Fostex TH900 Impressions & Discussion Thread - Page 214

The TH-900 is OK with the Burson Soloist - but honestly - it becomes a tad boring. The Violectric V200 brings the necessary (for me) spice to make the TH-900 interesting. YMMV. Have tried the Gungnir (DAC) and the V800 (DAC). The former via the Soloist reveals that Gungnir is NOT a "high-end" DAC. Gungnir paired with the Mjolnir is a different story - a very, very good story and match that is. Some permutations later - I´m stuck with V800/V200 for the TH-900 - and that is not a bad place to be. :)

 

I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions of the TH900 with the RWA DAC/amp. I own the Burson Soloist and it's pretty good but I agree that it becomes a bit boring after time, not to mention fatiguing. I have a Zana Deux SE ordered, because many people say it's one of if not the best amp in any price range to drive the TH900.

 

Just a heads up...the Zana Deux is an OTL amp and OTL amps in general are not ideal with low impedance headphones. Their high output impedance is not ideal with cans like the TH-900s (25 ohms). Now they may sound great together, but my now sold WA2 (also an OTL amp) was great with my HD-800s and T1s, but not so great with my Ed. 8s, Grados and D7000s.

 

I am absolutely floored by the TH-900s + my GS-X. Just another data point. 

 

That's exactly what I thought when I heard people pairing the Zana Deux SE with the TH900... until I found out that the ZDSE is unique for an OTL design because it only has an output impedance of 3 ohms.  That's an incredibly low output impedance for an OTL amp, considering tube amps from Woo Audio "with" output transformers (such as WA6SE) have an output impedance of 30 ohms. With the TH900, it should provide a damping factor higher than 8.

Umm...its output transformer-less...so no transformer to take the impedance down to 3ohms. Sorry I don't understand/follow that? The output impedance should be different for different impedance headphones (and usually on the higher side).

 

EDIT: Never mind...just did some digging. 

Edited by MacedonianHero - 1/25/13 at 6:52pm

Peter-the ZDSE has been known for years as one of the few OTL amps that pairs exceptionally with both high and low impedance cans. Outputs at both 3 & 12 ohms.Uncle Erik has an incredible write up about why the Zana can do what it does...I'll dig it up sometime. Get on the ball man.

 

-Daniel

 

I'm looking forward to that imminent pairing myself with the fully-powered GS-X MKII. I know there's historically been a difference of opinion between us as far as gear, but since we seem to share an appreciation for the HeadAmp Dynalo-based amps, I find your comment to be especially encouraging. It seems like there will finally be a combo of gear that we can agree on is good.

 

I agree about the ZD as well btw - a great amp for both low-impedance and high-impedance headphones. I like the fact that Craig (Eddie Current) personally uses the Audio-Technica AD2K with it (which is a quintessential low-impedance high-sensitivity headphone).

Edited by Asr - 1/26/13 at 12:48am

@loevhagen. Goggles translation into english is aweful !!!
Could you make an english version?

It will still cause some rollof, but it's something you should try. For the TH900, on PAPER, amp impedance should be <1,5 Ohm (i prefer even higher ratio when matching electronics, but that's just me).

What are the differences between headamps GS-X and GS-X MKll, I've searched google but can't find any info

New amp modules with higher power and a new face plate that trades the 2x3 XLRs in for a 4 pin XLR. Probably a few misc changes besides those.

My TH 900 just arrive pd this afternoon at Jsben store jakarta Indonesia
Pair direct AK 100 sound quality very good
Pair with my portable set up : iPhone 4 s > class - dB > alo Rx 3 B = SQ increase significant
Follow my set Up sound quality .
This is my best close headphone now

Welcome to the TH-900 club, Rudi. It's truly a great headphone. I've lent mine to a friend for him to demo. If you're able to find a decent desktop DAC/Amp combo to drive them, that's the best. I'm currently using the HP-A8 which I'm mostly satisfied. But others here can recommend other setups - my personal goal, Resonance Labs DAC -> Zana Deux SE.

Thank you Sean
My best desktop set Up :
Pre amp : T + A V 10.2 Tube pre amp Germany
CD Playen : Stello CDA 500
Dac : misding now
Cable : RCA Shunyata Ztrone Anaconda