[SeEnCreaTive]

Has anyone else noticed how warm/dark these headphones are? I've been tinkering with them for a while trying to boost the mids and some treble, but it always seems to kill the bass. Has anyone else had luck?

Yes, the TxxRPs are notoriously dark. In this case it's due to what is called "under damping"

Basically the driver moves a bit too easily, making the big wide frequency low notes louder.

So to help control the driver most people "damp" the driver. Usually by reducing air compliance. Meaning how easily air can escape or enter the driver and cup.

So by taking out the solid plastic on the vents, and replacing with felt, you actually increased how easily air can move in or out. But it may be small enough you don't notice, if the felt is rather dense.

The 2 biggest things you can do to help, is 1: fill the cup with rolled cotton (some use wool, cotton balls are ok if you have nothing else) and apply felt, or wool, or memory foam or something directly to the back of the driver (this single mod alone one arguably makes the biggest difference). Which reduces how easily air can move.

If are careful not to damage the paper on the back of the driver, it's 100% reversable.

A big thread on the forum is this one

http://www.head-fi.org/t/618659/fostex-t50rp-incremental-mods-and-measurements

In which lists most common mods, with measurements to see how the sound has changed. It is referring to the mk2 RPs, but the mk3 has the same driver, and identical cup. So most mods should apply; beit perhaps slightly different.

 

[paulmazz]

I have a pair of T40RP MK3s and I've been trying to follow some of the mk2 mods and the mayflower v1 mk3 mod. The mayflower mod seemed to make the sound thin and reduce the bass. I just couldn't get the treble reflector right. I've also been trying some different kinds of felt on the back of the driver, but haven't been too lucky. Some of the mk2 mods seem to act very differently to the mk3 due to the increased thickness of the white material and the new hole for the bass on the back of the driver.
Has anyone tried converting a mk2 mod to the mk3? Also, has anyone tried transpore or micropore over the mk3 driver?
My goal is to hopefully bring out the mids and without reducing the bass.

 

[musiclife]

Guys listen to the RY X - Dawn album with the T50rp mk3. Just get the tissue ready nearby.

 

[marcan]

  Guys listen to the RY X - Dawn album with the T50rp mk3. Just get the tissue ready nearby.

Yes love it. With the t50rp it's great but with the LCD2 it's even better.
Bass on this album is just what makes planar shine.

 

[paulmazz]

So I've tried a crazy amount of felt shapes and positions and I think I've finally found the sound I want.
I had found that covering the bass port on the back of the driver always seemed to kill the bass when using adhesive thick felt. Even with the recommended bass ports in the felt from mayflower, the reflector would always lower the bass and give the treble a papery sound.
I then tried using the soft adhesive felt just over the bass port and noticed there was still bass. I then covered the entire back of the driver with the adhesive felt and noticed that some of the bass was reduced but the mids were slightly increased. I though that this may have been due the felt being less dense.
I then read in the mk2 incremental mods that thick adhesive on the driver was a bad idea so I decided to try a piece of stiff felt with out adhesive only being held on by double sided tape. This seemed to reduce the boomy bass and further bring out the mids.
I'm really happy with this mod and I'm going to keep until I hear of something better.
Mods I'm keeping
http://imgur.com/yEHMtq1
http://imgur.com/Nlh4c8W
http://imgur.com/zPdSvFt
http://imgur.com/AmAJCh8

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

  So I've tried a crazy amount of felt shapes and positions and I think I've finally found the sound I want.
I had found that covering the bass port on the back of the driver always seemed to kill the bass when using adhesive thick felt. Even with the recommended bass ports in the felt from mayflower, the reflector would always lower the bass and give the treble a papery sound.
I then tried using the soft adhesive felt just over the bass port and noticed there was still bass. I then covered the entire back of the driver with the adhesive felt and noticed that some of the bass was reduced but the mids were slightly increased. I though that this may have been due the felt being less dense.
I then read in the mk2 incremental mods that thick adhesive on the driver was a bad idea so I decided to try a piece of stiff felt with out adhesive only being held on by double sided tape. This seemed to reduce the boomy bass and further bring out the mids.
I'm really happy with this mod and I'm going to keep until I hear of something better.
Mods I'm keeping
http://imgur.com/yEHMtq1
http://imgur.com/Nlh4c8W
http://imgur.com/zPdSvFt
http://imgur.com/AmAJCh8

 
 
I was just about to type when I read this post, heh, exactly. The adhesive doesn't really let air through well, so you're basically just pluging the back up.
 
A way of "bringing put the mids" would be to reduce treble and bass. I know some people like the treble reflector, I purpousfuly modded my Mayflower V1s (which were the mk2s at the time)  to have less treble. Up to each person. But by reducing treble and bass, you can turn the volume up more, and now you have loads of mids. The headphone is less efficient now, so you need to turn it up more to get a similar volume, but a small price to pay
 
I haven't seen many direct measurements of the mk3s yet with mods. The RP driver responds like CRAZY to rear damping, so its deffinatly understandable with the small changes that Fostex has made with the damping on the back, it would effect what we currently know for modding. Luckily the basic ideas still apply
 
So Im glad you found mods that work, its a VERY rewarding headphone with a bit of time put in.

 

[marcan]

The best best improvement of the mk3 is In the mids/high mids. Actually the mids aren't that recess on the tr50rp but it's rather the tames high mids that gives the impression of mid backward. midss. The mk3 greatly solved this issue.

 

[Nick-s-f]

Its nice to see others are playing around with the mayflower mods.
 
I have tried the mayflower v1 mod on my pair as well. All parts of it were successful (I also used the stiffer replacement surround for the driver), but I left out the cotton and the driver felt because they obliterated the bass. The result is a sound that is smoother and slightly more bass heavy than stock, but a slight loss of clarity results. 

I wonder where fostex gets the material for the T20 bass vent, been wanting to convert mine.

 

[paulmazz]

The cotton helped me tame some of the boomy bass before if figured out the right felt to but on the back.
The stiff felt given by mayflower really does obliterate the bass and I think it's due to the thick adhesive on the back.
 
If you're looking to convert your pair into T20s you just need to remove the piece of felt over the lower vent on the cup. I don't think you need any extra materials.

 

[xtenglong]

I installed all the Mayflower mods minus the felt on driver and cotton. Definitely destroyed the bass when I had them in. I took out the original baffle dampener and cut out a rectangle for the center grid, held down with two thin strips of double-sided tape. Helped a lot to smooth out the trebles. 

Waiting on some felt to come in to play with. I'm thinking about leaving just a hole where the exposed grid is to try to preserve most of the bass. If the treble becomes too harsh again, I'll probably put a strip of dampener on the entire column instead of just the center grid on the earside. My main goal is to bring up the mids and lower treble.

 

[paulmazz]

You could also try a few layers of toilet paper behind the pads to reduce the treble.

 

[westwest]

man, i finally got my fostex rebate $50 check today. it took 4 months to process. better late than never, i guess. 

 

[Primus2112]

  man, i finally got my fostex rebate $50 check today. it took 4 months to process. better late than never, i guess. 

Yep I feel ya. Same here. Took forever till I finally inquired to them and then VOILA, they said the check was printed and was on its way.  And then I received a week or so later. lol

 

[Lohb]

  Yep I feel ya. Same here. Took forever till I finally inquired to them and then VOILA, they said the check was printed and was on its way.  And then I received a week or so later. lol

'Checks in the post' ?

 

[apaar123]

How is its sound quality compared to Meze 99 and akg k712 pro? Is it different from them?