Fostex T50RP Incremental Mods and Measurements
Sep 6, 2013 at 10:51 PM Post #706 of 2,858
  Hey guys, just before I fell asleep last night in bed, I had a weird thought:
 
Would it be possible to swap out the drivers from a T50RP and put them into another can?
 
If so, assuming the size of the enclosure was vastly different, it's bound to get a pretty different sound signature, right?
 
Any thoughts on this?

 
*cough*
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/656644/ortho-transplant-fostex-t50rp-drivers-into-a-beyerdynamic-custom-one-pro
http://www.head-fi.org/t/648893/ortho-transplant-t50rp-drivers-into-v-moda-crossfade-lots-of-pictures
 
cool.gif

 
Sep 7, 2013 at 7:34 AM Post #708 of 2,858
Armaegis has done this with a V-Moda LP and a Beyer Custom One Pro (while retaining the bass slider). Search "ortho transplant".

EDIT: damn mobile version didn't go to the last page.... He said it!
 
Sep 8, 2013 at 8:32 AM Post #710 of 2,858
I don't think the FA-003's baffle would work too well for the T50RP driver. You'd either have to seriously modify it or entirely replace it. IIRC, it's designed more like Sennheiser's open headphones' baffles, in that it's a fairly "open" baffle with some sort of paper-ish damping material on the front of it (I've never been able to figure out what this stuff actually is, but I see it commonly used).
 
Sep 8, 2013 at 8:42 AM Post #711 of 2,858
Good call. I did some measurements from the driver specs - it won't be pretty or easy. Might have to think twice about this one.

Thanks heaps though guys! I wonder what else I could do a transplant with.. I'm curious now. 
 
Sep 8, 2013 at 4:19 PM Post #713 of 2,858
The AKG K267 has bass sliders like the Beyer COP. I wonder if the drivers could fit in there.
 
Sep 12, 2013 at 6:22 PM Post #716 of 2,858
That's what I put it up there for ^^
 
Sep 15, 2013 at 4:30 PM Post #717 of 2,858
just got a t50rp, have some shire 840 and hm5 pads, various felt sheets. many many thanks for your work on this thread!
 
Sep 19, 2013 at 7:41 AM Post #718 of 2,858
I had the great pleasure of receiving a Fostex T20RP MKII modded by none other than the author of this very thread: bluemonkeyflyer
 
MODS:
- Shure 840 Pads
- Paxmate lattice cup-damping
- Grodan rock wool driver-damping behind driver
- 18mm circular thin card treble-reflector (double-sided taped directly to the back of the driver)
- Paxmate sealed vents - leaving only the top vent open by 6mm
- masking tape seal over screw hole for attaching cup to headband
 
I just want to say one thing prior to my impressions:
- I have never heard a stock T20RP MKII and nor have I ever heard a stock or modded  T50RP MKII
 
IMPRESSIONS:
Initial impressions: "wow." 
Later impressions: "good lordy lord"
Final impressions: "sweet Jesus these are awesome"
 
I don't really know what to say. They're basically perfect. If I had to fault them on anything it would be the drivers natural inability to resolve the final 5% of resolution. 
Compared to my Sennheiser Momentum which I think is a laid-back genre master, this is a seriously fun genre-master: bass is tight and visceral (think The Prodigy or The Chemical Brothers) that digs very deep with no obvious humps. It's more of a textured 'growl' than a 'boom' which I'm really enjoying.
The extra treble really helps with rock - I've never heard a headphone that could do rock and EDM perfectly at the same time (think Muse - The 2nd Law)
It's difficult to compare them to my HE-500, because the difference between two closed headphones makes more sense to me as a comparison. But easily the biggest difference is the lack of air and soundstage, however the extremely good passive isolation and increased sub-bass volume makes up for this no ends.
 
Vocals and timbre are simply natural and effortless - not too cold, not too warm. There is a decent enough sense of space and air. Decay is natural; acoustic and percussive sounds are rendered very well.
Soundstage isn't huge, but give enough space for instrument separation and is as intimate as most people could ever want.
I think the drivers/treble suffer a little bit when there's A LOT going on like big loud orchestral music or very full sounding rock or metal, but 99% of the time these are simply sublime. 
AND they're not even T50RPs. 
 
Since owning these I've already made my own comfort headband and have lost all desire for buying an expensive closed-back bassy headphone. 
My interest in acquiring and modding a T50RP has grown though. But since these are in the same league as my Momentums (slightly better in some ways, less in others) I can wait a bit longer before that happens.
 
Special thanks for bluemonkeyflyer for opening my eyes and ears again. 
 
Sep 19, 2013 at 10:13 AM Post #719 of 2,858
Question: how much difference does it make if I cut out the felt covering in front of the driver earside? Considering that I'm thinking of doing mods ear side, not able to see the drivers properly is a nuisance to say the least. Hopefully it doesn't change too mich of the sound...
 
Sep 19, 2013 at 9:16 PM Post #720 of 2,858
Question: how much difference does it make if I cut out the felt covering in front of the driver earside? Considering that I'm thinking of doing mods ear side, not able to see the drivers properly is a nuisance to say the least. Hopefully it doesn't change too mich of the sound...


Depends on who you ask. IMO, none.

The dust cover prevents dust and other debris from fouling the drivers. You can get around removing it, if all you want to do is see the driver edges, by rubbing your thumb over the dust cover to imprint the outline onto the dust cover. Then, you can use a ruler and a silver marker to trace the outline.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top