🔶 Fostex T20rp

Headphones [Official] Open Back
1

This is the official thread for the Fostex T20rp. This thread is for discussion and reviews.

  • Over Ear
  • Amp needed!
  • Open Back

:red_circle: HifiGuides Amazon link

Reviews…

Z Reviews

Sam Campbell

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These headphones suck. I have monoprice m1060 as daily drivers for the past couple years. I was hoping i could spend less on well reviewed cans and try different sound signatures. Wrong. These tiny drivers sound lackluster, cramped, boring, veiled, did i mention boring? Comparing my monos to the t20s is Ferrari vs Civic. What a waste of 160 bux. Using on SU-8 and sp200. The fostex can max out the sp200 volume knob btw. A90 incoming. DO NOT BUY THESE PIECES OF SHIT.
P.S. i tried some pad swaps and foam removal. Doesnt matter. These drivers aren’t in the same league as the 1060s. The bass slam, the clarity, literally everything is 5x better on the monos. Ill sell these at some point. Or burn them. Should be priced at 40 dollars on the discount shelf in sears.

4

The treble of the trp series killed my ears, not a fan

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Finally I got my T20RPs. I don’t really know the reason for the lack of interest in theeeese cans. I know you can make a T50RP into a T20RP with replacing the foam insert with some thin mesh but they are cheap and I tend to like them for their deep bass. How is the T20RPs compared to the Argons? Does anyone have both?

1 Like
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I have owned the t20 for a while and I wanted to know if there is something I could try out. I’ve been doing some research and a couple of headphones have my attention. I am interested in the Sivga Phoenix, the Beyer dynamic dt 1990 pro, and the Gold Planar GL2000. I basiclly know mostly for what Z Reviews has posted on his channel. If anyone could give some feedback on the headphones I would really appreciate it.

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Harmonicdyne Zeus. Add to list.

Phoenix is a dark bassy can
DT1990 is a neutral headphone
GP2000 has had some QC so you could get an amazing headphone or one that sounds a bit hollow.

Zues is like my perfect fun headphone. Wide and bassy and extremely comfortable.

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For pure bass the phoenix is really good. But i didn’t like the overall sound signature. Everything was quite compiled and the upper mids were shouty.

The fidelio x2 has also much bass. The bass quality isn’t the best, but very much fun.

The zeus is a upgrade of the x2 in terms of sound quality. The x2 has overall more bass than the zeus and especially more sub bass. The bass focus is more on the kickbass.

I didn’t had the t20 and the 1990 on my desk yet.

My personal bass ranking so far:
Audioquest Nighthawk carbon
Meze 99 Classics / Sivga Phoenix
Fidelio X2
Sony Mdr 1a
HD Zeus

My personal overall sound ranking:
B&O H6 2nd gen

Zeus
Sundara
Nighthawk carbon
Tygr / Fidelio X2
Meze 99 classics
Mdr 1a
Phoenix

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I have tried this headset and for movies it is one of the best I would say ahead of hifiman sundara, edition xs, m1060…it creates a very interesting atmosphere.
Could you tell me what are the differences between the fostex t20rp mk3 and the t50rp mk3?

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I ordered what I though was a Discount B-stock T50 RP with the intent of doing the Mayflower mod, or something similar using locally sourced felt and clay. It seems that I wasn’t paying much attention, and what I actually ordered the T20. I actually don’t mind. I wanted to try a planar and experiment with mods. I figured I could do that with either the T20 or T50.

at first listen, the the T20 had more/sloppier bass than I wanted, and while I didn’t find them unbearable, they definitely could be more comfortable.

I got a pair of Brainwanz velour pads and the Modhouse deer-skin suspension strap. The earpads did help get the bass under control and in combination with the headband mod these things are supremely comfortable now

If I am going to mod them to try and make them perfect, at least by my teste, I’d like to tighten bass a little bit, bring the mids forward and improve vocal clarity.

Before I go any further with modifications, I’d like to try to clear up some some conflicting tribal knowledge. There are three things I read all the time, and I feel like only two can be true.

  1. All other things being equal, a more open headphone will have less bass but better imaging.
  2. The T20s have more bass than the T50.
  3. The only difference between the T20 and the T50 is that the T20s are more Open because they have Thin mesh covering the vent hole whereas the t50s have a piece of foam.

So if I cover the vent opening with felt, that will both give them more bass because it makes them less open and give them less bass because it makes them more like the T50, right? How confident are we that The Mesh/Foam over the vent is the only difference between the two?

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Would say that port is more of a vent hole not the difference between an open or closed HP
I see it like the difference between a ported or sealed Porzed has more bass and sealed is more controlled and quicker, at least it makes sense in my head :crazy_face:

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Otherwise I have myself a t20 and a t60 and the 60 should be a wooden t50 and it has the same insides as the t20