Fostex TE-02n IEM Measurements

Discussion in 'IEM Measurements' started by purr1n, May 26, 2016.

  1. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    To my ears the unevenness is partly due to the metal front filter. Blu-tack or damping strips at the nozzle sound a bit smoother in comparison.
     
  2. MuZo2

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    I think its more from shell resonance. If you place finger at back you can see the effect. Some damping on shell might help.
     
  3. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    I'll try that, thanks! In that case, the metal filter may not be the cause, but rather just less effective than blu-tack or damping strips.

    Edit: Hmmm, I placed my finger at the back of the shell, but hear no effect other than the slight damping you get because the tips are pressed a tad firmer against the ear canal. Then I opened them up and put a fair amount of blu-tack against the inside of the shell, but couldn't detect any noteworthy change in treble.

    On the other hand, using two front damping strips instead of one results in an instantly noticeable smoothing effect...
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2016
  4. MuZo2

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    They have a protective covering both in front and at back of driver. As I dont seem to use them anytime in water, I am going to remove it both to see if they sound more open.
     
  5. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    Just don't ;-)

    Poking only as much as a small hole in the front membrane will turn them into bass cannons.

    [​IMG]

    If anything, just scratch part of the coating off the rear membrane... this will fill in the low end a bit.
    IME you need to be careful and subtle when modding these things.

    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2017
  6. MuZo2

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    Did you close the hole at back?
     
  7. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    I'd not recommended to close the hole, as the stock bass is already extreme tight sounding, bordering on overdamped imho. I actually prefer it widened to about 1mm diameter.

    IME, modding the rear vent and / or nozzle filter have just slight effects on sound signature, since most of the damping / filtering is done by the inner front and rear membranes.

    I've been trying out all kinds of mods over the last few months. Will post a summary of my findings here, soon as time permits...
     
  8. recarcar

    recarcar Friend

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    I have had these for a couple of weeks now, with the metal filter removed and the blue-tac mod. I've listened mainly off of my iphone/lg g2. These are pretty great for $30 and a $2 mod. The only other phones I have to compare to at the moment are the Andromedas and Carbo Tenores. I have done more comparisons with the Andromedas, so I'll comment on those.

    The Andromedas do just about everything a little bit better. Their detail retrieval, speed, dynamics, and frequency response are all a bit better. The big BUT is that these little things are not too far to my ears with the blue-tac mod. The most notable difference is that the Fostexs are a bit leaner and more analytical in their presentation, and they feel a little more compressed in terms of dynamics.

    The Andromedas are a little more lush and have better note weight to my ears. The Fostex sound a little more extended up top but also also have a more uneven treble reponse. The Fostex is a little dirtier sounding, for lack of a better term, but that also means they do a little bit better in terms of acoustic instrument texture. The only nitpick I have about the Andromedas is that they tend to sound like they polish everything up even when the music seems to be calling for some grit/dirt. This seems to be BA/Dynamic difference though.

    All in all, these are great if you are into a neutral presentation that is a bit more analytical/drier than the Andromeda's more lush take on neutrality. I'll have my Akazakura's back soon so I can compare these to another DD based phone, but off of memory I'm enjoying the Fostex quite a bit more. I'm also enjoying them a lot more than the Tenores.

    PS

    They also kind of remind me of LFF's Paradox, but just a tad more uneven/extended up top.
     
  9. MuZo2

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    If you want a bit more lush presentation you can open the hole a bit more are James said 1mm in diameter.
     
  10. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    Haven't heard the Andromedas, but I pretty much concur with your description of the Fostex. Imo there's still potential to shape their signature a bit better to your liking, depending on how much effort you're willing to make. The easiest part would be to enlarge the rear vent to about 1mm, which will make them (very subtly) a little less lean sounding. Enlarging past 1mm will yield no further change btw, since the rear inner membrane is responsible for most of the damping.

    The driver being enclosed between the rear and front membranes is imo the reason why dynamics sound a tad compressed. In other words, I feel the driver sounds a tad overdamped in stock configuration, which can be improved by (carefully!) increasing acoustic leakage through the membranes, preferably the rear one.

    Last not least, after weeks of listening to both blu-tack and alcohol-swab modded units, I personally ended up preferring the latter, because the mod is more versatile and allows me to achieve a smoother treble without any adverse effect on clarity and dynamics. However, it's a little more sophisticated and time-consuming to implement though.

    tbc...
     
  11. Decomo

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    Just received TE-02N. I will start burning in and be familiar with stock sound before applying any mod... It will be fun..
     
  12. Decomo

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    While burning, just listened to see how stock sounds and bass quantity is definitely less than TFZ Series 5 modded. Does TE 02n needs certain burn in time (100 hrs)?
     
  13. Decomo

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    Strange. I just widen the air vent hole tiny a bit and take metal cap off. Sound is now more natural but treble has tamed and bass got loose a bit to my ear.. When I get blue tak, will try to put it on.. So far, I like stock sound more than metal cap off. :cool: Not sure if blue tak and alcohol swab will make the sound tighter..
     
  14. Decomo

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    Applied blue-tack and alcohol swab... Now sounds a lot better. Sound is now more controlled to my ear. The biggest impact was when blue-tack was applied. Quite amazing such a tiny bit of blue-tack makes difference. Treble is just a bit too harsh after complete mod (widen air vent + metal cap off + blue tack + alcohol swab) though...
     
  15. Decomo

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  16. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    Would you mind posting a picture of what you did? Blu-tack and alcohol swab mod are supposed to be alternatives...

    Left: Blu-tack mod. Right: Alcohol swab mod (actually, the damping strip ought to be a tad narrower for best results)

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2017
  17. Decomo

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    Thank you..Dumb question. How do I post photo here? It is asking image URL... :( I tried to upload photo to dropbox and share the link but it does not seem to work.
     
  18. aufmerksam

    aufmerksam Friend

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    Try posting image to imgur instead of Dropbox
     
  19. Decomo

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    Got it. I will take some photos when I am back home later today and post them here using imgur.com.
     
  20. Decomo

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    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Attached photos. Hope they show...
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2016

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