T50MKIII

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by MuZo2, Oct 4, 2015.

  1. FatTeemo

    FatTeemo New

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    8
    I can confirm that the Shure 840 pads are not so good for the mk3s. They block the baffle vents and the mids sound recessed, the soundstage is smaller, and everything just sounds smaller compared to stock pads. In its stock form, I find the treble a bit harsh and would like slightly more bass.
     
  2. spoony

    spoony Spooky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    93
    They can be made to work with mods similar to the mk2 revisions. That is, more cup damping.
     
  3. FatTeemo

    FatTeemo New

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    8
    I would rather get alternative pads that don't seal the baffle vents because I don't like the reduced soundstage. So far, it seems like most pads seal the vents. Anyone know of any pads that don't?
     
  4. JK47

    JK47 Guest

    Alpha Pads stretched over the ear cups mkII style were OK, less bass than when they were slid into the the seam mkIII style.
     
  5. spoony

    spoony Spooky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Brainwavz pads have a thinner pleather in the lips. Someome reported good results with the hybrid pads.
     
  6. FatTeemo

    FatTeemo New

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Sadly, they seem to be sold out everywhere. I hope they're not being discontinued.
     
  7. spoony

    spoony Spooky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Did you try mp4nation?
     
  8. Kamikazeing

    Kamikazeing New

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2016
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
  9. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2016
    Likes Received:
    181
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Does anyone have pointers as to which component mods affect specific frequencies? As in: what do you mod to increase sub bass, decrease mid bass, decrease treble peak, etc? I have a general idea of what to do, but if anyone has specific experiences with modding these I'd be very happy to hear it.

    I'm guessing the cup ports, pivot hole, and stuffing the cup with polyfill or cotton will cause the mid bass to gi down and sub bass to go up, while also decreasing bass quantity in general, and then felt in front of the driver will decrease treble down to some frequency. My general goal is to make the headphones have a general downward slope with lots of extension in both directions.
     
  10. spoony

    spoony Spooky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    651
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Increase sub-bass:
    Seal some of the baffle ports, behind the gray foam to the sides of the lid are 8 slits that let pressure escape from the baffle. Blocking them increases bass level in general so you might want to look into driver dampening afterwards to reduce the mid-bass hump.

    Mid-bass:
    You can either add more dampening/partially block the cup vents or increase the dampening directly on the back-side of the driver, a good choice to experiment is felt of varying thicknesses over either the vents or the driver.

    Treble:
    Your best bet here is to pick a pair of pads that do not exacerbate the treble peak, in general, the smaller the ear opening, the less notorious the treble peak. If you get a pair that works you will have to re-tune everything else. If there's some excess treble energy you can use paper tissues or felt over the driver on the ear side to lower it.
     
  11. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2016
    Likes Received:
    181
    Trophy Points:
    43
    That's super helpful! Interesting to hear that the baffle ports are actually releasing low end. In many cans you'll see a membrane of paper which lets low end and mids reflect back from the rear of the cup and blast through. At least that's what I think it's doing?

    I'm thinking I want to bring the sub lows up as high as I can, and the general treble down. And then I'll try to lower the mid bass hump. I can't wait!
     
  12. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2016
    Likes Received:
    181
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Guys, I'm having a friend CNC some custom baffles to fit T50RP drivers into any Beyerdynamic DT series sized can! I'm going to try it out in a pair of DT990's. Those have large internal volumes and come with internal dampening, plus they are only slightly open. I'm willing to bet it'll sound good, at least if I also put ZMF lambskin pads on there.

    I'm thinking about selling these. Anyone interested?
     
  13. FatTeemo

    FatTeemo New

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Ok so I got the shure alcantara pads. They are quite comfortable and they don't block the baffle vents as much as the Shure 840. They do block a bit more compared to stock pads because the insert material is slightly thicker. Slight reduction in soundstage but also more isolation which is fine for me. The entire sound signature became warmer and I no longer get fatigued from the treble. Problem is that the mids are recessed now. There also seems to be more of a decay between notes which makes them sound a bit more colored. Even though the pads are soft, there isn't enough clamp force to squish them flat against my head (I think that may get uncomfortable anyway). Keep in mind that I did stretch the headband a bit because the clamp force was really uncomfortable for me in the beginning. Problem now is that I am not sure how to mod the rest of the headphone to fix the recessed mids issue. The headphones are warm now so I am afraid bringing down the treble would make them even warmer. I like the bass (although it could be tightened some more) so I don't think I want to reduce them either. I don't feel like getting the hybrid pads because they increase the treble which was my issue with the original phones.
     
  14. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2016
    Likes Received:
    181
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Sounds like it's modding time! Tightening up low end is easily done by putting aomething absorbant into the cup, so the bass doesn't "bounce around" that much, but rather is swallowed right up instead. You can also use dampening over the driver itself if you experience there being too much highs after fixing ringy lows. This will bring the mids up too.
     
  15. FatTeemo

    FatTeemo New

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    8
    Yeah, I think I just have to go experiment. I was waiting because I heard that these headphones are not well built enough to withstand repeated screwing and unscrewing so I was waiting for others to experiment first. I think overall the shure alcantaras improve the sound because previously I had to turn down the volume by a lot when female vocalists push their high notes. Now I can keep it at the same volume for the entire song. The recessed mids are less of a problem for acoustics because you can just turn up the volume, but it's problematic for pop music where there is more background music going on.
     
  16. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

    Banned
    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2016
    Likes Received:
    181
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Does anyone else feel like these cans have a sort of metallic oddness in the highs, with resonant sounds in the low treble? And I don't mean because of the actual frequency response, but it kinda seems like a ringing is doing it. Cymbals male a "chhhh" sound instead of a "tshhhh" sound, basically. I noticed it was hard to zero in on that sound with an EQ after scooping that whole range down, so even though I could hear where the sound ought to be, it never really made itself apparent when I did EQ sweeps to find it. So I think it's a time domain issue, rather than an amplitude issue. It's there even in sibilant "S" sounds in vocals. I believe the range is also where I would expect to hear problems related to the cup depth of these cans, so I'm going to assume that's a big part of it. Any thoughts?
     
  17. FatTeemo

    FatTeemo New

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    8
    I just did some basic mods on the t50rp and even before the mods I noticed that the violins sound a bit harsh and the overall sound is a bit digital/metallic. Am I the only one who feels this way?
     
  18. bixby

    bixby Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,987
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northern Colorado
    a note from my blog review of the t50 mkiii corroborates what you may be hearing.

    "Slight glare to Alison's voice, more rounded instruments, cymbal overtones have that plastic sound. Artificial presentation with lower treble emphasis."
     
  19. FatTeemo

    FatTeemo New

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    8
    I did a quick and dirty fix of sticking an adhesive felt over the driver on the ear side and it's noticeably better.
     
  20. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    May 28, 2017
    Likes Received:
    7,976
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Vancouver BC
    Shamelessly necromancing this thread to ask advice - which is probably at least a spanking offence, but here goes...

    This pair of T50RP3 came in today. The blue lines are 5 measurements of the left channel, the red 5 of the right. The phones were flipped on the coupler after every one or two measurements - ie left measured, then right, then left again - and I tried to get the cups as close as possible to the same position every time using graduation marks on the plate.

    [​IMG]

    The channel imbalance in the bass is real (known good amp provding the stimulus, same channel used for input from both L & R, and checked against another set of phones).

    So for experienced Fostex-fiddlers, my question is: is this most likely the drivers, or something inconsistent in the cups/vents/pads - eg, pads blocking front venting on one side more than the other?

    I bought these intending to mod them, so if it's something other than the drivers it'll change; but if it's likely to be the drivers themselves, I don't want to pull the things apart and possibly void any chance to exchange them.

    Advice appreciated!

    Edit: Forgot to mention: I gave them a workout with some bassy tracks at decent volume for a while, and no obvious driver rattle or other problems (apart from overall tonality!).
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2020

Share This Page