Fostex T50RP for gaming and a list of mods

S

spaceman

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Jan 7, 2005
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HOLY SHIT! That good yeah. I got a pair for $115 shipped and it is a SMOKING PAIR OF CANS. Yeah, had them for two two songs, Led Zepplins Out on the Tiles and Gallows Pole. Worked up a fucking sweat jamming my ass of to both songs. Amazing. I like these as much as any headphone I have ever had and that total goes into the 60s now.

Going to try and game with them soon and will update that.
Just curious if anyone here has used these for gaming/music and what did you think?

Seems like a very good candidate. Cheap, easy to mod and improves dramatically. Might be the best headphone under $100.

First a basic walk through:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/452404/just-listened-to-some-fostex-t50rps-today-wow/2655#post_7768646

All the mods for this headphone are here.

http://www.head-fi.org/a/fostex-t50rp-modification-summary-links-wiki

I also think this amp will be the best bang for your buck if you want to get the most out of these headphones. The Assembled Objective2 headphone amp compares to some very well regarded and much more expensive products just as these headphones do lol.

http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=O2Full
 
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Look, you guys need to get in on these. I can't do it yet but sure as hell intend to.

You can have a headphone for around $100 that competes with ANY headphone. I mean ANY at ANY price point. So get on this noobs!

Screw what headset, this one looks amazing and is right up our alley. Bass is good, sound stage is a bit small but 3D as all get out and natural sounding. You want to hear that metallic blang on your shots right?

LET US GET IT ON!'

lol
 
Well you have put them on my radar at least. In the last month I received a pair of cans as a Christmas gift and then bought two pairs of IEM's myself so I can't really justify getting anything else for a few months. At least until I get an amp first that is.

These do look interesting though.
 
I use a Rastapants 2 modded T50RP and I highly recommend this for anyone. Get an Fiio E10 and bam, you have a really nice set up for under $200.
 
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Havent the T50RPs been around for years? Seems a bit FOTM to me. They had mini surges of interest at head-fi here and there, but were never considered real giant killers. I guess it is full blown hype right now. I am sure they are decent cans, but there are a lot of decent cans in the same price range with probably similar performance. Maybe worth a look for something different (orthodynamic)
 
Yeah but not in this price range. I am 100% with you about FOTM but these at least seem legit. At least in the under $200 category nobody has any real complaints. They seem to flow smooth and nice which is going to be a treat for people who are used to standard dynamic driver headphones.

When I get mine we will know b/c I have heard everything maaaaaan. (almost)
 
fss69 said:
Havent the T50RPs been around for years? Seems a bit FOTM to me. They had mini surges of interest at head-fi here and there, but were never considered real giant killers. I guess it is full blown hype right now. I am sure they are decent cans, but there are a lot of decent cans in the same price range with probably similar performance. Maybe worth a look for something different (orthodynamic)
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That's actually what I thought when I first saw this thread - "Oh great another FOTM set of cans with a long list of mods" so I didn't give it much thought. Then I gave it a second glance noticed they are orthodynamic drivers and one of the few cheap orthodynamic models you can buy new so the list of mods made more sense.

I will probably get a pair eventually just to see what orthodynamic cans sound like.
 
fss69 said:
Havent the T50RPs been around for years? Seems a bit FOTM to me. They had mini surges of interest at head-fi here and there, but were never considered real giant killers. I guess it is full blown hype right now. I am sure they are decent cans, but there are a lot of decent cans in the same price range with probably similar performance. Maybe worth a look for something different (orthodynamic)
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Thunderpants is FOTM a bit maybe but the point is they're a cheap, low-end design with potential for whatever you are capable of. All the way up to competing in the $1000+ arena with Audeze/Stax/etc these can hang if you mod them correctly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPLAkehj8d8&feature=player_embedded
 
fss69 said:
Havent the T50RPs been around for years? Seems a bit FOTM to me. They had mini surges of interest at head-fi here and there, but were never considered real giant killers. I guess it is full blown hype right now. I am sure they are decent cans, but there are a lot of decent cans in the same price range with probably similar performance. Maybe worth a look for something different (orthodynamic)
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No FOTM, they really are that good once properly modded. I understand the skepticism though. My HD800/WA2 and T40RP/O2 are getting 50/50 headtime.
 
You using the T40RP V1? I wanted to get that model but then reality aka marriage STRUCK! Soon enough. Anyway, they are going for $120. Worth the extra $50?
 
You'd think they could make some headphones not look like they are from the Soviet era and used in hearing tests. Until then, no other headphones outside of Sennheiser will get my ownership. The price to mod these phones DIY are still outrageous, so it's not like they are a simple ~$100 headphone competing with the upper tier. Gotta love head-fi and their product pushing.
 
The mod costs are $20-25? Um? You are thinking of the thunderpants. They are $$. What I am referring to is the diy mods.

Also, wtf cares if the headphones look like dildos even? You don't see them when listening! lol

Ok now somebody photoshop dildo-phones.
 
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grimster said:
You'd think they could make some headphones not look like they are from the Soviet era and used in hearing tests. Until then, no other headphones outside of Sennheiser will get my ownership. The price to mod these phones DIY are still outrageous, so it's not like they are a simple ~$100 headphone competing with the upper tier. Gotta love head-fi and their product pushing.
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You must be joking. The price to do these mods yourself (plus the cost of the headphones) is a pittance compared to what you would pay for the HE-500. The HE-500 is the cheapest of the planar magnetic headphones it competes against and street price is around $600-$700. Now if you're talking about buying a modded set, then yes it isn't cheap but you're paying for someone else to do the work for you.

Taste in styling is personal, but many like myself prefer sound character over any type of style.
 
I haven't heard of anything but some certain "pants" mods making them competitive. I really can't even see these $20 DIY mods because I am blocked from even accessing head-fi because the owner is a complete child.
 
grimster said:
I haven't heard of anything but some certain "pants" mods making them competitive. I really can't even see these $20 DIY mods because I am blocked from even accessing head-fi because the owner is a complete child.
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??? how are you blocked? I am at work and have no issues.
 
Head-fi will lay down the ban hammer swiftly and often. Not a fan of their swift bans even if some are actually deserved.
 
Because I am banned. They actually have their nginx block my work's IP address. The owner is a complete child. People have been banned for simply pointing out flaws of sponsored products. My first ban was a result of "insulting" someone's work on painting their phones green and purple with acrylic art paint. Search for some grado barney, and you will see what I mean. The OP didn't even feel that insulted, yet the mods banned me. The second ban was because I said Chinese-made goods are cheap, knockoff crap, and that it's possible because of slave labor. How any kind of racist or nationalist tone can come from fact, I don't konw, but the owner is some kind of Asian person who is a total idiot yuppie , so you put the pieces of the puzzle together.

If these were such an amazing steal and able to compete with these simple mods, they would cost much more because of the demand. I just don't buy it. Some fool wanted to trade me a pair of thunderpants modded ones for an entire computer.
 
I'm not going to say that the modded Fostex sound/are better than any of the higher end planar's, but if you can get much closer to the performance of higher end for < 1/4 of the price with some elbow grease why not?
 
Ah yes, do not mess with his money or heritage. True enough. He does ban people easy imo too. However, it is his forum so what can you do?

I think the mods are on wiki too though.
 
He will get what's coming to him at some point. He can have his money, his "power", and his blind pride in his heritage. He also doesn't seem to like any kind of objective discussion on that board, which I partially don't blame. ABX tests are stupid. The HydrogenAudio people constantly tout them as the holy grail, but when someone actually passes them when their scientific/mathematic religion tries to quantify human hearing specs into numbers, they go ape shit and claim that ABX testing is then not enough, or that something done was flawed. We are ages away from knowing anything about anything, but in their minds, science has every aspect of existence already figured out. And the mods and admins there like using over-the-top language to sound smarter and more sophisticated. Which is something my "religion" warns against. When people do that, it's to push an agenda of circular logic.
 
The sponsors run Head-Fi, the owner is a lapdog doing their bidding. I remember when I first joined you barely noticed the sponsors. Things changed when found out the kind of coin he could make. I never got banned, but I did receive a warning over something silly. I have not been back to that cesspool since.
 
Speaking on that subject, here is the amp made by someone banned on that forum for pretty much agreeing about the whole whoring over questionable products issue.

I would buy this amp, or rather I will buy it, once I upgrade my gpu and get a pair of these headphones. In that order.

http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=O2Full

Oh and check out the same companies cmoy amp for about half the cost of the other. It is another solid product.
 
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I'm running a version of that amp built by MrSlim. Drives the Fostex Orthos well.

350x263px-LL-81bec626_O2.jpeg
350x263px-LL-e412520a_O2rear.jpeg
 
He can be found in DIYAudo but he's not taking any orders. He is in the middle of building 50 O2s and will take a break when he is finished. The desktop design uses a B3 enclosure to fit the 1/4" jack and RCA inputs. I'm guessing the ODA will use the same enclosure unless the ODAC is really big.
 
The O2 is a really easy and inexpensive build. I've already put two together and have all the parts for a third. The pcb board is easily sourced from JDS Labs, and the rest of the components can be ordered online.
 
Riddleofsteel said:
How would these do when paired with an Asus Essence One?
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No idea until someone reviews that. However, they are not hard to drive for orthos. It should work just fine with that sound card. Any sound card with a built in amp should be ok.
 
Oh and something that I just noticed. There are not a lot, if any, of these headphones in the headfi FS section. People like them it appears.
 
Just got a pair. Yes. Yes and yessir. For real. Midrange is all that and a barrel of kittens son!
 
spaceman said:
Just got a pair. Yes. Yes and yessir. For real. Midrange is all that and a barrel of kittens son!
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Sweet. :cool: Any comparisons? I wonder how they stack up to my favorite super-midrange headphones, the AKG K501.
 
I've heard a couple modded Fostexes. They are definitely good. I would not claim that my HE-6 is 13x better than a Fostex, quality increase just isn't linear like that, but I wouldn't trade my HE-6 for any of the modded Fostexes I've heard thus far.

They are excellent headphones at an honestly unbelievable value. They sound great at a ridiculously affordable cost. They are not the best, though. But, given the price difference between them and the best, who's complaining? They are stellar!
 
If you want to hear some high end midrange, aka voice, guitar and decent bass, these match up to close just about anything.

If you are young and can hear high freqs and want more of that, these do not reach up there.

So think of them as really smooth, fast musical headphones that will really get you in touch with the band.

They are closed, a bit heavy and warm. I find the sound stage is not really airy. Much more like a tight monitor sound with excellent placement of the sound. So for a fps like bf3? Planes tend to overwhelm the sound. Drowning out everything when they pass over. Just like they would in real life but it is an issue for me.

For a game like Witcher 2, well, you hear everything. There is a distinction there that is amazing. The directional sound is tight and close but man do they make your hair stand up. Scary at times fighting monsters.
 
I thought about getting a pair of these some time ago, but I just don't like the design, coupled with FOTM sydrome, I decided agains it... I like the more streamline design of the Sennheisers. My favorite pair though are my beyer 770's
 
Mojo JoJo said:
I thought about getting a pair of these some time ago, but I just don't like the design, coupled with FOTM sydrome, I decided agains it... I like the more streamline design of the Sennheisers. My favorite pair though are my beyer 770's
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Yeah well these are better in every respect except the size of the sound stage and bass extension. Not fotm sorry. For $100-ish headphones they are smoking nice sounding. I do not think they are great gaming headphones but daaaaaamn good for music.
 
How do they isolate? I bought a pair of D2000's a few weeks ago and they sound great, but for a closed can they leak more than my DT990's. I could probably justify a pair of T50RP's if they isolate/don't leak much.
 
IcedEmotion said:
How do they isolate? I bought a pair of D2000's a few weeks ago and they sound great, but for a closed can they leak more than my DT990's. I could probably justify a pair of T50RP's if they isolate/don't leak much.
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Considering those 2 are far more expensive I'm going to say that even modded they probably (highly doubtful) won't approach the sonic level of either of those.

But for the price point and the willingness to do a little modding they are suppose to be pretty great.

Personally I'm fine and dandy with my HD650's :)
 
IcedEmotion said:
How do they isolate? I bought a pair of D2000's a few weeks ago and they sound great, but for a closed can they leak more than my DT990's. I could probably justify a pair of T50RP's if they isolate/don't leak much.
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With the shure 840 pads I was using, they would leak a little. I think if you used the shure 940 velor pads or the crazy expensive Stax leather pads they would leak very little.

Look into something like the jmoney pads for the D2000. Those will seal it up.
 
bumping a bit of an old thread. spaceman do you still have your T50RP's? what's the conclusion after 8 months of ownership? starting to look into my next set of headphones and i'd like something more neutral than my DT770 pro 80's. sounds like the T50RP's aren't great for gaming?
 
Porter_ said:
bumping a bit of an old thread. spaceman do you still have your T50RP's? what's the conclusion after 8 months of ownership? starting to look into my next set of headphones and i'd like something more neutral than my DT770 pro 80's. sounds like the T50RP's aren't great for gaming?
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No. The sound stage is too small for gaming. They are top of the line soundwise for music but gaming with them is not happening. Plus they are pretty heavy weight after all of the mods. Like maybe 2lbs.

Neutral?

You want Brainwavz HM5 for closed and Sennheiser 558 or 598. I have the 558 and took the foam tape off of the inside of the cup and plumped the pads up a bit with some weather stripping. Works tits for gaming. The only headphone that has a better directional sound stage is the 701.

The 558 is more fun though bc it actually has bass slam. The 701 has bass but it lacks impact. The AD700 just doesn't have bass compared to the 558 btw. Huge difference there.

My lame ass youtube video about the 558.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-knI5XuZ3KE&feature=plcp
 
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