đŸ”¶ Fostex T50rp

Kinda like buying a Harley. You know you 'aint leavin there with a stock machine! :sunglasses:

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Anyone here tried putting modeling clay into these? Because I’ve had trouble finding anything on what it actually does apart from a vague “reduce mechanical motion” and that tells me nothing about effects on detail, imaging, or tone.

Okay this is sounding salty. But I was dissapointed by how putting in cotton made them sound really thin and hollow (compared to just using Dekoni sheepskin pads), and feel reluctant to unscrew them again, even though I already got some Newplast clay to try out.

I’m thinking about entry level planars. Does someone have both T50RP and HE400SE? Can someone compare them?

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T50RP are excellent, but unless you are planning to mod them or send them in to be modded, get the HE400SE. The T50RP are excellent, but have sort of a vale over the sound, the ear pads are extremely uncomfortable (must replace) and they are only single ended out of the box so you could never expand the to balance unless you mod them. The HE400SE are clear and neutral, almost to the point of being boring in my book, I need a bit more base and warmth, but that is what your getting, no need to mod, and balanced.

There are now plenty of other choices out there for beginner plannars that I would say are better choices.

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Huh, never saw T50RPs as having a “veil” over their sound
 Anyway, Hifiman 5XXs are also well-regarded (no mods required either).

But, is it really a good thing? Lol. If you have time to “mod” headphones, and by “mod” I mean, just buying another pair of pads or messing with the foam a little bit for example, the versatility of T50RPs can really impress you. It’s like buying 3 or 4 headphones at once, really.

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Have you ever listened to any of the T50RP mods? Its like opening your eyes for the first time and seeing clearly. I went from stock to the Mayflower Mod and it was like waking up. In the mean time I send my headset in to be Argons, but I still have my Hifiman.

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which version would you recommend for pc gaming and so that I could hear myself talk? I figure the T20s?

Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a company in EU that does the mods


There are plenty of videos that show you how to, Mayflower sold a kit and has a tutorial up, you can just get stuff that’s needed.

Oidio in the UK does, but only accept brand new T50

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Sennheiser PC37X :stuck_out_tongue: you won’t hear yourself talk much with T50RPs, or any closed-backs (or semi-closed backs).

T20RP are open, though


In terms of the t50/40/20 it’s open, but that’s still not very open compared to most headphones

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I bought a T50RP MkIII that arrived in the mail today! First day with it, but I swapped out the stock pads for Dan Clark Alpha pads and added a ZMF head strap. (I listened to the stock pads for like 5 minutes and kinda hated them.) But yeah, this thing is a lot of fun! I also kinda love that it just looks like some weird science project headphone with its bright wires randomly dangling off of the sides. I’ll probably wear these during my weekly work video call meeting tomorrow to just see how goofy they look to other people.

Switching between the T50RP and my other daily driver headphones, it’s pretty obvious that the T50 is not especially detailed/resolving, but the bass and width is enough that I think it would probably get a decent “wow” reaction from a non-audiophile. (I feel like the bass elevation is just over the line where it does sound bloated, but it doesn’t bug me in most songs.) Also, the T50 definitely sounds better at my desktop than it does on anything portable that I own (including my XD-05 Plus, which is 1w/32ohms), but at the same time, it’s also not nearly as hard to drive as maybe I expected? My Quicksilver amp is like below 10-o’-clock.

Anyway, the T50RP was $160, the pads were $60, so while I need to spend more time with it, it seems pretty worth the $220 asking price.

To people who would know, what are the major changes for turning this into an Argon or a Open Alpha or whatnot? I feel like I’ve already gotten a lot for just the pad swap.

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A change into Argons may give you a substantial increase in soundstage and an improvement over resolution, tighter and more bass. If you don’t want the wait time and want to experiment with a little something, try the tuning kit from Mayflower Audio (Ofc it won’t be an Argon but it can show you the modding potential of T50). Open Alpha is sth I wanna try too but my understanding is the MrSpeakers tuning is pretty neutral so quite different from the v-shaped Argon.

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Finally replaced my old pair! Forgot how great these sound. First mod, uhu tac. The result is tighter bass, smoother mids and less sibilance. Noticing a slight channel imbalance on the right cup. Maybe i can move the putty around to see if its effected by my application Or maybe im over analyzing? Might be overthinking it.

Edit: my driver was screwed back in upside down which explains things.

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Anyone here using these with creative x7 if so is it strong enough
 If not should I hook these up to my inuke dsp3000? Oh what is the best way to increase the Soundstage I got the zmf pads coming anything else?

Update got them umm yeah X7 can drive them switching it to high gain but still limited volume does nothing passed 40% maybe they will get easier to drive over time , the stock head band really isn’t bad. Loving these better than the focal elegia. Haven’t tried them gaming yet.

It is WILD how different pads change this headphone, I likely report this as news to nobody here.
Dekoni Suedes for Shure SRH vs Shure 1540’s.
Suedes turned this into one of the strangest sounding headphones I’ve ever listened too.

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Just copy-pasting from my Moon 100D review. It could help some if their T50RPs sound like “exploded speakers” with higher-end DACs.

I got it. This is why it doesn’t pair perfectly with T50RPs “sealed” by leather or leather-like pads. Lows are so powerful and thick, sealed planar closed-backs try to push too much air at too many frequencies and can sound “like exploded speakers”. I’m using the Shure 1540 pads right now, not a problem at all. At the price of more sibilance but also way more clarity.

Be aware I’ve done this to remove treble and sibilance already.

As I said in my review above (more than three years ago!), Fostex T50RP’s analytical-ness can make em sound thin, even mechanical. I still agree with that. But I forgot to mention here that I got a Class A headphone amp last year and it changed everything. When you pair fast planars with a smooth Class A amplifier, IMO, it counter-balances, and therfore you get the best of both worlds: Detailed naturalness.

My T50RP’s are still rockin’. Still here to stay. Still the best headphones I got to enjoy both detailed and powerful drum kicks in energetic music. :headphones: :metal:

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