[BmWr75]

Quote:

After long time experiment with modding from BMF ver to Rp2 840 ver and my own customization, my pair just sound decent, nothing special. I let some of my friends hear it who is also into headphone hobby and it fail everytime to impress them. I don't know what's wrong? I'm using it with the Millet Starving Student which Smeggy also have and i think it's good enough. I opened my pairs a couple of time reading carefully the modding tutorial and see nothing wrong about it. In fact i have lost my confidence, now i even don't beleive the t50rp modded can compete with the HD650. May be there's something wrong with my equipment or my headphone or my ears, my friend we soon send me his t50rp, i will see how does it sound compare to mine.

My guess is you need more amp.  I drive mine (pretty much a BMF V6.3 mod) with a Ming Da tube amp and and they sound very good.
 
The T50 RPs are 50 ohm cans and require an amp with lots of power to drive them properly.

 

[Magick Man]

Even your 320kbs CBR files?  Normally, a 320kbs CBR file will sound pretty good with minimal degredation.

 

Mostly they were 256kbs MP3s that I've had for years, but now that I have >8TB on my media server I might as well just FLAC them all.

 

[Magick Man]

My guess is you need more amp.  I drive mine (pretty much a BMF V6.3 mod) with a Ming Da tube amp and and they sound very good.

The T50 RPs are 50 ohm cans and require an amp with lots of power to drive them properly.

Mine sound like crap on anything but my EF5, it does a very nice job with them.

 

[Twinster]

Great. I'm sure the classic Sansui will make them sing. They are suppose to be very good for Rock.
 
Just received the Hifiman Leather pad today. I'm trying to install them and get a listen. To be cont....
 
Quote:

 
Simon,  I'm actually at work and had to grab what I could after getting the headphones in the mail this morning.  I'm powering the HE-5LEs with the following:
 
iPod Touch 4G ----> O2 Amplifier ---> HE-5LE Headphones
 
So far, what I'm hearing - or, what my ears are telling me:
 
1) The highs are about on par with my Fostex headphones following the modifications.
 
2) The vocals I'll have to give the nod to the HE-5LE
 
3)  For the low end and the "quality" -- not necessarily "quantity" - I'll give the nod to the HE-5LE.
 
Please keep in mind this is just through listening to these with this one system while I'm  here at work.  Once I get home with my Sansui 881, things might really change.  Also, keep in mind, I purchased the HE-5LE used -- and, did not pay the current $699 price that they are being sold at.  Yes, I'm about ready to go out on the ledge and say that the Hifiman is a better sounding option.  Now, is it worth $400 more in sound?  I can't answer that because sound is unique to each individual and some people will spend more for smaller incremental changes.
 
However, my message to all of the Fostex modfiers out there would be to not give up.  There is so much potential with the Fostex T50RP headphones and $20 in materials - if you don't buy replacement ear pads.  I don't have my Fostex phones with me, so I can't quickly put them on for a quick sound check.  But, I don't think I'd feel horribly crushed and start calling the Fostex a crappy headphone at all.   I think the only way I could or would start to diss the Fostex were to be if I felt I had some superiority complex due to owning a set of higher-level headphones.  The Fostex phones still have a place in my heart.  They're fun to work with and try out the various mods.  Plus, when I've had them on for 2+ hour listening sessions, my ears were never disappointed.
 
 

 

 

[Nevod]

Finished second cup yesterday, but couldn't get gel pads on it at all. Tried using pliers, with limited success, but still wasn't able to pull them on. Will just tape them on today and stuff some cotton under pads to stretch the tape a bit so they won't be loose. Well, I guess that is the only way to have stuffing under the gel pads to lift them - their lips are so short they won't hold if you put anything under them.
 
Tried the mod with stock pads though. One cup had paxmate on ear side, other didn't - removed it while trying to get gel pads on.
Sound has changed indeed, but not really sure how. Some more detail, somewhat too much bass. Paxmated cup seemed to have much more extended highs - probably due to a bit lifted pads - but quantitatively there wasn't much of them. 
Ran some FR tests - 16kHz is heard well, 17 is barely noticeable, but my ears aren't good. On lower side, 33 Hz rumble is heard very well, 25 Hz is okay, 22 is hard to hear. Again, without real pads it's somewhat pointless.
On strange side - sensitivity hasn't really changed, seems to be nearly the same.
 
Mod is as follows:
Cup side:
Plasticine on the inside of baffles
Plasticine around the driver and on it - sealing any possible leaks.
Plasticine in the outer rim of the baffle.
Plasticine seal between cup and baffle after closing them.
Stock white felt intact.
Baffle vent open and unrestricted.
Fiber scrubber square over the driver for dispersion.
Random cardboard thingy over central column - for disperson as well, doubt it makes much though.
Central column filled with plasticine so no leak from there.
Deeper areas of the cup lined with dynamat.
Entire cup (sans outer rim) lined with paxmate.
Random paxmate cubes all around over 1st layer of paxmate.
2 bass ports covered with paxmate.
Paxmate over contact pad.
Paxmate 'walls' over driver's lower angle, about half of driver's length each - attempt to make a 'labyrinth' so no sound would leak directly from driver to  bass ports and would instead travel along whole cup.
3 bass ports closed from outside with tape. No felt on ports, only dust cover like one in front of driver. (I have a T20RP-mk2).
 
On the ear side:
Black felt removed.
Bass lens leaving open only the center square of the driver, made of thin self-adhesive dense felt.
Dynamat around the driver - about the size of the former black felt area, with hole for baffle vent.
Paxmate over dynamat, about the size of the opening in earpad - subject to change.
 
Earpads:
Beyer gel earpads, held by duct tape, with cotton/paxmate lifters and probably paxmate layer on the inside of the pad - also not yet implemented.
 
In the end, I have a question: does anyone have/know a good program or just sound file for sweep tone test, preferably incorporating equal loudness contours?
 

 

[TierAngst]

Your hearing is better than mine, I can't hear a thing over 14khz. Most people over 25 are deaf beyond 15khz.

 

[Nevod]

TierAngst ,
A month or two ago, I've seen a poll on some forum, maybe even here, regarding HF hearing. A lot of people had really good hearing, 17-18k at over 40 years, IIRC.
 
 
I have had some infection in outer ears that had somewhat degraded my hearing. Hoverer, if I'm in shower, there's water in my ears, I vigorousmy mess about in my ear with a little finger and try to yawn hard at once, sometimes something pops and HF hearing skyrockets. Sound of falling water becames crystallic instead of somewhat dull. Sadly, it doesn't last for long, maybe a couple of hours, and hard to replicate. Have to visit a doctor, maybe I could make that permanent. Maybe you too noticed something like that?

 

[soze]

Quote:

TierAngst ,
A month or two ago, I've seen a poll on some forum, maybe even here, regarding HF hearing. A lot of people had really good hearing, 17-18k at over 40 years, IIRC.
 
 
I have had some infection in outer ears that had somewhat degraded my hearing. Hoverer, if I'm in shower, there's water in my ears, I vigorousmy mess about in my ear with a little finger and try to yawn hard at once, sometimes something pops and HF hearing skyrockets. Sound of falling water becames crystallic instead of somewhat dull. Sadly, it doesn't last for long, maybe a couple of hours, and hard to replicate. Have to visit a doctor, maybe I could make that permanent. Maybe you too noticed something like that?

You're probably talking about this thread.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/590632/poll-can-you-hear-sound-over-20khz
 
Using the sound files provided in that thread.... I can hear the ringing at 19khz.  Higher than that, I don't get anything.  36yrs btw.
 

 

[Nevod]

soze,
Right, exactly that thread. Will listen to it when I finish the headphones. Though, there is also source, and mine is not good.. 8 year old SB Audigy. That may take its part.
 
By the way, it occured to me that the way I've made the 'labyrinth' won't have any effect. Some parts of the driver itself are over the bass ports and just making walls won't help. I had to place a patch of paxmate right over the ports in the 2nd layer - so right above the open port there is free space, then paxmate, then driver. Air enters free space from sides. Walls on the driver should extend along whole driver side - 2 lower sides walled, 2 upper sides aren't.

 

[Twinster]

I would like to report that I've tried the Hifiman Leather pads tonight and that it was a disappointment with my setup. 

 
first the comfort was not as good as the Shure 840 pads. They are firmer with a bit less padding. The sound lost is focus and sounded honky. The bass was still pretty much to the same level on my setup as the 840 but like as said it was not balanced anymore.
 
I didn't want to play with my configuration so off they go. Back to the 840. Much better.
 

 
Quote:

Hey shame on you. You should be proud to have Tim Horton coffee (Just kidding) 

. I'm from the same castaway region (Québec) so I feel the pain.
For pad option I'm waiting for the new Hifiman Leather (Pleather??) replacement earpad at $20 + shipping. I currently have the SRH-840 and like them but I was curious on trying these one. I'll report back the differences when they arrived.
 

 


 

 
 

 

[TierAngst]

I've been to a lot of concerts and my other hobby is drag racing. Unfortunately I was too young and dumb to wear ear plugs for either. I'm still young but no longer dumb enough not to wear earplugs when I can. I'm 25, my hearing sucks, and I wish I'd had a bit of sensibility earlier on. 
 
I did double check though and it turns out I can hear the 15khz range but definitely nothing beyond that. 

 

[RexAeterna]

You're probably talking about this thread.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/590632/poll-can-you-hear-sound-over-20khz

Using the sound files provided in that thread.... I can hear the ringing at 19khz.  Higher than that, I don't get anything.  36yrs btw.

anything over 20khz though could be resonance noise from the driver cause i don't know no headphone driver extending above 20khz personally so it has to be harmonics or just resonance being produced. also it's better to test the tones on your own with at least 96khz sampling besides 44.1 or 48khz if your interface or dac can scale that high. tones sound way different at 96khz compared to 44.1khz. so if can try running sweeps at both sample rates if possible to get the feel of different tones. be careful at higher volumes though.

 

[hans030390]

Not sure what's going on. Some days I prefer having my bottom vents closed about 50% (other 3 vents on each side are always closed). Some days I prefer having the bottom vents completely open.
 
The days when I want them more closed, it's because they sound woolly/muffled. Or, perhaps it sounds like unnecessary resonance? I'm not sure. Closing the vents cleans up the sound, makes them more detailed. Sounds great, and I don't notice the problems mentioned below!
 
The days I want the vents opened, it's because they sound too bright with the bottom vents partially closed! Opening them up brings a bit of lushness and life back into the sound, not to mention a bit of bass. Also sounds great, and I don't notice the problems mentioned above!
 
Is there some logical explanation as to why my ears/brain are apparently bipolar?

 

[TierAngst]

Why not close the last one only a quarter?

 

[hans030390]

Quote:

Why not close the last one only a quarter?

Because when I want to close them up, a quarter isn't enough. When I want to have them open, that closed quarter still doesn't sound like I want it to!