Foster T50RP II vs Beyer 880

[cratz2]

So, for someone looking for a fairly neutral sound with a plump bottom end, which would you suggest?

I've heard each but have never been able to compare them directly. I have a couple headphone amps (Schiit Magni 2 and a Little Dot) which should do a decent job of driving either phone.

I'm not interested in being able to drive either one from a phone/tablet/laptop etc...

So, which would you recommend?

 

[Descartridge]

You may probably try both at a Guitar Center where I bought my Fostex T50RP II which I love.
I had and sold a Beyer 990.
Their designs are different.

 

[bigx5murf]

I use modified t50rp mk2 on a little dot daily. The fostex stock is pretty bass shy, the basic mods improve this aspect mostly (shure 840 pads, clay on baffles, sound dampening materials in cups. Sounds like you're a bass head, thing about planars is their bass is known for accuracy, meaning it can hit and decay quickly. To a bass head experiencing this for the first time, it seems like a reduction in bass.

 

[cratz2]

Thanks for the reply. I was truly asking for a friend. Among my headphones, he likes my 600/650 and Q701 for their overall sound but definitely wanted a more prominent bottom end.

He's not into rap or electronic music at all so wasn't so much interested in extreme bass, he just didn't like the fairly limited or rounded off bass of the aforementioned headphones.

I've since received the Massdrop/Fostex T-x0 so I'll have him listen to them sometime in the next few weeks. Mine are stock for now and I've been enjoying them. I'll think about mods on down the road.

Thanks again for your reply.

 

[Empireman]

I enjoy my DT-880 600ohm with my Musical Fidelity X-CanV2 Tube Amp. I didn't quite enjoy my Fostex T50RP MKII's that much(cheapish feel/dull sounding) and sold them soon afterward.
I think my DT-990's have a little more bass and might be good match with your Schiit.

 

[cratz2]

I had a set of 250 OHM 880s and have listened to the 770s and 990s. In the speaker world, I tend to prefer bright, detailed speakers but the 770s and 990s were too much! Maybe if I only ever listened to audiophile-approved, pristine recordings they'd be tolerable but to me, the 770s and 990s are the definition of fatiguing.

I liked my 880s pretty well but ended up selling them and keeping the AKG Q701s.

I ended up getting a set of T50RP/Massdrop TX0s. I'll have my friend listen to them in the next month and see what he thinks.

Build quality aside, it's interesting that you found the T50RPs to be dull. My main phones are the Q701s and the HD600s and compared to them, I'd consider the T50RPs to be less natural and neutral, but more lively, engaging and 'fun.'

 

[Stefus_Prime]

I have personally never tried the Fosters but I can attest that Beyer 880's have a bassy low end, not sure if I would call them neutral though but they certainly weren't offensive IMO. I ran them through my brother's Schitt Magni and I can't say I noticed a huge difference. I will see if I can borrow the amp and get another listen though.

 

[EngineerNate]

Love my fostex with the Shure alcantara pads.

 

[bigx5murf]

Another thing I forgot to mention about the fostex t50rp, when you mod them, you're basically stuffing them with sound absorbing material, and reducing the resonance of the cups and baffles. All this adds up to significantly reducing their efficiency, and planars were already an inefficient tech to begin with. The funny thing is when you underpower them, they still get plenty loud, just missing their bass. My current amps (objective2 and little dot i+), in high gain are barely powerful enough for them.

 

[ossidian]

So, for someone looking for a fairly neutral sound with a plump bottom end, which would you suggest?

My ex girlfriend. Seriously though the Denon D2000: Note this is not my review but I have heard these cans and I concur.

Sound Quality:
The Headrooms review: "musical textures sound tightly defined and ultra-vivid, the soundstage image is deeply expansive, instrumental separation is clear as a bell, and the timbral precision is eye-openingly impressive." What they say is incredibly accurate, these headphones have a great soundstage and it's hard to think about them as closed headphones when they are on your ears. They sound pretty good unamped, but they benefit greatly from amplification, and I highly recommend you pair this with an amp and dac. The bass is deep and strong, and these cans produce the most pleasant sounding bass of any headphone mentioned in this review. They sound amazing with just about any genre from rock to DnB, these headphones shine. If i had anything negative to say about these cans it was that i felt the highs were a bit lacking and i had to EQ them a bit, to bring them out but otherwise no complaints.

 

[scottosan]

Another thing I forgot to mention about the fostex t50rp, when you mod them, you're basically stuffing them with sound absorbing material, and reducing the resonance of the cups and baffles. All this adds up to significantly reducing their efficiency, and planars were already an inefficient tech to begin with. The funny thing is when you underpower them, they still get plenty loud, just missing their bass. My current amps (objective2 and little dot i+), in high gain are barely powerful enough for them.

Curious of your DAC. A lot of new USB DAC's are way below spec sitting at 1Vrms vs the redbood 2Vrms spec. Using the gain 6.5x on the objective will usually result in clipping if using a 2Vrms DAC or source. The gain is better served to adjust for input level rather than volume, since the volume control sits after the first opamp