[Bubblejuice]

Does anyone know if this type of mod has been done yet?
 
I'd love to give it a go if it hasn't been done. Considering how much smaller the T50rp driver is, I'm sure the overall aesthetics of the headphones could also be improved lol.
 
But i'm wondering what kind of differences could be expected between using Planar drivers and Electrostatic ones when working with the forward driver panoramic design.
 
I'll probably be giving this a shot if I can get my hands on some Fostex for fairly cheap.
 
P.S. I've never heard the Sigma, only read reviews. I'm not sure why they are not more popular than they are considering the absolutely glowing reviews they seem to receive. I also know very little about modding and the science behind the sound, this is just one of those things i'm going to give go at anyways. But I would love some help to understand what I should be expecting (theoretically).

 

[castleofargh]

maybe start by explaining clearly what you're talking about? because the first thing that came to my mind was "ok so he will send 200V into a T50RP, that will be a fairly short experiment".

 
so what is it you really want to do? open the back? just turn the driver 90degrees? would you still seal the part between the driver and the ear or not? etc.
the most obvious problem in such designs is to keep something in the low end. some T50RP are already not exactly sub bass champs, so I'm not optimistic about that specific matter.

 

[Bubblejuice]

  maybe start by explaining clearly what you're talking about? because the first thing that came to my mind was "ok so he will send 200V into a T50RP, that will be a fairly short experiment".

 
so what is it you really want to do? open the back? just turn the driver 90degrees? would you still seal the part between the driver and the ear or not? etc.
the most obvious problem in such designs is to keep something in the low end. some T50RP are already not exactly sub bass champs, so I'm not optimistic about that specific matter.

Haha I don't know much about electricity, but I'm pretty sure I could get the headphones more tender if I fried them on a grill instead 

 
I wouldn't be messing with anything electrical. I'm probably going to leave all of the electrical components completely intact, except for probably splitting the cable into a (Y) cable to give each ear cup it's own input. I feel that would make it more balanced (in terms of weight distribution).
 
But yeah, you are right, i'm just thinking of turning the drivers 90% and completely remaking the cup design to put the drivers a little more forward on the head. In other words, imagine I took the Sigmas cup design, and modified it to fit a smaller planar driver, and stuck the T50rp or T40rp driver in there.
 
It will be open back, but I'll probably experiment with different amounts of openness. I don't want too much sound to escape considering that this design works mainly from sound reflecting to your ears. However, I feel the headphones should be slightly open so I don't get any excess reverb.
 
Yes, the ear cups will seal against your head via the ear pad. The driver, will be quite far from the ear though. In terms of headphones "Design" just think the Stax Sigma (It will obviously need to be a  bit different to accommodate for the smaller driver, etc, but that's the general idea). 
 
I read a modding thread that said that the T50rp bass performs a little better/gets stronger when the headphones are more open. However, considering how far the driver is from the ears, I was thinking of adding of adding some kind of channel behind the driver to increase the bass. I know this also muddies the bass a bit, so i'll have to tinker with that too.
 
Here is a picture of what I mean by "some kind of channel". This would all be within the ear cup. 

 
This is a general picture I made of the design i'm talking about, if this makes it more simple lol:
 

 
Lastly, I should mention, I don't have a 3D printer, or welder, so i'll probably be working almost entirely using wood.