[Fungi]

How long until we see the S50RPLE Supreme, the world's finest orthodynamic headphone?

 

[mypasswordis]

Go 30 years back in time and buy a Fostex T50v1.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Smegonia must have quite the rubber appetite to eat all four of them!

As fictional cats go, she's a big girl, a 20-pounder. Norwegian Tyrebiter. That breed used to bite rubber trees in the wild, thus the appetite for neoprene.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy You know what a fussy git I am.

No, but hum a few bars...
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy I also noticed something others have, the sound on the right gets a little scratchy and level goes up and down. It's caused by the cable connector. You can notice the level changing as you swivel the connector. Half locked seems to work best so I think I'll be doing some surgery to do a direct connection and bypass the plug.

An owner could also wet the plug with a good contact cleaner like DeoxIT, plug it back in, and work it back and forth several times. Usually this is a problem with very-well-used Fostexans, not new ones, but I too noticed some noise in the plug/jack on my most recently-acquired T50RP. Which again makes me suspect problems at Fostex.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Fungi /img/forum/go_quote.gif How long until we see the S50RPLE Supreme, the world's finest orthodynamic headphone?

Hey, if the Sennheisters can name the successor to the HD 650, we should get a shot at Fostex's T60RP, right? Good magnets aren't that expensive any more, printed-circuit-board (PCB) tech is pretty good these days (take a look at the diaphragm of the T50RP under magnification), engineered plastics are better than ever, and though the bulk of the headphone market is earbuds and cheapies, there's never been a better time to be a headphone than right now, so where the heck is the next audiophile or even noiseophile isodynamic headphone? Part of the problem is that most formerly small specialist audio companies have long been bought up by much bigger companies who want to make big money, and this is a small market. When the company arrives that's the right size for the market, then's when I think we'll see this headphone. I don't think the big boys are going to do it, as counterintuitive as that sounds. Of course, the big boys didn't invent the blue LED, either.

 

[dBel84]

Before I forget to mention another old classic, this time from the 80's - not mosfet but good solid British discrete BJT design = cyrus 2.

Here is the sch for cyrus 1, I have yet to find someone post the 2's schematics online.

It uses an internal resistor divider to the headphone jack - it is a killer headphone section but doesn't cut the speaker out when used with headphones so is a bit of a pain if driving speakers simultaneously. However for the $100 odd these things sell for occasionally, it makes a killer headphone amp..dB

 

[smeggy]

I almost bought a Cyrus 1 years ago when they were new, I ended up getting a Naim setup instead, lots more cash but nice.

 

[dBel84]

nothing wrong with naim - My initial introduction to Stevie Ray was on a Naim Nap set up driving ProAc speakers - I can still remember the awe I felt..dB

 

[smeggy]

Yeah, I always wanted some Pro Ac speakers, the good ones were beyond my budget. I did love the sound. That was back when I was using the Micro-Seiki electrets.

 

[wualta]

You had some Micro-Seiki electrets? What were those like?

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Honestly, a roll-off point at 35Hz is very good for any headphone. Only large diaphragm electrostats can go appreciably lower with ease. I have the pad problem with my T20v2 too, sometimes. For some reason I can't always find the right spot to place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes. I think you've accomplished something special with the HOK, DAC. Facelvega would be proud. He was the one who brought the HOKs to our attention and never lost faith in them.

Thanks. I just gave in to the temptation and added two more layers of lambskin to the WU-pads. Now they are comfortable. I am tempted to add just one more layer.... but I'm starting to get satisfied with the comfort now. The WU-pad now uses 7 layers of lambskin. No loss of bass by adding the two layers. (As expected, where would the bass go?). By the way, to my ears it sounded ok also from the E-MU which for sure is no monster amp.

Mod summary for the HOK:

Opening and closing the HOK isn't too tricky, following Ericjs instructions: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/3173771-post787.html

The problem with the HOK-80-2 is the crazy cup design. It's full of holes. Fortunately, almost all of them can be closed by the use of one foam baffle.
Then one more can be used to secure that the driver is for sure isolated as well. Then, blutak is added around the driver, between the annoying dingus and the driver, and under it.

I removed the piece of plastic that was (almost) closing the HOK (again, it was full of holes...). This converts it from closed to open, but with a center piece of plastic that maybe works as a reflex disc. Then I put it all together following the instructions for re-assembling it.

Finally, I put the WU-pad on and started to enjoy it.

 

[smeggy]

Nice going DAC, seems like a long road to enjoyment but you got there. Enjoy it.

Walt, yes, I had the MX-5 and it was painfully bright, no bass to speak of but holy moly... details galore the likes of which the Senns of the day could only dream of

I suffered them as long as I could but I was able to use speakers a lot more back then. Of course the headphone options were extremely limited to what was around at the time locally at the two local hi-fi shops. Choice was limited and the Stax was too expensive.

Fun memories but I wouldn't want another set no matter how rosy my memories get

I just tried the T40 against the T50R, The modded t40 with pad mods has nice slammin' bass but the mods are also funelling the mids and treble directly inside my head. The T50RP sounds really nice in the mids and top end, very smooth, extended and sweet. Bass isn't as big or powerful but sounds balanced and mostly right. I'd prefer bigger bass but not at the expense of that mid-top end, it's really nice and endlessly listenable. This is the mid and top an ortho should have imo. Not faked/forced or cajoled like most others via heavyweight means. It just does it right without much trouble. If Fostex changed that crappy housing for something a bit more solid I think they'd be an excellent out of the box phone instead of the good one it is now.

 

[smeggy]

Bleh, I just got a reply from the guy with the VGC Wharfedale isodynamics in London and he said he wants $200 for them!

They're very nice, $200 nice? Not for me. They were 25 pounds at the time and the last set I bought were $50 so I'm letting these drop unless any of you guys want them. They are very nice phones but that's way over what I want to pay.

Anyone here want them I can pass on the info in PM. Feel free to haggle him to a more reasonable price.

 

[mypasswordis]

I just received my T50RP. Hooray! Problem: the bass is a bit of a bloated mess right now, and it needs more treble goodness. Definitely requires modding to sound good, in my opinion. Made me realize I might need to make the reflex dot smaller on my T20v2 or something, because switching between the two makes it sound kind of fake. Do I have the right (new) pads? They're smooth and not scrunchy like in most stock photos online, but also don't seem too high quality. They feel better than K240 pads but also don't feel like they'll last as long.

Edit: Darn, it's a shame about the woofeys.

 

[Kabeer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Bleh, I just got a reply from the guy with the VGC Wharfedale isodynamics in London and he said he wants $200 for them! They're very nice, $200 nice? Not for me. They were 25 pounds at the time and the last set I bought were $50 so I'm letting these drop unless any of you guys want them. They are very nice phones but that's way over what I want to pay. Anyone here want them I can pass on the info in PM. Feel free to haggle him to a more reasonable price.

Im in a similar situation with a Fostex T30 owner, who wanted roughly $278. No way was I paying that.

 

[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just received my T50RP. Hooray! Problem: the bass is a bit of a bloated mess right now, and it needs more treble goodness. Definitely requires modding to sound good, in my opinion. Made me realize I might need to make the reflex dot smaller on my T20v2 or something, because switching between the two makes it sound kind of fake. Do I have the right (new) pads? They're smooth and not scrunchy like in most stock photos online, but also don't seem too high quality. They feel better than K240 pads but also don't feel like they'll last as long. Edit: Darn, it's a shame about the woofeys.

The pads aren't super quality, just a lot better at sealing than the previous ones. They should look like this.

The mods needed to get rid of that boom and make them singing nicely are fairly straightforward so have at 'em with some damping/deadening and weighting. Glad they arrived safely.


Kabeer, that sucks. Some people are just taking the mickey with their prices.

 

[mypasswordis]

Damn, you could almost buy a new SR-303 for that amount.

Edit: Nice, those are indeed the same style pads I have. Thanks for the pic. Also, after having run them for only ~30 minutes or so, the bass suddenly got even bigger and overall the T50RP became less efficient. Yeah, I'm going to run them in for a day or two and then get back to you on sound.