[VilMo]

I posted my review of this headphone on this website, enjoying them more than expected I drew a lot of comparisons with the Fostex X00-PH.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/e-mu-teak-headphones.21741/reviews#item-review-23563

Great review as Teak owner I enjoyed reading it and agree with most of your observations. Well done!

 

[The Third]

Great review as Teak owner I enjoyed reading it and agree with most of your observations. Well done!

Great to hear you enjoyed it. In the interest of time I will try to add a bit more examples to eloborate my opinion further in the review. I do wonder about where your opinion differs slightly from mine. And cheers for having the Teaks too!

 

[VilMo]

Great to hear you enjoyed it. In the interest of time I will try to add a bit more examples to eloborate my opinion further in the review. I do wonder about where your opinion differs slightly from mine. And cheers for having the Teaks too!

I have the same perception of the sound signature, stage, character. I just don't have had the opportunity to compare to the same cans that you have.
My most recent comparison was to the Ananda which I had on loan.
The Ananda had slight edge on detail resolution and maybe was a bit faster, but sounded a bit thin throughout the whole range and was less natural/organic.
Although I expected more of a difference, I did not feel deprived of soudstage on the Teak it is actually quite good.
Bass is indeed the only frequency range that can with some music feel accentuated but on many tracks it gourgeous and so alive.
All in all, the Teak is a great can for music enjoyment and brings realism to many janres of music - that is why it have been my choice for the last 3 years.
Oh, and by the way for comfort reasons I use non-stock pads as explained in revious post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fostex-x-massdrop-th-x00-review.788776/page-666#post-13386076

 

[The Third]

I have the same perception of the sound signature, stage, character. I just don't have had the opportunity to compare to the same cans that you have.
My most recent comparison was to the Ananda which I had on loan.
The Ananda had slight edge on detail resolution and maybe was a bit faster, but sounded a bit thin throughout the whole range and was less natural/organic.
Although I expected more of a difference, I did not feel deprived of soudstage on the Teak it is actually quite good.
Bass is indeed the only frequency range that can with some music feel accentuated but on many tracks it gourgeous and so alive.
All in all, the Teak is a great can for music enjoyment and brings realism to many janres of music - that is why it have been my choice for the last 3 years.
Oh, and by the way for comfort reasons I use non-stock pads as explained in revious post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fostex-x-massdrop-th-x00-review.788776/page-666#post-13386076

Interesting observations. And which cables would you recommend for the Teaks?

 

[The Third]

I have the same perception of the sound signature, stage, character. I just don't have had the opportunity to compare to the same cans that you have.
My most recent comparison was to the Ananda which I had on loan.
The Ananda had slight edge on detail resolution and maybe was a bit faster, but sounded a bit thin throughout the whole range and was less natural/organic.
Although I expected more of a difference, I did not feel deprived of soudstage on the Teak it is actually quite good.
Bass is indeed the only frequency range that can with some music feel accentuated but on many tracks it gourgeous and so alive.
All in all, the Teak is a great can for music enjoyment and brings realism to many janres of music - that is why it have been my choice for the last 3 years.
Oh, and by the way for comfort reasons I use non-stock pads as explained in revious post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fostex-x-massdrop-th-x00-review.788776/page-666#post-13386076

And such is the beauty of Planars right, they are very speedy and articulate but also project this surround sound sensation because of their layering. That's why I still want to get the HE-500 for a good deal down the road.

 

[VilMo]

Interesting observations. And which cables would you recommend for the Teaks?

I have the non-detachable cable version, I cannot comment on other cables unfortunately.

 

[borrego]

I took my E-mu Teak out for listening the other day and kind of "rediscovered" it after a year of listening time spending mainly on Signature Pro, LCD-XC and RAD-0. The E-mu Teak is indeed a very "complete" headphone and not having any obvious shortcoming. The LCD-XC and RAD-0 resolves better but the Teak performs well enough.

One thing I notice was the cups of the Teak has actually "shrank" after 6 months of non-usage. There is a gap of about 0.6-0.7mm between the cup perimeter and the frame when looking from the top. I recalled it was more like 0.3-0.4mm before. I think the Teak sounds more "open" with the cups shrank.

 

[The Third]

I took my E-mu Teak out for listening the other day and kind of "rediscovered" it after a year of listening time spending mainly on Signature Pro, LCD-XC and RAD-0. The E-mu Teak is indeed a very "complete" headphone and not having any obvious shortcoming. The LCD-XC and RAD-0 resolves better but the Teak performs well enough.

One thing I notice was the cups of the Teak has actually "shrank" after 6 months of non-usage. There is a gap of about 0.6-0.7mm between the cup perimeter and the frame when looking from the top. I recalled it was more like 0.3-0.4mm before. I think the Teak sounds more "open" with the cups shrank.

Interesting. I noticed on my Teak that the opening can vary depending on where I look, actually my right cup seems a bit more seperated from the frame than the left one but its not by much.

 

[bcaulf17]

I just scored a pair of the E-Mu Ebonies, I’m very excited to get them. For the moment, I’m trying to get as many opinions on the ebonies that I can. I imagine they’re excellent, and similar to the Teak for the most part.

 

[bcaulf17]

Just received the Ebonies a little while ago. Only spent 30 minutes or so listening but so far I love them! I don’t listen to a lot of bass heavy music, but I had to use some Daft Punk to try out the bass on these since it’s what they’re known for. Pretty outstanding. At first I thought the midbass was a bit bloated, but then I noticed I left the bass boost of my amp on lol. Turned it off and the bass went to sounding more neutral.

I was a little worried about the lower mids being scooped based on a small dip I saw on graphs but I didn’t notice anything abnormal in listening. Vocals and guitars sound great.

Love the treble, it is silky smooth and gets in the way of nothing. I think they could use a little more sparkle and air but overall I like the treble quantity and quality a lot, and the detail and resolution is solid.

The wood cups look great, they seem to have a pretty loose swivel though, and they feel just a little loose on my head, as the pads are rather stiff and they don’t clamp a lot. But the comfort is good.

I do wonder how they compare to the teak, just being a curious person. But, these are pretty great and I’m looking forward to some more listening later.

 

[saxelrod92]

Just got the teaks from drop yesterday, so far so good. I used to have a d5000 until its cable broke, but these teaks seem way better built by comparison. just sturdier and smoother overall. also the sound is much more refined overall. The only thing that I'm curious about is that these new teaks have different pads than what is shown in every single pic of them. The new pads are sheepskin leather, dont have a rim around the perimeter, and have a big R and L printed onto the now rougher fabric inside the cup. They are nice pads, same sized ear opening, but considering its a different material I'm wondering if the sound has changed now. Especially since they are sensitive to pad swaps. If anyone has heard both pad variants to give a report back on, that would be helpful.

 

[The Third]

Just got the teaks from drop yesterday, so far so good. I used to have a d5000 until its cable broke, but these teaks seem way better built by comparison. just sturdier and smoother overall. also the sound is much more refined overall. The only thing that I'm curious about is that these new teaks have different pads than what is shown in every single pic of them. The new pads are sheepskin leather, dont have a rim around the perimeter, and have a big R and L printed onto the now rougher fabric inside the cup. They are nice pads, same sized ear opening, but considering its a different material I'm wondering if the sound has changed now. Especially since they are sensitive to pad swaps. If anyone has heard both pad variants to give a report back on, that would be helpful.

Woa interesting. I only recently ordered my Teaks from Chan, but I am quite sure they still use the X00 Pads on them. Could you maybe take some pictures of them? And congratulations on your E-MU Teaks! They are amazing aren't they?

 

[bcaulf17]

Had the Ebony ones for a few weeks now and these are the best headphones I've ever had the pleasure to listen to so far. They're just so warm and cozy but in a liquid smooth type of way that doesn't equal to muddy and bloated. Everything is quick and clean, great resolution in the bass, mids and treble and I don't hear any overemphasis or peaks anywhere, it's actually pretty amazing. They work so well with every genre I've tried with them, more than any other headphone I've used. I really have very little to complain about sound wise, if I did it would be just a little more upper midrange energy (like 1db) and a little more sparkle in the treble presentation but other than that, it pretty much matches the kind of sound I want coming out of a headphone: slightly warm and smooth but not so much that it's tilted far away from neutral, and detailed in a way that isn't analytical. Just ear candy really, very glad I jumped on this.

I have a Hifiman Sundara coming soon and I'm sure I'll enjoy those as well but they might not be as much of a fun listen as the EMU. Oh yeah, their semi-closed nature and low power requirements make them nice for just hanging out in the living room.

I'm gonna need to baby these things though, their build kinda worries me and I'd be pretty upset if something happened to them. Fortunately if something ever happened to the cups I could just replace those.

 

[The Third]

Had the Ebony ones for a few weeks now and these are the best headphones I've ever had the pleasure to listen to so far. They're just so warm and cozy but in a liquid smooth type of way that doesn't equal to muddy and bloated. Everything is quick and clean, great resolution in the bass, mids and treble and I don't hear any overemphasis or peaks anywhere, it's actually pretty amazing. They work so well with every genre I've tried with them, more than any other headphone I've used. I really have very little to complain about sound wise, if I did it would be just a little more upper midrange energy (like 1db) and a little more sparkle in the treble presentation but other than that, it pretty much matches the kind of sound I want coming out of a headphone: slightly warm and smooth but not so much that it's tilted far away from neutral, and detailed in a way that isn't analytical. Just ear candy really, very glad I jumped on this.

I have a Hifiman Sundara coming soon and I'm sure I'll enjoy those as well but they might not be as much of a fun listen as the EMU. Oh yeah, their semi-closed nature and low power requirements make them nice for just hanging out in the living room.

I'm gonna need to baby these things though, their build kinda worries me and I'd be pretty upset if something happened to them. Fortunately if something ever happened to the cups I could just replace those.

Enjoy your E-MU Ebony! What made you choose them over the Teaks?

 

[bcaulf17]

Enjoy your E-MU Ebony! What made you choose them over the Teaks?

That’s how they were sold lol!

Really; I was interested in a Fostex Ebony in particular but they are so hard to come by these days. I would’ve considered the Teak if I found a used one for a good price and were at the point of giving up on finding a Fostex Ebony.

I was checking the classifieds and AVExchange constantly to see if I would happen on luck and I did, sort of. Someone on here was selling an EMU with Ebony cups installed for $375. Figured this was probably as close as I’d get to finding a Fostex Ebony in the near future so I reached out immediately and it’s probably the best decision I’ve made in this hobby so far. They sound pretty much like how people describe the Fostex. And it’s a great deal because I think the Ebony cups alone are something like $150+ these days!