Fostex T50RP part1: Aesthetics

My friend, Salsal, has been bothering me with this headphone, like, since 2006, by claiming the superiority of the technology Fostex implemented on this headphone.


The packaging

The design

Behold, the king of bulkiness!

Bulky, sturdy, masculine, plastic, and finally, 1980. These are the adjectives that describe Fostex T50RP's cosmetic aspects.

A major upgrade from the first-generation: switching to urethane earpads. While this is still a nice advancement from cheap pleather earpads, there isn't enough thickness to fully seal the ear-driver interspace. With the poor fitting issue of stock earpads, T50RP loses a lot of sub-bass response caused by the radiation impedance. 

Although T50RP's height adjusting mechanism is very primitive, it is built to last: metal joints & a rubber headband.

Such a nice gesture from the manufacturer: A detachable cable not only solves the durability problem, it also satisfies audiophiles who actually care about the quality of the cable, whether it matter or not in terms of affecting the sound quality.

T50RP is a professional studio headphone, and excluding a 3.5mm headphone jack is an understandable circumstance. However, in my opinion, 3.5 mm jack could have appealed to the wider spectrum of customers.

Continued to Part 2, General analysis