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

[hans030390]

Quote:

I was under the impression he was entering a competition and that's why he was being secretive. Maybe we will get lucky and he'll open it up to use after he wins. 

LFF can correct me if I'm wrong, but he's keeping his mods secret for a number of other reasons. I don't think the competition is much of a factor at all.
 

 

[kalbee]

Quote:

Relevent:

Stock T50RP cable cut in half and re-terminated with 3.5mm Neutriks/Reans

Tiny 26 or 30 AWG enamel wire commonly used in IEMs

SRH840 pads, Paxmate Plus, Newplast, hot-glued screw cover, drilled baffle vent (2 of 4 open), fuzz from cotton, and improvised SIP plugs

A close-up of the male SIP plug with a few mm of heatshrink

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Happy modding!

Wow, those cables look awesome

SIP plug is brilliant. So much more ease to work with!
If you don't mind teaching me a little, what do i do with that enamel stuff? I got the same in a IEM I've put on hold soldering. I can't seem to burn them off and can't make any proper contact...
Since I got a few Reans with me as well, I can reterminate my stock cable too if all works well. The 1/4" end of my cable was DoA anyway.
 
 
Also for the heck of craziness, anyone tried stacking the stock T50RP pads over the 840 pads? Hell, I've done dual layer pads test many times before, why did I never try once I got the Shure pads?! The V response I got totally flatlined out, retaining a nice amount of bass. It still drops at around 25Hz and at 20Hz I can barely hear it since my ears are not quite far from the drivers. A freaky peak at 10k though, and possible one at 15.5k.... and a dip at ~7k
Loses a bit of resolution though, especially on the low end.
 

 

[Kibble Fat]

Wow, those cables look awesome

SIP plug is brilliant. So much more ease to work with!
If you don't mind teaching me a little, what do i do with that enamel stuff? I got the same in a IEM I've put on hold soldering. I can't seem to burn them off and can't make any proper contact...
Since I got a few Reans with me as well, I can reterminate my stock cable too if all works well. The 1/4" end of my cable was DoA anyway.


 

Thanks! I posted the answer on page 475:

I found it to be quite easy and strait forward, but you're right: one wouldn't expect that tiny IEM wire to be inside this cable. There are three 26AWG (maybe smaller?) enameled wires inside which makes the trickiest part stripping a section of the silicon rubber off without taking strands with it. Take a small amount of solder on your iron and hold it to the exposed enamel on one of the wires. The enamel will start to melt away after a few seconds and start to tin. You may have to make a second or third pass to get the other side, just be sure to let the wire cool between passes. FYI: I use a 25-watt for everything except gauges below 16AWG or so. Yes, everything.
I guess I'll take some pics now

Like I said, take your time and let the wire cool in between 5-second sessions of trying to melt the enamel. You should practice with the T50RP cable first becausee the silicon rubber is very thick and very resistant to melting. For IEM cables I've re-terminated or re-attached drivers to, I'm very careful not to let the silicon melt. Sometimes the enamel is tough and some melting of the silicon is inevitable. When I say "some", that doesn't mean I allow the wires to cut all the way through to the outside

 

[shrimants]

To add to kibblefat's response, in amateur solder kits like the one at radioshack, theres this weird blunt metal scissor looking thing. Clamp the wire in question with that and solder on the other side. That will help a LOT to dissipate heat as it makes its way through the cable.

The one thing i'm unable to do is perf board soldering. People put wires on that like its nothing, i have no idea how they manage it. Sometimes they even are good enough to slightly melt the sleeve and push it into the hole as a form of strain relief. I can upload my attempts at perf board soldering but its not pretty haha

 

[stratocaster]

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Originally Posted by hans030390 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Quote:

LFF can correct me if I'm wrong, but he's keeping his mods secret for a number of other reasons. I don't think the competition is much of a factor at all.
 

If somebody says that after a decade of research and experience they have found the holy grail but do not want to share, so be it. I have always been under the impression that  modification threads are all about experimenting and sharing. And doing just that has been tremendous fun for most of us.
If sombody decided to keep their "secrets" hidden, we should not lament about that and not spare a thought about why they are taking this approach. Needless to say that I highly appreciate that most of you are a hundred percent willing to share. Chapeau to you!
Moreover. It might as well be that some of you people's setups would measure just as nicely as this guy's, but you just haven't had them measured.  
 

 

[DeathDomokun]

LFF can chime in if he wants, and I'm not trying to speak for him, but I think him revealing "The Paradox" would cause most people to simply parrot his set-up, limiting exploration and creativity.
The Paradox isn't an end-all, you should tune your T50RP to your ears.
Man, I really want some FA-003 pads..

 

[wje]

Quote:

To add to kibblefat's response, in amateur solder kits like the one at radioshack, theres this weird blunt metal scissor looking thing. Clamp the wire in question with that and solder on the other side. That will help a LOT to dissipate heat as it makes its way through the cable.
The one thing i'm unable to do is perf board soldering. People put wires on that like its nothing, i have no idea how they manage it. Sometimes they even are good enough to slightly melt the sleeve and push it into the hole as a form of strain relief. I can upload my attempts at perf board soldering but its not pretty haha

That would be referred to as a heat sink.  When soldering delicate components, it would be placed on the wire so the excess heat from the iron doesn't fry the component that you're soldering.
 

 
Quote:

Quote:


If somebody says that after a decade of research and experience they have found the holy grail but do not want to share, so be it. I have always been under the impression that  modification threads are all about experimenting and sharing. And doing just that has been tremendous fun for most of us.
If sombody decided to keep their "secrets" hidden, we should not lament about that and not spare a thought about why they are taking this approach. Needless to say that I highly appreciate that most of you are a hundred percent willing to share. Chapeau to you!
Moreover. It might as well be that some of you people's setups would measure just as nicely as this guy's, but you just haven't had them measured.  
 

I share the same view as you.  However, if I were in the role where I built an appreciable set of modified headphones, yet was keeping my modifications to myself and not sharing them to the community, I probably also wouldn't be in the thread posting "teasers" here and there that are of little value to the readers.  Again, though, this is just my interpretation.
 

 

[wdahm519]

Quote:

That would be referred to as a heat sink. 

 

 

[shrimants]

The heat sink post was in reply to the person who replied to Kibble Fat's post. he was talking about how he wanted to reterminate but was new, and wanted kibble fat to teach him so he didnt screw something up. I didnt want to simply say "get a heat sink" because personally the first thing that comes to mind is a CPU heat sink. Also, I only found out about 2 months ago what the purpose of the soldering heat sink is. Just trying to keep it beginner-friendly.

 

[kalbee]

That would be me! Yeah, didn't know what the heat sink was until you said dull scissors! My kits doesn't come with that though...
I have had experience with soldering on PCB but those were all single core/strand copper wires, which is much easier to get heat through it, plus the IEM have the enamel so you can understand why I'm having so mug trouble! Plus that was many years ago on school's irons. I can't even properly tin my iron and it bothers me to no end.

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try again today. Maybe I shouldn't have tried last time in the freezing basement.

 

[LFF]

Quote:

That would be referred to as a heat sink.  When soldering delicate components, it would be placed on the wire so the excess heat from the iron doesn't fry the component that you're soldering.
 

 

I share the same view as you.  However, if I were in the role where I built an appreciable set of modified headphones, yet was keeping my modifications to myself and not sharing them to the community, I probably also wouldn't be in the thread posting "teasers" here and there that are of little value to the readers.  Again, though, this is just my interpretation.
 

Jeez....again you people are hounding me as to why...?!?
 
Yes, I am not going to share my secrets...however, I do find it funny that at least 2 people have figured out what I did based on my "teasers" that are "of little value". It's not my fault that you are unable to recognize a diamond in the rough. I also appreciate and like to see the new creative paths some people have taken trying to solve the problems that plague this headphone.
 
 
 

 

[ri_toast]

Its like someone threw the switch on the bat signal.

 

[purrin]

LOL, I've measured two other person's T50RP mods which were just as neutral in the mids and highs as LFF's. The only difference was in the bass (one was intentionally voiced to be warmer like the vintage AKGs, and the other was a last minute "ooops" which resulted in less bass than intended.) I'm pretty sure these two are not going to reveal their mods either (or even who they are.)
 
I've offered to take measurements for people and make minor tweaks to measure again (and again.) (This offer is off the table now because work is getting busy for me.) Only two people have taken me up on that offer.
 
But c'mon guys, some use creativity! All I've seen here are 126 variations of play-doh placed here and there. Essentially the same thing over and over again. What's next? Curing the play-doh with the semen of a silverback monkey? It's not gonna work. This is not meant as a slam, but as encouragement.

 

[Vaughn]

Quote:

LOL, I've measured two other person's T50RP mods which were just as neutral in the mids and highs as LFF's. The only difference was in the bass (one was intentionally voiced to be warmer like the vintage AKGs, and the other was a last minute "ooops" which resulted in less bass than intended.) I'm pretty sure these two are not going to reveal their mods either (or even who they are.)
 
I've offered to take measurements for people and make minor tweaks to measure again (and again.) (This offer is off the table now because work is getting busy for me.) Only two people have taken me up on that offer.
 
But c'mon guys, some use creativity! All I've seen here are 126 variations of play-doh placed here and there. Essentially the same thing over and over again. What's next? Curing the play-doh with the semen of a silverback monkey? It's not gonna work. This is not meant as a slam, but as encouragement.

I didn't authorize the release of my monkey/play-doh recipe

 
I've built a couple of TP inspired clones but I don't think I'm getting the most out of this driver. I can't help but think this driver wants a little larger enclosure. My next step is to make a couple of cups with these...
 
http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Daddios-1-75-Aluminum-Hemisphere/dp/B0041TKJKC
 
I'll probably start sealed and go from there.
 

 

[proid]

 
Quote:

LOL, I've measured two other person's T50RP mods which were just as neutral in the mids and highs as LFF's. The only difference was in the bass (one was intentionally voiced to be warmer like the vintage AKGs, and the other was a last minute "ooops" which resulted in less bass than intended.) I'm pretty sure these two are not going to reveal their mods either (or even who they are.)
 
I've offered to take measurements for people and make minor tweaks to measure again (and again.) (This offer is off the table now because work is getting busy for me.) Only two people have taken me up on that offer.
 
But c'mon guys, some use creativity! All I've seen here are 126 variations of play-doh placed here and there. Essentially the same thing over and over again. What's next? Curing the play-doh with the semen of a silverback monkey? It's not gonna work. This is not meant as a slam, but as encouragement.

That's exactly what i think. We can't do same thing and expect it to be better.