[SonyFan121]

ep007 pads "just for kicks" . I just like sheepskin pads in general more. Speaking of pads the pads on th500rp are different from th610. In that, they are more spongey and most like perforated more internally. The th610 is dense and in turn tougher chewier. No i did not bite them. Just a figure of speech. Anyhoo, I don't detect any major differences since these have a similar sized D shaped hole (though slightly bigger), and they are angled as well. I would like to say its slightly fatter resulting in slightly wider stage and a tad more lower end emphasis and treble bite (the gentlest of bites like a puppy bite) but i could be imagining these. I do feel the leather traps more detail, as opposed to the super breathable stock pads which probably eats some random frequencies. How much engineering Fostex did on the pads? Hmm probably not much lol. Comfort is a plus. Whether such an upgrade is worth it depends on how much you like sheepskin. These are on another can (sr-5 GLD) so I will go back to stock which I am fine with

I do appreciate these cans, but in saying that, most reviews of these (seems 9 out of 10) do not favor this can. Is it misunderstood? Possibly. I could not have this as a primary can. The 610 can do it all really decent, though not perfectly. One can live with a 610 and move on in life.
Anyway I got these to listen to Jewel, and Roy O, Sia, Sarah McLaughlan, Chris Isaak, Emmylou Harris etc etc and for that purpose, they get a pass.

The build is fantastic. Comfort is top notch (if you don't have issue with these type of pads), I know some jumbo ears will not like the small cutout. They look cool too.
Bass: Switching 610 to 500, sub-bass is just not there. Sub Bass as in 30-60hz. I never expected subbass anyway from these. 6.5/10
Mids is superbe. Its enhanced though. But who cares, that means nothing. The voices sound right. Better than right, thats the point I was making. 9/10
Treble: Its not so much its not there. It seems to be like a jiggly worm with like 20 humps and dips. Somehow its inoffensive but lacking. 7/10
Soundstage/Imaging: Average. Acceptable/Good.
If I HAAAD to give this a rating out of 10................7.5/10.

I can listen to music on almost anything and have a good time because I am a music person first, and only go super OCD on occasion for details and timbral accuracy etc even though I am not even a timbre expert and my ears are 30'ish years old. huehuehue

Haha gotta love your GIF's.
Yeah the TH-X00 headphones do offer more bass, but they are also some of the bassy-est headphones i've heard. I think the bass of the TH500RP is good, nothing to complain about really, I also would say it's as low as 30Hz, I just wish it was a bit lower.

For now (and probably for a very long time to come actually) I couldn't be happier, I've found my endgame open-back headphone.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Haha gotta love your GIF's.
Yeah the TH-X00 headphones do offer more bass, but they are also some of the bassy-est headphones i've heard. I think the bass of the TH500RP is good, nothing to complain about really, I also would say it's as low as 30Hz, I just wish it was a bit lower.

For now (and probably for a very long time to come actually) I couldn't be happier, I've found my endgame open-back headphone.

What music do you listen to specifically that you find these work well for?
Its always nice to see someone find their desired sound, and I see you have found it with your Sony 7510 and th500rp. Your love of the 7510 was all over the forum at one point.

I was in similar situation like you looking at the AR-H1 and th500rp. It was a tough choice and a bit of a gamble. I felt the 500rp was less of a gamble in that if drivers failed, there are spare parts in oodles. Someone transplanted a mkIII t50rp driver and claimed it was better but im not sure about that since Fostex claimed this was the most refined and driver matching tolerances were more strict.

Its very challenging to rate headphones that are not "TOTL" b/c you have to factor in that there are bigger planar dogs like the SUSVARA or HEKv2 in existence, The t50rp driver is tiny in comparison. I remember auditioning the HEKv2 with Pathos Italian amps and it was this WALL of sound from those massive drivers. I never got that from t50rp closed headphone. The MrSpeakers Aeon Closed was nice, but also did not have that giant WALL impact. I thought the LCD-X and LCD-3 kind of did the same thing.

Its not that one cannot settle into these and listen to them all day. Its just that most people here are so particular about tonal balance and accuracy and resolution and details , that they collect 10, 20, hell 100 cans.
One thing that is apparent is this does indeed have a "FAT" or "TUBEY" sound like vintage speakers hooked up to old tube amps. Electro swing Jazz seems to take advantage of this can's tubey vibes and some older psychedelic tunes (I listen lots of cumbia style from Peru,Columbia, ElSalvador) and some Ethiopian Jazz sounds awesome; they are not the best quality recordings. Not necessarily the most resolving or accurate but gives that fuzzy feelings, especially with some liquid courage and some roughed up lungs from the smoke filled rooms.

 

[SonyFan121]

Yeah it's great that parts for the Fostex headphones are all interchangable/compatible with each other. It makes pad swapping and modding a joy too.
I listen mostly to acoustic/folk music, rock/alternative, classical, instrumental and various genre's of electronic music. With the TH500RP i'm really enjoying acoustic/folk music and EDM.
The Sony MDR7510 remains my favourite closed-back headphone. Acoustic music sounds incredible with it, imo. I've tried to make people aware of it's potential.

 

[skingg]

The 610 is an all rounder, and the th500rp... well...
... is about the weirdest headphone ever to grace my beautiful ears. It plays 9 out of 10 songs completely wrong. But when it finds the right song, I think to myself, STEVE GUTTENBURG didn't let me down. He used the word sublime, and man those mids when the song is right.

This pretty much sums up my love and hate for the th500rp. Cans lack speed and sub bass, vocals are recessed; this is the only headphone in my library that needs eq'ing (I only fiddle between 2.5k to 10k to bring the vocals forward). However, upon playing the right song it beats all my other cans no contest. Ballads and acoustic tracks with plenty of guitars and strings are where I find it excels at.

This or they are truly power hungry that as @SonyFan121 puts it, none of my equipments are doing it justice!

 

[SHAMuuu]

Tried 610 cups on 500rp......and

NO DICE

Bad News: My 610 Open cans (which was interesting w/ a correction curve applied, very similar to Sonarworks Reference 4 Correction curve made in a 1/2 audiophile/ 1/2 basshead blend) will not be
They might work with new holes drilled into the 610 wood cups to fit th500rp, but fuzz dat for now.

Good News: I still have 2 nice Fostex to listen to music, and yeah....confusion sets in for future audio goals

 

[SonyFan121]

Been using the TH500RP for gaming lately and I must say it does a fine job. It's definitely my new gaming headphone for sure, it's just so annoying I can't use it at night due to it being an open-back headphone as there are people sleeping in the next room, so I actually do most of my gaming with my Sony MDR7510, which also does a fine job, but is better suited for music and movies. Once I start using the TH500RP i'm struggling to take it off, it's addicting, imo. For gaming, the TH500RP's imaging reminds me allot of Sennheiser HD700. The Sennheiser HD700 was my previous gaming king, but because the TH500RP has a much better overall balance to it's sound (deeper, more detailed bass, warmer, more detailed treble and more precise/accurate treble) the TH500RP is my new gaming king.

 

[skingg]

@SonyFan121 When you say paired with your Oehlbach amp, do you mean the XXL Dac Ultra Headphone Amplifier?

 

[SonyFan121]

Yes, I use the Oehlbach XXL DAC Ultra with the TH500RP for gaming, movies and when I want to listen to music on my PC with the TH500RP, I connect the Audio Quest Dragonfly Red to the Oehlbach XXL DAC Ultra to give the TH500RP that much needed extra boost, because it's a planar headphone. It works wonders. I could invest in an amp that powers the TH500RP better but the Oehlbach XXL DAC Ultra has a really nice, warm, smooth sound that synergizes well with all my headphones. It's not a cheap amp, I could name a few popular mid-level amps that most head-fi members have that it is probably better than.

 

[skingg]

Have you by chance tried the TH500RP with any other amps besides those you owned? Or some other fast music tracks such as rock, alternative metal, etc? For the love of god this headphone just sounds way off for most of the music I listen to, particularly J-Pop/Rock and the occassional K-Pop and western music. Neither my Fostex HP-A4BL dac/amp nor the Arcam rHead handles it proper; both gets really loud but the vocals/mids would feel recessed hence some eq'ing is required.

My only setup that seems to work somewhat is going portable (DX150 with line out to Cayin C5 amp) as this surprisingly doesn't require any eq and the midrange feels natural! For what its worth, the t50rp despite being planar works well with all my setup, even the lg v30!

Maybe I ought to look at another desktop solution....

 

[Kevin Tam]

Have you by chance tried the TH500RP with any other amps besides those you owned? Or some other fast music tracks such as rock, alternative metal, etc? For the love of god this headphone just sounds way off for most of the music I listen to, particularly J-Pop/Rock and the occassional K-Pop and western music. Neither my Fostex HP-A4BL dac/amp nor the Arcam rHead handles it proper; both gets really loud but the vocals/mids would feel recessed hence some eq'ing is required.

My only setup that seems to work somewhat is going portable (DX150 with line out to Cayin C5 amp) as this surprisingly doesn't require any eq and the midrange feels natural! For what its worth, the t50rp despite being planar works well with all my setup, even the lg v30!

Maybe I ought to look at another desktop solution....

How long have you burned in the 500rps for? In my experience, they really settle down post 200 hrs. I too have been experimenting with different amps and sources to find the best solution for the th500rps, and during the process, I learned the following:

-The 500rps do not lack bass at all. They may not have the fastest, lowest reaching, punchiest bass, but the 500rps produce a very full bodied and refined bass that I find very satisfying with acoustic and jazz tracks. I paired them with the Graham Slee UL Diamond, V200, Audio Gd R2R-11 and Project Sunrise III. Surprisingly, the slee and PS3 drove them best despite not having the higher output power. I listen to a lot of J-pop/rock as well, and honestly if you are using these as your main cans for those genres, then I suggest you turn to AKG, Sony or Audio-Technica. I happen to think the 500rp's tuning leans more towards the Western genres. I am going to try the fostex HP-A8 next. Will share my impressions then.

 

[skingg]

How long have you burned in the 500rps for? In my experience, they really settle down post 200 hrs. I too have been experimenting with different amps and sources to find the best solution for the th500rps, and during the process, I learned the following:

-The 500rps do not lack bass at all. They may not have the fastest, lowest reaching, punchiest bass, but the 500rps produce a very full bodied and refined bass that I find very satisfying with acoustic and jazz tracks. I paired them with the Graham Slee UL Diamond, V200, Audio Gd R2R-11 and Project Sunrise III. Surprisingly, the slee and PS3 drove them best despite not having the higher output power. I listen to a lot of J-pop/rock as well, and honestly if you are using these as your main cans for those genres, then I suggest you turn to AKG, Sony or Audio-Technica. I happen to think the 500rp's tuning leans more towards the Western genres. I am going to try the fostex HP-A8 next. Will share my impressions then.

At most, 50 hours perhaps because I probably have a tad many for my own good. I do have some of the cans from the brands you mentioned and yes they worked fairly well for J-pop/rock, saved for when the th500rp found the right track (again mostly ballads and acoustics) then it is just outright magical.

You've got no issue with the vocals or the midrange sounding hollow/recessed?

 

[Kevin Tam]

At most, 50 hours perhaps because I probably have a tad many for my own good. I do have some of the cans from the brands you mentioned and yes they worked fairly well for J-pop/rock, saved for when the th500rp found the right track (again mostly ballads and acoustics) then it is just outright magical.

You've got no issue with the vocals or the midrange sounding hollow/recessed?

Not at all. No hollowed/recessed mids.

 

[SonyFan121]

Have you by chance tried the TH500RP with any other amps besides those you owned? Or some other fast music tracks such as rock, alternative metal, etc? For the love of god this headphone just sounds way off for most of the music I listen to, particularly J-Pop/Rock and the occassional K-Pop and western music. Neither my Fostex HP-A4BL dac/amp nor the Arcam rHead handles it proper; both gets really loud but the vocals/mids would feel recessed hence some eq'ing is required.

My only setup that seems to work somewhat is going portable (DX150 with line out to Cayin C5 amp) as this surprisingly doesn't require any eq and the midrange feels natural! For what its worth, the t50rp despite being planar works well with all my setup, even the lg v30!

Maybe I ought to look at another desktop solution....

No i've not tried my TH500RP with any amps I don't have/don't own. The Oehlbach is actually the only amp I own at the moment, but I don't really need any other. I will probably buy an amp that can provide a little more volume/power for the TH500RP, at some point in the near future, but i'm in no hurry as the amp synergizes so well with the TH500RP. Also, I don't know exactly how many hours of burn-in my TH500RP has had, definitely less than 50 hours so far, but I am noticing improvements to it's sound. The sound just seems to be opening up more. Most notably, the bass seems to be getting deeper and the high frequencies seem clearer (not that it wasn't clear to begin with, it just seems to be improving further), also, imaging/soundstage seems to be improving further. I've been using the TH500RP more for movies and gaming than music using my PS4 connected to the Oehlbach XXL Dac Ultra via OFC optical cable, but when I want to listen to music on Spotify with the TH500RP I connect the Audio Quest Dragonfly (Dragonfly is connected to my computer, obviously) to the Oehlbach via aux cable. The TH500RP sounds good with most genre's I listen to with it, but I where to be particular i'd say it sounds best with instrumental and soundtrack music. Overall, I don't consider the TH500RP to be a detail king or analytical kind of headphone..but in my opinion it has this very natural, easy going sound that has me in awe each time. Really quite different to anything i've ever heard before. It kinda reminds me of another very underrated headphone that is not in production any more; the Pioneer SE-A1000.
You mention the T50RP, I used to have a T50RP and think it is a great headphone for it's price but a bit muddy sounding. It would need some serious, extensive modifications to bring it up to the level of TH500RP, in my opinion.

 

[SonyFan121]

Decided to mod my TH500RP and thought I would share my results. I put some sound dampening material in the cups, in the hope that I would hear lower bass. Well, the result is not quite what I was expecting (I was expecting a bass response somewhat similar to that of a Fostex TH-X00), it is different but better than expected..the sub-bass is now more audible but perfectly balanced with the mid-bass, instead of being less audible than the mid-bass. In fact the improvements don't stop there; there is a 10% improvement in imaging, improvement in detail right across the whole frequency spectrum and for the first time i'm hearing micro details very clearly. Overall the sound signature has shifted from dark/natural sounding to neutral/analytical sounding, though not completely, but enough to consider it a neutral/analytical headphone - which is my preferred sound signature. Admittedly, the only negative that the introduction of the sound dampening material has had on the sound, is the soundstage. The soundstage is narrower but not significantly so. Imaging is better so that makes up for the narrower soundstage.

Some pic's:

 

[Albert Fifties]

I just bought the TH500RP. Boy, does that sit comfy! And because it is open, I can hear the conversations. With the closed T50RP I tested before the room noise was so muffled. Now you might like it, but I hate it when my wife has to wave her hands at me.
I have pondered the new Audio-GD A2 (great looking) and the Audio-GD NFB-1 version, both are fully compatible with 50 ohms/3000mW; I choose the NFB-one, because of the much better volume potmeter it has. Balanced - I do not need, but the ALPS-27 is just below my standard but I must say that is based on cheap DIY imports I had in the past; probably Kingwa buys better than me sucker who relies on honesty of ebay/alibay vendors
The TH500RP will be very happy.

Qustion: the NFB-1 has two outputs: the 6.3mm jack that matches with the one from this phone. And the 4 pin plug, that most use for the T50RP.
Does it make sense to change the plug on the TH500RP cord?