Mod House Audio alcantara comfort strap. Ohhhh man. These headphones feel so nice now...almost like I could wear them indefinitely.
Fit and finish is great. There are two layers of alcantara stitched together beautifully along the edges, with a super thin strip of foam (?) inside. The strap is supple but it does not flop around when I take off my headphones. It spreads the weight of the T50RP out over the entire top of my head. Good stuff.

 

[IBJamon]

I finally got around to fixing my MK3s since my cat chewed the orange cable that goes between earcups. I closed the hole and added one 2.5mm plug on each cup, for a direct connection to each. Works perfectly, and now they use the same cables my M1060s use. Man I missed these! In some ways, they sound better than the M1060 does. Not in every way, but the sound signature is more 'fun'. There is more low bass on the M1060s though.

Anyway, good to be back. I did forget to plug the hole that the little orange wire went through. Don't really feel like opening them up again right now though... maybe I'll shove something in there.

 

[stellarelephant]

Beautiful work. I have done the removable cable mod before on Sonys and ATs, but always with just a single 3.5mm jack on one side. What you have done is even cooler. What did you use to plug the original hole?

 

[IBJamon]

I used Polly Plastics. My daughter got some for her birthday, and she kindly let me use some. It's really easy to use and perfect for something like this. I do need to properly paint is black rather than just a sharpie though.

 

[IBJamon]

Folks, if you have never tried this headphone on an Emotiva BasX A-100 in beast mode (jumpered headphone out) then you are truly missing out. It is not enough power for the T50RP Mk3 out of the box, but in 50W mode... oh man. It's amazing. Just wanted the world to know.

 

[kintsaki]

Folks, if you have never tried this headphone on an Emotiva BasX A-100 in beast mode (jumpered headphone out) then you are truly missing out. It is not enough power for the T50RP Mk3 out of the box, but in 50W mode... oh man. It's amazing. Just wanted the world to know.

Back in the 70's Yamaha Orthodynamics were connected to a dedicated headphone output in the 125 Watt Yamaha receiver that would provide the 10Watt peak and 3 Watt /channel RMS power required to drive them.

The best kept secret is that the stock Fostex Tx0 RP MK III when connected directly to the speaker terminals of a
100+ Watt RMS per channel at 8 Ohms ( especially if this amp will deliver 300+ into 2 Ohms) it will blow away any and all headphones powered by headphone amplifiers that I have ever owned or borrowed.

This is because Orthos require lots of power and headroom to come to live and in addition orthos require "Constant Zero Output Impedance across the entire frequency spectrum" in order to come alive. Now if you power the Mr.Speakers Ether C flow with such an amp and then try the Senn 800S you will be wondering what happened to the huge sound stage of the Senns. Recently a lot of people are selling their Hifiman Edition X V2 because they think they can drive them with headphone amps.

This is because even at 100+ db/mW these headphones transform themselves to giants when powered by high powered low impedance speaker amps. Hifiman says not to use more than 2 Watts/channel amps to avoid damaging the drivers. Nothing is further from the truth the X V2 is still scaling up when driven by my AMC CVT 2100 (85W/ch RMS at 8ohms) as for my other orthos I went out and got me a Crown CE1000 rated at 275W RMS into 8 ohms and 560 into 2 ohms.
However when all my Orthos are driven by the AMC 2100 then the He-6, Mr Speaker Ether C Flow and the X V2 are clearly a class above the Fostex's. The Smeggy Thunderpants and the ZMF Purple heats are still easily superior to the MK III something that is not at all apparent when driven by headphone amps. Smeggy and ZMF are equals with different signatures you may use one or the other according to genre or mood.

It is also important to state that quite often I find myself reaching for the moded Fostex's as they seem to posses a more vintage sound. Not romantic like the He-6, but vintage (lots of tape, tube and transformer, saturation/compression artifacts)