Drop + Fostex T-X0 II Planar Magnetic Headphones Discussions | Drop

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Drop + Fostex T-X0 II Planar Magnetic Headphones

Jun 21, 2019

LOL. I'm totally late on this. This is the latest iteration of the Fostex T50RP series from Drop. Christian sent them to me a while back to get my take. At first, I thought they sounded like ass. However, I noted that the package came with a set of thin pads and a set of thick pads and two pieces of foam inserts that surround the face of the driver. One pad is artificial leather and the other is leather hybrid. I think the artificial leather pads are the thin pads that I eventually decided upon. (Christian, correct me if I am wrong). Christian suggested that I use the thin pads and the denser #15 foam instead of what the headphone happened to come installed with. This was actually an improvement. A good enough improvement where I felt the Fostex T-X0 II had the potential to rival even the Paradox headphones that LFF used to sell. Using this set of the thin pad and thick foam, the Fostex sounded slightly V-shaped, with a bit more emphasis in the highs than the lows. I dislike bright headphones, so I went to work on modifications. I suggested to Christian various approaches; however, Christian indicated that they could only do so much to keep the costs under control and not have Fostex go to the ends of the earth to find suitable modding material. Those who have followed the Fostex T50RP thread on HF know how crazy it can get with modding materials (most of which do nothing to the sound or just probably make it worse). So I decided on a KISS (keep it simple stupid) approach that would only utilize materials included inside the box and readily available household items. The first step was to re-use the spare piece of #10 foam. I cut the foam in such a way that would fit inside the cup of the headphone like below. Stuffing the cavity with absorbing materials of these Fostex headphones brings down the highs and especially the lows so that they are more in line with the mids.

After subjective evaluation, I felt this was a good improvement. The mids were less sucked out, The bass sounded very accurate. However, the highs still needed just a little bit of help. I knew exactly what do to next. I source 2-ply TP (I think Target brand) and cut out a square to lay in front of the driver. The pads with a think black mesh that goes over the baffle to secure the TP, so there is no need to worry about the TP falling out.

So I'll get straight to the FR measurements:

'Nuff said. (Very close to neutral, no bass bloat, better extension, a little dip around 3kHz, the BBC dip, and very very smooth highs.) P.S. I wanted to get to the point quickly. I'll present more comprehensive sets of measurements in a bit. More technical discussion can be expected here in the next few days: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/fostex-t-x0-ii-headphones.7972/#post-261695

(Edited)

Jun 21, 2019