Hot new website for the new premium open models:
https://www.fostex.jp/th-open/index.html
@Bret Halford Does the 808 have a mid bass bump like the 616 does? The mid bass on 616 is too prominent for my tastes. It stands out above everything else.
Do the 616 and 808 use the same hinge parts that are on the 610?
The 808 has slightly more prominent mid bass than the 909, but not to the extent the 616 does. The 909 has lighter cups compared to the 808 - this results in a bit more bone conduction in the later from the extra heft, which in my experience is most expressed in the upper bass / lower mids. In the 808's case, this is largely counterbalanced by the 1.5 Tesla driver's impressive sub bass output and precise highs, whereas the 1 Tesla variant in the 616 begins to give out a bit at the extremes in comparison.
They all use the same hinge part unfortunately, although for what it's worth I have not had any problems on my 6 units (2 being quite new obviously) over the past ~5 years.
I believe this is correct, I think it's really just cheaper wood enclosure + cheaper cable (they ditched the 7N purity copper wire + rhodium plating for plug from TH909/TH900).
My guess is they used the same cable as TH610/TH-X00 which is not the same as TH909/TH900 wire.
You might ask, does that make up for the difference of $700? I can imagine.
Fostex stock cable is like $300-400 just for cable. Then have you seen how labor intensive their wood cup is?
I can imagine ditching all this and save a lot of money LOL.
In fact the 808 has rhodium plated connectors and possibly 7N purity copper, it was just poor translation from the early copy out of Japan. It's quite clear in the included manual as well as the 808's website:
Fostex said:
| cable | 3mY type OFC wire (removable connector terminal: 2 pins, rhodium plating specification, C1011/JIS standard product) |
|---|
Which is also what the manual states. The Fostex International product page (but not the jp sites or manual) also states it is 7N purity copper, whereas the more direct sources simply state OFC for the 808.
Visually, it's identical to the stock unbalanced cable included with the 909 and 900, I certainly can't hear any difference.
That said, in addition to being EXTREMELY pretty, the cherry cups are also much lighter as noted which adds to the immense sense of luxury the Urushi shells imbue and also helps keep things focused to apex levels (see above discussion on bone conduction).
The other difference to note is that the 909 and the 900 come with a wooden Fostex headphone stand which further drives up the cost I'm sure (box is much bigger as a result too!).
I looked at the Ryan Ho youtube video that you shared but I did not found much informations, feels like a promotion and a LOT of sponsored links.
Never had the opportunity to listen to a Fostex and this generation seems to be the opportunity.
Not sure about going 808 directly or if 616 is enough as an introduction.
I'll wait for some reviews.
808 is the sweet spot for price/performance from the current models, but I'd echo what
@Hyde00 said and suggest starting with some of the classic closed backs. I'd think a used 900 should be doable for similar or less price than an 808 and the 900 Red is
absolute Fostex. 
