[AT Khan]

Teak for sure, they outperform the bamboo quite well.

Yes, Teaks, I've heard, sound the most balanced out of all.
But here's the kicker - if he's looking for the 'Purpleheart' sound, then I'd recommend the Ebony cups.

PH are of the densest wood, second only to Ebony. I've heard that the denser woods have even a more stronger bass impact.
Since EMU doesn't offer PH, so, Ebony is the best bet.

 

[Tetonpowskier]

Thanks for the info. Since posting, I read some reviews on here and other places. In all honesty I’m confused. Some reviews say bamboo is closer to Purpleheart, but most do say the Teak outperforms Bamboo. I understand different people will hear different things.

Can I just buy Bamboo to save a lil money and buy extra cups made of different woods as I get more $$?? You guys are saying I should start with the Teaks even if planning to have multiple wood cups?

Some people seem to say Bamboo is “Meh” compared to the others.. is that because of the sound or because the quality of the wood, or both?

Also, Where can I get aftermarket cups from?

Thanks a bunch

 

[lazarian]

Thanks for the info. Since posting, I read some reviews on here and other places. In all honesty I’m confused. Some reviews say bamboo is closer to Purpleheart, but most do say the Teak outperforms Bamboo. I understand different people will hear different things.

Can I just buy Bamboo to save a lil money and buy extra cups made of different woods as I get more $$?? You guys are saying I should start with the Teaks even if planning to have multiple wood cups?

Where can I get aftermarket cups from?

Afaik you just need to message EMU directly to organise additional cup purchases

 

[DenverW]

Afaik you just need to message EMU directly to organise additional cup purchases

This is correct, unless you can find the rare pair on the used market. The prices range from about $100 for bamboo to $150/160 for ebony. The also have teak, rosewood, couple others.

I've owned the entire fostex X00 line up, and the emu teaks. Purplehearts are very fun, but the teaks outperform them in the low end and aren't as v shaped. Swapping cups is not a big deal; you remove the pads and remove the 4 screws holding the cups. It can be a little difficult to properly align the cups when putting them back on, but not terrible.

 

[Mhog55]

This is correct, unless you can find the rare pair on the used market. The prices range from about $100 for bamboo to $150/160 for ebony. The also have teak, rosewood, couple others.

I've owned the entire fostex X00 line up, and the emu teaks. Purplehearts are very fun, but the teaks outperform them in the low end and aren't as v shaped. Swapping cups is not a big deal; you remove the pads and remove the 4 screws holding the cups. It can be a little difficult to properly align the cups when putting them back on, but not terrible.

Which cups did you enjoy most on the Teaks? Very curious how both the bamboo and ebony affect the performance.

 

[DenverW]

Which cups did you enjoy most on the Teaks? Very curious how both the bamboo and ebony affect the performance.

I haven't tried any of the EMU cups aside from the teaks and bamboo, and teak was a clear, clear winner. Since the X00 is essentially the same headphone I'd say that I enjoyed the purpleheart the most of those; it had a fun factor. However, I found all three fostex cups: mahogany, ebony, PH, to have a bit too much bleed from the bass into the mids. I would have liked to try the rosewoods but I could never justify the cost of buying them.

 

[AT Khan]

Thanks for the info. Since posting, I read some reviews on here and other places. In all honesty I’m confused. Some reviews say bamboo is closer to Purpleheart, but most do say the Teak outperforms Bamboo. I understand different people will hear different things.

Can I just buy Bamboo to save a lil money and buy extra cups made of different woods as I get more $$?? You guys are saying I should start with the Teaks even if planning to have multiple wood cups?

Some people seem to say Bamboo is “Meh” compared to the others.. is that because of the sound or because the quality of the wood, or both?

Also, Where can I get aftermarket cups from?

Thanks a bunch

Yeah so Teak would be the best bet I think for the most balanced sound. Like @DenverW's mentioned here about the bass bleed of the ebony or PH cups, I would agree with him. I think it would suggest as they're heavier woods, at least the ebony and PH, they must be giving back a harder bass reflex to the low end.

Bamboo is a more average wood. So I guess I'd say: go for Teak. Yeah that would be a great start.

 

[plmon]

Thanks for the info. Since posting, I read some reviews on here and other places. In all honesty I’m confused. Some reviews say bamboo is closer to Purpleheart, but most do say the Teak outperforms Bamboo. I understand different people will hear different things.

Can I just buy Bamboo to save a lil money and buy extra cups made of different woods as I get more $$?? You guys are saying I should start with the Teaks even if planning to have multiple wood cups?

Some people seem to say Bamboo is “Meh” compared to the others.. is that because of the sound or because the quality of the wood, or both?

Also, Where can I get aftermarket cups from?

Thanks a bunch

I think when people say the Teaks "outperform" the other wood cups, it's more about the tonality. The bass and treble are better controlled with the Teak cups, so it's easier to make out the midrange (ex, stuff like vocals and the main body of instruments).

I think the reason is largely because of how the internal cup is cut, the Teak cups are shallower inside than other wood cups I tried like Ebony and the TH-900 cups. Supposedly E-MU started cutting their other wood cups the same way, based on a past post in this thread, but I haven't seen any other cup comparisons with recent ones to confirm.

The Teak cups also seem to have a smoother decay in the sound that makes music "blend" a bit and sound very pleasant. This might be because of the wood type, I found the Ebony cups had a "cleaner" and more separated sound that felt more sterile in comparison.

I'd personally get the Teak cups as I believe those are the only ones you can't order from E-MU later. But from what I've read, the Bamboo might be more along the lines of the Purpleheart sound.

You might even be able to just get E-MU Teaks with Purpleheart cups straight up if you order directly from E-MU and ask about a cup swap. As far as I can see, there's no real difference ordering from Massdrop or E-MU unless you're getting the Bamboo ones. It should be noted that swapping out the cups is kind of a pain since you have to fiddle with some small screws every time.

 

[Mhog55]

I think when people say the Teaks "outperform" the other wood cups, it's more about the tonality. The bass and treble are better controlled with the Teak cups, so it's easier to make out the midrange (ex, stuff like vocals and the main body of instruments).

I think the reason is largely because of how the internal cup is cut, the Teak cups are shallower inside than other wood cups I tried like Ebony and the TH-900 cups. Supposedly E-MU started cutting their other wood cups the same way, based on a past post in this thread, but I haven't seen any other cup comparisons with recent ones to confirm.

The Teak cups also seem to have a smoother decay in the sound that makes music "blend" a bit and sound very pleasant. This might be because of the wood type, I found the Ebony cups had a "cleaner" and more separated sound that felt more sterile in comparison.

I'd personally get the Teak cups as I believe those are the only ones you can't order from E-MU later. But from what I've read, the Bamboo might be more along the lines of the Purpleheart sound.

You might even be able to just get E-MU Teaks with Purpleheart cups straight up if you order directly from E-MU and ask about a cup swap. As far as I can see, there's no real difference ordering from Massdrop or E-MU unless you're getting the Bamboo ones. It should be noted that swapping out the cups is kind of a pain since you have to fiddle with some small screws every time.

So essentially, you find the Teak cups to be more musical than the others? How did the Ebony cups affect the lows and highs? I'm ass they create more of a V shaped sound signature? The crazy thing for me is that when I owned the Teaks, the bass, more so sub bass, was less than what I consider neutral. Not sure if I had a bunk set, but I bel it was due to the pads. My ears didn't exactly agree with the shape. I never felt as though I was getting a proper seal. I'm considering buying them again, and trying a circular pad, rather than the stock oval pads.

 

[Deleeh]

Hello,

I bought the Ebony from Emu on the Fostex Tr X00 because the Mahogany was too shrill for me.

Before I did that I had restored the Denon D2000 with the Lawtonmod, renewed the cables, new pads and Dekoni rings together with the Purpelheart cups from Emu.

Later came the Ebony because the Purpleheart had convinced me so much that it should be better with the Ebony.
Well, that was not the case.
The Ebony was just terrible for my ears.
Much too cool and almost dead, and vocally boring.
The Purpelheart was lively and warm, vocally livelier, full of power and life.
I also found Ebony a bit musty in a way.

I sold the Fostex Ebony and the seller was also disappointed.

My conclusions about it are choose a softer wood for the Fostex driver rather than too hard.
The Ebony is too hard in the wood and the driver does not have the power to compensate.
That's something else when you've heard Zmf headphones, they can take it 3 times better than the Fostex.

Before the sale I found the following setup
for the Ebony.
It needed a General Electric tube that gave a fairly analogue sound and was a little slower than other tubes to make the Ebony work.
So for SS amplifiers I did not find the Ebony recommendable.

Apart from that, I still don't understand how you could offer something like that on Massdrop back then.
And that Fostex allowed it, it has found followers but nowhere near as many as with the Purpleheart.

I also went off on all the entries and reports back then.I agree wholeheartedly about the Purpleheart,but unfortunately not about the Ebony.
I could have saved myself the $140.

By the way, I am offering my restored Denon for sale.
Since I went for something new, it is currently still in my possession.

 

[Mhog55]

Hello,

I bought the Ebony from Emu on the Fostex Tr X00 because the Mahogany was too shrill for me.

Before I did that I had restored the Denon D2000 with the Lawtonmod, renewed the cables, new pads and Dekoni rings together with the Purpelheart cups from Emu.

Later came the Ebony because the Purpleheart had convinced me so much that it should be better with the Ebony.
Well, that was not the case.
The Ebony was just terrible for my ears.
Much too cool and almost dead, and vocally boring.
The Purpelheart was lively and warm, vocally livelier, full of power and life.
I also found Ebony a bit musty in a way.

I sold the Fostex Ebony and the seller was also disappointed.

My conclusions about it are choose a softer wood for the Fostex driver rather than too hard.
The Ebony is too hard in the wood and the driver does not have the power to compensate.
That's something else when you've heard Zmf headphones, they can take it 3 times better than the Fostex.

Before the sale I found the following setup
for the Ebony.
It needed a General Electric tube that gave a fairly analogue sound and was a little slower than other tubes to make the Ebony work.
So for SS amplifiers I did not find the Ebony recommendable.

Apart from that, I still don't understand how you could offer something like that on Massdrop back then.
And that Fostex allowed it, it has found followers but nowhere near as many as with the Purpleheart.

I also went off on all the entries and reports back then.I agree wholeheartedly about the Purpleheart,but unfortunately not about the Ebony.
I could have saved myself the $140.

By the way, I am offering my restored Denon for sale.
Since I went for something new, it is currently still in my possession.

I saw your classifieds post. Which headphones did get? Did you find either the PH or Ebony to be overly bright or sharp? More or less so than the Teaks?

 

[Deleeh]

I found the Purpleheart to be the most balanced cups compared to the Ebony.
The way it looks in the ad, it is very balanced.
The bass is there and gives enough of it, the mids are powerful, the highs are slightly rolled off and rarely get peaky.
Overall, even though it's V-shaped, it's lively and radiates more in the signature.

With the Ebony it was much more the opposite.
The only good thing was the bass range, which went a little deeper, but nothing more.
To my ear, I found the mids a bit nervous and the highs too sharp and shrill.
And tonally very boring and musty and not inviting to enjoy music.

I tried different pads but there wasn't really anything that fit.
Even the stock pads from the Fostex didn't do much to make it better.

It was a strange experience to be honest and one I regretted.

The teak is the only thing I didn't hear.
Seems to be something like the Purpleheart with a bit more quietness.

The headphones in my ad are a Denon D2000.
It has the same driver as the Emu/Fostex except the cups are plastic and the cable is not detachable, otherwise everything is the same.
The Denon D2000 is no longer available for purchase, only used.

 

[plmon]

So essentially, you find the Teak cups to be more musical than the others? How did the Ebony cups affect the lows and highs? I'm ass they create more of a V shaped sound signature? The crazy thing for me is that when I owned the Teaks, the bass, more so sub bass, was less than what I consider neutral. Not sure if I had a bunk set, but I bel it was due to the pads. My ears didn't exactly agree with the shape. I never felt as though I was getting a proper seal. I'm considering buying them again, and trying a circular pad, rather than the stock oval pads.

Yes, that's exactly it, they sounded more musical and the timbre more natural. The Ebony cups were a little sharper up top and the midbass impact was stronger and more prominent.

As for your experience with the Teaks, yeah maybe the pads weren't getting a good fit. Because while I wouldn't say the Teaks are super bassy, they certainly are more elevated than something more linear there like Hifiman or Sennheiser. That said, the midbass is more noticeable than the subbass though imo. If you use a more circular pad (like the TH-900 pad for example), I found the midbass gets more in line with the subbass at the expense of bringing in more treble. And despite the stock pads being pretty uncomfortable, none of the pads I've tried (Dekoni, ZMF, Accessory House, Brainwavz, other Fostex pads, etc) are able to sound quite as natural or musical so I think that shape is a significant factor to the Teak's sound.

 

[Mhog55]

Yes, that's exactly it, they sounded more musical and the timbre more natural. The Ebony cups were a little sharper up top and the midbass impact was stronger and more prominent.

As for your experience with the Teaks, yeah maybe the pads weren't getting a good fit. Because while I wouldn't say the Teaks are super bassy, they certainly are more elevated than something more linear there like Hifiman or Sennheiser. That said, the midbass is more noticeable than the subbass though imo. If you use a more circular pad (like the TH-900 pad for example), I found the midbass gets more in line with the subbass at the expense of bringing in more treble. And despite the stock pads being pretty uncomfortable, none of the pads I've tried (Dekoni, ZMF, Accessory House, Brainwavz, other Fostex pads, etc) are able to sound quite as natural or musical so I think that shape is a significant factor to the Teak's sound.

The TH900 pads are what I was considering. After reading these recent comments, I think I'll just stick with my trusty Magni.

 

[Tetonpowskier]

Are the sound signatures of these different woods a night and day difference between? Or would an EMU Teak still be 90% a similar sound to PH?

I really enjoyed the lower and upper end on the purplehearts. It was a very “fun”, hard hitting sound that still was somehow very smooth to my ears. Mids weren't ridiculously recessed either, for me anyways.

I had been trying other middle teir phones at the time from Audeze and Hifiman, and remember thinking “Wow” when i first heard the PH. They really blew me away.