Review: ZMF Modified Fostex T50RP. Superb!
- Thread starter ULUL
- Start date
maz0r
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2013
- Posts
- 20
- Likes
- 13
Been eyeing these up for a while now, now that my venerable and heavily modded HX900 have decided to implode I have the excuse I needed!
Bit the bullet for a base kit bit outside my budget, especially with the £28 import duty when it lands in the UK, but reading the reviews it would appear its well worth it.
Also, Zach is crazy, emailing me 4minutes after I sent the payment asking which version I'd like! whilst on honeymoon!
Bit the bullet for a base kit bit outside my budget, especially with the £28 import duty when it lands in the UK, but reading the reviews it would appear its well worth it.
Also, Zach is crazy, emailing me 4minutes after I sent the payment asking which version I'd like! whilst on honeymoon!
maz0r
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2013
- Posts
- 20
- Likes
- 13
Quote:
Thanks Tiemen, Long time lurker on Head-Fi just never really felt the need to post until today.
Got my FiiO E5, Shure SE215's + ACS Custom sleeves based on reviews here (looking to upgrade the IEM when I get the motorbike back on the road),
FiiO E7 DAC + E9 Combo for the desktop at present, although my HX900's are currently Mono due to knocking them off my desk one time to many.
Thanks Tiemen, Long time lurker on Head-Fi just never really felt the need to post until today.
Got my FiiO E5, Shure SE215's + ACS Custom sleeves based on reviews here (looking to upgrade the IEM when I get the motorbike back on the road),
FiiO E7 DAC + E9 Combo for the desktop at present, although my HX900's are currently Mono due to knocking them off my desk one time to many.
Hey maz0r, has somebody told you "sorry about your wallet" yet? If not then welcome!
maz0r
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2013
- Posts
- 20
- Likes
- 13
The best cans I could have hoped to find for my original budget would have been some ATH M50's which these apparently smoke. (And I didn't find them comfortable when I tried them on.). So my wallet is hurting (a little more now that I added the gold rejack) but payday is only 4days off so I won't starve
Ohhh those few days before the payday is so long for me
I just arrived home from the Metallica concert here in Singapore and its screwking awesome!
Cristello
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2012
- Posts
- 216
- Likes
- 15
removed
Quote:
So that is why the kick drums' impact were very powerful, you can feel slam all over
So that is why the kick drums' impact were very powerful, you can feel slam all over
Here is a shot of the stage setup during one of the opening performance.
sorry for the OT
Tiemen
Headphoneus Supremus
There's a forum for music at http://www.head-fi.org/f/9/music
When there's too much OT in a thread, mods will close them. Would hate to see that happens here.
When there's too much OT in a thread, mods will close them. Would hate to see that happens here.
funflyer
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2013
- Posts
- 13
- Likes
- 14
I'm not really a headphone addict - in fact the last pair I bought until now was Koss ESP-9s almost 20 years ago (which are right now back at Koss getting worked on!) But I stumbled upon head-fi.org and got my interest piqued. Maybe things had changed some since I last went headphone shopping for anything other than other than noise-cancellers for travel. After reading up, I took my first plunge back into these waters with the Zach modified Fostex T50-RPs. Wow! I got the V1 models and at first was unsure of my choice, but - despite the claims that they are bass-shy, they are definitely NOT. The bass is there and is appropriate. I think the perceived "problem" has more to do with source rather than the phones themselves.
I started out using an iPod for testing - with a Nuforce Icon mobile headphone amp. Nice, though not outstanding. Then, after realizing that my main system preamp (Threshold FET-10) doesn't have headphone output, I went to the bedroom system and hooked up to a very vintage, though re-worked, Sony TAE-8450 pre-amp. This monster is still a superb unit, but I was not aware of any kudos for the phones output jack. It was, nonetheless, better than the iPod (no surprise there) but still lacking.
So, I moved a bit farther into the world of "headphonia" and bought a Schiit Lyr, which I just got today. HUGE improvement ! (just out of the box - no break-in.) Despite the fact that the Fostex phones (like the Audeze and others, and unlike the Hifiman products) can be driven with modest power, they just do SO much better with more available current. Much like large planar speakers (Magnepans, Apogees) perhaps planar 'phones like that extra oomph that high-power/high-current amps can provide.
The detail provided by these is extraordinary - perhaps even on par with the electrostatics that I've heard (but no direct comparos until my ESPs come back home!) The treble soars skyward and the bass, as noted earlier is certainly there, but not obtrusive. These are not for Bass-heads, they are for accurate music reproduction.
What did I listen to so far? Admittedly not much, but enough to form an opinion and post, so here are a few samples"
- Fleetwood Mac, "Tango in the Night" and "Big Love." This is a very slickly produced recording, and these tracks are the audio equivalent of a Ridley Scott movie - "dense." There is a huge amount of acoustic information here - beyond the basic melody - and the T50-RPs separate things beautifully. (I want to try the classical equivalent - something Wagner - but need to move things around in order to get a phono source.)
-Cyndi Lauper, "Into the Night." An unabashedly over-thumped disco selection. The bass is massive, and is easily reproduced without any "one-note bass" effect. Even so, Cyndi's voice is natural and cuts through with aplomb. Again, the phones are able to resolve things competently.
-Marvin Gaye, "Got to Give it up Part I." Another mover with rather high acoustic density. It's easy to get lost in the bass line on this track, but with proper reproduction, it can't happen. Marvin's vocals are splendidly resolved and soar above the rhythm below.
-Doris Day, "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps." Doris Day?!?! Recorded 1964. Despite the recording limitations of the day, this track brilliantly captures the husky beauty of her voice - and the phones allow you to hear that this was definitely a studio recording. The manipulation of the signal is all too apparent, but fun all the same.
-William Orbit, "Water from a Vine Leaf." I love the material, but it's hard to reproduce faithfully - lots of electronica plus dainty voices - with fiendishly wide dynamic and frequency ranges. No prob for the modded T50s.
So, I'm hooked, and will no doubt look at and listen to - and probably buy some more headphones. The experience is so different from in-room listening, and has definitely changed for the better over time. It's an enormous departure from the ear-bud experience too. Bottom line, these headphones are outstanding and a superb value too! Maybe I'll find better reproduction form Sennheiser or HifiMan, but the bang for buck would be hard to match. Highly recommended.
I started out using an iPod for testing - with a Nuforce Icon mobile headphone amp. Nice, though not outstanding. Then, after realizing that my main system preamp (Threshold FET-10) doesn't have headphone output, I went to the bedroom system and hooked up to a very vintage, though re-worked, Sony TAE-8450 pre-amp. This monster is still a superb unit, but I was not aware of any kudos for the phones output jack. It was, nonetheless, better than the iPod (no surprise there) but still lacking.
So, I moved a bit farther into the world of "headphonia" and bought a Schiit Lyr, which I just got today. HUGE improvement ! (just out of the box - no break-in.) Despite the fact that the Fostex phones (like the Audeze and others, and unlike the Hifiman products) can be driven with modest power, they just do SO much better with more available current. Much like large planar speakers (Magnepans, Apogees) perhaps planar 'phones like that extra oomph that high-power/high-current amps can provide.
The detail provided by these is extraordinary - perhaps even on par with the electrostatics that I've heard (but no direct comparos until my ESPs come back home!) The treble soars skyward and the bass, as noted earlier is certainly there, but not obtrusive. These are not for Bass-heads, they are for accurate music reproduction.
What did I listen to so far? Admittedly not much, but enough to form an opinion and post, so here are a few samples"
- Fleetwood Mac, "Tango in the Night" and "Big Love." This is a very slickly produced recording, and these tracks are the audio equivalent of a Ridley Scott movie - "dense." There is a huge amount of acoustic information here - beyond the basic melody - and the T50-RPs separate things beautifully. (I want to try the classical equivalent - something Wagner - but need to move things around in order to get a phono source.)
-Cyndi Lauper, "Into the Night." An unabashedly over-thumped disco selection. The bass is massive, and is easily reproduced without any "one-note bass" effect. Even so, Cyndi's voice is natural and cuts through with aplomb. Again, the phones are able to resolve things competently.
-Marvin Gaye, "Got to Give it up Part I." Another mover with rather high acoustic density. It's easy to get lost in the bass line on this track, but with proper reproduction, it can't happen. Marvin's vocals are splendidly resolved and soar above the rhythm below.
-Doris Day, "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps." Doris Day?!?! Recorded 1964. Despite the recording limitations of the day, this track brilliantly captures the husky beauty of her voice - and the phones allow you to hear that this was definitely a studio recording. The manipulation of the signal is all too apparent, but fun all the same.
-William Orbit, "Water from a Vine Leaf." I love the material, but it's hard to reproduce faithfully - lots of electronica plus dainty voices - with fiendishly wide dynamic and frequency ranges. No prob for the modded T50s.
So, I'm hooked, and will no doubt look at and listen to - and probably buy some more headphones. The experience is so different from in-room listening, and has definitely changed for the better over time. It's an enormous departure from the ear-bud experience too. Bottom line, these headphones are outstanding and a superb value too! Maybe I'll find better reproduction form Sennheiser or HifiMan, but the bang for buck would be hard to match. Highly recommended.
Tiemen
Headphoneus Supremus
Hey funflyer, great way to enter Head-Fi with this wonderful review.
Welcome!
The damage to your wallet is already done, but you could've done worse....
The ZMF are indeed superb value and one of the best bang for the buck in headphone land.
Welcome!
The damage to your wallet is already done, but you could've done worse....
The ZMF are indeed superb value and one of the best bang for the buck in headphone land.
Users who are viewing this thread
