[Beagle]

Ed Harcourt

 

[sarora]

I emailed Fostex in Japan regarding the driver with the MK2 - in Japanese of course, using Google Translate so not perfect. I asked if there was any difference in the driver of the MK2 and original TH900, since the specifications on the website were the same. Here is the answer I got just now from Fostex support.

In Japanese:

件名：TH900 MK2

ご連絡ありがとうございます。
フォステクス・サポートチームの佐藤と申します。

ご質問頂きましたTH900mk2につきましてご回答申し上げます。

TH900とTH900mk2のドライバーは同一の物で違いはございません。
TH900mk2で変更になりましたのはケーブルが着脱可能な方式になったことと、
別売のバランスケーブルをお買い求め頂く事で、バランス接続にも対応でき
る様になったことです。

よろしくお願いいたします。

In English:

Subject: TH900 MK2

Thank you for contact us.
My name is Fostex support team of SATO.

I would like answers for questions received TH900mk2.

The same thing in the TH900 and TH900mk2 drivers are no differences.
And changes in the TH900mk2 had become a removable system cable and
Purchase a balanced cable (sold separately) to the balanced connection is also available
I was like that.

Best regards.

This is the result of Bing Translator which had the clearest translation.

So as per my suspicion since the specs (100 dB/mW, 1.8W max power on the driver & frequency response) were identical on the site and described the same exact way, there is no difference in the actual driver between the original and MKII.

 

[xanlamin]

And Fostex dare to sell it at more than twice the price of the current one?

 

[sarora]

And Fostex dare to sell it at more than twice the price of the current one?

It seems on Amazon Japan the MK2 goes for 173,000 Japanese Yen = $1462 and the original 137,000 Japanese Yen so that's $1,158 approx.

 

[xanlamin]

That's more reasonable. Saw a few postings on eBay where the price is like USD2900. Tot that's too much to ask for.

 

[Beagle]

My name is Fostex support team of SATO.

I would like answers for questions received TH900mk2.

The same thing in the TH900 and TH900mk2 drivers are no differences.
And changes in the TH900mk2 had become a removable system cable and
Purchase a balanced cable (sold separately) to the balanced connection is also available
I was like that.

 
I was like that too.
 
Now I've come to know that MKII means 'subtle change'. A new model is bigger change.

 

[Ivanov]

I'm looking to replace my Denon D5000 with a Fostex TH900 or TH900mk2. Do you guys think that the TH900(mk2) is a worthy successor of the D5000?

 

[sarora]

I'm looking to replace my Denon D5000 with a Fostex TH900 or TH900mk2. Do you guys think that the TH900(mk2) is a worthy successor of the D5000?

In short, yes. I owned the D5000 for a while before the TH900 and there's a good improvement. Bass and sub bass is increased, and it's a lot crisper and tighter. The D5000 may have a bit more warmth due to the treble characteristics on the TH900 which are strong - I personally don't mind this.

I've modded mine with cables, dampening on the inside and Lawton leather pads.

You can see here the frequency response curves and responses to various tests like impulse and square wave:

D5000:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/DenonAHD5000.pdf

TH900:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexTH900.pdf

You can see that the square wave response of the TH900 is very tight and indicates a strong, clean/crisp and punchy bass. If that's what you want, you'll get some of the best bass response from any headphone I have used.

The mids can seem recessed to some depending on the genre of music and other factors on the TH900; it won't be as "flat" as the D5000 - this is really mainly because the bass and treble emphasis is strong on the 900's and the mids are therefore less blended. However, with a proper tube amplifier or tube hybrid the TH900 opens up beautifully and the mids warm up (that's the benefit of tubes; their warmth in the mids) -- plus the natural bass characteristics of the TH900 complement this very well. You just need to be careful picking if you use tube amps since these are low impedance headphones, and you don't want the dampening factor - or basically the output impedance of the tube amp to be too high otherwise it will be noisy. They're also just very easy to drive in general so you can play around with DAC's and Amps with no issue of "lack of power." But you can get quite loud because they have a respectable 1,800 mW driver load capacity and a good 100 dB/mW efficiency.

The D5000 are flatter, more neutral, and the bass isn't nearly as strong, as you can see from the square wave response graphs I linked earlier. If this sounds like what you're after for an improvement, then the TH900 or MK2 (same driver, different cable options) will be a good choice.

 

[Ivanov]

Waw, thank you for your answer!! :-D

 

[Makiah S]

In short, yes. I owned the D5000 for a while before the TH900 and there's a good improvement. Bass and sub bass is increased, and it's a lot crisper and tighter. The D5000 may have a bit more warmth due to the treble characteristics on the TH900 which are strong - I personally don't mind this.

I've modded mine with cables, dampening on the inside and Lawton leather pads.

You can see here the frequency response curves and responses to various tests like impulse and square wave:

D5000:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/DenonAHD5000.pdf

TH900:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FostexTH900.pdf

You can see that the square wave response of the TH900 is very tight and indicates a strong, clean/crisp and punchy bass. If that's what you want, you'll get some of the best bass response from any headphone I have used.

The mids can seem recessed to some depending on the genre of music and other factors on the TH900; it won't be as "flat" as the D5000 - this is really mainly because the bass and treble emphasis is strong on the 900's and the mids are therefore less blended. However, with a proper tube amplifier or tube hybrid the TH900 opens up beautifully and the mids warm up (that's the benefit of tubes; their warmth in the mids) -- plus the natural bass characteristics of the TH900 complement this very well. You just need to be careful picking if you use tube amps since these are low impedance headphones, and you don't want the dampening factor - or basically the output impedance of the tube amp to be too high otherwise it will be noisy. They're also just very easy to drive in general so you can play around with DAC's and Amps with no issue of "lack of power." But you can get quite loud because they have a respectable 1,800 mW driver load capacity and a good 100 dB/mW efficiency.

The D5000 are flatter, more neutral, and the bass isn't nearly as strong, as you can see from the square wave response graphs I linked earlier. If this sounds like what you're after for an improvement, then the TH900 or MK2 (same driver, different cable options) will be a good choice.

well with Lawton Mods I found the LA D5k to be really neutral! Though Ironically I like my LA D5k with Tubes xD, I've got a Reflektor 6n23p in now... an it's not bad :3 

 

[HiFiGuy528]

$1499 retail. Order with us and get free headphones stand and free shipping. email info@wooaudio.com to order.
 

 

[mrip541]

  $1499 retail. Order with us and get free headphones stand and free shipping. email info@wooaudio.com to order.
 

 
If sponsors placing ads directly in threads becomes a thing, I think a lot of people, myself included, are going to get really annoyed.

 

[Uberclocked]

This is probably(I can't read >.<) just the TH900 except with proprietary detachable cables.
It would be cheaper to just get a MK1 TH900 and mod it with Hifiman connectors.  Seems like it would look better too.

 

[sarora]

This is probably just the TH900 except with proprietary detachable cables.
It would be cheaper to just get a MK1 TH900 and mod it with Hifiman connectors.  Seems like it would look better too.

Yup, see my post above a bit back, I emailed Fostex and they confirmed. I agree - although it's (MKII) only like $200-300 more retail, the MK1 will probably drop more now and it being the same driver, it's easy to mod with nicer cables, balanced if you want it, silver, etc. yourself for the same price or less.

 

[Ivanov]

Will the cables change the sound completely? Is it worth the increased price? So if I'm understanding this correctly: the MKII headphones themselves are exactly the same as the MKI?