wdahm519,
I'm happy to hear you have achieved great sound with your latest mods. If interested, Go to the following link and scroll down to see my October 8th Post 3579:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/452404/just-listened-to-some-fostex-t50rps-today-wow/3570#post_7810263
There, I reported on the sound of completely naked drivers, plasticine in the baffles, and with Paxmate Plus covering everything in the cups except for the headband hanger screw compartment. I tried cotton, fiberglass, and poly-fiberfill with this configuration and liked the sound better without any added cup filler material which seemed to reduce bass and veil the midrange. I did not try a reflex dot.
After your report, below, I wanted to compare 1.5 layers of Transpore Tape over the back of naked drivers, Paxmate Plus filling the entire cup, and damping the baffles to your setup. So, I removed the Transpore tape from one of my modded sets, added an electrical tape reflex dot on the center grid square of the naked drivers, teased apart 2 "Jumbo" 100% cotton balls and stuffed them in the cups (that's all that would fit), and closed it back up. Note, I did not switch out the Paxmate in the Cup outer rings with plasticine. Instead of ordinary plasticine, I "Flush Mass Loaded" the baffle compartments with my reformulated gray tungsten putty. I already had Dynamat surrounding the drivers on the ear side of the baffles.
FWIW and in MY opinion, the sound is good with [EDIT: my version of] your configuration but it is bass light and thin in the midrange. The treble is very good even with the stock dust covers over the ear side of the drivers and un-modified Shure 840 pads with their dust covers intact. To my ears and with my preferences and equipment (MacBook Pro, Dacmini, glass toslink interconnector, and lossless files), 1.5 to 2.0 layers of Transpore sounds better with this combination of mods. In this configuration with 1.5 layers of Transpore, instead of cotton + electrical tape reflex dot, over naked drivers there is more bass quantity and the bass quality is more deeply extended, complex, and textured without bleeding or blooming over into the the midrange. The midrange is lush and clear. The treble is just as extended as your configuration.
Possibly, we used different amounts of cotton and/or teased it to a different density. I doubt, but could be wrong, that plasticine instead of Paxmate in the cup outer rings accounts for any sonic differences. I used tungsten putty Flush Mass Loaded in the baffles instead of plasticine, but I have found that tungsten putty is superior to plasticine and this variable was constant across both configurations.
Paxmate Plus fills the cups. 2 Jumbo 100% cotton balls teased apart and placed in cups. Tungsten putty (gray) Flush Mass Loaded in the baffle compartments. Naked drivers with 1 piece of electrical tape over the center grid square. Dynamat surrounding the drivers on the ear side of the baffles. Shure 840 pads with rear-side"lifters." Note: The Transpore tape I removed for this mod had been in place for over 8 weeks with no sign of aging, drying, pulling loose, or separating from the drivers.
Close up. Yellow plasticine residue from a previous mod after removing the plasticine and Flush Mass Loading with my reformulated tungsten putty.
Edit: Electrical tape reflex dot on center grids of naked drivers. Paxmate Plus fills the cups except for the central screw compartment. The stock black bass port felt is intact, uncovered, and unobstructed.
2 Jumbo cotton balls teased apart as much as possible to still fit inside the cups. Paxmate Plus fills cups except for central screw compartment and bass port felt which remain uncovered. Paxmate Plus in cup outer rings. Tungsten putty in the baffles. Electrical tape reflex dot.
Identical configuration except 1.5 layers of Transpore tape re-applied, cotton removed, and electrical tape reflex dot removed.
Quote:
Well I guess if your'e going to do that I might as well post the mods that are done to mine so its perfectly clear what I have right now. I'm not sure if yours is 100% the same:
- SilverStone acoustic foam covering the inside of the cup, no foam on headband hanger stud
- No material on back of driver except for a square of electrical tape on the center square acting as a reflex dot
- Plasticine mass loading the interior side of the baffles and sealing the baffle (plasticine on the "rim")
- Two TRIPLE SIZED cotton balls, teased, inside the cups. I used two because Mrspeakers and BMF found that something like 6 regular balls sounded best. 2 x 3 (triple) = 6
- Dynamat on ear side of baffle
- Shure 840 pads with cotton ball "bratwurst" underneath rear of the pad to angle the pads
- I also have a leather headband mod still because I find it super comfortable, but that doesn't affect sound so yeah.
Try it if you like, I don't take credit for most of it because its other peoples findings, but it sounds great.
. 
