Fostex X Massdrop TH-X00

I'm definitely going to have to pick a pair of these up! I've always been attracted to the Fostex TH series but never took the plunge due to the bass heavy FR.

 

Did they fix the treble? My only real problem with them has always been the treble peaks.

 

To address a couple questions I keep seeing, assuming these are like all the other Foster-made headphones (I imagine they are):

• Earpads: You can replace the earpads with Brainwavz HM5, Lawton, Audeze, and a couple lesser-known pads
• Cable: Not technically replaceable stock, but lots of people can fix that for you for pretty cheap (e.g. Casper/The Ghost Himself on Etsy)

 

Pity they designed the cup opening for mini elfin ears, what's a dumbo to do

 

Is tuning more neutral than TH900? Mids less sucked?

 

Watch Judes video if you trust his ears. HE says yes.

 

I heard them a long time ago and they might be different now. But to me they were much more neutral than the TH900, a headphone I'd love to own but find too vee for me.

 

Anybody heard these and the Denon D2/5/7k series? I had the D2000 for the longest time and I adored it, but the lack of lower midrange and plasticy lower treble was disheartening.

 

Wasn't looking for another pair of cans, but this is hard to pass up...I kind of regretted letting go of the D5/7000, and I didn't like the TH-600.

 

I had a gorgeous pair of TH600's with deep teak cups from Lohb and swapped between Lawton and Audeze pads. I miss them sometimes, though the DX1000 are more pleasurable to listen to for long periods of time.

If the TH-X00 solves the treble issues and the mids are a little less sucked out, this could become my favorite fun can and the top basshead recommendation.

I was looking forward to the E-MU Teak for the same reason, but these are much more affordable.

 

Do they share the Fostex's level of isolation, or have they changed that aspect?

 

The drop is closed already, and they're not shipping to outside of US anyway, *sigh

 

Is it closed or has it just not opened yet? Did they really sell 2k units that fast?

 

The drop goes live at 9 AM EST on Friday, Nov. 27th. (Thought I had seen 9 AM EST stated somewhere, not sure about that part.)

International Shipping is available via freight-forwarding, see the note on the drop page.

 

I'm just going to copy-paste my impressions from a reddit post I made a little while ago. I figure this thread could use some impressions.

By the way, compared to the TH-900, I preferred the 900s, though I think that the 900s are vastly overpriced. I also preferred both of the Fostex to the D7000s, which are in some sense a predecessor of theirs. The X00s avoid those two 'phones' peaky treble, and I can't imagine the X00's being fatiguing.

The X00's are fairly but not exceptionally well-priced at $400. They lack the 900s harshness in the treble but wind up going too far the opposite way. I just skimmed the HF thread, and apparently the redesigned pads are largely responsible for this change in tonal balance.

 

Thanks for the impression, what about the transparency of the THX00?

 

First of all, just to be clear, I only listened to them for 10-15 minutes, and then the 900s for 5-10 after. So please don't take these impressions too seriously.

In terms of transparency, I thought they were pretty competent but not great. By the way, I tend to find transparency to be a result of good tonal balance (and especially not-dark tonal balance) as well as driver speed (quick attack, mostly). The generally warm tilt doesn't do them favors in that regard, but luckily the drivers seem to have decent speed to them. I found them about as transparent as early generation unmodded 650's.

Technically, though, I think these headphones are definitely not on par with more current 650s, nevermind 800s. Of course, those are somewhat silly comparisons. For closed headphones, they're excellent and manage to avoid cup issues. I'd consider them as a closed (and not-as-good) alternative to the 650's.

 

I'm considering for a "movie" phone. Sound reasonable?