[hans030390]

Quote:

 
That said, I'm just going to wait on the desktop model, I have absolutely no need for a portable amp this big.  Even the Fiio E7 is pushing it for me.

Yeah, I'm trying to decide if I should wait for the desktop model with the integrated DAC or just pick up an O2 amp now and use my Auzentech Bravura sound card as the DAC.
 
Actually, I'm wondering if the O2 amp would sound noticeably better than the integrated amp in the Bravura. The amp in the Bravura sounds good to my ears and seems to measure out fairly well.
 

 

[wdahm519]

I don't understand why you guys don't just build both? I understand if money's tight, but for $60ish for a portable O2 that you can "grab and go", and another $80-$100 for the desktop version with a DAC, its a great solution to having a similar sound on the road and at home. 
 
I guess maybe I do more portable audio than other people do since I find myself on the go more than having time to sit down and really listen to music these days.  Either way, its something you guys should consider. 

 

[RexAeterna]

pray tell.

i'm sorry, but that will remain confidential till farther notice. please stand by.

 

[dogwan]

Quote:

Yeah I guess, but when you think about it only costing around $75 in parts (with the Tenergy batteries, 080 box, and faceplate), you're paying $60 alone in assembly fee for less than 3 hours of work.  That's over $20/hr. 

Really? Is $20/hr. that bad for professional services? Can you get your lawn mowed in an hour for $20? Mechanics charge upwards of $80/hr. Shop rate for a custom cabinet shop is around $75.
 
It never ceases to amaze me how people resent others for trying to make a decent wage for something that takes a little skill (I know we're a DIY community and the skill involved is minor for us). I bet that JDS assemble them in batches so that they get an economy of scale going. However, there are also other parts to the equation; rent, lights, heat, administration time, packing and shipping, etc, etc.  Even if they had the enough orders to do the O2's full time, $20/hr = 41,600/yr. Seems like a reasonable living wage to me.
 

 

[SobbingWallet]

If you get paid more than $20/hour, it would also be more economical to spend the 3 hours doing your own job instead, where you're in your element.  DIY is fun and educational, but there's nothing wrong with division of labor, either.  Besides, not everyone owns a soldering gun in the first place...and if you want to verify your work, you need at least a multimeter too...and you could be out parts if your soldering job goes south, so you might want to spend more to get spares.
 
All of the little stuff can add up if this might be your only DIY electronics project ever.  (Not everyone who enjoys audio really wants to become an audio or electronics hobbyist.)  It's not a huge investment, but if you don't plan on using the tools ever again, it's barely cheaper than paying someone to build the amp for you.
 
I love my O2, and I would have made it myself if necessary rather than getting something else...but I'm glad I had the lazy, stress-free prebuilt option available to me as well.
 
BTW, more on topic:  Thank you SKULL for the Paxmate/Fatmat/plasticine.  I took him up on his offer a few pages back, and he delivered a healthy quantity quickly for a very fair price.  I wouldn't hesitate to recommend buying from him!

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

You mean like ordering the PCB and front panel from JDS Labs together?  The case is up to your disgression on what you want to use, but if you want to use the 080 or whatever, Digikey has it. 
 
You can't really expect a DIY project to be as easy as "here's everything" and its done.  People buy amps completed for a reason: They're lazy.  If you're lazy, you'll find yourself purchasing an amp.  If you're not lazy, you can DIY.  Making 10 more clicks with your mouse to get the rest of the parts you need is pretty darn easy.  I don't see why you're complaining about it so much.

The biggest problem I have from ordering from several different locations is that shipping tends to add up...it might not be such a huge deal in the united states, but stuff always costs far more to ship to Canada.  For example, my T50RP cost me $100 just to get a stock pair...
 
Although I still do understand that even if I end up spending $150 getting everything I need for the amp it will still probably be cheaper than anything else that compares, it's still pretty expensive for me.
 
I do understand the appeal of having a portable amp since I often carry my headphones around the house with me, but it's hard for me to justify buying two of pretty much the same amp...because again, I'm not made out of money.  If I could afford it though, it would be nice to have both...but the "portable" aspect of the O2 is kind of a joke.  Maybe if a company like, say, Fiio were to make a smaller surface-mount version, then it would probably be more reasonable.
 
edit: uh I just realized how off-topic this has gotten, I apologize.

 

[marioman94]

So I understand how ordering the parts work and it seems like a pretty cheap deal to put one together myself. I'm also assuming that soldering is easy, given a little research. But it won't fit in an altoids tin? I kinda like how it looks and easy access.
 
or could I get a cMoyBB instead? How good is it compared to o2? And what kind of improvement would I see over a fiio e6 for my T50rp?

 

[DoubleDip]

Been following this thread for so long and created an account because of a very minor problem. After opening and modding my T50RP, my hands get kind of sweaty when I'm about to close it. I accidentally placed my thumb on the thin fabric on the front side of the drivers when I'm closing it and now there is a gob of sweat stuck to it. I tried using 99% rubbing alcohol but that didn't do much and wondering if anyone know how to get the now dry sweat off the fabric?

 

[Twinster]

Long time no post here but I have been experimenting with different configuration and I would like to share a new mod That is very successful in my setup. I used thin cardboard stripe to make a "Sound Wave Reflection Filter" behind the driver and the result is very good (IMO).
 
Basically I removed the cotton and fiberfill and line the cup with Paxmate and add this round cardboard filter behind the driver. Try it and let me know what you think.
 
Here's some picture of it.
 

 

 

[marioman94]

omg that looks awesome! pretty sure there's some cardboard lying around my house and I'll try this if i find some. currently I have paxmate in the bottom of the cup and teased cottonballs around the sides of the cup. (thanks to Unwise for that suggestion!) With transpore it's the cleanest sounding mod I've heard except for a peak at 1kHz that never seems to go away. It's also a little bit bass-light. This cardboard wheel would fit perfectly in the center of the cotton ring in the cups, so cross my fingers I might just be done modding them
 
Quote:

Long time no post here but I have been experimenting with different configuration and I would like to share a new mod That is very successful in my setup. I used thin cardboard stripe to make a "Sound Wave Reflection Filter" behind the driver and the result is very good (IMO).
 
Basically I removed the cotton and fiberfill and line the cup with Paxmate and add this round cardboard filter behind the driver. Try it and let me know what you think.
 
Here's some picture of it.
 

 

 

 

[Twinster]

After posting my last mod I just listen and listen randomly and could not believed the improvement on my setup. I did a few other thing beside the sound wave reflection filter but I can tell you that I finally get the deep and control bass I was waiting for. I'm just amazed how this little ortho driver perform. Fostex can design some good stuff.
 
 
Quote:

omg that looks awesome! pretty sure there's some cardboard lying around my house and I'll try this if i find some. currently I have paxmate in the bottom of the cup and teased cottonballs around the sides of the cup. (thanks to Unwise for that suggestion!) With transpore it's the cleanest sounding mod I've heard except for a peak at 1kHz that never seems to go away. It's also a little bit bass-light. This cardboard wheel would fit perfectly in the center of the cotton ring in the cups, so cross my fingers I might just be done modding them
 


 

 
 

 

[hans030390]

I think I am close to dialing these in where I want them for now. For anyone who has not been keeping up with my mods, here are my three most important previous posts on my mods (in order of most recent to least recent): 1 2 3
 
Since I do not have a way to measure these out, I can only judge with my imperfect ears. They might sound awful in reality, but they sound quite wonderful to my ears currently.
 
The bass is easily audible down to about 30Hz and has just enough weight and punch for everything I throw at it. I threw on "Derezzed" from the Tron: Legacy soundtrack and was really digging how these represented the bass in the track. Opeth's Ghost Reveries album has a very punchy, dynamic, thick sound without overdoing it. I've found it very difficult to get a proper balance with this album, and the modded T50RP seems to do it wonderfully. Very nice.
 
The mids seem to be properly in line with the bass. Lush, textured, and simply wonderful to listen to. Treble is nice and detailed without sounding too sibilant, bright, or artificial. Overall, these simply sound natural. The music makes the headphones disappear with ease. They are surprisingly spacious sounding with a very coherent, decent-sized soundstage and good imaging. All instruments and aspects of the music are clearly differentiated with nice separation. They seem "faster" than other headphones I've listened to. They are not always extremely 3D sounding, but headphones rarely are.
 
I don't want to take too much time describing them, because these are just my impressions. My impressions are likely biased and potentially no where close to reality. That said, I do believe my T50RPs in their current state offer sound quality on a level beyond any other gear I've heard. Now, that's not saying much. The nicest pair of headphones I've heard are the D2000s and HD598. I have a decent 2.1 setup as well (dedicated DIY bookshelf speakers and sub, EQed to boost known weaknesses in the bookshelf speakers) along with a nice car stereo setup (also DIY). My experience with other audio gear is relatively limited! I do like to think I have good ears, though, and I'm no stranger to music (played piano for 9 years, guitar for 4, love to sing and am at least decent at it).
 
I ran some sine sweeps on these (using SineGen), and I was having a hard time detecting any noticeable dips and peaks. It seems like they lightly "peak" around 100-200Hz, with a slow roll-off down to about 30-40Hz and a fairly even/flat sound up until 7-9KHz, where there appears to be a big dip. This seems almost universal with these headphones though, much like the peak at 10KHz. This is far from a perfectly accurate method of testing the frequency response of a headphone, though. But, for now, I'm very satisfied. I have no itch to go in and mess with them anymore, though I will be comparing them with the Brainwavz HM5 (FA-003 copy) once I get those in. I may adjust things after that.
 
Anyway, enough of all that. I don't think people are even trying this out, but here's what I've done so far:
 
1. Silverstone acoustic foam completely lining the cups (cut neatly, no draping, maximizing internal cup volume, cover center post)
 
2. Felt removed from cup vents, covered all but the bottom-most slit in Silverstone acoustic foam. Leave that bottom vent slit open (covering it with cotton, step 3, is recommended)!
 
3. Take 5-6 regular sized cotton balls (per cup), tease them apart completely, and place half of that in the cups evenly. Then take a thin layer of fiberloft and place that over the cotton. Repeat this. In the end, you'll have 5-6 teased cotton balls in each cup with 2 thin layers of fiberloft thrown in the mix (one in middle of cotton, one in front of cotton facing the back of the driver). It should take some light force to close the cups in the end.
 
4. Plasticine in the back of the driver baffle
 
5. Silverstone acoustic foam covering most of the plasticine
 
6. ~3mm wool felt on the back of the drivers (Original paper/felt removed. No reflex dots either). Cut out a square/rectangle in the middle of the wool felt (matched up with the center square on the back of the drivers, see previous post for example picture). This felt is quite a bit different than anything I've seen in the local stores.
 
7. Felt removed from the ear-side baffle (keep protective mesh in front of driver). Make sure the screws holding the driver in place are tight.
 
8. One layer of Dynamat on the ear-side baffle. Cover the open hole near the driver.
 
9. One layer of Silverstone acoustic foam covering the entire ear-side baffle (except for driver, outer screw holes, etc).
 
10. 840 earpads. No stuffing in the backs or anything like that.
 
11. Cover the 3 vents you closed off inside with duct tape or electrical tape on the outside of the cups. (This probably doesn't make a difference at all)
 
12. Take a mechanical pencil and poke the lead out a bit (paperclip would also work). Poke all along the cotton through the open vent, just enough so that the cotton does not push up against the vent so hard.
 
13. Use tape to tune the vent and sound to your liking. On my setup, I keep the bottom vent "open". (Updated 1/1/2012)
 
14. Side note: Make sure your cups/baffle are screwed on and tightened properly. I've noticed that sometimes it won't close completely if you don't pay attention.
 
If anyone wants to try this out, I can send them some of that 3mm wool felt I'm using for cheap (though it's super cheap on Amazon). Fiberloft is pretty easy to get, but you probably only really need just cotton in the cups.
 
I'm really loving how these are sounding! Hopefully someone else will try this out. 

 

[symphonic]

Sweet looking gadget Twinster. Have you also tried having the corrugation face the driver? 
 
Quote:

Long time no post here but I have been experimenting with different configuration and I would like to share a new mod That is very successful in my setup. I used thin cardboard stripe to make a "Sound Wave Reflection Filter" behind the driver and the result is very good (IMO).
 
Basically I removed the cotton and fiberfill and line the cup with Paxmate and add this round cardboard filter behind the driver. Try it and let me know what you think.
 
Here's some picture of it.
 

 

 

 

[hans030390]

I also have some advice regarding the suspension headband mod. I followed LFF's instructions with paper, but I think I folded mine one less time than he did in the end. Mine is almost square shaped, and his looks more "thin". Either way, I basically wrapped that paper in a layer of black duct tape before punching holes in the ends. I figured this would look better and be much sturdier. I then took one of the stock earpads from the T50RP and cut the "flap" off around the edges of the pads. I then used duct tape (rolled it back on itself) to secure the neutered stock earpad to the underside of the suspension headband. 
 
It looks really, really goofy, and the stock headband is extended upwards as much as possible. However, the earpad acts as a really nice cushion for my head! I found that the suspension headband itself, while still much more comfortable than the stock headband, made the top of my head hurt after a while. The earpad cushion has minimized the problem!

 

[symphonic]

I have also been spotted with earpads on top of my head. You are not alone in your insanity! +1 for donuts.
Quote:

It looks really, really goofy, and the stock headband is extended upwards as much as possible. However, the earpad acts as a really nice cushion for my head! I found that the suspension headband itself, while still much more comfortable than the stock headband, made the top of my head hurt after a while. The earpad cushion has minimized the problem!