[kingoftown1]

I placed an order with Front End Audio this past Tuesday.  I spoke with them directly, and while they didn't make any promises, they said that September 9th was the last thing they'd been told by Fostex.

 

[deadspider187]

Same here.  Ordered Saturday.

 

[Sardonyx]

Quote:

well then, who's going to be the 1st to start the t40 run ..?

That would be be me.  I've had my T40's for a couple of weeks, but I've been too busy to do anything with them.  I opened the cups today, here's what I found:
Remove the earpads, the bottom of the right side baffle has a white ink stamp:  1H24
The circuit "ribbons" are labled
 
Foster
dp29
sz1d
 
there is a paint dot next to the + wire solder pads, that's sort of a pinkish-purplish color.  On the corner of the baffle, right next to the driver, there is an orange paint dot.  I can't see anything else that looks any different from the pics posted elsewhere in this thread.
 
I have Dynamat, acoustic foam is on the way, and I hope to get some felt tomorrow.

 

[geetarman49]

Excellent!  pls take pix (if you can) and keep a running history of everything you hear and mod.
i'm sure we will be all ears as you tell us 'the rest of the story'
 
you're probably aware, but since the type of felt seems to make a significant difference, try to obtain different densities/thicknesses of felt to experiment.
 
Quote:

That would be be me.  I've had my T40's for a couple of weeks, but I've been too busy to do anything with them.  I opened the cups today, here's what I found:
Remove the earpads, the bottom of the right side baffle has a white ink stamp:  1H24
The circuit "ribbons" are labled
 
Foster
dp29
sz1d
 
there is a paint dot next to the + wire solder pads, that's sort of a pinkish-purplish color.  On the corner of the baffle, right next to the driver, there is an orange paint dot.  I can't see anything else that looks any different from the pics posted elsewhere in this thread.
 
I have Dynamat, acoustic foam is on the way, and I hope to get some felt tomorrow.

 

 

[sharkz]

What have people here done to make the headband more comfortable? I am looking into using a belt, Thunderpants style, but am wondering if anyone has done anything else. That's my biggest problem now, the headband just doesn't feel good after more than an hour of listening.

 

[leeperry]

What have people here done to make the headband more comfortable? I am looking into using a belt, Thunderpants style, but am wondering if anyone has done anything else. That's my biggest problem now, the headband just doesn't feel good after more than an hour of listening.

Bend it w/ a sharper angle, shaped like an egg. It will also improve the SQ slightly, due to a better seal.

 

[glt]

Quote:

What have people here done to make the headband more comfortable? I am looking into using a belt, Thunderpants style, but am wondering if anyone has done anything else. That's my biggest problem now, the headband just doesn't feel good after more than an hour of listening.

I use a leather band I cut (a flexible belt would work too) and affixed it by replacing the screws that holds the cups to the band with longer screws. The band needs to be flexible enough to adjust well to the contour of your head
 

 

[ambchang]

I just stuffed the earpads with acoustic foam, and the seal is quite a bit better than before.  I felt the bass is a little tighter than before, and comfort is infinitely better.
 
Still have issues with the highs, still has that "veil" to it.  I guess I haven't much choice by to rip the white cloth out.
 
Also with regards to the headband, I will try to do something as well, not sure if I should just get some leather, stuff it with foam and sew it together to the headband.

 

[joelpearce]

Quote:

 
Still have issues with the highs, still has that "veil" to it.  I guess I haven't much choice by to rip the white cloth out.
 

Make sure you have a nice thick material to replace it with.  A better choice might be to cover part of the vent if you haven't already, or add a small reflex dot somewhere over the white cloth.  Two things to try before you do something permanent to them.
 
 

 

[KneelJung]

Quote:

BlueMonkey, I tweeked endlessly until I screwed up the courage to cut out the white felt.  Until then, I kept making improvements but after extended listening something would bug me and feel out of balance.  Losing the white felt and replacing it with a stiff and thicker felt had a dramatic improvement in sound.  
 
You will definitely want the Akasa back in there, and also to cover up most of the port when you make this mod.  Switching to the 840 earpads are also a big step up.
 

 
Quote:

It takes a sharp exacto knife and some care, after doing a few I can now "peel" it off, but you can also cut out the squares 1 at a time.  
 
It's not reversible, which is why many don't take the plunge, but it is what really allows the bass and mids to snap, and takes the edge off the treble.
 

Got a little more reading in tonight. When I get my T50's back I'm going to go ahead and renove the white felt. I just loaned them to another head fier along with my woodied SR60. From there his woodied 60's along with mine and the T50 are being forwarded to Tyll. Sending the phones to Tyll was more about finding out how the SR60's measured, the T50's just went along for the ride. The head fier I loaned them to does have an LCD-2 too though, so a couple of different impressions will be being generated. His 60 versus my 60 and his ortho versus my ortho. Then Tylls measurements to give me a reference point for more tweaking of the T50.
 
What pads do you like better on your Rastapants, the Shure's or the o2's?
 

 

[Reticuli2]

I think maybe I should have Smeggy thunderize my t50rp.  Then I can send them to Tyll again.  Then we'll have before and after tests of a specific unit.  Might give a better perspective.  And two t50rp tests (already done) combined with two Smeggy thunderpants tests will get rid of possible random variations.  I'm conflicted as to whether I should pay $500 for an ESP 950 or just go Thunderpants.  Not much data on the ESP (one vague response sweep and nothing else) and some pretty good results on the Smeggy mods.  Any other better way to spend $250-500?

 

[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

 

Got a little more reading in tonight. When I get my T50's back I'm going to go ahead and renove the white felt. I just loaned them to another head fier along with my woodied SR60. From there his woodied 60's along with mine and the T50 are being forwarded to Tyll. Sending the phones to Tyll was more about finding out how the SR60's measured, the T50's just went along for the ride. The head fier I loaned them to does have an LCD-2 too though, so a couple of different impressions will be being generated. His 60 versus my 60 and his ortho versus my ortho. Then Tylls measurements to give me a reference point for more tweaking of the T50.
 
What pads do you like better on your Rastapants, the Shure's or the o2's?
 

 

 

[leeperry]

I think maybe I should have Smeggy thunderize my t50rp.  Then I can send them to Tyll again.  Then we'll have before and after tests of a specific unit.  Might give a better perspective.

You can't measure soundstage or subjective SQ, what could be the point? I'm sure the T1 must measure amazingly well, but many ppl can't stand how harsh and emotionless it sounds....you can't measure SQ.
 

 

[Reticuli2]

[size=10pt]Crosstalk of the jack, transient response (especially ringing), and distortion harmonics all can give you information on the limitations of imaging. Additional phasing tests, such as done by that Japanese dude, are also helpful. In the end, it’s mostly whether a headphone is open or closed once the placement is accurate & undistorted enough and the drivers have been closely match (through a number of criteria) as to how big it gets.  Imaging is the least of my concerns, though. Headphone imaging "size" is varying types of inferior. [/size]
 
[size=10pt]The Beyerdynamic T1 seems to repeatedly measure in a way that pretty closely matches what people are hearing when you compare its measurements to other headphones.  Have you looked at them?  Slightly exaggerated impulse response.  Larger peak in the 9khz range than normal.  Little bit of a spike on the leading edges of the square waves. The low-end performance does not test amazingly, though it's o.k. and above average, and that could contribute to a lack of “balance” against the treble peak. That’s consistent with some people saying it’s a little bright.  Several units have also tested significantly different, and that lack of consistency could also be contributing to varying & seemingly conflicting opinions on this headphone.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]I'm not denying there is more to sound than what can be currently (and probably ever) measured. But good measurements show the bare minimum and limitations of a design. I'm taking them as the first step and threshold that should be passed, especially considering the brain's ability to compensate or blur over certain inaccuracies as you adapt to headphones. Any amount of *that* you can prevent, the better. If your brain's filtering out the headphone errors, then it's probably filtering out some of the "music", too.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]And the more measurements, by the more people, with a larger number of comparisons to other headphones (within each tester/measuring gear group), the better.  So we have Tyll, that Rat sound guy, and the Japanese guy who are all putting useful information out there.  I suspect if more companies designing headphones did this sort of thing, there’d be better headphones being sold. [/size]

 

[leeperry]

We all have different ears shapes, whatever external, middle or inner...also, some ppl don't have their two ear canals shaped in the same way...I rest my case that those measurements are meaningless to the utmost as this all means that their ear resonances will be different, meaning that each individual will hear them very differently. Also, do left-handed and right-handed ppl hear in the exact same way? Their brains are wired drastically differently, and it's been proven that lefties see faster and righties hear faster.