Fostex TH610 Premium Reference Headphone

Hi guys, it’s been a while.

I’ve been meaning to write a review on these for quite some time. These are just my own personal experiences, views and opinions. As usual, no freebies & no loaners.

My TH-610 were burned in for around 100 hours, tested with the stock cable.

Audio set up used.

16/24bit uncompressed lossless music,

QED Reference optical TosLink cable,

Anker powerbank,

Chord Qutest,

Gothic Audio 8 core pure solid Silver RCA cable with Silver-plated Tellurium Copper Aeco connecters,

Violectric HPA V200,

custom solid core Copper Silver Gold power cable with a Furutech Gold-plated copper FI-UK plug & a Hi Fi Tuning Gold-plated fuse & a Oyaide Gold-plated C-079 IEC connecter,

AudioQuest Niagara 1200 with a AudioQuest NRG-Z3 & Hi Fi Tuning Gold-plated fuse.

Comfort, build and looks.

I find these headphones very comfortable, the clamping force is low. The headband is not generously cushioned but it is comfy, I don’t think it needs a suspension band but you could buy a Lohb strap if you wish. I do not find them heavy at all, they weigh around 375g without the cable. The ear pads seem to be synthetic leather but my ears fit perfectly, one of the great qualities about this headphone is that for me they just disappear after a little while. My ears can get a little hot after a couple of hours, common with closed back cans (open back headphones offer superior air circulation). You could change the ear pads for perforated leather, velour, microfibre, hybrid ones but that will alter it’s sound though. Very high marks here.

The metal yokes and headband structure are solid, the headband covering seems to be synthetic leather again though. Nice clicks when adjusting the headband. I love the matte Black Walnut wood ear cups, very classy. For those who don’t know, these are not really fully closed back headphones. There is a gap (on purpose) between the ear cups and the metal frame, they do leak some sound so please bear this in mind. But this was done for sonic gains. I think it actually offers good isolation though but obviously not the best.

I do not like the large and ugly proprietary connecters but at least they are angled away from your shoulders. The stock cable is of good quality but I find it far too long. The Y splitter is also very low, it reaches the naval area for goodness sake. At least the cable is not very thick and heavy, like the stupid stock Focal Utopia cable. As the headphone is not very difficult to power and drive (25 ohm impedance, 98dB sensitivity), I would have preferred a shorter cable with a 3.5mm connecter instead of the pretty useless synthetic leather pouch. The Meze 99 Classics are better equipped (hard travel/carry case, long & short cables) for around half the price. Before I forget, these are made in China and not Japan like Fostex’s flagship TH900.

Overall, pretty good by Fostex but work still to be done.

Sound.

These have 50mm biocellulose dynamic drivers with a powerful 1 tesla magnet circuit.

Here are a few listening experiences:

Notget by Bjork, power and atmosphere. Holy moly! This song has some insanely deep bass, sublime rumble. This is sub bass, what a strange and stunning song. Typical Bjork, she is one of my favourite artists.

Wish you were here by Incubus, I know this recording is not expertly mastered but the vocals are a little too small for my liking on these cans. Still enjoyable with very good imaging and a wide sound stage.

Eraser (SPL remix) by Black Sun Empire was a very musical, involving and engaging performance. These beauties just stomped on some dubz! The airiness, the speed, the thumps, the clarity, the energy, the separation, the power, the dynamics. A little bit bright but overall, very impressive indeed.

Bitter sweet symphony by The Verve, very good imaging and wide sound stage.

Duel of the fates by John Williams, very good dynamics. These cans have drive and authority, great speed too.

Heathens by 21 Pilots, very clear and defined. The atmosphere and bass performance, really nice.

This Love featuring Elizabeth Fraser by Craig Armstrong, again a very wide sound stage with a lovely tonality on Elizabeth Fraser’s stunning voice. Clean, airy and captivating.

Take a look around by Limp Bizkit, now on this song I feel there is a little bit too much bass for me. The vocals are a bit too small and pushed back for my liking but man, these cans can rumble. Deep and powerful bass.

Talk featuring Disclosure by Khalid, wow! Crystal clear, very powerful and impactful lows. Stunning.

Kiko (live) by Dead Can Dance, listen to this for great (and real) bass impact. Deep and powerful. Lisa Gerrard’s vocals come across very clear again but I’d like the mids a little more forward.

Where is my mind by Pixies, very good definition and detail. I prefer a bit more texture on the mids but it is clear.

So to sum up it’s sound I would say they are a little U shaped, with some emphasis on the treble and bass (I would say slightly more on the bass though).

The bass is very, very good and enjoyable. Excellent depth and extension, I really like the texture of it too. Mid bass, man these cans can hit hard. Again excellent punchiness, impact and slam. These are the main strengths of the biocellulose dynamic drivers, very few planar magnetic headphones can match or surpass them here. Some headphones may have tighter and more controlled lows but these are just so fun, quite addictive. You want sub bass, here you go. They way these cans rumble, thunderous.

The mids and vocals are clean but are a little recessed, mids more so.

The highs are a little bit bright (usually when listening to louder than normal levels) but they are very detailed and clear, they sound airy unlike a closed back headphone.

Imaging is excellent, very good instrument separation.

I think the sound stage has very good depth and width, especially for a closed back can.

These are lively, dynamic and engaging sounding headphones. Not laid back, they sound excellent at low volume too. They do have slightly dark tone. The TH610 have something quite rare in headphones, power and authority. Hard to explain really. Pretty good transient response too, those paper diaphragms sure are light & responsive. Almost forgot, these are excellent for movies also.

Summary.

Light and comfortable? Oh yes & very comfy.

Looks? Classy, lovely Black Walnut wooden ear cups.

Build? Very good, little plastic used but leatherette headband and ear pads (long term durability maybe).

Cable and accessories? Good cable (proprietary connecters annoyingly) but too long, poor accessories (who needs a soft pouch really?).

Bass? Some emphasis but excellent, especially power and slam.

Sub bass? Superb, a royal rumble.

Mids and vocals? Clear but a little recessed, mids more so.

Highs? A little bright but very detailed and resolving.

Imaging? Very good, especially for a closed back.

Sound stage? Pretty deep and wide, again especially for a closed back.

Value? All things considered, pretty good I’d say at around £499.

Recommended from me, thanks for reading. Happy listening all : )

Fostex TH610 Headphones
Audio quality	4
Build quality	4
Useability	4.5
Value	4.25
Overall Rating	4.13

The Good :

Bass - in plentiful supply

Mids and Highs - Nothing grating here

The price - it's just been reduced

The versatility of a closed can

The finish - Walnut finish is very tasteful

The Bad :

Lacking the airiness of an Open Can

Meze 99 Classics are close to this in SQ (although not quite there)

On the fence :

Bass - whilst it may be too much for some on some tracks may be what some readers here have been waiting for all their life

The finish - some may prefer a high gloss lacquer finish

Price : £499 from HighEndHeadphones

 

 
 

Introduction

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It is with heartfelt gratitude to Matt Esau of SCV Distribution and our esteemed  Glassmonkey that I have had the pleasure of a month with not one, but two Fostex products. This is all about the Headphones. After all, it's all about the headphones...



 
 

Fostex have a tremendous reputation in the Audio Industry, specifically for making high end closed Headphones is where I have been involved in them thus far. I'm going to go out on a limb (primates don't find this difficult) and say that when it comes to closed cans and a decent budget, you ignore Fostex at your peril. The TH900 continues to cause the wow factor at every show where they grace us with their presence. They now have a MKII of the legendary flagship retailing for more than double the TH610.



 
Fostex want to try and cut a sizeable hole in our pockets with the lure of the flagship. They are also eager to tempt us into this madness with more budget offerings. The Fostex T50 has been around for many years. The MKI T50 drivers were considered so good that they were the subject of some serious modding by the Audio Community. In essence the drivers were stripped from their housings, tweaked, and sat into some absolutely stunning enclosures. The most noteable company that spawned from this tinkering? None other than the creators of the Aeon and the Ether - Mr speakers.  We are now into the MKII iteration of the T50. The price has gone up slightly, as has the sound quality and the T50s alas are no longer as easy to tinker with to get improvements.



 

Beauty

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The Walnut finish of the 610 is something to appreciate. Wooden finishes have been around for some time and will be around for many years to come, particularly if a certain company called Grado have any steam left in them. They don't look like slowing down anytime soon. I think for many people that wood has a timeless appeal and lends a natural feel to anything it wraps itself around. The finish can be the difficulty as wood has grain running right through it. Plastic and Metal can be finished as a perfectly even colour and texture conversely. Fostex have the finish down with the cups and they look great, even slightly understated to my eyes.



 
The leather bag supplied is in black. It has a luxurious feel and finish. It should prove effective at protecting the cups from the ravages of the outside World.

The rest of the headphone seems to be exactly the same as the finishing on the TH900 MKII. Nothing to really give you the wow factor, some fairly standard black cabling, some bulky looking terminations to the cups pleather earpads and a pleather headband. The difficulty of selling to so many different Continents is in working out what will not be a dealbreaker for people in terms of cosmetic appeal and it must be a nightmare for a manufacturer.

Build quality

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The cabling is a 3 metre length and the cable is a tough nylon job.  Hi-FC (detachable 2-pin, rhodium coated) for the more knowledgeable audiophiles out there. It's a reassuring solid click into the terminations. It's pretty much tangle free too. I like Closed Cans to have a decent length cable on them because many people will be sat in their living rooms with them hooked into the amp whilst the partner is watching TV. Dependent on where said hifi is in the room that might be some distance away from the settee.



 
The Matte finish of the earcups the connections to them the housing and stitching around them down to the headbands are all fine. I would have preferred some nicer earpads and a better quality headband but I can't argue that the headband clamped at all.

Comfort

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I found no difficulties in wearing these for hours at a time and the weight of these (375G excluding the cable) is not too much of a problem. The headband had no feel of clamping and once on there felt no need to reach and adjust the 610s until it came to the reluctant time to take them off.

Isolation

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The TV at normal volumes in my house could not be heard by me enough that I had to turn the music up on these to drown it out. Obviously in quiet pieces I could still hear some of the action on the box the gains from being able to sit in the front room unobtrusively whilst my partner could do what she wanted to do.... They very much outweighed the setbacks. Very little leakage from the TH610s at below ear damaging levels. Harmony in the household - closed headphones can do wonders with this.

Versatility

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Closed headphones can be used everywhere without disturbing anyone provided they are well made. That is not in question here. The use of the walnut finish could be slightly off putting for someone to commute with these. I'd suggest that the finish is simply too fragile to take out and about. No, let's be clear; these are indoor only. Doing anything else will spoil their looks quite quickly.

The impedance rating 25 Ohms and Sensitivity 98 dB and Tesla rating of 1 Tesla means these headphones will go very loud on any number of products. Surely not your mobile phone? Well , if you must , yes. Facebook and Twitter stuff and a bit of Internet Radio. I could allow you that if I had to.....

The TH610 will work through a DAP really well. From an Ipod to an AK380 the characteristics of these headphones will present themselves without the need to search for more power. They sounded incredible through my 50 WPCS Power Amp. This is obviously way over the top for a 25 Ohm Headphone which is exactly why it has to be done. My excuse is because you the reader need to know what these cans can do under the most intense scrutiny. Coupled with the fact that I have it so I have to use it.  In short, don't sell your Dacamps, your integrated amps, your amp modules or your AV kit. But don't go straight out and buy any for the Fostex TH-610s. They're quite happy without, thank you anyway.

Sound Quality

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Bass

The TH610s have lots of bass. Think IEM levels of bass. Have you ever wanted something approaching that in a set of full sized Headphones? Then look no further. The 610s bring a warmth in the subbass and a slam in the midbass. The bass is not tight ; there is a slow decay in the lower end.  It's easy to compare the bass presence on the Fostex to it's big brother , the TH900. I see the bass as being on par with the Flagship Model. The pretender to the Fostex in terms of bass response would be the Meze 99 Classics. I believe the nod would go to the TH610s due to the Tesla 50mm driver being higher quality.

Mids/Highs/Soundstage

The bass does not swamp the mids I am happy to say. The mids is where I find that true quality can be discerned in a Headphone. This is where vocals and instruments are layering the sound. The curtain is either closed herein or the sunlight has been allowed to stream in. The Fostex has a rich clarity which is certainly coloured. The colour lends some weight and extra oomph to the music which is not at all unlikeable.

The depth of the musical image is what you would expect from a closed headphone. Fostex have not tried to squeeze too much extra juice from the highs and mids to create a large soundstage. Mr Speakers managed to push the old Fostex T50 RP driver and create a wider soundstage. Quite how they did this is down to some engineering skill no doubt. The effect could be heard in a noticeable hiss on many recordings on the Alpha Dogs I owned. The feeling is of an intimate gig. This is in itself not too bad an attribute because it brings the detail closer to the ear and vocals and instrumentation are easy to follow.

Comparisons

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Testing for sound quality were made against the following headphones I own and consider to be in the same bracket.

HifiMan HE-6

 
Now discontinued and needing lots of muscle power to make them work to their optimum, the HE-6 has a linearity and a clarity in the mids that can be breathtaking. They benefit from modding from the earpads supplied to the taming of the highs using various solutions. The HE-6 is a superior headphone to the TH610 in it's linearity. Many will prefer the richness and intimacy of the Fostex. There are no absolutes here.

Sennheiser HD800

 
Another open headphone with an even bigger driver (56mm) than the HE6. The HD800 has it all, but with caveats. Again , there is a harshness to these that benefits from sparing a few moments to tame, Once done, it's a killer. No doubt about it. The super width and incredible tonality of the HD800 are putting it in front of the TH610. Of course, it's twice the price and doesn't isolate and needs working on etc etc etc...

AKG K1000 Bass Heavy

 
You can't get more open a headphone than this. Or perhaps a more quirky headphone than this. The AKGs were put out there as an attempt to incorporate some of the natural sound of a loudspeaker with the micro detail that a headphone does so well. To this end a swivel has been put on both drivers and they can be pulled out to a 45 degree angle. Bizarre? Confused? The end result is polarizing in the extreme. You either love em or you're wrong! Please excuse me I didn't mean that. But you can see where my affiliations lie. To compare the Fostex against the AKG , the Fostex does not sound as airy or have quite the magical clarity in the mids of these crazy cans. But it clearly shoves the AKGs out into the backyard once the drummer really gets going.

Audio Technica W1000Z

 
These are a recent purchase (6 months ago) and replaced the Mr Speakers Alpha Dogs as my reference set of Closed Headphones. They retail at £595 , around £100 more than the Fostex. The bass is clearly better on the Fostex. The mids highs and soundstage are a close run thing between the 2. I could live with either the linearity of the W1000Zs or the extra warmth the TH610 brings. Isolation on the ATs is marginally better thanks to some thicker, slightly better quality earpads.

Conclusion

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I hope to have given you some insight into the Fostex TH610. It has it's obvious advantages - it looks great , it's a closed can with a sound quality that is comparable to open headphones costing much more. It has it's drawbacks - it has a closed headphone feel to the sound and the Walnut finish may not be to everyone's particular taste. For those needing a closed can without sacrificing the sound quality these have to be worth a listen.