Review on Fostex T20RP 🎧 MK3 Open-back Professional Studio Headphones by Durward Carlson

T40RP mk3. Replacement for AKG K77. The review was written an hour after receipt. Durability: Obvious point. These are not exactly everyday headphones. I would classify them as professional tools because of the cost, design and weight. If you twist or throw them frequently, you're likely to break some of the pivot ball guides. They are quite strong but plastic and yet fragile. However, my old, almost identical copies survived knocks on the counter quite often, but occasionally broke and had to be repaired. Sound: Incredible. The details almost brought me to tears. I doubt I'll ever be able to wear any other headphones again. In a few compressed MP3 files extracted for testing, I heard song components I had never heard before. I took a pop song I'd heard a million times and suddenly found out it had vinyl-style crackle and pop imitation. Wav sounds were even better. I've heard a few of them which I thought sounded terrible and then I realized I actually hear them bland from the systems I normally use. These headphones have a very good, uncolored response. What you hear is what was produced, no added low/mid/high accents. Fit and Comfort: I usually wear it very short so I can't comment on the comfort other than it's reasonable. But from the start they are comfortable and fit well. Build quality: Very good quality. My previous working headphones always felt cheap and of poor quality. You feel premium right from the start. The print is even and clean. There are no strands on the headband. Every screw is tight and all plastic parts fit together well. The ear pads fit evenly around the entire circumference. My usage is probably irrelevant to the reader: I'm an audio engineer. My AKG headphones broke and I wasn't happy with them anyway so I went back to the studio headphones I bought over 20 years ago when I was a radio host. The model number of the Fostex T20. may not be correct. Very similar design and in the studio they sound amazing. I still have them, but they're too worn out to work again. I need closed-back headphones to avoid mic feedback in some scenarios (AKG drove me crazy with that). The T40RP was the only enclosed modern take on the old design I was looking for. I expected good results from this Fostex family of models, but I'm actually more impressed than I expected. I don't write rave reviews for tools for the job. but I'm totally amazed. I want to cancel the rest of the day and just hear something in these banks.