Fostex TH900 Impressions & Discussion Thread - Page 137

And GS1000 

I haven't seen it discussed at all, but I'd like to see some comparisons between the TH900 and the Beyerdynamic T1.

I have a couple questions regarding the frequency response of the TH900. Please first go the link below:

http://www.headphone.com/headphones/fostex-th-900.php#tabs

Now, do you consider this a relatively "flat" impedance curve graph? For a closed dynamic headphone, that is. (I was told orthodynamic headphones generally have a flatter response)

The reason I'm asking this is because of damping factor (DF) issues. As you may know, DF is headphone impedance divided by amp's output impedance. Due to the low impedance of the TH900 at 25 ohms, it makes it difficult to obtain a high DF with this headphone unless you use a solid-state amp with very low output impedance (close to 0 ohms).

On the other hand, tube amps inherently have higher output impedance. I want to know if it's still good to use TH900 with them without causing distortions. I have a decent tube headphone amp in mind that has an output impedance of about 4.7 ohms (which is considered low for a tube amp), so the DF in this case is approximately 5.3. However, people have generally recommended a DF of 8-10 or higher.

The exception to this rule, they say, is if the headphone in question already has a relatively flat impedance curve. After all, the primary purpose of having a high DF is to achieve a flatter frequency response, and reducing distortions by doing so. But if the headphone has a flat impedance curve in the first place, the need to achieve a higher DF becomes less important. On the contrary, having a high DF would be pretty important if a headphone has very fluctuating frequency response.

From the link I provided above, do you think that the TH900 has a flat enough impedance curve to tolerate a relatively low DF of about 5 (instead of 8)? Or do you think that 5 is still not enough?

Making my way around the forum I came across this from Asr in the RMAF thread:

"Fostex TH900: I listened to Moon Audio's pair of these, from the same Stello CDT100 & Fostex HP-A8 setup as the M-100, so I actually went back and forth between the TH900 and M-100 quite a few times on various CD tracks.

Although the M-100 became my new favorite budget closed headphone, I have to hand out an even bigger award to the TH900, because these blew my mind!

I refused to believe the hype train on these headphones at first, but now I'm a convert, because they were some of the best dynamic headphones that I've ever heard, seriously. And the fact that they're closed is just icing on the cake, because most of the dynamic flagships are open designs. Though they didn't isolate that much, they didn't seem to leak much either, which was nice.

How to describe the sound of the TH900? I'd call it a close dynamic equivalent of the Stax SR-007A (OII MKI). I swore it got closer to the OII MKI than any other headphone that I've heard, and there were times it sounded spookily like the OII. Very natural-sounding, very balanced, and very "smooth", with very nice deep bass, enough that it actually satisfied for electronica. They did extremely well with just about every genre I threw at them from metal to jazz, classical to electronica, bluegrass to rock - so well that I couldn't believe it. I'm especially critical with classical music, but these handled the sound of a violin nearly perfectly, almost as well as the OII! They were literally like a dynamic OII to me - with nearly the same level of finesse for classical & jazz, yet perfectly capable of rocking out a bit to death and power metal (In Flames & Helloween).

The TH900 is my new favorite pair of high-end closed headphones! I'm now compelled to buy one for myself as part of my dynamic system, and I think if I'd never heard the OII/BHSE, it could easily be my final system too! In fact, one need not bother with a high-end electrostatic system with the TH900 - it's really almost as good, for less! What's not to like? And they were extremely comfortable to wear too, with very supple earpads. It was like wearing [censored] on my ears!"

High praise indeed.

Thanks for posting that. Insightful to see as someone that has a TH900 and is looking to take "the next step" with Stax. hmmm.. where to go? 

I was looking to purchase the TH-900s but I can't find a single online retailer that has them in stock.  I hate when that happens. :(

I agree with Asr's impressions of TH900s (I've had them a few months now and I absolutely love them to death). But I switch between them and my ATHW3000anv phones, which sound different,

with less strong bass and more prominent and glorious vocals (somehow the most satisfying vocals I ever heard from any phones, including Stax 009s and 007s).

So I suggest dynamic phone fans with the resources to do so get both of these. It is REALLY worth having both. (Muppetface has said basically the same thing earlier in this thread.)

How's the comfort level between the two?  Does either one disappears after some time?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgs9200m 

I agree with Asr's impressions of TH900s (I've had them a few months now and I absolutely love them to death). But I switch between them and my ATHW3000anv phones, which sound different,

with less strong bass and more prominent and glorious vocals (somehow the most satisfying vocals I ever heard from any phones, including Stax 009s and 007s).

So I suggest dynamic phone fans with the resources to do so get both of these. It is REALLY worth having both. (Muppetface has said basically the same thing earlier in this thread.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tokendog 

I was looking to purchase the TH-900s but I can't find a single online retailer that has them in stock.  I hate when that happens. :(

I think this may be because they don't order them from Japan until you make the purchase. When I ordered through TTVJ that is how it was.. 

Did anyone ever listen to TH900 with Isabellina HPA (LFP-V ed.)?

everyone selling them around 1999.  Maybe for Black Friday, we can see something like 10% off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan_can 

What is the best price you can get for TH900 currently?

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulchiu 

How's the comfort level between the two?  Does either one disappears after some time?

 

 

The TH900 is the comfort winner to me BUT that is because my ears seem to stick out from my head a lot all the way around so I prefer an around-the-ear model like the TH900 better

than an on the ear one like the ATH. The ATH is pretty comfortable and very light, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dan_can 

What is the best price you can get for TH900 currently?

http://www.frontendaudio.com/ -  like them on Facebook, get 10% off. plus free shipping.

Back ordered until next Month. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carlsan 

http://www.frontendaudio.com/ -  like them on Facebook, get 10% off. plus free shipping.

Back ordered until next Month. 

I notice they do not offer the ATH-W3000-ANV phones (but they have what looks like every other ATH).