Magick Man
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According to my notes, the LCD-2 was quite dark and even muddy in comparison. LCD-3s weren't on hand at the meet, so I didn't get to sample them at that time.
Fostex TH900 Impressions & Discussion Thread
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According to my notes, the LCD-2 was quite dark and even muddy in comparison. LCD-3s weren't on hand at the meet, so I didn't get to sample them at that time.
Hawaiiancerveza
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Thanks guys. Lookin forward to more impressions.
Audio-Omega
Headphoneus Supremus
Is TH900 head clamping ?
Anaxilus
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Quote:
Hmm, I've never tried the Denon's for size but that's a bit concerning. My head is quite small, so that my Grado RS2's are at their tightest setting
Hmm, I've never tried the Denon's for size but that's a bit concerning. My head is quite small, so that my Grado RS2's are at their tightest setting
MuppetFace
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Quote:
I'm a pretty diminutive person and the TH900 fits me just fine.
Hmm, I've never tried the Denon's for size but that's a bit concerning. My head is quite small, so that my Grado RS2's are at their tightest setting
I'm a pretty diminutive person and the TH900 fits me just fine.
Cheers MF...
TheOtus
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I would most likely enjoy these, but I really don't have two grands to toss away right now just to test these. xD I was obviously interested in how these compare to the ATH-W3000ANV. Sounds like I can live with these. =D
Ahzari
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Found a link with lots of pretty TH900 pics and impressions, though I can't translate them (and google translate didnt work)
maybe someone can summarize??
http://www.sound-stream.net/zeroboard/view.php?id=review&no=149
http://www.sound-stream.net/zeroboard/view.php?id=review&no=149
Magick Man
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Such gratuitous head-fi porn, shame on you. 
devouringone3
Headphoneus Supremus
Quote:
You have a great vocabulary MuppetFace, I really enjoyed the read of your review... it was a bit challenging but I definitely would like to absorb some of that college professor explanation know-how and use of descriptors.
Quote:
Do you still prefer the contrasts of the D7000? Those acoustical lips (sticking out) you disliked, were mostly shaven off from the TH900 prototype to the main production:
(D7000 pads)
Quote:
Quote:
^Those two^, as a response to:
Sorry, but I laughed so hard! HAHAHAHA
Since I bought too many high-end headphones lately, I feel like I need to use them a bit... and buying a headphone superior to them isn't going to help me in doing this. That's why I chose to forget about the TH900 completely...
Quote:
... to cope with the frustration of wanting to own both the best Grados and a Denon/Fostex flagship, which are the only companies I'm interested in, I simply colored myself and ordered some non-flagship Kotori 201, as my first portable headphone and the Japanese headphone I wanted from that company Fostex... not Denon.
The drivers in my Kotori 201 will be similar but definitely inferior (or "never as refined" as) to those of the TH900
Kotori 201
TH900
We need to tell apart the micro fiber of the AH-Dx000 line and the newer bio cellulose. Micro fiber in clothing is just a newer machine making use of almost nano-sized synthetic fiber, woven many more times together, and making ultra-durable clothing (it would be like a comparison between a headphone cable and a Cardas Clear). It's for the least "bio-"logicial, and that's what I want to distinguish. It's not a bacterial culture byproduct thing either... those has degraded faster than any other headphone driver diaphragm material with time, happened to some MDR-R10. Only Sony ever used (R10), and still uses this in their SA-5k and -3k... continue reading, my point will be that bio cellulose is not at all like what's in the MDR-R10. This:
is what the Kotori 201 and the TH900 do not use (it has been used in the Fostex made Denons (AH-Dxk), including their AH-D1001 and in the CAL!), as implied by the way Fostex describe their newest material used for these two most recent headphones.
Fostex recently changed, maybe even just the employed words!... or really the material itself, which we all hope is the real change that happened and that it is for the better (I have something against the "bio-"). This is a very recent move. It went from just "Micro Fiber" diaphragm
to "diaphragm bio-dynamic" and "bio-cellulose micro fiber" (making things even more complicated), to quote directly Google Chrome's translation of the Kotori 201 (http://kotori.fostex.jp/201/about/#performance). But it's also part of the official (English) description of the TH900 on Fostexinternational.com
This is what the new era of Fostex will be all about, and I wonder what it is. There's always my hypothesis of the "terminology play around" and that both material are exactly the same thing, but it's a weak hypothesis because micro-fiber is entirely synthetic, and cellulose is entirely biological.
I'm throwing the idea, while stressing that cellulose are the undigestable macro-molecule of the vegetal cells, and that the material is not even remotely linked with the bacterias (in contrast, could be called an "animal" cell) used in making the material (yogurt thing) for the diaphragm of the R10:
I'm not touching to <this<, I have no idea what this "nano composite" thing is, and it seem complicated. But in contrast cellulose should look like brown carton (texturally) in comparison, and is very different from bacterial products: 
Bio-cellulose, if we forget about the bio- part ("biological" is included in the definition of cellulose, which is dehydrated celery), will not degrade as quickly... yet, bio-, alive, will always degrade (relatively, but maybe not so much) than (synthetic) plastics, low mass polymers, if you want to call them.
Anyway I will put my Kotori 201 on and try to imagine I'm listening to a TH900... because that's the "one headphone" I would have preferred to every thing else, in the first place... but I ended up building a Grado collection instead and I've got to listen to it now. My logic is abrupt like that, and I live with the errors I make.
A lot is happening (has happened?) with Denon recently, but the release of the TH900, the D7000 reviews featured recently on Head-Fi and on Innerfidelity, and the discontinuation of the Dxk line, are all interlinked. The success of the TH900 might be a deciding factor in the decision to bring to the public and Head-Fi less fancy and more affordable models like a TH700 and/or TH500, 200 etc. I think more and more people will turn themselves to Fostex actually... but I don't know, Denon's new headphone could fare well too, but this is not the thread to talk about this so, sorry, lol.
You have a great vocabulary MuppetFace, I really enjoyed the read of your review... it was a bit challenging but I definitely would like to absorb some of that college professor explanation know-how and use of descriptors.
Quote:
Do you still prefer the contrasts of the D7000? Those acoustical lips (sticking out) you disliked, were mostly shaven off from the TH900 prototype to the main production:
Quote:
Quote:
^Those two^, as a response to:
Sorry, but I laughed so hard! HAHAHAHA
Since I bought too many high-end headphones lately, I feel like I need to use them a bit... and buying a headphone superior to them isn't going to help me in doing this. That's why I chose to forget about the TH900 completely...
Quote:
... to cope with the frustration of wanting to own both the best Grados and a Denon/Fostex flagship, which are the only companies I'm interested in, I simply colored myself and ordered some non-flagship Kotori 201, as my first portable headphone and the Japanese headphone I wanted from that company Fostex... not Denon.
The drivers in my Kotori 201 will be similar but definitely inferior (or "never as refined" as) to those of the TH900
Kotori 201
We need to tell apart the micro fiber of the AH-Dx000 line and the newer bio cellulose. Micro fiber in clothing is just a newer machine making use of almost nano-sized synthetic fiber, woven many more times together, and making ultra-durable clothing (it would be like a comparison between a headphone cable and a Cardas Clear). It's for the least "bio-"logicial, and that's what I want to distinguish. It's not a bacterial culture byproduct thing either... those has degraded faster than any other headphone driver diaphragm material with time, happened to some MDR-R10. Only Sony ever used (R10), and still uses this in their SA-5k and -3k... continue reading, my point will be that bio cellulose is not at all like what's in the MDR-R10. This:
Fostex recently changed, maybe even just the employed words!... or really the material itself, which we all hope is the real change that happened and that it is for the better (I have something against the "bio-"). This is a very recent move. It went from just "Micro Fiber" diaphragm
to "diaphragm bio-dynamic" and "bio-cellulose micro fiber" (making things even more complicated), to quote directly Google Chrome's translation of the Kotori 201 (http://kotori.fostex.jp/201/about/#performance). But it's also part of the official (English) description of the TH900 on Fostexinternational.com
This is what the new era of Fostex will be all about, and I wonder what it is. There's always my hypothesis of the "terminology play around" and that both material are exactly the same thing, but it's a weak hypothesis because micro-fiber is entirely synthetic, and cellulose is entirely biological.
I'm throwing the idea, while stressing that cellulose are the undigestable macro-molecule of the vegetal cells, and that the material is not even remotely linked with the bacterias (in contrast, could be called an "animal" cell) used in making the material (yogurt thing) for the diaphragm of the R10:
Bio-cellulose, if we forget about the bio- part ("biological" is included in the definition of cellulose, which is dehydrated celery), will not degrade as quickly... yet, bio-, alive, will always degrade (relatively, but maybe not so much) than (synthetic) plastics, low mass polymers, if you want to call them.
Anyway I will put my Kotori 201 on and try to imagine I'm listening to a TH900... because that's the "one headphone" I would have preferred to every thing else, in the first place... but I ended up building a Grado collection instead and I've got to listen to it now. My logic is abrupt like that, and I live with the errors I make.
A lot is happening (has happened?) with Denon recently, but the release of the TH900, the D7000 reviews featured recently on Head-Fi and on Innerfidelity, and the discontinuation of the Dxk line, are all interlinked. The success of the TH900 might be a deciding factor in the decision to bring to the public and Head-Fi less fancy and more affordable models like a TH700 and/or TH500, 200 etc. I think more and more people will turn themselves to Fostex actually... but I don't know, Denon's new headphone could fare well too, but this is not the thread to talk about this so, sorry, lol.
Ahzari
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Ahzari
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So I hadn't noticed this before, but the concept TH900 had a different wood shape than the production model... I actually like the look of the concept better
Production Model
Concept Model
If you look carefully you'll notice that the concept has a pronounced protruded design, while the production model is vert subtle.. Don't know if the difference is due to cost cutting or sound enhancement, but kind of a bummer.
Production Model
Concept Model
If you look carefully you'll notice that the concept has a pronounced protruded design, while the production model is vert subtle.. Don't know if the difference is due to cost cutting or sound enhancement, but kind of a bummer.
MuppetFace
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Yeah, devouringone3 mentions the "acoustic lip" two posts above.
IMHO the production version looks better. It still has a lip, but a small one that is inset into a slight recess. It affects to overall shape of the cup: there's less of a flat surface versus the prototype.
IMHO the production version looks better. It still has a lip, but a small one that is inset into a slight recess. It affects to overall shape of the cup: there's less of a flat surface versus the prototype.
Ahzari
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Oh you're right devouringone3 did mention that, I must have skipped the comment when reading his post.
Well, not having seen the prototype in person, guess its not fair to judge (on my part); just felt that the production model is shaped rather similarly to the D7k, not that its a bad thing. Either way the lacquer gives it a distinctive look.
Well, not having seen the prototype in person, guess its not fair to judge (on my part); just felt that the production model is shaped rather similarly to the D7k, not that its a bad thing. Either way the lacquer gives it a distinctive look.
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