[campj]

Let me preface this with the fact that the search function unfortunately does not work on the network I'm on.

Mike on Headphonia said that he didn't feel that the TH models performed well out of amps priced below $1K. I certainly DO NOT want to turn this into a Mike bashing party, but I'd appreciate it if some folks could disprove this claim with their own personal experience, sepcifically in regards to the TH600. I plan on getting Uberfrost/Asgard 2, and likely a Vali in the future... the TH600 looks like a good buy for me, but if what Mike is saying is true, I'll most likely find another closed headphone option.

Does anyone have experience with the Bifrost/Asgard 2/TH600 combo? Any impressions?

Thanks,
Jon

 

[bangshoushang]

great.Will look great with my DX100, and I suspect it will sound awesome with it too.thank you

 

[kurochin]

@campj
Headfonia is right, to some extent. Kind of like that "easy to learn, difficult to master" saying, the TH series are easy to power, but hard to drive.
 
It's still mostly a subjective thing, and imho, source/dac also plays a significant role. With the TH series cans, you need to be very exacting with regards to your target sound and build a rig to achieve that, which might end up compromising your other headphones in the process to some extent.
 
Never tried Schiit stuff, unfortunately.

 

[campj]

Kurochin,

I listen predominantly to various forms of extreme metal, so "smooth" isn't exactly up my alley and I will likely stick with solid state as my primary.

How does the Butte differ from an Asgard 2? Are we just talking synergy w/ the TH600, or is it an overall better performer? Oh, saw your edit about never using Schiit.

Thanks for the response!

Anyone else able to weigh in?

 

[kurochin]

@campj
Ah, sorry. I deleted the other bits of my last post, since I figured you were already settled on the Schiit combo.
Seems you caught that bit before my edit.
 
I've not heard the Butte personally, but Apex stuff is generally well regarded. They tend to prioritize "musicality" over technicalities. Having said that, Schiit come with a decent rep as well.

 

[Greed]

On the cheap, I'd buy a Matrix M-Stage and replace the opamps with the burr brown 627 in class A Biasing. It synergized very well with TH-600 and 900. Moving up to something a little more expensive, look into the Burson stuff. Soloist is probably the best value in their line-up unless you can find a cheap Conductor. Of course for a smoother sound sig there is also the WA7.  

 

[Matvei]

If you're buying these you really should be getting either a HP-A4 or A8 to go with them...they are a perfect pair. I wouldn't even consider other amps

 

[campj]

Anywhere to buy A4 from authorized dealer in the US (warranty issues are important to me)? How much is it? A8 is out of my league.

 

[Matvei]

It's not out yet; it will be out in Japan next week for 36000 JPY on amazon

By the way, street price for A8 is only 80,000 JPY. I certainly wouldn't pay 1500 USD for a 800 USD product; that markup at moon audio is BS

 

[campj]

So you've heard the TH600 with the A4? Or is this speculation?

It looks nice and has everything I'm looking for, so hopefully it works out. I'd like to see more impressions of course.

 

[Matvei]

I haven't heard it myself as it's not out yet but I'm going based on what others are saying about it...I have one on order to use with a D7000. By the way, fostex demos the HP-A4 with the TH600. Their new flagship lineup is A4, A8, TH600, TH900. The A3 and A7 can still be found on amazon, but they're clearly outdated products now. My guess is they will try to replace the HP-P1 next after the V1 tube amp is released. Of course, there are cheaper phones and amps available from fostex but no one cares about those anyway.

You can watch some videos about all these products online, most are in Japanese though.

The hype in Japan for the A4 is pretty big though in the audiophile circles...there's a few demo units out in Akiba now. (The setup is MacBook Pro>A4>TH600 and or 900 using the fostex audio player app)

Also, as I said on the previous page, you can get the TH600 for only $650 USD in Japan. I wouldn't pay reseller prices for it or the a8

 

[Oregonian]

Let me preface this with the fact that the search function unfortunately does not work on the network I'm on.

Mike on Headphonia said that he didn't feel that the TH models performed well out of amps priced below $1K. I certainly DO NOT want to turn this into a Mike bashing party, but I'd appreciate it if some folks could disprove this claim with their own personal experience, sepcifically in regards to the TH600. I plan on getting Uberfrost/Asgard 2, and likely a Vali in the future... the TH600 looks like a good buy for me, but if what Mike is saying is true, I'll most likely find another closed headphone option.

Does anyone have experience with the Bifrost/Asgard 2/TH600 combo? Any impressions?

Thanks,
Jon

I auditioned the TH600 powered out of a vintage amp, decidedly below $1000.................tried three different vintage amps as a matter of fact.  Ranged in WPC from 250 (Spec 2 from 1979) down to 20 (Realistic receiver from 1977) and all sounded exquisite. 
 
Maybe he was talking about dedicated headphone amps?

 

[campj]

I haven't heard it myself as it's not out yet but I'm going based on what others are saying about it...I have one on order to use with a D7000. By the way, fostex demos the HP-A4 with the TH600. Their new flagship lineup is A4, A8, TH600, TH900. The A3 and A7 can still be found on amazon, but they're clearly outdated products now. My guess is they will try to replace the HP-P1 next after the V1 tube amp is released. Of course, there are cheaper phones and amps available from fostex but no one cares about those anyway.

You can watch some videos about all these products online, most are in Japanese though.

The hype in Japan for the A4 is pretty big though in the audiophile circles...there's a few demo units out in Akiba now. (The setup is MacBook Pro>A4>TH600 and or 900 using the fostex audio player app)

Also, as I said on the previous page, you can get the TH600 for only $650 USD in Japan. I wouldn't pay reseller prices for it or the a8

Well, sounds like one I will definitely be checking out. Since I will be buying the TH600 in person at Moon Audio, I'll probably end up buying the A4 there too. Unless Amazon or something has some good deals.
 
I changed my avatar... I don't even own HD598

 

[Matvei]

I wouldn't pay the price moon audio is asking for the TH600...it's 300 dollars more than it should be. Why pay 999 for a $650 phone?

They'll probably try and sell the A4 for 600 too

 

[campj]

 
I auditioned the TH600 powered out of a vintage amp, decidedly below $1000.................tried three different vintage amps as a matter of fact.  Ranged in WPC from 250 (Spec 2 from 1979) down to 20 (Realistic receiver from 1977) and all sounded exquisite. 
 
Maybe he was talking about dedicated headphone amps?

Oregonian,
 
Here is a quote:
 
Let me start out by saying that the two headphones are like the Sennheiser HD800 in the sense that aside from the stunning finish on the TH900′s wood, the two only shows themselves as polite and proper headphones with the average sub $1,000 gear. Mind you, I was using some of the best gear from ALO (International, PanAm) and Burson (Soloist SL), but still the Fostex TH headphones were nothing more than polite and proper sounding headphones. Nothing mind blowing, definitely not for me. Proper tonality, no obvious flaws that I can hear, but pretty flat and uninviting overall. Even out of the Fostex HP-A8 unit, which was the reason I got uninterested in reviewing the Fostex TH900. It was clean, it was spacious, it was polite, but for $2,000, I expected more from it.