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

[bitsnbytes]

Glad to hear it

my T50rps were the first true "hifi" headphones. Now all I can think is not how good they are, but how terrible everything else is. Multiple piars of $250 schenhisers have nothing on them (or any other brand) which surprised me. It really is an obsession. But a great one

 
I am about to start to mod them, but just had a listen to the stock T50RP. The highs and lows were "confusing" but the mids even in stock form was very very nice. For  $100 headphones (if you can get them on sale), they are not bad.

 

[vertical]

Hi...another noob here

I've finally joined the forum after reading this thread for a while.

I just want to thank you guys for the entertaining read and the nearly endless creative ideas here before I embark on my own obsession.

Welcome!

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

I am about to start to mod them, but just had a listen to the stock T50RP. The highs and lows were "confusing" but the mids even in stock form was very very nice. For  $100 headphones (if you can get them on sale), they are not bad.

In fully modded form, they beat out some very very exspencive cans. That's why they are so popular, performance to price, and how easy it is to mod.I bought mine pre-modded for $159 to the door.

The highs will generally always have a lack of sparckle sadly (good for me, my ears get fatigued with too much treble, shennhiser and byre cans wreak havok on me)

And orthrodynamic drivers tend to be bass heavy, so even just a change in pads (Shure 840, best cheap popular option) will give you a completely new sounding can. Plus these threads and mods are mostly about balancing ans tightening the bass. Mostly all reversible

 

[fleasbaby]

Hi All....been a long time lurker on this thread. Some might recognize my name from the Grado modifications threads.... I thought I would give a pair of Fostex T40rp a go in my workshop, and below are the result:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
Sound is nice. Nicer than my Grado SR80 pinks in African Blackwood. Nicer than my SennGrados in Mahogany and Walnut combo cups.
 
These started life as a pair of ZMF v1. I used some foam stripping I usually use to mount Grado drivers in their cups as the insulation between the baffles and the cups. The drivers I glued directly to some thin rings of MDF and then glued those to the baffles. All done with regular wood glue.
 
For pads I tried the Shure 1840 ones, but could not get a seal at the bottom of my ears. The cups are too deep and I mounted them as if the were a stock pair of Fostex T50rp cups. I had a flash of luck and inspiration though. I had some JMoney Beyer pads spare, so I slipped them on, and then rotated them so that what usually tilts the driver at an angle to the head acted as a filler instead. Works like a charm.
On the head these things are huge, but comfortable nonetheless.
 
I definitely plan to start working on refining the design and making a slimmer, lighter version. More to come with a little time . Big thanks to @bluemonkeyflyer for a wealth of information along the way as well.

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

  Hi All....been a long time lurker on this thread. Some might recognize my name from the Grado modifications threads.... I thought I would give a pair of Fostex T40rp a go in my workshop, and below are the result:
 

 
Sound is nice. Nicer than my Grado SR80 pinks in African Blackwood. Nicer than my SennGrados in Mahogany and Walnut combo cups.
 
These started life as a pair of ZMF v1. I used some foam stripping I usually use to mount Grado drivers in their cups as the insulation between the baffles and the cups. The drivers I glued directly to some thin rings of MDF and then glued those to the baffles. All done with regular wood glue.
 
For pads I tried the Shure 1840 ones, but could not get a seal at the bottom of my ears. The cups are too deep and I mounted them as if the were a stock pair of Fostex T50rp cups. I had a flash of luck and inspiration though. I had some JMoney Beyer pads spare, so I slipped them on, and then rotated them so that what usually tilts the driver at an angle to the head acted as a filler instead. Works like a charm.
On the head these things are huge, but comfortable nonetheless.
 
I definitely plan to start working on refining the design and making a slimmer, lighter version. More to come with a little time . Big thanks to @bluemonkeyflyer for a wealth of information along the way as well.

 
Beautiful craftsmanship...And amazing you did this Without a lathe! Now, that's innovation and determination in spades.
 
Congratulations on a successful build and tuning.

 

[fleasbaby]

   
Beautiful craftsmanship...And amazing you did this Without a lathe! Now, that's innovation and determination in spades.
 
Congratulations on a successful build and tuning.

 
Thanks BMF!

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

Wow those are really a work of art, fantasic

 

[Arty McGhee]

nice work

 

[mikey1964]

@ fleasbaby, 
 
Bloody brilliant!

 Makes the Alpha Dog I have look rather plain in comparison....

 

[fleasbaby]

Wow those are really a work of art, fantasic

 
 

  nice work

 
 

  @ fleasbaby, 
 
Bloody brilliant!

 Makes the Alpha Dog I have look rather plain in comparison....

 
Thanks all . The only issue I had when I was done was the headband and its effect on how the cups sit on the head....so this morning before work and after my morning run (...I have a problem, someone help me please...) I took them apart again, removed the headband, and then re-assembled. The main holes (that penetrated all the way into the cavity) for the headband have been closed off with pieces of Redheart wood (the other holes were superficial, and there to accomodate the little bits of plastic on the stock Fostex Headband assembly), and I have put the cups into an old Koss headband.
 
Seating is now as it should be, and I can use any pads. They aren't perfect (the Redheart inserts are hardly my finest work, but they are functional) and I need to work up a decent leather headband cover somehow, but I am listening at the office now via my X5/E12 combo, and am enjoying these a lot...I think I am going to be distracted from my Grado projects for a little while
 

 

[hemipowered007]

I want one...

 

[saxophone]

Those look fantastic, fleasbaby. Please post pictures when you finish the headband.

 

[fleasbaby]

  Those look fantastic, fleasbaby. Please post pictures when you finish the headband.

 
...so for now I am just using a Beyerdynamic headband. It fits nicely, and is functional...besides, there's no saving that ugly Koss frame with a leather coat

 
I am listening to old favorites at the moment, and am now understanding what all the fuss is about with these drivers...detail is amazing...and they aren't fatiguing at all...everything has taken on a new layer of realism as well. Gentlemen (and ladies) I believe that with every track I hear through these things, I am inching away from dynamics and moving through the rites that will make me a fully fledged convert in the cult of orthodynamics/planar magnetics...

 

[benjitb]

I am increasingly finding myself drawn to modding...
 
As a new layman, I am finding the modding threads a complete swamp of infomation, where to begin?
 
1. Firstly, I like the sound of the NAD HP50 / Focal Spirit Pro and was considering them, can anyone compare/contrast the quality of the sound from a basic modded FostexT50rp.
    NAD's/FSP £160 ish., Fostex £125, without supplies.
 
2. Which mods to use, i mean the first page here alone is covered in graphs and amps as well as moddingh materials.
    What's the best place to start. Shure 1540 pads, sennheisser HD650 Headband padding, cottonwool, air dry clay, dynamat/elecrical tape?
Is this just the basic mod, or is there a better way?

 

[fleasbaby]

So this is revision 3 of my attempt at a pair of woodied Fostex...
 

 
These are the original cups I started with. They have been returned to the stock headband after being hollowed out a little more, and having the side walls reduced by .5 of an inch (the shortened walls got rid of my initial issue with seal)...I have no damping in there now, and in the absence of an adhesive-backed felt or velvet, have simply glued discs of t-shirt fabric to line them.
 
Sound signature instantly went bassier. I am attributing this to the lack of damping and the smaller cavity. Soundstage shrank a teeny bit too, and detail is, I am happy to say, still superb.  *edit* This is probably the last time I will be able to tweak this particular pair of cups. The poor things have been through the wringer and the finish is no longer even vaguely pretty. They will be getting a lot of use from me though