[stratowhammy]

It seems that conversation has definitely evolved well past my cork mod, but I just wanted to comment that after about 40 more hours of burn in the sound has gotten even more relaxed.  They obviously don't have the soundstage of my hd580s because they are closed back (especially with the cork in them), but the soundstage has gotten a little wider and the sound is much more laid back, the definition has also improved. I think just stock, these phones would probably sound pretty good after 50+ hours of burn in (maybe they'll even get better as the burn in time increases), but I like the cork outfit.  I didn't lose a tremendous amount of cup space with the cork, to address one of the concerns.  I have it bending in so that I get a nice concave curve inside the cup, then the rest is packed with as much poly fill I could get in the cups.  I honestly haven't tried them without the poly fill, I saw that smeggy has poly fill in his mod, so I figured that it probably would sound better the poly fill than without, but I'm a lazy person, and I hate getting the stock pads on and off, so the fewer times I open these cans the better.  I've noticed a huge improvement in the sound since I've put them in which is probably a result of burn-in, but I really like these cans now (I went from trying to figure out how to pawn these off on someone else to really enjoying them, and listening to them over my hd580s in certain circumstances).  I don't know if it helps anyone, but I'm listening to them out of a zero dac/amp with the LM4562 opamp in the DAC and LT1364s in the amp section (absolutely no hiss, its dead silent between tracks), seems to pair fairly well ... any recommendations on a different pairing of opamps would be welcome!

 

[wje]

Yes, the Rite Aid Natural Absorbent Cotton Pads I use are cut to ~2.5x6x7 cm (uncompressed) and fill the cups from top to bottom and touching all 4 sides of the cups. I've tried pulled cotton balls layered to the same dimensions but I could never match the SQ of the cotton pads. That's not to suggest, however, that you or others cannot match or beat cotton pads with pulled cotton balls, rock wool, fiberglass, other felt, microfiber cloth, etc.
 
- I want to see if I can't use the rock wool by breaking it down and keeping it together by sewing a few layers of cheese cloth around it to keep all of the contents together.  I'd then like to install the "puck" into the cups to see how it performs.
 
Is the craft foam you use closed cell or open cell?
 
- It is closed cell.  I believe.
 
I don't remember: did I send you some Acoustipack Lite to try?
 
- I didn't see any in the package.  No worries.
 
Closing the cup vents completely or, for some of my mod configurations, making a 2x3 mm bass port in one vent slot = better controlled bass to prevent bass bloat. There is still very good quality/quantity sub-bass extension.
 
- My Bass Vents are fully closed off.
 
Closing the baffle port = more bass.
 
- My baffle holes are fully closed off.
 
Sealing wire and jack entry points into the cups = more bass that sounds tighter, to me.
 
- My Mogami cable that enters into each cup hasn't been sealed, yet.  I need to get some silicone or hot glue to bond around the input to ensure there is no sound leakage.
 
Stiffened craft felt and/or Transpore tape of various sizes on the back of the drivers = tighter bass and more extended treble response.
 
- I have attached a square of stiffened craft felt to the back of my drivers (and kept the white filter paper in place).
 
Shure 840 pads work better for me than stock pads with my configs.
 
- Yup, I'm using the Shure 840 pads.  Love 'em.
 
In one of your .PDF papers that you posted, you recommended the use of some silicone in the cup lip so that when the baffle of the headphone is assembled back into place, a solid seal will be achieved.  I was able to accomplish something similar with the craft foam that I used to line the cups with.  I cut strips of the craft foam approximately 1/8" wide.  I then removed the protective backing to expose the adhesive side.  The adhesive side was then placed into the valley on the cup so that when the baffle was re-installed, it would provide a solid, and relatively leak-free seal.

 

[sluker]

I just installed the felt over the back of the driver and the highs became more splashy without being sibilant or any negative impact to the bass.
 
The more I listen to these the more I am impressed by them. I have been amplifying them with an M-stage (w/ class A mod) in my bedroom rig and that set up is also awesome. I have yet to find an amp these sound bad with everything from a Cmoy 2.2 to a SX 1250 gives its own unique sound. But more juice = more bass thump.
 
 
 
Originally Posted by preproman 


 
 

I was just about to ask about after market cables.  Mr.Speaker uses the stock fostex cable.  LFF uses a different after market cable.  How does other cables sound on the Mad Dogs ie..  Yes - cables by Chris_Himself?  
 
Chris - are you able to re cable these?

 
 
I also re-terminated mine for dual entry cables. However  I gave them mini xlr ends so that I can use my LCD-2 and magnum cables. So far I have not noticed any difference from cable rolling, even with a Q cable. Whereas the LCD-2 cleared up noticeably with the Q.
However, before I changed over from single ended to dual entry, I had a noticeable imbalance between the L and R. Once I removed the jack and plugged the hole on the left side the imbalance was gone.

 

[wje]

Quote:

I also re-terminated mine for dual entry cables. However  I gave them mini xlr ends so that I can use my LCD-2 and magnum cables. So far I have not noticed any difference from cable rolling, even with a Q cable. Whereas the LCD-2 cleared up noticeably with the Q.
However, before I changed over from single ended to dual entry, I had a noticeable imbalance between the L and R. Once I removed the jack and plugged the hole on the left side the imbalance was gone.

 
It's quite possible to not notice much, if any sound improvement from a cable swap using a single common ground.  However, if you want to play with the big dogs (woof, woof), you can always install a 4-pin XLR connector on the end and plug that bad boy into some speaker taps (providing a dedicated ground wire to both the "L" and the "R" channels) for a potential improvement in the sound.  The cost to do such a simple mod is about $20 and well worth it.  I have the shipment of supplies -- but, my time is in short order at the moment.  Soon ... soon, I promise!

 

[sluker]

Quote:

 
It's quite possible to not notice much, if any sound improvement from a cable swap using a single common ground.  However, if you want to play with the big dogs (woof, woof), you can always install a 4-pin XLR connector on the end and plug that bad boy into some speaker taps (providing a dedicated ground wire to both the "L" and the "R" channels) for a potential improvement in the sound.  The cost to do such a simple mod is about $20 and well worth it.  I have the shipment of supplies -- but, my time is in short order at the moment.  Soon ... soon, I promise!

WOOF!

My Q cable is terminated with a 4 pin male mini xlr and I have several speaker taps with the female end. So far I have only tried the T50's out of the Sansui AU717 (85w/ch) and while it does improve the bass (punchines and thump) I loose soundstage width and instrument separation when compared to just the HO. I think it is a case of too much of a good thing. In fact this is also consistent when running the HE-6 from the speaker taps. 
I am planning to try them with the SX 1250 speaker outs (165w/ch) to see if it's just the Sansui.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

 wje,
 
It's interesting when independent ideas lead to similar, if not identical, methods. I have been working on the exact same cheese cloth rock wool mod that you describe!  LOL  Acoustipack Lite is on the way for your enjoyment.
 
 
Quote:

Yes, the Rite Aid Natural Absorbent Cotton Pads I use are cut to ~2.5x6x7 cm (uncompressed) and fill the cups from top to bottom and touching all 4 sides of the cups. I've tried pulled cotton balls layered to the same dimensions but I could never match the SQ of the cotton pads. That's not to suggest, however, that you or others cannot match or beat cotton pads with pulled cotton balls, rock wool, fiberglass, other felt, microfiber cloth, etc.
 
- I want to see if I can't use the rock wool by breaking it down and keeping it together by sewing a few layers of cheese cloth around it to keep all of the contents together.  I'd then like to install the "puck" into the cups to see how it performs.
 
Is the craft foam you use closed cell or open cell?
 
- It is closed cell.  I believe.
 
I don't remember: did I send you some Acoustipack Lite to try?
 
- I didn't see any in the package.  No worries.
 
Closing the cup vents completely or, for some of my mod configurations, making a 2x3 mm bass port in one vent slot = better controlled bass to prevent bass bloat. There is still very good quality/quantity sub-bass extension.
 
- My Bass Vents are fully closed off.
 
Closing the baffle port = more bass.
 
- My baffle holes are fully closed off.
 
Sealing wire and jack entry points into the cups = more bass that sounds tighter, to me.
 
- My Mogami cable that enters into each cup hasn't been sealed, yet.  I need to get some silicone or hot glue to bond around the input to ensure there is no sound leakage.
 
Stiffened craft felt and/or Transpore tape of various sizes on the back of the drivers = tighter bass and more extended treble response.
 
- I have attached a square of stiffened craft felt to the back of my drivers (and kept the white filter paper in place).
 
Shure 840 pads work better for me than stock pads with my configs.
 
- Yup, I'm using the Shure 840 pads.  Love 'em.
 
In one of your .PDF papers that you posted, you recommended the use of some silicone in the cup lip so that when the baffle of the headphone is assembled back into place, a solid seal will be achieved.  I was able to accomplish something similar with the craft foam that I used to line the cups with.  I cut strips of the craft foam approximately 1/8" wide.  I then removed the protective backing to expose the adhesive side.  The adhesive side was then placed into the valley on the cup so that when the baffle was re-installed, it would provide a solid, and relatively leak-free seal.

 

[nick n]

A quick shot of an extremely comfortable headband addition. It's softer rubber, completely serviceable if you need to go in and replace any of the interior elastics ( 2 tiny screws on each side of the pad ) and if you didn't look too close you'd think it was stock. Completely reversible with just the 2 stock screws. Fast install.
 
You can see the donor beside it there.
Only issues involved with it were the bottom of the bands would slip past the screwheads when tightened in towards the end so I simply found two small washers which stopped that.
 
The large raised SONY logo on the top is hidden from view and placed backwards for good luck.

 

[wje]

Quote:

 wje,
 
It's interesting when independent ideas lead to similar, if not identical, methods. I have been working on the exact same cheese cloth rock wool mod that you describe!  LOL  Acoustipack Lite is on the way for your enjoyment.
 
 

 
Thanks ... regarding the Acoustipack.  Actually, the rock wool in cheesecloth idea wasn't really mine.  I recall how it was used a few years back in subwoofer building.  There was so much pressure in the sub, just a bit of the rock wool was used on the back wall of the sub to diffuse some of the sound waves -but, the cloth was needed to keep the rock wool together, so it wouldn't just blow out the port every time you hit a low note on your system.
 
Edit: Here is a link to the old subwoofer forum where a car audio Infinity Kappa driver was used: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/diy-corner-tips-techniques/45528-simple-12-infinity-kappa-vq-midq-plans.html

 

[charliex]

Quote:

I honestly think the T50Rps are a fantastic pair of headphones at an unbelievable price. They sounded good straight out of the box and great after a little bit of damping.

The way i like to describe them as among the most balanced, detailed and natural sounding headphones out there at any price.

     An old thread, but I felt that I had to x2 Sachu's post, as I just got my first pair of near mint unmodded T50RPs in the mail today, and like wow!
     It will be my first time modding so I hope that I don't f%&k them up, but am looking forward to reading the threads and experimenting myself - should be fun!

 

[nick n]

They're pretty easy to get into, only thing I stupidly overlooked first was making sure to leave an empty space in the newplast baffle loading for the plug housing, I kept forcing things closed and luckily nothing cracked.

 

[wje]

Quote:

     An old thread, but I felt that I had to x2 Sachu's post, as I just got my first pair of near mint unmodded T50RPs in the mail today, and like wow!
     It will be my first time modding so I hope that I don't f%&k them up, but am looking forward to reading the threads and experimenting myself - should be fun!

 
Once they get properly modified, you'll take a step back and say "whoa" ... what just happened?  Yes, the sound will be that good.  I also have some belief in use.  Some call it "burn-in".  Some believe in it.  Others don't.  However, as my Fostex' evolved through the modification process, there were other sound changes that I was noticing, too.  To this, I attribute a potential physical change with the driver loosening up, etc.  Now, they just sound real and are probably the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn.  I don't have any headband modifications applied either - the stock headband has never bothered me.
 
Last evening, I was listing to some Jonny Lang - Live at the Ryman.  I was initially using my HE-400s from HifiMAN, but my wife was heading to bed.  She doesn't like when I use open headphones as she tries to sleep.  I quickly swapped over to the Fostex and basically never missed a beat.  There are some differences in sound - with points falling on both sides of the vertical line when it comes to both headphones.  However, when I put on the Fostex, I don't feel like I'm putting on a lesser quality headphone that is not holding its own - because it is and does.

 

[TK277]

How is the isolation on these? In my final year of school our classes are in a special "Senior lab" where my 18 closest friends and I will be working most of the time. The environment will be both noisy and quiet depending on the mood. I'm not too concerned with hearing noise, but rather leaking it. I hate when people can hear my music. It's a privacy thing.

 

[wje]

Quote:

How is the isolation on these? In my final year of school our classes are in a special "Senior lab" where my 18 closest friends and I will be working most of the time. The environment will be both noisy and quiet depending on the mood. I'm not too concerned with hearing noise, but rather leaking it. I hate when people can hear my music. It's a privacy thing.

 
The isolation (from music leakage) is very good.

 

[TK277]

Quote:

 
The isolation (from music leakage) is very good.

 
thanks! I think I'll be ordering a pair soon.
 

 

[wje]

Quote:

thanks! I think I'll be ordering a pair soon.
 

 
Also, keep in mind, there are some variables that can have an effect on the leakage, to include:
 
- Using the Shure 840, or Brainwavz HM5 ear pads will result in a tighter seal on your ears.
 
- Opening the bass vents too far on the ear cups of the T50RP, could also allow more sound leakage.  I personally have mine sealed and I still have an enormous amount of bass with mine.