Fostex T50RP Incremental Mods and Measurements

[bluemonkeyflyer]

  Hi BMF/Justin!
 
Hope you're doing fine!
 
I'm still using the BMFv3 and I wonder what your favourite mod might be?
Do you consider the Balsa Wood Mod to be an upgrade? If so I definitely have to get some balsa wood first thing tomorrow morning.
 
Keep up the great work!
 
Best,
Alex

Hi Alex,
 
Doing great, thanks.
 
I don't currently have a DBVv3 on hand. We all know audio memory is ephemeral...so, I cannot say for sure that the Balsa Wood and All Paxmate mods are better, or not. I can say they're easier to build and require fewer components. Based on memory, they're more similar than different.
 
I think these simple mods compete with more complicated modification configurations but the devil is in the (implementation) details. In other words, the only way to know is for each person to try them and draw their own conclusions.
 
nick n's MemFoam Mod is very good, too! I had the opportunity to listen to two sets built by nick n: one was more neutral and the second bass enhanced. I was able to compare them against each other as well as my rendition of his MemFoam mod. I'll post impressions in the "nickerfied" thread.
 
Best,
 
BMF/not Justin

 

[GoldenGate]

Big thanks to BMF,
 
I thought I had everything on hand to knock out most of these mods in one go today, but so far all I've done was the modeling clay in the baffles and taped over the base ports minus a 1x3mm port on each. The improvements are staggering. I really didn't expect much, thinking I'd need to get the cups filled with cotton in order to notice the improvements, but I'm happily wrong.  Way tighter, the lifeless highs have been cleaned up significantly.
 
I opted to try Coloplast in the cups instead of the other options, but gave up and will proceed with the Plasti-dip when I get some cotton and have the time to fiddle with that step.

 

[HumanSaurusRex]

  nick n's MemFoam Mod is very good, too! I had the opportunity to listen to two sets built by nick n: one was more neutral and the second bass enhanced. I was able to compare them against each other as well as my rendition of his MemFoam mod. I'll post impressions in the "nickerfied" thread.
 
Best,
 
BMF/not Justin

 
Ahh! My bad ... Keith is what I wanted to write.
 
nick n's MemFoam Mod looks pretty complicated and PlastiDip is pretty expensive over here in Europe.
Will give the Balse Wood and Paxmate a try. 
 
If I'm going to buy a thrid Fostex headphone for backup reasons - is the T40RP MKII as good as the T50rp when modded properly?

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

   
Ahh! My bad ... Keith is what I wanted to write.
 
nick n's MemFoam Mod looks pretty complicated and PlastiDip is pretty expensive over here in Europe.
Will give the Balse Wood and Paxmate a try. 
 
If I'm going to buy a thrid Fostex headphone for backup reasons - is the T40RP MKII as good as the T50rp when modded properly?

 
No worries.
 
In my experience, the T20RP mkII and T40RP can be made to sound just as good as the T50RP with appropriate, simple modifications. The only visible differences have to do with damping material over the bottom cup vents of T20RP mkII and T40RP with its bottom vents sealed...also, T20RP mkII has no cover over the central screw compartments in the bottom of the cups and T40RP has a cover with a 3 mm hole in the center.
 
Speculation suggests that it is *possible* that Fostex more closely matches the drivers used in T50RP. Do they Really? I don't know.
 
I believe that there are manufacturing variances at play, though. Some units may sound better than others of the same class. There have definitely been visible differences in the white damping material on the backs of the drivers...also shown and described in FIMM.
 
I posted suggested tweaks to T20/T40RP in FIMM to obtain similar results as T50RP, across all 3 models.
 
Cheers to all,
 
BMF/Keith
 
PS: Good luck with the All Paxmate and Balsa Wood mods.

 

[hemipowered007]

Oh man,finally got a chance to dig into modding. Mine were already sealed minus 2x 3/16th holes on top of each cups. I did the akasa stacked lattice mod, with cotton makeup remover cut to size in the center,  akasa on ear side cups cutout just like bmf did. The i did 18x18mm treble reflector from some card stock, covered with craft felt. Its insane how much these change. Because of the 2 holes in the cups theyre bassy, but its not muddy, more than id like still, so ill tweak with that. Mids/treble sounding so so much better. These sound, well completely different from when i started. I had the mad dog 3.2s shortly, but had never heard these stock until months later. I can now really appreciate what everyone here has provided. These things lower end is rumbling right now, its fun for now. This is all with alpha pads, i want to try the 1540 alcantaras later tonight if i have time. Thanks again all modders, im having fun so far.

 

[PETEREK]

  Oh man,finally got a chance to dig into modding. Mine were already sealed minus 2x 3/16th holes on top of each cups. I did the akasa stacked lattice mod, with cotton makeup remover cut to size in the center,  akasa on ear side cups cutout just like bmf did. The i did 18x18mm treble reflector from some card stock, covered with craft felt. Its insane how much these change. Because of the 2 holes in the cups theyre bassy, but its not muddy, more than id like still, so ill tweak with that. Mids/treble sounding so so much better. These sound, well completely different from when i started. I had the mad dog 3.2s shortly, but had never heard these stock until months later. I can now really appreciate what everyone here has provided. These things lower end is rumbling right now, its fun for now. This is all with alpha pads, i want to try the 1540 alcantaras later tonight if i have time. Thanks again all modders, im having fun so far.

If you close off one of the holes on the top (probably from the inside for aesthetics) it will bring them closer to neutral bass. I had one hole on my first pair of cups and it was very neutral sounding to my ears. That could be all you need to do if you want to keep using the Alpha Pads.
 

 

[hemipowered007]

If you close off one of the holes on the top (probably from the inside for aesthetics) it will bring them closer to neutral bass. I had one hole on my first pair of cups and it was very neutral sounding to my ears. That could be all you need to do if you want to keep using the Alpha Pads.

I meant to say that's what I planned actually, or ill cover both with something like thin felt, then poke pinholes in them until I'm happy with the sound. Thing about the holes how they are now is, its easy just to put your finger over one each, when I did that, much more neutral.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

Guys,
 
Thanks for posting pix of your work and describing your results. Hopefully, others will do the same and everybody benefits.
 
BMF
 
 
Quote:

  Big thanks to BMF,
 
I thought I had everything on hand to knock out most of these mods in one go today, but so far all I've done was the modeling clay in the baffles and taped over the base ports minus a 1x3mm port on each. The improvements are staggering. I really didn't expect much, thinking I'd need to get the cups filled with cotton in order to notice the improvements, but I'm happily wrong.  Way tighter, the lifeless highs have been cleaned up significantly.
 
I opted to try Coloplast in the cups instead of the other options, but gave up and will proceed with the Plasti-dip when I get some cotton and have the time to fiddle with that step.

Interesting. What is Coloplast?
 

   
Ahh! My bad ... Keith is what I wanted to write.
 
nick n's MemFoam Mod looks pretty complicated and PlastiDip is pretty expensive over here in Europe.
Will give the Balse Wood and Paxmate a try. 
 
If I'm going to buy a thrid Fostex headphone for backup reasons - is the T40RP MKII as good as the T50rp when modded properly?

Can't wait.
 

   
No worries.
 
In my experience, the T20RP mkII and T40RP can be made to sound just as good as the T50RP with appropriate, simple modifications. The only visible differences have to do with damping material over the bottom cup vents of T20RP mkII and T40RP with its bottom vents sealed...also, T20RP mkII has no cover over the central screw compartments in the bottom of the cups and T40RP has a cover with a 3 mm hole in the center.
 
Speculation suggests that it is *possible* that Fostex more closely matches the drivers used in T50RP. Do they Really? I don't know.
 
I believe that there are manufacturing variances at play, though. Some units may sound better than others of the same class. There have definitely been visible differences in the white damping material on the backs of the drivers...also shown and described in FIMM.
 
I posted suggested tweaks to T20/T40RP in FIMM to obtain similar results as T50RP, across all 3 models.
 
Cheers to all,
 
BMF/Keith
 
PS: Good luck with the All Paxmate and Balsa Wood mods.

 
 

  If you close off one of the holes on the top (probably from the inside for aesthetics) it will bring them closer to neutral bass. I had one hole on my first pair of cups and it was very neutral sounding to my ears. That could be all you need to do if you want to keep using the Alpha Pads.
 

Beautiful, as usual.
 

I meant to say that's what I planned actually, or ill cover both with something like thin felt, then poke pinholes in them until I'm happy with the sound. Thing about the holes how they are now is, its easy just to put your finger over one each, when I did that, much more neutral.

Exactly!

 

[vertical]

  If you close off one of the holes on the top (probably from the inside for aesthetics) it will bring them closer to neutral bass. I had one hole on my first pair of cups and it was very neutral sounding to my ears. That could be all you need to do if you want to keep using the Alpha Pads.
 

 
Man, the white cups with white stitching contrasted with the black do look great in the photo!
 
Still trying to get used to the idea of white though. IDK why I resist white colored products. 

 

[hemipowered007]

Those are actually more of a golden color not white. But, some pearl white t50s would be super classy, storm troopin in style. Is it bad, that im loving my basshead cans? I know theyre not right, but the bass is fun! Maybe I need to mod another t50 to be this ones neutral brother. Still can't believe the difference in these headphones. Mine are crazy different sounding than the mad dog 3.2, and obviously different than stock. Really looking forward to buying another pair now to get different sound sigs. This is much much more satisfying (to me) than grado modding, though I do miss that.

 

[PETEREK]

Yeah it's actually "Satin Nickel", not white. I do like white pairs though. Storm trooper style, right! Haha
 
My forks for my headband are out for powder coating and so are the connectors I'm using on the cable (the 1/4th and 3.5mm connectors, not the Lemos) Super excited. This pair is going to be amazing, just wait.

 

[cripple1]

  Yeah it's actually "Satin Nickel", not white. I do like white pairs though. Storm trooper style, right! Haha
 
My forks for my headband are out for powder coating and so are the connectors I'm using on the cable (the 1/4th and 3.5mm connectors, not the Lemos) Super excited. This pair is going to be amazing, just wait.

What kinda powder coating are you getting? Color-wise, I mean?

 

[PETEREK]

THIS.
http://www.prismaticpowders.com/colors/PMB-6906/illusion-malbec/

 

[cripple1]

Dude... That looks beautiful! Definitely looking forward to pictures of the finished product.

 

[PETEREK]

It's going to be an awesome build. I'm going to experiment with some different internal mods as well. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet though. I'm going to throw the FOSTEX brand back on them, but it's going to look beast.