SanjiWatsuki
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2011
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Some people have compared them to the TH-X00 and preferred them. Would love to hear more thoughts on this and some comparisons with the HE-500 as well.
I'm afraid I don't have an HE-500 comparison.
I think the Talos holds up pretty well against the TH-X00. The TH-X00 is a very formidable headphone, though. In my review I compared the two:
The Fostex TH-X00 had more sub-bass slam and slightly cleaner bass than the Talos. The mids clarity was roughly the same, but I didn’t notice any dips in the mids. The upper midrange on the TH-X00 struck me as being a bit more emphasized and shouty, but the Talos was brighter in the treble. The TH-X00 had a wider soundstage, but it also leaked a lot more sound and isolated much worse. On a technical level, the TH-X00 trumped the Talos, but the Talos’ superior isolation is why I use it in the office.
Tonally, I think both really nail the targets they were trying to do. The TH-X00 nails being a bassier headphone while the Talos nailed the v-shape. Both are very resolving in the treble, although the Talos is brighter. I think I have to edge the TH-X00 in mids and bass quality. I think the TH-X00's bass bleeds a bit more into the mid-range, whereas the Talos remains more tastefully punchy with less bleed. The Talos rolls off more in the sub-bass, though.
Comfort-wise, it's a slight edge to the Talos for me. The Talos weigh more than the TH-X00, but the pads are much more comfortable on my head, and I prefer the Talos headband. The headband distributes the headphone's weight better, IMO, and the pads are deeper and more comfortable overall.
My main problem with the TH-X00 is that I'm not sure when I would want to use it. In a noisy situation, it doesn't isolate enough for me to want to use it over a closed pair of headphones. In a quiet situation, I'll never reach for it over my HD800 or some other open headphone.