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

[RexAeterna]

I made myself leave the house so I wouldn't outbid you and get a second pair .  Hope you enjoy them!

 

thanks bud! yea i hope i enjoy them as well. first time i actually got a chance to get pair for myself them being out of stock for long time so i kinda forgot about them. they were on my recommended list on ebay is only way i actually remembered and i decided to place a bid with only minute left. wasn't expecting to win for such a low price.

 

[leeperry]

 

compared to the fanboyism I've heard about them on this forum I think they are kind of "meh."

They're very much "meh" out of the box, I even put them for sale....it's only after blutack'ing the baffle that I started seeing the light. And yes we're pretty much all fanboys here in the sense that we are willing to buy sources and amps far more expensive than the phone itself, because once fully pimped and fed off a killer rig, it'd take quite a lot of cash to ridicule it. And personally I cannot stand dual entry headphones, and all the top tiers orthos are...so T50RP it is

 

This has been driven into the ground, but these headphones pretty much need an amp.

IME, they need opamps w/ at least 50mA output...otherwise they sound "thin" and deep bass is inexistent.
 

Do not use Monoprice cable!

These IC's are too heavy for headphones use anyway, ppl can complain about stock cables all they want but they virtually feel wireless compared to those thick IC's or ridiculous quad braid audiophool bs that goes against every physics rule in the book(signal crosstalk, etc).
 

I put mine on once. I never wanna take if off again. =-) Every time I think about modding it in another way, I just end up thinking "nah."

 
Same here, there are so many things I should/will/may try, but well

 
When I get the AcoustiPak, I'll try to find the motivation to mod one of my spares.
 

 

 

Rolled up and glued Kleenex pad "lifters" under Shure 840 pads bring out more detail. Shure 840 pads seal much tighter than stock pads and are more comfortable than stock pads.

 

Optional: Try different diameters and lengths of pad "lifters" to find the one best for you.

I personally use these to angle earpads, they're immune to sweat: http://www.amazon.com/Bormioli-Fido-Canning-Replacement-Gaskets/dp/B0001BMYIE
 
You can stack them, cut them, shape them all you want. I guess Amazon will soon put them with the 840 pads and plasticine as recommended items when you buy a T50RP

 

[symphonic]

Quote:

if i do mod then i most likely rewire them as well for balanced 4-pin XLR like rest of my headphones and use them off of speaker outputs to power them. i usually always tend to rewire my headphones atleast for speaker output uses. if i do then i'll mod them when i rewire them.

 
Are any additional resistors etc needed when you do this? Or do you just use very so levels from the power amp?

 

[FlySweep]

Compared to the fanboyism I've heard about them on this forum I think they are kind of "meh."  The low end is lacking a bit for my taste.  The top end is fairly smooth and linear, but there is a certain frequency band in the mid-to-high range that is a little irritating. 

Of course they sound "meh" out of the box.. nobody is "fanboying" them in stock form.  The praise they're getting is when they're modded properly.

 

[RexAeterna]

Are any additional resistors etc needed when you do this? Or do you just use very so levels from the power amp?

you can apply resistors but for solid state gear it's not needed unless it was running off of op-amps. tubes you most likely defiantly need to use resistors to match the impedances of the power transformers cause tubes highly rely on the power transformers for current and impedance match cause tubes can only produce milliamps and not amperes and it's the power transformers that give the tubes their output impedance.

solid state the output impedance is always close to 0 and the power transformer mostly just blocks EMI signals and insists on impedance matching and delivering amps/current so impedance loads from any headphone be no sweat for the amp. depending on how powerful the power amp is and sensitivity of the headphone you might run in gain issues(by what i mean is very high gain). resistors just might help with making the amp see a certain load so you get better gain control but if your amp have very high S/N ratio and maybe a -20db muting switch then you'll have no issues with background noise or insanely high volume levels.

i just hook all my headphones directly in the back of the speaker outputs of my amps with no issues. the box i made also for speaker outputs is just straight wire tied from the 1/4'' TRS jack to the left and right speaker posts. very simple box and works well. i use it on headphones i test or headphones i don't feel like or don't want re-wiring. i made it for my pioneer monitor 10's originally cause the plug on them was awesome and wanted to use them off speaker outputs without doing a re-cabling job on the headphone itself.

 

[RexAeterna]

Of course they sound "meh" out of the box.. nobody is "fanboying" them in stock form.  The praise they're getting is when they're modded properly.

when i get my pair i will fanboy about them hard just to annoy everyone and show how uber cool they are in original stock form. be prepared......for awesomeness.

 

[SoulSyde]

You sir are my favorite person of the day. 

 
Don't get me wrong everyone, they're good headphones I just didn't see the "WOW!" as described in the thread title.  If I feel so inclined to mod them, we'll see...

 

[burgunder]

I most say that I like them straight out of the box (I find them just as good as AKG K340) but I'm mostly listening to a variety of jazz where the lack of the bass is not apparent, but the sound is very coherent with a black background and good detail even with the rolled of treble. They fit rather good on my head and ears and I only get a minor discomfort on my scalp after many hours. I have placed some cottonwool in  the cups, but I have not A/Bed with my stock pair yt. And I think I rather go for a full woody than place something based on petroleum jelly, calcium salts and aliphatic acids inside the cups with the drivers, but perhaps I'm just being paranoid. It might be an idea to make some new baffles if people are going the CNC or 3D-print some replacement parts. 

 

[drexman]

bluemonkeyflyer, why not put paxmate on the "pillar" in the center of the cups? also, do you put cotton on it or around it?
did you try mrspeaker's rastapants 2i and did mrspeakers try BMF? what did you guys think about the other mod?

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

bluemonkeyflyer, why not put paxmate on the "pillar" in the center of the cups? also, do you put cotton on it or around it?
did you try mrspeaker's rastapants 2i and did mrspeakers try BMF? what did you guys think about the other mod?

Good question. Why not? I tuned this configuration to sound good to me. Try it both ways, modify it as suggested, and decide what sounds better to you.

Edit: I cut squares of cotton of different dimensions as described. I placed the cotton squares on top of the cup bottoms, paxmate, central pillar, and naked bass ports.

 

[macm75]

Has there been any discussion of inconsistencies between phones out of the box?  No matter what I do to these they sound congested and undynamic.  I started down a BMF road then a RP1, RP2 mode and although they change a little with each mod, I just do not get any air or transparency and get no cohesiveness to the music - like instruments are not grouped together.  Mids, in particular, are not clear no matter what I try.  Again, curious if there is any discussion of quality control with the T50RP.

 

[SoulSyde]

Speaking of quality control, I am experiencing intermittent cut-out in the left channel due to the right angle connector at the headphone.

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

Has there been any discussion of inconsistencies between phones out of the box?  No matter what I do to these they sound congested and undynamic.  I started down a BMF road then a RP1, RP2 mode and although they change a little with each mod, I just do not get any air or transparency and get no cohesiveness to the music - like instruments are not grouped together.  Mids, in particular, are not clear no matter what I try.  Again, curious if there is any discussion of quality control with the T50RP.

I have many sets and they are very similar.  The mods are very specific and if they are not implemented completely usually sound very off....

 

[yipcanjo]

Anyone have thoughts on this?
 
Quote:

As with most folks here, now that I've got my T50RP's sounding like I like them, well....it's time to do something completely different

Anyhow, I'm curious about the internal and external shape of the ear cups -- when fashioned out of wood.  This coming week, I'm going to get some "lathe time" which I'd like to use for making some new ear cups + baffles.  The external look I like is very similar to Funch's "Plastic Pantz" mod -- very cylindrical and flat at the sides.  Clean, straight, and not bulbous.  Just my personal preference. 
 
Here's a picture (with wood baffle attached -- courtesy of Funch)...


 
Here are my questions.
 

• For the external portion of the ear cup, could I make the outside face of the ear cup (where the strap assembly joins) even flatter than the Plastic Pantz version?  In other words, rather than being slightly domed (as in the photo above), could it be flat or nearly flat, or would that affect the movement of where the head strap connects to the ear cup?
• For the internal portion of the ear cup, how bored out does it really need to be?  Obviously enough to fit the driver, but it is desirable to have it as hollowed out as it can be, or less so?  I suppose if you hollow it out most of the way, then you can always add more material to dampen the sound, if you like.  It gives you more option that way.
• Does the baffle need to be plywood, as most people seem to recommend?  What if I chose to use maple instead -- is that less strong, or somehow else undesirable?

 
Thank you very much for your help.  Looking forward to this next project!

 

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

Speaking of quality control, I am experiencing intermittent cut-out in the left channel due to the right angle connector at the headphone.

I had that problem at first too, but after fiddling with it for awhile the problem appears to have completely disappeared...