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Fostex TH900 Impressions & Discussion Thread - Page 74

post #1096 of 4587
6/22/12 at 3:25pm

I am wondering if it's not intentionally designed this way.

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post #1097 of 4587
6/22/12 at 4:05pm

Mine (#190) rotate from the parallel position to about a 35-degree outward tilt. Both cups behave the same, so there is complete symmetry. 

Functionally, they are perfectly fine for me as they are. They are not too tight or loose or in any way awkward.


Edited by rgs9200m - 6/22/12 at 4:07pm
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post #1098 of 4587
6/22/12 at 5:46pm

Fostex are supposed to have a lot of experience with this headband... they made lots and lots of Denon AH-D2-5-7k that uses it.

 

 

#190, #198... omg those numbers are surprisingme low! Right now it would be at like 250-275?

 

Aren't the serials for the HD800 at around 15-18k right now, and the same thing for the LCD-2?

 

AKG K1000 also ended at over 10 000, and about 1500 for MDR-R10 right?

 

 

Fostex TH900 the most underrated flagship... nah not even underrated... *the most unknown flagship, although one of the most appreciated.

 

 

My Fostex Kotori 201 swivels in the same angles on both sides, hahahahaha. For those who cares about my Kotori 201. Btw I sell a brand new one for 180 dollars (which includes shipping) on the ForSale branch.


Edited by devouringone3 - 6/22/12 at 5:49pm
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post #1099 of 4587
6/22/12 at 5:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnakChan View Post

 

Sorry for dredging up an old post but I just noticed these on my TH900's too. My right earcup can swivel outward more to the right, or swivel back forward (but not inward). Similarly my  left earcup can swivel inward to the right but swivel back parallel but not outward to the left.

 

Other TH900 owners notice this idiosyncrasy too?

 

 

Hi guys,

 

This is how mine swivels :-

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post #1100 of 4587
6/22/12 at 6:09pm

"This video is private"
 

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post #1101 of 4587
6/22/12 at 8:21pm

i look at it this way

 

It doesn't feel wrong when its on my head.  it's obvious a design flaw or a quality control issue.  It's disappointing, but it has no affect on the sound or the comfort.  If I thought mine was one of the only pairs that had it, it would bother me a lot, but knowing so many people have it this way, i'm not really inclined to change it.  Probably Fostex will correct it on later pairs, which is always disheartening. 

 

It's usually good to wait 6 months to buy a pair of headphones unless you're extremely eager.

 

i'm a perfectionist 

 

but for some reason this defect does not bother me.

 

i wouldn't sweat it too much folks.  if fostex finds an easy user-doable solution, i'll definitely try it.

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post #1102 of 4587
6/22/12 at 11:38pm
Thread Starter 

LOL.

 

Imagine how weirded out I was when I was one of two TH900 owners on head-fi, and the other owner (Jude) didn't have the swivel problem, but I did. At first I was worried I was sold a demo unit or something. Seeing that others have the issue to varying degrees, I feel a lot better about it just by virtue of the fact that it's a known quantity now. And to be honest, the fabric cable annoys me more than the swivel issue ever did.

 

Also is it really that surprising that the HD800 has such higher sales in the consumer market? Sennheiser is one of the biggest names in audio when it comes to international brand recognition among consumers. Fostex is big too, but not in the same way. We're talking about a brand new, mainly Japan-only release (and associated niche export sales) of a $2000 flagship from a company most head-fiers only know about because of the Thunderpants. The HD800 is pretty much *the* stereotypical high-end audiophile headphone now and have been selling internationally for years.


Edited by MuppetFace - 6/22/12 at 11:40pm
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post #1103 of 4587
6/23/12 at 12:59am

I expected all the D7000 owners/lovers to move up to the TH900, lol. I means it's not even Denon, it's Foster Electric. I think every D7000 owners should at least know who is the real manufacturer of their headphones. But I know it's not like that in reality.

 

Brand new but it's been announced since October 2011... so not that new.


Edited by devouringone3 - 6/23/12 at 1:03am
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post #1104 of 4587
6/23/12 at 1:15am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by devouringone3 View Post

Brand new but it's been announced since October 2011... so not that new.

 

True, but it hasn't been hyped like Sennheiser headphones are as soon as they're announced. Most people aren't going to buy a headphone without hearing it first or reading a lot of reviews for it, and the TH900 has only made a few appearances at select head-fi meets in the US, with the majority of its appearances being in Japan thus far. The impressions prior to its release were pretty few in number and pretty mediocre. Plus even if it was announced months prior to its release, it was still a Japanese-only release and the price tag was set at almost three times the cost of the D7000. So factor in the whole "exotic and expensive import" thing with the pre-existing reluctance people have to try new headphones sight unseen.

 

With the usual head-fiers' "arithmetic" you're just as likely to get D7000 owners saying "I like my D7000, but the TH900 can't be three times as good."


Edited by MuppetFace - 6/23/12 at 1:18am
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post #1105 of 4587
6/23/12 at 2:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gkanai View Post

"This video is private"
 

Sorry...2nd attempt. So my "2-left foot" TH900's as the way MuppetF puts it.

 

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post #1106 of 4587
6/23/12 at 3:27am

So i tried this on mine.. didn't notice anything unusual - everything seems uniform (#175)

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post #1107 of 4587
6/23/12 at 2:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MuppetFace View Post

True, but it hasn't been hyped like Sennheiser headphones are as soon as they're announced. Most people aren't going to buy a headphone without hearing it first or reading a lot of reviews for it, and the TH900 has only made a few appearances at select head-fi meets in the US, with the majority of its appearances being in Japan thus far. The impressions prior to its release were pretty few in number and pretty mediocre. Plus even if it was announced months prior to its release, it was still a Japanese-only release and the price tag was set at almost three times the cost of the D7000. So factor in the whole "exotic and expensive import" thing with the pre-existing reluctance people have to try new headphones sight unseen.

 

With the usual head-fiers' "arithmetic" you're just as likely to get D7000 owners saying "I like my D7000, but the TH900 can't be three times as good."

 

It makes me understand better the strife of making a super-headphone and then not being able to sell it. It took 5 years to Grado to get rid of all their HP-"1000". Sony could make the successor of the R10 and beat the heck of out of the HD800, yet nobody would buy it; I understand them better now (the reason why they chose to focus on making plainer headphones). Money is still a concern for even the most hardcore Head-Fiers I guess. Talking about my own person, 1-2-3k more wouldn't change much, and isn't going to stop me. I'll work hard and save up. Talking about the others, it seems like they expect the world's best headphones' price to remain within a certain margin of affordability.

 

But "best" doesn't rhyme with "affordability", and it's only because we're so used to cheap plastic goods made in China. I would give you the link to a video of how a Japanese Katana is made... it takes like two weeks, three people, and costs 15 000 dollars, yet it's the most solid, versatile, and effective sword in the world.

 

Customer's review on Amazon.com about the MDR-R10 are all like "A bit less than 4000$ for a headphone that is going to playback heaven to your ears, every time you ask for it, anywhere you want it.. what are you waiting for?"

 

 

Japan or Germany, shouldn't be a deal breaker. I mean you're on a hunt, right? You use Tenso.com, pay for customs, costs a lot, you have to wait, but the reward will be immense... The TH900 isn't a good example actually, it has been on B&Hphotovideo since day one (US), and in the first week I also found it available in Canada, by looking only a bit further.

 

The people that expects 1.3-1.7k dollars is going to get them both the best headphone in the world and the red carpet to it are wrong. They will buy a HD800 ± T1 ± LCD-2or3 ± HE-5or6, but not a SR009, because it's just too good, too prestigious and would make them too happy... and you have to use Pricejapan ohnoes scary

 

We could draw a line between the consumer's best headphones and the truly best headphones. Sennheiser is like going at Wal Mart, Stax is that small regional company that get's bought (eaten) for almost nothing by Edifier. I'm exaggerating but...

 

 

Finally what is an impression or a lot of review, when the headphone in question is one of MuppetFace's favorite headphones, lol :P... even MuppetFace aside I've heard insane things in this thread, from someone who prefers his TH900 to the R10, and the others that think they are similar.

 

TH900 has some striking advantages too, like some some isolation, driveability and look (although quite subjective I know).


Edited by devouringone3 - 6/23/12 at 2:16pm
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post #1108 of 4587
6/23/12 at 2:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by devouringone3 View Post

 

It makes me understand better the strife of making a super-headphone and then not being able to sell it. It took 5 years to Grado to get rid of all their HP-"1000". Sony could make the successor of the R10 and beat the heck of out of the HD800, yet nobody would buy it; I understand them better now (the reason why they chose to focus on making plainer headphones). Money is still a concern for even the most hardcore Head-Fiers I guess. Talking about my own person, 1-2-3k more wouldn't change much, and isn't going to stop me. I'll work hard and save up. Talking about the others, it seems like they expect the world's best headphones' price to remain within a certain margin of affordability.

 

But "best" doesn't rhyme with "affordability", and it's only because we're so used to cheap plastic goods made in China. I would give you the link to a video of how a Japanese Katana is made... it takes like two weeks, three people, and costs 15 000 dollars, yet it's the most solid, versatile, and effective sword in the world.

 

Customer's review on Amazon.com about the MDR-R10 are all like "A bit less than 4000$ for a headphone that is going to playback heaven to your ears, every time you ask for it, anywhere you want it.. what are you waiting for?"

 

 

Japan or Germany, shouldn't be a deal breaker. I mean you're on a hunt, right? You use Tenso.com, pay for customs, costs a lot, you have to wait, but the reward will be immense... The TH900 isn't a good example actually, it has been on B&Hphotovideo since day one (US), and in the first week I also found it available in Canada, by looking only a bit further.

 

The people that expects 1.3-1.7k dollars is going to get them both the best headphone in the world and the red carpet to it are wrong. They will buy a HD800 ± T1 ± LCD-2or3 ± HE-5or6, but not a SR009, because it's just too good, too prestigious and would make them too happy... and you have to use Pricejapan ohnoes scary

 

We could draw a line between the consumer's best headphones and the truly best headphones. Sennheiser is like going at Wal Mart, Stax is that small regional company that get's bought (eaten) for almost nothing by Edifier. I'm exaggerating but...

 

Well I certainly agree with a lot of that. When the HP1000 and R10 were made, the world of headphones was comparatively quite small, and in the case of the R10 one of Sony's goals was to see if people would even be willing to spend so much on a pair of headphones in the first place. While the head-fi market is still something of a niche, it's far more "mainstream" now, and many of the larger companies seem more interested in advertising and gimmicks more than actual innovation. Others like Sennheiser do genuinely valuable R&D work, but they focus on certain aspects like raw detail retrieval (one of the current "audiophile obsessions") over a more holistic approach, and it makes for a very uneven headphone in my opinion. As for "the hunt," I think that applies more toward the adventurous and collector-types. Many budding audiophiles seem to want to be told what they need to buy by a select group of voices in the community, and Sennheiser is a relatively safe option in the regard.

 

A few miscellaneous points: Sennheiser made exceptional headphones in the past too. The HE60 and HE90 show just what they're capable of. Also regarding B&H video, I think they didn't actually stock the TH900 on day one even though they may have said it was available. Like Audiocubes, I have a feeling they would place an order with Fostex when you placed yours with them, and it could take up to a month for them to get them in stock. I don't know of any stores outside of Japan that actually had physical stock upon launch.


Edited by MuppetFace - 6/23/12 at 2:26pm
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post #1109 of 4587
6/23/12 at 6:25pm

One thing I really love about the TH900s is the way they deal with glare, especially digital glare on regular CDs.

They don't blunt the highs at all, but upper-mid peaks, especially in centered higher-pitched vocals on popular music, are handled well, avoiding a common source of pain.

They seem to do this better than Audezes (all models, which can have a trace of ringing), HD800s, 009s, and bass-light R10s.

To me, this makes them, well, superior, just based on this personal preference.

 

By the way,

B&H did the same  offer-but-not-in-stock thing with the T1s when they first came out a few years back. You had to wait months for them.

 

Regardless of how much it costs to make the TH900s or the value of the exotic wood (I think Grado says the same thing about the special wood they use in the RS1 and some others),

they lack some of the flaws of the HD800s and LCD3s (and even 009s and R10s), and I think the sonics easily justify the price.

The others do some things better than the Fostexes, but overall, the Fostexes seem to have all the major common flaws minimized.

An the natural tonality on top of this makes them great for me.

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post #1110 of 4587
6/23/12 at 7:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rgs9200m View Post

One thing I really love about the TH900s is the way they deal with glare, especially digital glare on regular CDs.

They don't blunt the highs at all, but upper-mid peaks, especially in centered higher-pitched vocals on popular music, are handled well, avoiding a common source of pain.

They seem to do this better than Audezes (all models, which can have a trace of ringing), HD800s, 009s, and bass-light R10s.

To me, this makes them, well, superior, just based on this personal preference.

 

By the way,

B&H did the same  offer-but-not-in-stock thing with the T1s when they first came out a few years back. You had to wait months for them.

 

Regardless of how much it costs to make the TH900s or the value of the exotic wood (I think Grado says the same thing about the special wood they use in the RS1 and some others),

they lack some of the flaws of the HD800s and LCD3s (and even 009s and R10s), and I think the sonics easily justify the price.

The others do some things better than the Fostexes, but overall, the Fostexes seem to have all the major common flaws minimized.

An the natural tonality on top of this makes them great for me.

 

Thanks for yet more insightful impressions of the TH 900. They seem like a great one-stop hi-end headphone. I love that they are closed, too.

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