[Armaegis]

I'm pretty sure I've read that people have melted the diaphragm before when trying to attach wires to the pads. I'm not exactly going to test it out myself 

 Any driver transplants that I've done, I've always left a bit of the original wire attached and just soldered to those. 
 
I mean, it's just a plastic after all. I'm very surprised that it didn't melt anything... or if it did, it was too small to be noticeable. 
 
 

Well all the conductive pens I have seen are either ballpoint or just a tube that squirts out conductive ink like this:
 
 

 
That's where I'd make a glob on some paper and take a toothpick or needle to do the fine work. 

 

[nick n]

Quote:

I can see how something like this would work very well for regular traces, but one problem I can see with doing something like this on a pair of orthos is when the music has big bass punch, the drivers may flex. I'm not sure how this particular epoxy acts under strain, but typically glue does not fair well when stressed. Especially repeated vibrational stress over prolonged periods day after day. 
 

I used it thinly ( very paper thin ) on  large ortho diaphragms that have some of the heaviest bass I own. So far so good.
One thing's for sure it's sure not coming off ever this was near the center pinch point and a very tiny dot at the outer edges.
 
And also Armaegis's advice using a pin should work well also. Since you already have the "ink"

 

[Armaegis]

Random note for anyone looking at conductive ink/glue: I got this super cheap "wire glue" stuff off ebay. It was the cheapest one, free shipping... how bad could it really be? Well from my experience, it's not worth it. It sorta works when it dries, but the conductivity is low (ie: resistance is high). Even more interesting, this stuff seems to oxidize over time. I tried a repair on a driver some time ago which didn't work out. I left it for a week, and the next time I looked at it the graphite had grown some sort of white fuzz. Not sure if it was oxidation or mold or what. In any event, not worth it. 

 

[bluemonkeyflyer]

Quote:

 
Hey thanks for the tip. I never heard of this stuff before but I'll be sure to add it to the shopping list. 
 
I can see how something like this would work very well for regular traces, but one problem I can see with doing something like this on a pair of orthos is when the music has big bass punch, the drivers may flex. I'm not sure how this particular epoxy acts under strain, but typically glue does not fair well when stressed. Especially repeated vibrational stress over prolonged periods day after day. 
 
 
 
Well all the conductive pens I have seen are either ballpoint or just a tube that squirts out conductive ink like this:
 

 
The soldering tip I used looks like this:
 

 
 
 
I never even considered the diaphragm as something that would melt. Is that a common problem other people are having? I just went ahead and did it on a wooden desk, nothing behind the driver. 

 
You Are the Soldering Sensei

 

[kalbee]

Quote:

WOW! I am impressed by your steady hands, eagle eyes, and soldering skill! That's great!
 

+1
Just... wow.
Those traces are incredible. Can't imagine having to fix that myself... hope the problem never happens to me.

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

Another completely heat free method to fix this sort of thing without risk to the diaphragm is Silver Conductive Epoxy ( I use MG Chemicals one ). It has the same effect as solder. If you mix a bit up and draw a small thin strand off carefully then precisely dab it to the trace it should work ( or use a pin tip or something very tiny under a microscope ) Have to get it right the first time though so sliding a small pin-tip's worth a few times would be best.
And one thing also the epoxy does not have to be thick to do the trick

 
Like it, thanks for that!

 

[VinniS]

Hey guys, I wondering if someone can help. me Ive been warming up to the t50rps and they seem to be sounding a bit better after putting cotton, felt and transpore on the back of the speakers.I have also noticed something something strange. Some songs with heavy bass are making the headphones sound a bit "crackling" or like that sound when your speakers are blown when you hear the bass hit . I dont think this is normal, is it? Are my headphones defective?
 
thanks again guys.

 

[geetarman49]

Quote:

Hey guys, I wondering if someone can help. me Ive been warming up to the t50rps and they seem to be sounding a bit better after putting cotton, felt and transpore on the back of the speakers.I have also noticed something something strange. Some songs with heavy bass are making the headphones sound a bit "crackling" or like that sound when your speakers are blown when you hear the bass hit . I dont think this is normal, is it? Are my headphones defective?
 
thanks again guys.

1. is the distortion on one channel only or both?
2. are you using an amp?
3. did you check both sides of each driver to ensure that no fibre, thread, or hair has penetrated the protective 'layer' of the driver and is in close proximity to the diaphragm?

 

[Schonen]

Quote:

When I first put on the Fostex headphones I was very disapointed as well.  The big thing for me was there was no base. After about 10hours of burn in though they sounded a world better.  There was base.  Nice mids and nice highs.  After modding them though they are completely different.  To me there is nothing that matches it in its price range.  Even just replacing the pads made a big difference.  If you are skeptical do a couple mods that are reversable.  And if you are still not happy with them then undo the mods and return them.  Also they the T50RP benefits from an amp.  Even if it is just a small one.  

Come on man, these are ortho drivers and not dynamic drivers so htf can burn in make one ounce of dif? I call BS.

 

[VinniS]

seems to be on the right side of the speaker, i am not using an amp and i dont think it has penetrated the white "paper like" layer that protects the driver though let me dig thru a bit more.
 
this happens when i crank it up  quite a bit. though

 

[geetarman49]

Quote:

seems to be on the right side of the speaker, i am not using an amp and i dont think it has penetrated the white "paper like" layer that protects the driver though let me dig thru a bit more.
 
this happens when i crank it up  quite a bit. though

what do you mean by ' ... quite a bit ...' ?   are you talking about sustained listening levels or is this some form of 'crank it up to 11 to see if it blows apart'?
 
try using an amp or a receiver with headphone output -- if it (the distortion) disappears then you know that you are likely driving your source into distortion by demanding more power than it can provide; if the distortion is still there when using an amp, then a hair or fibre is most likely to be the culprit.

 

[VinniS]

thank you. I'm not like cranking it big time but definitely a bit louder than normal listening. my other headphones do not show the same problems at all. so maybe its not the source. ill dig into it a bit more. thanks again.

 

[geetarman49]

don't forget that after modding, the fostex lose efficiency; in order to attain the same listening level after modding, you require more power.  you need to rule out the possibility that you are driving your source into a clipping state.  if you don't have an amp, try taking your phones to any store/outlet that sells receivers or integrated amps and have a listen on their setup.  you'll be able to easily verify if the noise is an artifact of the phones or if it's an issue with your source.
 
hth,

 

[hans030390]

The crackling sound is most likely clipping.

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

thank you. I'm not like cranking it big time but definitely a bit louder than normal listening. my other headphones do not show the same problems at all. so maybe its not the source. ill dig into it a bit more. thanks again.

 
It may be clipping, but that probably would affect both channels.  If it's volume related, a couple of times we've seen bad drivers or loose couplings to the risers that crackle at certain frequencies, but if it is the driver there may not be a fix.  You can try isolating it a bit by using test tones on sinegen.  
 
http://www.audionotch.com/app/tune/#