Just listened to some Fostex T50RPs today... WOW!
Jul 15, 2012 at 9:10 PM Post #8,836 of 11,345
Just to alleviate my concerns. A modded 50 sounds better than a hm5, dj100, or m-audio q40 maybe even ah d2000?

Also if I were to gift a pair of these is there a cheap amp to go with them. Something like a fiio e5 would not be enough I assume?
 
Jul 15, 2012 at 9:17 PM Post #8,838 of 11,345
Quote:
Just to alleviate my concerns. A modded 50 sounds better than a hm5, dj100, or m-audio q40 maybe even ah d2000?

Also if I were to gift a pair of these is there a cheap amp to go with them. Something like a fiio e5 would not be enough I assume?


Depends who you're gifting it to.
If they already own decent cans, then no amp or a fiio e5 would suffice. Maybe not bring its full potential.
 
I find myself not using any amp with mines lately. If I just turn up the volume knob I hear what I need to hear. Just not the best of it (onboard soundcard). Then again, best is relative to the price you want to pay in your amping system too, and other technical factors.
 
And also, depends on how you mod it. At one point my mod sounded almost exactly like a Beats Studio... Glad that's gone. Now it's more along the lines of K701 (a little worse than) without the weird soundstage. This needs to change. Meanwhile other mods have been compared to headphones a few times pricier than the T50RP. You get the idea.
 
Jul 15, 2012 at 9:18 PM Post #8,839 of 11,345
Yes, yes, iunno, iunno.
Quote:
Just to alleviate my concerns. A modded 50 sounds better than a hm5, dj100, or m-audio q40 maybe even ah d2000?

 
Jul 15, 2012 at 9:23 PM Post #8,841 of 11,345
FWIW, I made a bunch of mods and measured each one incrementally over the past 2 weekends. Wow! It took 20 hours but it was fun. I hope the information is useful.
 
I didn't know how the forum might handle a post with 45 measurements and 20 photos so I started a new thread to see if it all would upload or if it would crash. It seems to have worked. I have not yet proofed it, though, but will do so in the next day or so. Please pardon any typos, omissions, or other errors until I've had a chance to clean it up. 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/618659/fostex-t50rp-incremental-mods-and-measurements
 
Cheers,
 
BMF
 
Jul 15, 2012 at 10:01 PM Post #8,843 of 11,345
Quote:
Three cheers for your hard work BMF! how big was that .mdat file? The number of tabs is incredible as well!

 
~ 300 MB
 
"Don't 'take it to the bank' just yet, though. I need to proof it but I'm done for today!
 
Jul 16, 2012 at 10:32 PM Post #8,846 of 11,345
Quote:
FWIW, I made a bunch of mods and measured each one incrementally over the past 2 weekends. Wow! It took 20 hours but it was fun. I hope the information is useful.
 
I didn't know how the forum might handle a post with 45 measurements and 20 photos so I started a new thread to see if it all would upload or if it would crash. It seems to have worked. I have not yet proofed it, though, but will do so in the next day or so. Please pardon any typos, omissions, or other errors until I've had a chance to clean it up. 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/618659/fostex-t50rp-incremental-mods-and-measurements
 
Cheers,
 
BMF

 
 
FWIW, I initially and unknowingly uploaded the FR graphs from my incremental mods and measurements thread, link above, using the default REW tiff format that doesn't "play nice" with headfi's system. I could not get the graphs to open for me and others reported the same problem. micmacmo suggested converting the tiff files to PNG files. With his guidance, I was able to convert and re-upload all 45 graphs as PNGs. They all open now, thanks to Mo, and I learned something new about file types. Thanks micmacmo!
 
Jul 17, 2012 at 9:13 AM Post #8,848 of 11,345
It has been a long time since I have posted something here. I was busy, and lazy. Ok, so I bought this Fostex T50RP and received it about a week ago. Coming from AT M50 and Shure 440, at a first listen, I thought - "Baah, this is so flat, boring...". After a few hours, I thought - "Ah, this is very flat, interesting!". After a few days, I really thought - "Wow, this is flat and neutral, I like it!". Then I decided to begin the modding process. The first thing I have done was simply replace the stock pads for Shure 840 pads. Then I listened with this pads mod [size=small]only : I was blown away by the difference in sound signature! No modeling clay on the baffle, no Transpore tape, no felt for damping, nothing more than Shure 840 pads and that's it. The difference is so big that I doubt that any further mod is necessary. It just sounds perfect to me.[/size]
 
[size=small]I think the Shure 840 pads is responsible for the major part of the improvement. I suggest to anyone who don't want to spend hours on modding, or don't want to open their T50, [/size][size=small]to only change the pads. It will make a huge difference in 5 minutes.[/size]
 
Jul 17, 2012 at 1:49 PM Post #8,849 of 11,345
Pads make a big difference but pads don't change the fact that the cups are empty, which should be a criminal offense with orthos.  They'll never be close to their best with empty cups. 
 
Jul 17, 2012 at 2:31 PM Post #8,850 of 11,345
Quote:
Please stop.

 
Quote:
Posting on head-fi is so difficult. It's like they purposely made it as slow and arduous as possible.

 
And these two posts are such valuable contributions 
rolleyes.gif

 
Quote:
 
[size=small]I think the Shure 840 pads is responsible for the major part of the improvement. I suggest to anyone who don't want to spend hours on modding, or don't want to open their T50, [/size][size=small]to only change the pads. It will make a huge difference in 5 minutes.[/size]

 
I found the T50RP too mid-forward with the stock pads. Just swapping the 840 pads in did wonders for seating the mids back in line with the rest of the spectrum. The FR sounds considerably more balanced with just pad swapping. It doesn't fix any of the resonance issues, but they make them a great deal more listenable.
 

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