Fostex TH600 Dynamic Headphones - Page 27

Quote:

Originally Posted by LinkPro 

Thanks for the detailed impression, MF. I wonder how the TH600 and 900 stack up against the German flagships, like the T1 and HD800. My T1 pretty much blows my stock D7000 out of the water for balance, sound staging and accuracy.

 

It seems that the Fostex TH line has less recessed midrange than the Denon Dx000 line, however David in his flagship comparison thread said that the TH900's midrange is actually more recessed than that of the D7000. I wonder which one it is.

I think it depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for a balanced headphone, the Fostex TH series won't stack up well just like the Denon D series doesn't because they weren't made to be balanced headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Lust Envy 

I honestly think people need to compare the 2012 D7000 vs the TH-600. It's been documented to be improved and tighter.

As it stands, saying the TH-600 is superior to the OLD D7000 isn't exactly fair, as the D7000 has been improved since then.

The "improvement" was quite subtle if not just better QC on newer pairs.

What wold be really interesting is to compare Lawton D7000 or D5000 against those new Fostex. Doubt that they will hold a candle against TH900 but against TH600 it should be a more fair race.

I have the LA7000.  If someone can send me the TH600 for a trial and comparison, I'd be happy to do it 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greed 

I really don't think you can compare the T1 and HD 800 to the TH600 or TH900, one group of headphones is specifically designed to have a very accurate/balanced presentation, while the other group is specifically made for a "fun" sound signature. Comparing them would be futile IMO. I tend to not agree with David's impressions of the TH-900 vs D7000's midrange. I have the D7000, and soon to be TH-900, and when I listen to my D7000's the midrange definitely is quite recessed compared to more balanced headphones. I can't imagine the TH-900 having more recessed mids.

I understand what you're saying. I also find my T1 and D7000 complement each other very well. They portray music in very different ways.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taowolf51 

 

I think it depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for a balanced headphone, the Fostex TH series won't stack up well just like the Denon D series doesn't because they weren't made to be balanced headphones.

I don't think I need another balance- or neutral-oriented headphone right now. It's interesting how German and Japanese brands have such opposing design philosophies for their flagship products. I do hope to eventually get both the TH900 and HD800 to complete my headphone journey, but that's a long way to go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LinkPro 

 

I understand what you're saying. I also find my T1 and D7000 complement each other very well. They portray music in very different ways.

 

I don't think I need another balance- or neutral-oriented headphone right now. It's interesting how German and Japanese brands have such opposing design philosophies for their flagship products. I do hope to eventually get both the TH900 and HD800 to complete my headphone journey, but that's a long way to go.

I agree, I love having both the HD 800 and D7000, and use them for different genres. I think now that I have my 3 babies, I'm finally satisfied for awhile on headphones. HD 800 / LCD 2.2 / TH-900 --- My wallet hurts, but the variety is well worth it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT 

The "improvement" was quite subtle if not just better QC on newer pairs.

What wold be really interesting is to compare Lawton D7000 or D5000 against those new Fostex. Doubt that they will hold a candle against TH900 but against TH600 it should be a more fair race.

I won't be able to do back-to-back but I had a TH900 a few weeks ago (sold them) and have a used MD7000 (damping mods and pads, no cable or wood cup change) coming next week. I remember a decent amount of the TH900 sound and how it compared to my Stax so I'll be seeing how the (nearly half price used) MD7000 compare.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT 

The "improvement" was quite subtle if not just better QC on newer pairs.

What wold be really interesting is to compare Lawton D7000 or D5000 against those new Fostex. Doubt that they will hold a candle against TH900 but against TH600 it should be a more fair race.

Actually, I did get a chance to compare my modded D5000's against a pair of TH900's about 2 weeks ago, and let me just say... you wouldn't be missing much. The TH900 had nicer mids for sure, and the treble might've been a bit smoother, along with a little bit of added detail in there, but it had less bass (particularly less sub-bass) and the quality of it really wasn't all that different. I know the proper owner of the TH900's spend a rather good deal of time going back and forth between his fostex and my lawton denons though . I didn't get to ask him for his impressions unfortunately, cause he seemed pretty focused, trying hard to discern the differences between them, but something tells me he would agree that the modded denons give the TH900 a run for it's money. Considering the total price a set of 2nd-hand D5000's (or even D2000's, since the drivers are the same), plus the cost of a full lawton mod with new cups... I'd say they're quite easily the better deal. And if the TH600 is a noticeable step down from the TH900, and costs roughly about the same as, if not more than, simply modding some used denons... yeah... I kinda stopped being interested in them after that.

Would be curious to see about some TH600 mods though...

The LA7000 is a good headphone, and it can be made tonally similar to the Fostex. The damping tweaks the FR and can reign in the bass, bring the mids forward slightly, and reduce the treble glare. The deeper wood cups could probably tweak the soundstage too (though I haven't heard any significant changes over the stock D7000 in that area). Still I found the LA7000 doesn't match the TH900 in terms of refinement. The Fostex is still much cleaner-sounding, with better clarity and detail. Also the Fostex clobbers the LA7000 for me in imaging and spatial reproduction.

One thing to keep in mind is that the Lawton mods aren't cheap unless you do them yourself. You'd end up spending as much as it costs for the stock Fostex TH600 and even the TH900 with some of those cable options.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

The LA7000 is a good headphone, and it can be made tonally similar to the Fostex. The damping tweaks the FR and can reign in the bass, bring the mids forward slightly, and reduce the treble glare. The deeper wood cups could probably tweak the soundstage too (though I haven't heard any significant changes over the stock D7000 in that area). Still I found the LA7000 doesn't match the TH900 in terms of refinement. The Fostex is still much cleaner-sounding, with better clarity and detail. Also the Fostex clobbers the LA7000 for me in imaging and spatial reproduction.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the Lawton mods aren't cheap unless you do them yourself. You'd end up spending as much as it costs for the stock Fostex TH600 and even the TH900 with some of those cable options.

So far with initial impressions, I tend to agree. The Denon's... even modded can't touch the detail retrieval, soundstage, imaging, and instrument separation that the TH-900 has. I did find a nice upgrade over the stock D7K, after hearing a LA7000, but those changes were only in regards to the sound frequency. The other characteristics that make the TH-900 a reference "fun" sounding headphone are unmatched.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tattare 

So at this price point what would you recommend to a bass head? Discontinue newer denons, fostex, lcd2's, hd-700's or other?

If you like boomy sub bass then I would look elsewhere than the Fostex series. They do bass with amazing control, the first time I put my TH-900's on I smiled because of how punchy and detailed the bass was. The Denon's... in comparison are more boomy with less control. I would say they suit a bass head's needs a lot better, and they are cheaper as well. Out of the four choices you have there, I would choose either a D5K, or D7K over any of the other choices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greed 

 

So far with initial impressions, I tend to agree. The Denon's... even modded can't touch the detail retrieval, soundstage, imaging, and instrument separation that the TH-900 has. I did find a nice upgrade over the stock D7K, after hearing a LA7000, but those changes were only in regards to the sound frequency. The other characteristics that make the TH-900 a reference "fun" sounding headphone are unmatched.

If you like boomy sub bass then I would look elsewhere than the Fostex series. They do bass with amazing control, the first time I put my TH-900's on I smiled because of how punchy and detailed the bass was. The Denon's... in comparison are more boomy with less control. I would say they suit a bass head's needs a lot better, and they are cheaper as well. Out of the four choices you have there, I would choose either a D5K, or D7K over any of the other choices.

And this is exactly what separates the Fostex TH900 from the Denon range, well done on the impressions Greed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dukeskd 

And this is exactly what separates the Fostex TH900 from the Denon range, well done on the impressions Greed.

Thanks a lot! I really am very impressed with TH900's. They fulfill everything that I was looking for. They really do improve over the stock D7000 in every way. I'm loving them right now, maybe enough to sell my D7K's I have now. Although I think the D7000 will be a "classic" in the future, which is what is stopping me from selling them. Tough decision for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 
Notice the pattern? I'm basically saying these are a step up from the D7000 but a step down from the TH900 in my humble opinion. That's sort of what a lot of folks expected, I think. What I didn't expect however was just how close these come to the TH900 in most areas.

Thanks, this is what I was expecting. ATM I cannot afford the TH900, so these will do and I dont think I will be dissatisfied. :)

Hm, I highly doubt my modded D5000 sounds any better than a modded D7000, so I find it interesting that people find there to be such a huge disparity between these and the fostex... When I compared them I did notice the added detail and such, but it seemed like a much smaller jump than going from say, an LCD-2 to an LCD-3 (which I found to be pretty noticeable, to be fair; but a lot of people already say that's a rather minimal improvement for the price...).  Different strokes I guess...

Quote:

Originally Posted by oblique63 

Hm, I highly doubt my modded D5000 sounds any better than a modded D7000, so I find it interesting that people find there to be such a huge disparity between these and the fostex... When I compared them I did notice the added detail and such, but it seemed like a much smaller jump than going from say, an LCD-2 to an LCD-3 (which I found to be pretty noticeable, to be fair; but a lot of people already say that's a rather minimal improvement for the price...).  Different strokes I guess...

I agree with you 100% here..