Just listened to some Fostex T50RPs today... WOW!

[wdahm519]

I don't have an SPL monitor device, but what I did last night was use a frequency generator to step through frequencies from 20-200 in 10Hz steps, 200-1000 in 50Hz steps, and 1000-15,000 in 100Hz steps.  The goal was to see if there were any spikes in the sound signature.  I wasn't surprised by my findings due to what I was hearing through music:  These are dead flat.  There is a tiny bit of roll off at 20Hz and maybe 30Hz, but after that I could not hear much discernable difference in volume between any other frequency I tried.  I was very amazed. 

 

[Pars]

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how many conductors is the original wiring on these? i'm curious. they should be at my doorstep monday. i'm assume they use a shared ground and a 3-core conductor cable? i wonder how'll they do if i made them balanced.

Yes, it is 3 conductor.
 


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Pars,
 
Here you go. This is a whole cable and not just the mini-plug though. Only $10 as well. LFF found this one.
 
http://shop.v-moda.com/p-130-crossfadev-80-audio-cable.aspx
 
 
 

Craig, I had seen that cable, and may buy one though I only use 1/4" for the amp end. Anyone know how long this cable is?
 
I was really hoping for a connector that would work that I could wire with whatever i wanted to use. I have about 10' of Mogami mini quad that I was going to start with.
 
 

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

wdahm519,
 
Nice!
 
Would you describe your current configuration?  Any pix?
 
What is the link for the freq. generator you used?  I've been using the one Twinster posted...
 
  Twinster: I have not yet made my "dummy box."
 
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I don't have an SPL monitor device, but what I did last night was use a frequency generator to step through frequencies from 20-200 in 10Hz steps, 200-1000 in 50Hz steps, and 1000-15,000 in 100Hz steps.  The goal was to see if there were any spikes in the sound signature.  I wasn't surprised by my findings due to what I was hearing through music:  These are dead flat.  There is a tiny bit of roll off at 20Hz and maybe 30Hz, but after that I could not hear much discernable difference in volume between any other frequency I tried.  I was very amazed. 

 

 

[Armaegis]

I use these for testing tones: http://binkster.net/extras.shtml
The log sweep and bass warbles are especially useful.

 

[SoulSyde]

I have about 20 hours of burn-in so far and here are my thoughts:
-- The treble range is still fairly smooth although not very well extended.  I'm OK with that though, as it makes them fairly non-fatiguing.
-- What ever slight harshness I heard in the mid range has suddenly dissipated.
-- I hear no other changes in tonal character.
-- The intermitted cut-out in the left channel has worked itself out.  After a bit of fiddling with the connector, it's gone.
-- They sound a little better from my Asgard than my iBasso D6.
 
The bottom line is that I'm still happy with them.

 

[Deathdeisel]

So guys, ive heard a ton about these headphones. I love, love tinkering and improving things, and it makes me want to buy these just to see how much i could improve them. Plus the thunderpants concept is truely impressive that these low end headphones can even rival anything near its price is truely impressive. 
 
If someone were to buy these headphones, and mod them as much as should be done(or can) what would you do to get them to rival the thunderpants or be them? Without actually buying them. 
 
Also sorry for having to ask, but 330 pages is soooo much to filter through. 

 

[yipcanjo]

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FWIW most of the people who have experience with driver transplants into new cups are in the Thunderpants thread. Most of us in this thread are trying to make the most of the stock cups. We'd all like to hear about your progress and results but I think you would get some better feedback there on what has worked for others going down that path. Good luck and keep us posted!!

You make a great point, AN.  I'll try posting in the Thunderpants! section.  Thanks
 
 

 

[Hennyo]

Actually, I heard lcd-2 / T50rp yesterday.. It was rev1. I found the T50rp more coherent. On the whole, I liked it better, however, my position is ambivalence to to the lcd-2. To expensive, (way) soundstage is too small, and it is dark. Like really dark. I found rev 1 to be darker than hd 650... highs in certain songs were not even there, let alone recessed. HD 650 my old 'warm' benchmark.
 
I liked the rev 2 much more, however, the rev 1 is still an enjoyable listen. And unlike the rev 2, It will become a classic phone in the future.
 
T-50rp. Honestly believe it's the best ortho out there right now. And the price and modability really makes it a no-brainer. It is the beginning of the headphone 1k+ bubble about to pop. 1K + headphones are unnecessary and will not be sustained on the current scale they are at much longer.
 
Edit: I've heard three lcd-2's and neither of the others sounded like this one. Purrin is right in that the lcd-2 quality control is bad. The rev 2 I heard was glorious, but of the two rev 1's I heard, neither of them sounded similar... One was much darker (In this case, highly recessed midrange. guessing about 1.8k+)

 

[Swoosh]

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Actually, I heard lcd-2 / T50rp yesterday.. It was rev1. I found the T50rp more coherent. On the whole, I liked it better, however, my position is ambivalence to to the lcd-2. To expensive, (way) soundstage is too small, and it is dark. Like really dark. I found rev 1 to be darker than hd 650... highs in certain songs were not even there, let alone recessed. HD 650 my old 'warm' benchmark.
 
I liked the rev 2 much more, however, the rev 1 is still an enjoyable listen. And unlike the rev 2, It will become a classic phone in the future.
 
T-50rp. Honestly believe it's the best ortho out there right now. And the price and modability really makes it a no-brainer. It is the beginning of the headphone 1k+ bubble about to pop. 1K + headphones are unnecessary and will not be sustained on the current scale they are at much longer.
 
Edit: I've heard three lcd-2's and neither of the others sounded like this one. Purrin is right in that the lcd-2 quality control is bad. The rev 2 I heard was glorious, but of the two rev 1's I heard, neither of them sounded similar... One was much darker (In this case, highly recessed midrange. guessing about 1.8k+)

Can you call and complain about them sounding off?

I know you can with smaller companies

 

[sphinxvc]

Just because they sounded different on different occasions does not mean they are not identical in sound.  

  It's kind of arbitrary to blame QC and not stop to consider yourself as a variable in this.  It's two short auditions after all.  Just sayin'.  

 

[200poundsofamp]

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 There is a tiny bit of roll off at 20Hz and maybe 30Hz, but after that I could not hear much discernable difference in volume between any other frequency I tried.  I was very amazed. 

 
Gratz man! Getting them flat or getting extended bass isn't too hard, but getting both is something else. Curious to see what you did.
 
 

 

[symphonic]

Thanks for the detailed response Rex. My main amp is a Dayton DTA-100 Class T amp. When I'm back home with it in Germany I think I'll try this out. As far as I know the outputs don't share a common ground, so I guess I'd need to run the headphones in balanced mode.
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you can apply resistors but for solid state gear it's not needed unless it was running off of op-amps. tubes you most likely defiantly need to use resistors to match the impedances of the power transformers cause tubes highly rely on the power transformers for current and impedance match cause tubes can only produce milliamps and not amperes and it's the power transformers that give the tubes their output impedance.
solid state the output impedance is always close to 0 and the power transformer mostly just blocks EMI signals and insists on impedance matching and delivering amps/current so impedance loads from any headphone be no sweat for the amp. depending on how powerful the power amp is and sensitivity of the headphone you might run in gain issues(by what i mean is very high gain). resistors just might help with making the amp see a certain load so you get better gain control but if your amp have very high S/N ratio and maybe a -20db muting switch then you'll have no issues with background noise or insanely high volume levels.
i just hook all my headphones directly in the back of the speaker outputs of my amps with no issues. the box i made also for speaker outputs is just straight wire tied from the 1/4'' TRS jack to the left and right speaker posts. very simple box and works well. i use it on headphones i test or headphones i don't feel like or don't want re-wiring. i made it for my pioneer monitor 10's originally cause the plug on them was awesome and wanted to use them off speaker outputs without doing a re-cabling job on the headphone itself.

 
Another question for all T50RP modders. It seems that cup volume is a concern with the damping - has anybody added a gasket/spacer between the cup and baffle in order to increase the volume? I'm in the process of making woody cups with my dad, but I have a suspicion that I could achieve everything that I want with the current cups if I just gave them a bit more room.
 
 

 

[Hennyo]

They're also cheap... Please don't call Fostex complaining... Yes, there are very minor differences, (I had 3 pair) but they're actually very close together.. Just keep in mind, the reality of it is you're already getting one hell of a deal. ; ) (Also my three varied less than the three sets of lcd-2 I've heard..

 

[KneelJung]

 
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Correct! But a can of Coca-Cola won't self-destruct upon opening either.

 

 
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O.o
 
Your mod includes installing a bomb in the T50RP? Interesting...

 
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Not exactly a bomb...but yeah...you get the idea.

Not exactly, LOL...so that got me to thinking.
 
Perhaps the secret sauce in the paradox mod isnt on the inside of the cup at all, but on the earside...thus the paradox.
 
I know Grado's sound different with comfies versus bowls. I've used the Senn pads and jumbo's too. Taped my bowls, etc. I've never tried the flats, but the gist of the point I'm trying to make though...is the way sound is diffused on the earside of a Grado, makes a big difference in the presentation.
 
When I got my T50's back from Tyll the first thing I did was paxmate the earside of the baffle. They went from being very mid centric and on the bright side, to sounding more neutral, and not as bright. After I got my 840 pads I took the paxmate off. Primarily because I was having such a hard time getting the pads on. The 840 pads have some foam that somewhat substitute for the paxmate, but not nearly as effective

 

[hans030390]

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Perhaps the secret sauce in the paradox mod isnt on the inside of the cup at all, but on the earside...thus the paradox.

 
I do believe he uses FA-003 pads in some way, correct? 
 
Either way, I'd bet that his secret sauce is sorcery, heavy usage of the imagination, and wishful thinking.