[sharkz]

Thanks for the offer, but I had another offer and have some paxmate on its way.
 
I will have to take some pictures of what I have done. There is only one thing I can think of regarding the grilles. I originally taped the inside shut. I then opened it one slit at a time. However later I wanted to cover it again, so I used tape on the outside. The only thing I can think of is that somehow having a layer of tape on the inside and outside is effecting the air flow, even though both are cut through. I will have to remove the inner tape altogether for now until I decide what I want.
 
I will do some more investigating when I get home from work.

 

[geetarman49]

okay, great.
 
it might be more advantageous to undo all your mods and try from scratch with one change at a time.  (i think that was previously recommended or suggested?)

 

[Naim.F.C]

I have a question for those who have modded. Do the mods remove some of the congestion and muffle from the default T50RP's? I like the tonal balance and bass control (lacks in quantity though) but feel the veil and murkiness over the overall sound is what diminishes the overall quality in the headphone. Would be interesting to know if the mods can fix this.

 

[sharkz]

 
Quote:

okay, great.
 
it might be more advantageous to undo all your mods and try from scratch with one change at a time.  (i think that was previously recommended or suggested?)

That's kind of what I have been doing. Well the reversible ones anyway. The driver filter removal isn't reversible and there is no way I am removing all the clay I put in the cups. It was hard enough to remove the bluetak I had in them.
 
Tonight I will start with covering the driver with felt and closing the vents from the outside. Then I will add felt on the outside of the driver and maybe some fiber fill again.

 

[geetarman49]

one thing you could try is to start with very small amt of 'venting' and work upwards; iirc, the thunderpants vent is only like 3-4mm dia.

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

I have a question for those who have modded. Do the mods remove some of the congestion and muffle from the default T50RP's? I like the tonal balance and bass control (lacks in quantity though) but feel the veil and murkiness over the overall sound is what diminishes the overall quality in the headphone. Would be interesting to know if the mods can fix this.

yes it does.. The tonal balance and bass control stays about the same, with the bass getting slightly better. Overall they sound less congested and plasticy.. The veil, is still there in my opinion. They are good sounding, but not nearly as clear as my grados.. So, they are veiled compared to those, but on their own, they are still pretty impressive for a closed can, especially such a cheap one. 

 

[sharkz]

Quote:

yes it does.. The tonal balance and bass control stays about the same, with the bass getting slightly better. Overall they sound less congested and plasticy.. The veil, is still there in my opinion. They are good sounding, but not nearly as clear as my grados.. So, they are veiled compared to those, but on their own, they are still pretty impressive for a closed can, especially such a cheap one. 

I think this is about a quarter of my problem with these headphones. I A/B them with my Grados and want them to be as clear, but I just don't think it is possible. The other 3/4 is that they really need to be tuned better. If I can get rid of the congestedness and add some bass, I could definitely be happy with these as an alternate can. Like having a more clear, closed HD650 at 1/3 the price.
 

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

I think this is about a quarter of my problem with these headphones. I A/B them with my Grados and want them to be as clear, but I just don't think it is possible. The other 3/4 is that they really need to be tuned better. If I can get rid of the congestedness and add some bass, I could definitely be happy with these as an alternate can. Like having a more clear, closed HD650 at 1/3 the price.
 

I find them a good closed alternative to my grados. But, then again.. i like my grados sounding a bit different than you do I find the bass on the fostex's very suitable. 
 

 

[mrspeakers]

Grados have a very different sound signature, to be sure.  To my ears they are too bright.  If the Grado sound is what drives you I'm not sure you'll ever achieve "sameness."  And the Grado on ear design always made my ears ache.  I never went and modded them, but back in the day I had them that wasn't so popular, so I may not know what they can truly achieve.
 
For those into orthos, a few of us have these dialed into a sound signature that's like a slightly less transparent LCD-2.  
 
Some people may just never find the sound right.  If one likes the "super lean" Etymotic sound, these are certainly not for you, for example. At least that's my $.02.
 
What I do find is now that I've stopped modding, I just love these things and they're my go-to-phone for most of my listening time.
 
 

 

[200poundsofamp]

Is there a way to tame the peak at 1.5k? I've been able to tune everything else pretty well and these are sounding nice right now, but that still sticks out.
 
Looking through here mrspeakers seems to have done it by using 840 pads and adjusting the port on the back, is that the way to go?

 

[sharkz]

I put my original piece of thin blue felt back over the driver with no internal damping besides plastacine and a piece of thicker black under the pads and the bass is back. This is also with the vents totally closed from a piece of electrical tape on the outside. I could live with this level of bass, I just would like a slightly more open sound. Hopefully the paxmate will help with that.

 

[leeperry]

I put my original piece of thin blue felt back over the driver with no internal damping besides plastacine and a piece of thicker black under the pads and the bass is back. This is also with the vents totally closed from a piece of electrical tape on the outside. I could live with this level of bass, I just would like a slightly more open sound. Hopefully the paxmate will help with that.

Paxmate provides wonderful unbloated bass, I was the one who introduced it to this thread and it's the perfect acoustic foam for the T50RP(but it supposedly sucks for its original purpose, hah). I can hardly believe how good this phone sounds w/ newplast+akasa off a good source...it's a sin! A best kept secret, a secret weapon of some kind ^^
 
and kudos to dyna10x for the newplast tip, as there's nothing better than hard proofs: http://qualia.webs.com/dampingfactor.htm

Is there a way to tame the peak at 1.5k? I've been able to tune everything else pretty well and these are sounding nice right now, but that still sticks out.

sounds like cup resonances...you need acoustic foam.

 

[andrewjuguete]

Does anyone have any spare paxmate they'd be willing to sell?  I've got a pair coming in a few days.

 

[b0wl1ng]

I have the Grado 325i, and through my set up of Imod and Stepdance the modded  Fostex are in a different league to the Grados in every aspect except the high treble, its a none contest when it comes to detail, mids and low end bass.  

 

[sharkz]

Would cup resonances be causing high frequency sibilance? Listening to rock music with electric guitars or Neil Young (his voice during higher notes) I definitely have some sibilance or what I could also describe as high frequency breakup occuring. This is with fully plastacined cups (rear and front baffles), the opened driver with felt over the back, felt in front of the driver, and closed vents (although fully opening them made no difference, it only killed off some bass).
 
Has anyone else experienced this? I am very happy with where these are otherwise. Bass extension is now good and the highs would be fine if not for the sibilance.