|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
220.246.63.178
I got a Fostex TH-500RP as a gift from a friend a few years ago, but I could never quite warm up to its sound. It's actually nice in an audiophile way, relatively neutral with good detail. On the other hand, I don't like its relatively thin mid range and a lack of body overall. I bought a Sony MDR-Z7 and liked it more than several more expensive headphones I tried, so I think you can guess my kind of preference (full with good density and punch).
I have experimented with modding the Fostex with reversible tweaks such as felt filter at the ear pad, "sealing" the open back with a cork and leather cover piece, partially covering the driver with a piece of foam, etc. They all give me a little of what I wanted, but never enough so. Also, I'm not too fond of open back headphones, as they leak sound in and out. So, I've always been looking to turn my TH500 into a close back, as supposedly the various Fostex headphones use roughly the same driver.
However, after market shells are pretty expensive (>US$100). Luckily, I recently bumped into a couple of wooden plates at a kitchenware store in Japan at only about US$1.2 each, which seem to be perfectly sized.
I'm now attaching those plates to the ear cups of the Fostex with outdoor double sided tape. They look quite alright. For stuffing/damping, I'm using some air conditioner filter that I torn loose slightly.
Initial impression is very promising. The midrange is much fuller and I get more musicality out of these cans. It sounds very detailed (perhaps even more so than before). The only thing not so great is perhaps the bass is not so extended (upper bass is fine). I'm able to enjoy its sound much much more now (previously it was more of a hifi tool for me).
Perhaps I'll try with more/different stuffing later
Follow Ups:
Great job man! How different is the sound now?
Cut to razor sounding violins
After a little experimenting, I ended up reducing on the stuffing rather than increasing, as increasing damp down the sound too much and there's even less bass. I'm still thinking of experimenting with different material ( felt, foam, etc)
As for closed vs open, having it closed give a healthy boost in body and density. There's less " soundstage", but not overly so, and being in the home system crowd for decades, I'm never a fan of headphone soundstage ( it never sounds real to me), so it's not much of a loss. Arguably, open sounds perhaps more neutral in the hi-fi sense, but closed sounds more musical to be and I feel more relaxed. The thing with this headphone originally ( for me) is that I keep on being distracted with hi-fi thoughts while listening, while I can easily go through several tracks when it's closed.
Since it's almost free of costs and reversible, it's a fun thing to try.
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: