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

[dogears]

Stupendous Fostex Modder!

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I would appreciate these too mr speakers. Since you've modded 5 pair, I think I'm going to start with your mod. And work from there

 

 

[dogears]

Agree to this.
 
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The highs only turned sharper because of the covering. Load some felt or foam behind the driver.

 

 

[steelle]

 

Has anyone compared the various mods?We have Thunderpants, Faust's, dBel84's, Sachu's, Botbytes, Dogears, Mrspeakers, LFF, fishski13...  Wondering if i should bother with making cups and making pads, leaving stock cups and buying pads, leaving stock and making pads, different dampening schemes, etc.
 
I just got my pair in yesterday, and have been burning them in to get a feel for them before I start modding.  I plan on dampening the cup (not sure what clay to use, or maybe blutak), and putting transpore over the felt on the back of the driver (over the four corners of the white felt, like sachu did).  Then either buying 880 pads or making bot's pleather pads...  I'm in socal so if anyone wants to do a lil swapsie I'm down. 
 
 
 Faust - http://wiki.faust3d.com/wiki/images/thumb/4/48/T50RP_m2.jpg/463px-T50RP_m2.jpg
 dBel84 - http://www.head-fi.org/t/111193/orthodynamic-roundup/8805#post_5464735
Sachu - http://www.head-fi.org/t/501773/thunderpants/540#post_6898179
botbyte - http://www.head-fi.org/t/559233/review-fostex-t50rp-it-s-been-needing-a-review/60#post_7729867
dogears - http://www.head-fi.org/t/452404/just-listened-to-some-fostex-t50rps-today-wow/2445#post_7748868
mrspeakers - http://www.head-fi.org/t/452404/just-listened-to-some-fostex-t50rps-today-wow/2445#post_7746934
fishski13 - http://www.head-fi.org/t/452404/just-listened-to-some-fostex-t50rps-today-wow/2415#post_7743906
 
 
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[BotByte]

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Has anyone compared the various mods?We have Thunderpants, Faust's, dBel84's, Sachu's, Botbytes, Dogears, Mrspeakers, LFF, fishski13...  Wondering if i should bother with making cups and making pads, leaving stock cups and buying pads, leaving stock and making pads, different dampening schemes, etc.
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There isn't much difference. I've tried several different combos and found what works for me.
 
The acoustic glue can be substitute for blutak. Felt has varying degrees of use. I found it worse for me. Cut and place dampening adds nothing, I found it better to just add a smear of thick blutak over the backing.
 
Now the pads are different. Some people double over, some scrape a spare off another can and slap and I made my own. I need to make new ones soon too.
 
But, what we all found were different can we all enjoy it.
 
I can say, mine has more clarity, more detail and more soundstage. The bass isn't impacting as much as some would hope, but enough to give it feel while also detailing it. Mids are recessed and need to be EQed a bit to brign back. Small bump. And the highs are a little sharp, but that's my taste.
 
 
btw: I got my back up pair. They were good looking cans before modding, ya know?

 

[200poundsofamp]

You liking having the white felt off the driver so far Botbyte?
 
Mine are identical to mrspeakers except for that, no craft felt over the driver either, and they're pretty dark compared to my srh840. I'm wondering if it would make them even darker still.

 

[turimbar1]

I am itching to see how the Rastapants mods measure and what secrets LFF has hidden away. Those were some impressive waterfall plots, and LFF really has an ear for perfection.

 

[dogears]

I have the hunch that all these modding will result to different sound sig since we are tweaking for our own taste. That's the best thing about T50RP. It's very affordable then you get one and mod it to your taste. A headphone that stupendously adapting to the sound that you love!

 

[BotByte]

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You liking having the white felt off the driver so far Botbyte?
 
Mine are identical to mrspeakers except for that, no craft felt over the driver either, and they're pretty dark compared to my srh840. I'm wondering if it would make them even darker still.

Bass impact was lost, but more blutak gained that back. I haven't even replaced the felt, might never.


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I have the hunch that all these modding will result to different sound sig since we are tweaking for our own taste. That's the best thing about T50RP. It's very affordable then you get one and mod it to your taste. A headphone that stupendously adapting to the sound that you love!

That's the point.
 

 

[fishski13]

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Has anyone compared the various mods?We have Thunderpants, Faust's, dBel84's, Sachu's, Botbytes, Dogears, Mrspeakers, LFF, fishski13...  Wondering if i should bother with making cups and making pads, leaving stock cups and buying pads, leaving stock and making pads, different dampening schemes, etc.
 
I just got my pair in yesterday, and have been burning them in to get a feel for them before I start modding.  I plan on dampening the cup (not sure what clay to use, or maybe blutak), and putting transpore over the felt on the back of the driver (over the four corners of the white felt, like sachu did).  Then either buying 880 pads or making bot's pleather pads...  I'm in socal so if anyone wants to do a lil swapsie I'm down. 
 
 
 Faust - http://wiki.faust3d.com/wiki/images/thumb/4/48/T50RP_m2.jpg/463px-T50RP_m2.jpg
 dBel84 - http://www.head-fi.org/t/111193/orthodynamic-roundup/8805#post_5464735
Sachu - http://www.head-fi.org/t/501773/thunderpants/540#post_6898179
botbyte - http://www.head-fi.org/t/559233/review-fostex-t50rp-it-s-been-needing-a-review/60#post_7729867
dogears - http://www.head-fi.org/t/452404/just-listened-to-some-fostex-t50rps-today-wow/2445#post_7748868
mrspeakers - http://www.head-fi.org/t/452404/just-listened-to-some-fostex-t50rps-today-wow/2445#post_7746934
fishski13 - http://www.head-fi.org/t/452404/just-listened-to-some-fostex-t50rps-today-wow/2415#post_7743906
 
 
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i think all of the changes i've done have resulted in a modest improvement, mostly in controlling resonances and tuning the bass to my liking.  i don't think there's an absolute best.  i personally don't want an over-dampened constipated sound either
 
i would at least add some dampening to the baffle, remove the felt on the ear side of the driver and the cup vent, and add some cotton balls or felt to the cup, pulling/stretching the cotton a bit.  i used some Beyer foam from a pair of DT770 pads to protect the drivers.  removing the vent felt allows you to tune/integrate the bass to your liking with tape.  replacing the stock pads will open the sound stage up a bit and give you a little more "air".  angling the pads will give you more center-fill, back to front SS, and give you more treble and focused bass.  trust your ears and experiment.     
 

 

[mrspeakers]

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mrspeakers, thanks for your posts detailing what you did to the T50RP.
 
Do you happen to have any internal pics for a better idea of things?

 
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Search on rastapants
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[Downtheline1973]

I just did my first set of mods to the T40rps. This is the first step for me:
I added modeling clay to the baffle (crayola)
removed the felt on the ear side of the driver,
removed the plastic cover over the vents on the back of the cup,
placed acoustic adhesive backed foam on the back of the cup (Silverstone SST-SF01, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040JHMH6 )
changed the pads for the shure pads
placed a felt dot opposite the driver on the cup.
 
cleaned the contacts with deoxit

 
I can't seem to get the white felt off the back of the driver- perhaps it is not the same as the t50rp?
still need to angle the pads, probably place some felt over the drivers (ear side - even though the shure pads come with some felt stuff).
 
Impressions before mods - bass is present and fast, but low in quantity. Mids are quite nice, detail is present, decent resolution, but metallic/tizzy highs.
After mods: hey there's bass!! even my girlfriend said so. Second thought: I'm selling my 702s. Great tone, mids, detail, balance, bass quantity quality and impact.
Still need to address: highs are still tizzy. Some music gets tiring. Also, I need to add some kind of extra strap for the head band.
 
T50rps are coming soon. I'll give them a head to head. By the way - I like the silver color on the head band posts better than the yellow/gold looking stuff on the t50rps.

 

[b0wl1ng]

As I left the white material intact that is the only mod I did not attempt as its irreversible, so cannot comment on what it would have sounded like, however the constant is that with my completed mods these are the best headphones I have ever heard.
I have owned, and own Senn 650s, Senn 800s, Denon AH-D7000, AH-D5000, Grado 325i and have heard many more.
I just have this nagging feeling that the white material is meant to be there and would be detrimental to sound quality if removed, but I will be getting another set anyway and will remove the white material and compare both sets.
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The white material is actually somewhat air-resistive, so it is loading the driver.  The effect is to reduce the bass and sharpen the sound in the upper mids.  When it's removed the volume of bass becomes overwhelming, which is why the vent needs to be adjusted, but this makes a real difference in the quality of the whole sound spectrum.  And of course makes you tweak a few things to re-balance.
 

 

 

[dogears]

^Will wait for your finding.
 
Mine's completely removed and (noticed) the driver reacts more to the material placed behind the driver.

 

[fishski13]

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As I left the white material intact that is the only mod I did not attempt as its irreversible, so cannot comment on what it would have sounded like, however the constant is that with my completed mods these are the best headphones I have ever heard.
I have owned, and own Senn 650s, Senn 800s, Denon AH-D7000, AH-D5000, Grado 325i and have heard many more.
I just have this nagging feeling that the white material is meant to be there and would be detrimental to sound quality if removed, but I will be getting another set anyway and will remove the white material and compare both sets.


 

 
x2.  these HPs are special.  re: the rear driver white felt - i feel the same way.  please report back on your findings.
 
 

 

[proid]

@mrspeakers: Does the Shure840 pads increase sound quality or just comfort?