Fostex X Massdrop TH-X00

Interesting. I tried the Valhalla 2 with my X00's last night, and definitely noticed the bass wasn't as strong as on my solid state NFB28. I didn't find the treble to be that piercing, but it may have been the NOS tubes the seller put in for me.

 

Please don't take my statements as Vali 2>Valhalla 2. I only found this to be the case with this particular set of headphones. I don't doubt I'll reach the same conclusion for my T50RP, HE-400S, etc. but it's not because the Valhalla 2 is worse, it's different. I only had a quick listen with my HD580 but initial impressions on this headphone indicate that the Valhalla 2 is still superior in terms of resolution and detail. The Vali 2 is no slouch though, maybe just a little smoothed over in comparison (more tubey sounding, believe it or not). The Vali 2 is very good at the price. Quite versatile too.

Also, I'm receiving different tubes (6DJ8 Orange Globes) to try on the Valhalla this weekend.

Please, take all of this shit with a grain of salt. I haven't had the dedicated listening session yet. I only meant to mention the TH-X00's differences across equipment. Wondering if anyone else has experienced this (vaguely remember Hands talking about Super 7 vs. iPad and noting some surprising results).

 

These or Fidelio X2s as basshead cans? Which one would you guys prefer?

 

Oh, yeah, you're right. I didn't read your original post very clearly and had a slight panic, hah.

Yes, for me, while using the TH-X00: Vali 2>iPad>Valhalla 2 (stock tubes). The Valhalla has some great resolution and treble energy, awesome for the HD6X0, but it doesn't do me any favors with the TH-X00. Probably more resolving than the other two options, but still too painful at my typical listening levels.

@obsidyen, someone posted a comparison between the D5000, X2, and TH-X00 in the TH-X00 Measurements thread.

 

So many rays!

 

I've got a pair of Denon D7000s, which I love. Is it worth it getting a pair of these?

 

I've been listening to mine for a few days now, going back and forth over whether they can replace the TH900 as my bassy complement to HD800.

The main trade-off is the TH-X00 bass is not as clean and fast as the TH900, but the mids are more forward which is better for vocals. Soundstage and imaging are about the same.

I am very impressed that at $399 these are not clearly inferior to the TH900.

Then I finally threw on some NIN. Wow! The TH-X00 are basically the perfect Nine Inch Nails headphone. The extra bass quantity vs HD800 adds good weight, the extra bass distortion doesn't matter, and the flatter mids vs TH900 make the vocals more forward and energetic. Even if nothing else I think they're a keeper for this reason alone...

 

Opened my pair this morning - a birthday gift from my family and am thoroughly enjoying these phones like the rest of you! They do indeed look and feel even better in person than in the photos. I expected this to a degree but was still surprised by the gorgeous cups, light weight, and excellent industrial design, which is all rivaled by the sound quality.

Sure, they fall short of the near technical perfection of modded hd800's, but they still offer impressively good and immediately satsfying sound from top to bottom, substantial (but not overwhelming) deep bass and much better sound stage than I anticipated. As others have mentioned, they sound quite good straight out of an ipad or iphone 6 (plus, in my case), and a bit better still via a Yggdrasil and mainline.

In the vein of minor nits, which I will need to listen for further, I have noticed that the sound became slightly more jumbled than I am used to with hd800 and 650's when listening to really busy/chaotic passages in certain tracks (i.e. Mercury by Bloc Party makes for a pretty good torture test in this regard), but I note that this was with my iphone and may be cleaned up with a real amp that can better control the drivers. [Edit - subject to further testing, these passages were presented more clearly when the th-x00's were driven by my mainline, but they still were not nearly as clear as with hd800's.]

All in all, hats off to massdrop and Will for bring the community these excellent phones. I can tell aleady that I will get tons of use out of them. Just hope you guys can make more soon so I can recommend them to friends who might actually want to turn around and buy a pair.

 

Howdy THXers. New to the forum, old to headphones.

 

Looks like these headphones got picked up by The Verge:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/21/10632812/fostex-massdrop-th-x00-headphones-review

 

I was thinking of joining the next drop but Fostex TH900 MK2 is more exciting...

 

Late as always I will now contribute with my experience with these.

First of all I would never (on mjolnir 2, xonar essence sound card or from my phone) call these headphones darker than HD650, and I would never call them overly bright either. I'm almost baffled someone would call these darker than HD650. The peakyness of the treble is slightly noticable but not bothersome to me. Neither do I find the bass slightly bloated as some claim, it's heavy but not bloated. It may be because I tend to listen at very low volumes and thus get low distortion, not sure.

Regardless these headphones have been a weird exploration. I ordered them thinking they would do very well with the metal parts of my library. I prefer HD800 on well recorded stuff, this includes some metal like Soilwork's latest album as I feel like it needs the transient speed and works well enough with HD800. TH-X00 in no way complements HD800. This headphone just feels mediocre when the bass isn't digging down low.(Note: it doesn't need a lot of bass, it just needs the bass to extend low) It sounds weird and hollow and even broken on for example Disturbed's latest album (an album which is pretty well recorded with exception of the bass) but great on albums like Billy Talent II and Amaranthe's self named album.

To conclude: On the right album I really really REALLY like this headphone but I don't think they come close to outdoing HD800 or HD650 at things like jazz and classical. TH-X00 also suffers more from poor bass recordings than any other headphone I have ever touched and as a result there isn't much music in my library that fits this headphone, I will probably end up giving them away to my neighbor as a Christmas gift.

 

That must be some good neighbour! Too bad I don't live next door to you

 

A great neighbour, a good and helpful friend. He has deserved it.

 

Jesus, I think you've persuaded me to not even consider these anymore after reading your impressions haha. Besides soundstage, you pretty much answered all of my questions about this phone. Bass extension is a requirement for my tastes so if it's lacking in the lowest frequencies than I won't even waste the money on these.

 

Wait... what?

 

Eh... right. Reading my post I can see why the misunderstandings. The bass on the HEADPHONE IS really digging deep. But as soon as the bass on the RECORDING ISN'T it sounds like ass. Pardon my original post :S

P.S ass = weird and hollow in a way it just shouldn't sound.

 

So far, my sense is that th-x00's do as well with well recorded choral music as any closed phones I've heard - certainly better than alpha dogs (via my mainline). I think it just has to be taken as a given that closed phones aren't going to sound better than flagship open phones, particularly in genres where a sense of air really adds to the experience, except for music and/or soundtracks where a little added boom in the bass is welcome.

This caveat aside, I am really enjoying the th-x00's with most vocal/acoustic music, pop, hip hop and various sub-genres of rock - to say nothing of HTR use (currently season one of Man in the High Castle). At present, I might even go so far as to say that they are more enjoyable than my hd800's with some of this content and, in that sense, are an excellent complement to hd800's for situations: (a) where I need a closed phone, or (b) where a little more deep bass is worth the tradeoffs.

By contrast, I can see that they may not be ideal with really fast metal or mass strings given my impressions about reduced clarity (in comparison to hd800 and 650's) regarding the resolution of all voices/instruments in really complex/chaotic passages. Certain sorts of music with intentional distortion/overdriven instruments also seem like they may get overemphasized a bit - e.g. track 1 of Light's album Siberia (not the acoustic version).