[meyner]

@(songmic) hey ur from south korea, do you know if there is a place where i can audt the TH900? (near seoul) or did you just buy that out of the country or ship it from japan

 

[songmic]

Quote:

@(songmic) hey ur from south korea, do you know if there is a place where i can audt the TH900? (near seoul) or did you just buy that out of the country or ship it from japan

 
Soundstream is the official distributor of Fostex products in Korea, including the TH900. I didn't buy it out of the country from Japan, but through Soundstream. www.soundstream.co.kr/ 
 
Although I haven't done so myself, I've heard from fellow headphiles in Korea that you can audition the TH900 at the Earphone Shop near the Hyehwa Station in Seoul.
 
Are you a Korean too?

 

[Dubstep Girl]

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It's outstanding with the ECBA, as well. It's an awesome pairing.

 
+1

 

[meyner]

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Are you a Korean too?

 
ya, i am. Usually at the states but right now its summer vacation so i'm doing a internship as a computer programmer at gangnam at the moment. Thanks to that my 3 month vacation turned into 3 month work period. I want to go bak to grad school so badly now.
 
Also, i have been to that shop recently. They did not have TH900 for audition there. They had some other good phones though like HD 800, T1, but not Th900

 

[meyner]

sorry for the double post but i was wondering if anyone can give me an impression of the TH900 versus the W3000 ANV. My bet is that the TH900 is probabily better but by how much? Plus i am interested because i've heard the W3000 can be quite unique sounding compared to a lot of phones. Might be good to compare it to a similar closed wood phone

 

[Gandah]

Search this thread, button is what I would use, lots of  previous comparison post discussions can be found including TH900 vs W3000
 
I would gladly give you my thoughts however I haven't yet listen to the audio technica w3000

 

[3X0]

Quote:

sorry for the double post but i was wondering if anyone can give me an impression of the TH900 versus the W3000 ANV. My bet is that the TH900 is probabily better but by how much? Plus i am interested because i've heard the W3000 can be quite unique sounding compared to a lot of phones. Might be good to compare it to a similar closed wood phone

My impressions were that the TH-900 has smoother treble and a wider sound.

Someone else described the W3000ANV as having a unique presentation that sounds as if you are the microphone. I rarely relate to soundstage assessments, but I agree with this one completely.

The TH-900 is a bit faster and certainly less colored, and it's the better of the two when it comes to throwing a wide and well-defined sound field. The W3000 is relatively intimate.

If the TH-900 is naughty, the W3000ANV is flirtatious. I wouldn't let my mother listen to the TH-900. I blush sometimes when listening to female vocals on the W3K.

 
JMHO. I never owned the TH-900 (don't find it a good value proposition), but I was able to compare the two.

 

[Kyle 491]

Does anyone own the he-500 and the th900 who thinks the he-500 are far more versatile and engaging in their presentation? It feels like they need tubes even more than the hd800 to smooth out the upper mids and treble. I've been running them off various solid state amps and not enjoying them as much as the hd800 and he500 off the same setups. Listening to the Attack on Titan OST is a really engulfing experience on both of those headphones, orchestral and rock elements are rendered smoothly while being upfront and engaging. Vocals are clear and take centre focus. Drums are taught and highly impactful and nicely textured. And this is on music that has an average dynamic range of just 8 according to the DR.org database. The Fostex th900 sounds in comparison sounds overly sibilant, instruments thinly rendered and electric guitars painful. The bass even sounds one-note and rather thin, though well extended. Vocals are withdrawn and the whole presentation feels cramped and lacking oomph and presence.

Is it something I'm not getting here for these allegedly easier to drive cans, or is this just the limit of closed cans and their internal resonance problems?

 

[Audio Jester]

Does anyone own the he-500 and the th900 who thinks the he-500 are far more versatile and engaging in their presentation?

Is it something I'm not getting here for these allegedly easier to drive cans, or is this just the limit of closed cans and their internal resonance problems?

Have not heard the He-500, but i have auditioned the hd800 and i have the TH900's and my experiences seem to be dramatically different from yours. I would hardly call the TH900 sibilant and the bass is not thin IMO. I have found some metal and death metal to not sound as great as i had hoped, but that is about it.

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

Does anyone own the he-500 and the th900 who thinks the he-500 are far more versatile and engaging in their presentation? It feels like they need tubes even more than the hd800 to smooth out the upper mids and treble. I've been running them off various solid state amps and not enjoying them as much as the hd800 and he500 off the same setups. Listening to the Attack on Titan OST is a really engulfing experience on both of those headphones, orchestral and rock elements are rendered smoothly while being upfront and engaging. Vocals are clear and take centre focus. Drums are taught and highly impactful and nicely textured. And this is on music that has an average dynamic range of just 8 according to the DR.org database. The Fostex th900 sounds in comparison sounds overly sibilant, instruments thinly rendered and electric guitars painful. The bass even sounds one-note and rather thin, though well extended. Vocals are withdrawn and the whole presentation feels cramped and lacking oomph and presence.

Is it something I'm not getting here for these allegedly easier to drive cans, or is this just the limit of closed cans and their internal resonance problems?

 
This was my impression too with the lesser TH-600 vs HE-5LE. While I never heard any sibilance with the Fostex (I have somewhat warm electronics), the mids were too recessed for me.
 
I wish I had a tube amp at this time - the game might have changed somewhat - but, on a SS setup, the Fostex cannot touch the 5LEs, except in the treble.
The mids are so much more defined and focused on the planar that comparison is not fair.
 
Whem I'm rich, I'll get the WA7 or Zana Deux and get a TH-600 once again, just because I dig it's sound signature 

 
I now know why I immediatly liked its sound signature: it is reminiscent of my Focal XS Multimedia speakers/Monitors which I dig a lot!

 

[jerg]

HE5LEs are an entirely different beast compared to HE500. They are as different in sound as HE500s are to LCD2.
 
HE500s with the right earpads (and I stress, right earpads) have the most forgiving liquid treble, almost too smooth. They are laid-back enough that classical / orchestral music still sounds expansive and not just a wall of sound, yet they are engaging enough that more intimate or energetic music still have a heck of a kick. Overall they are the epitome of jack of all trades, master of none except maybe for vocal music.

 

[Clemmaster]

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HE5LEs are an entirely different beast compared to HE500. They are as different in sound as HE500s are to LCD2.
 
HE500s with the right earpads (and I stress, right earpads) have the most forgiving liquid treble, almost too smooth. They are laid-back enough that classical / orchestral music still sounds expansive and not just a wall of sound, yet they are engaging enough that more intimate or energetic music still have a heck of a kick. Overall they are the epitome of jack of all trades, master of none except maybe for vocal music.

 
The 5LEs aren't that different from the 500s in my experience (I switched the latter for the former).
They are more balanced with a more linear bass (less mid-bass presence) and don't have the upper mid bump that is sometimes bothersome with the 500s. They still are closer to the 500s than any other Hifiman planars (mid-range mainly).
 
The 500s probably have a more refined treble, but as you said, it is very forgiving and smooth when the 5LEs are more raw and engaging. The TH-600 have the best of both worlds.
 
As you said, the 500s excel at vocal reproduction. The 5LEs are an even better all-rounder in my setup (NFB-27+SA-31) because they also can do hard-rock/metal, which the 500s slightly fail at.
They don't have the wow effect that the 500s give with the right music (Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and any vocal songs) but they are less genre-oriented, hence a better all-rounder overall.
 
Note: I use the 5LEs with the Alpha Pads. I used to use the 500s with velour pads.

 

[ardilla]

Quote:

Does anyone own the he-500 and the th900 who thinks the he-500 are far more versatile and engaging in their presentation? It feels like they need tubes even more than the hd800 to smooth out the upper mids and treble. I've been running them off various solid state amps and not enjoying them as much as the hd800 and he500 off the same setups. Listening to the Attack on Titan OST is a really engulfing experience on both of those headphones, orchestral and rock elements are rendered smoothly while being upfront and engaging. Vocals are clear and take centre focus. Drums are taught and highly impactful and nicely textured. And this is on music that has an average dynamic range of just 8 according to the DR.org database. The Fostex th900 sounds in comparison sounds overly sibilant, instruments thinly rendered and electric guitars painful. The bass even sounds one-note and rather thin, though well extended. Vocals are withdrawn and the whole presentation feels cramped and lacking oomph and presence.

Is it something I'm not getting here for these allegedly easier to drive cans, or is this just the limit of closed cans and their internal resonance problems?

 
I just demoed the TH900 and own the HE500. The TH900 is quite bright-ish in the highs, mids are somewhat recessed, bass is ecellent. If paired with warm electronics, I feel the TH900 can be excellent. But with a powerful amplifier (warmish, not too bright) the HE500 is one of the best and definitely most engaging headphones out there. The Auralic Taurus or the Leben CS300 (high power version especially) it is absolutely stunning. The Violectric V200 is also good with the HE500. WA22 with warm tubes as well. 

 

[HideousPride]

sorry for the double post but i was wondering if anyone can give me an impression of the TH900 versus the W3000 ANV. My bet is that the TH900 is probabily better but by how much? Plus i am interested because i've heard the W3000 can be quite unique sounding compared to a lot of phones. Might be good to compare it to a similar closed wood phone

 
Depends on what you're looking for. 3000ANV has a unique coloration that can be a very seductive sound signature. Liquid-y is probably the way to describe the overall package. That being said, the 3000ANV presentation was a bit too outlandish and too heavily colored (IMO); the TH-900 toes the line in being overly bassy, but is in the just right-ish range of porridge for me when it comes to enjoying music. The TH-900 is the headphone for me when I want to groove to songs.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

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The 5LEs aren't that different from the 500s in my experience (I switched the latter for the former).
They are more balanced with a more linear bass (less mid-bass presence) and don't have the upper mid bump that is sometimes bothersome with the 500s. They still are closer to the 500s than any other Hifiman planars (mid-range mainly).
 
The 500s probably have a more refined treble, but as you said, it is very forgiving and smooth when the 5LEs are more raw and engaging. The TH-600 have the best of both worlds.
 
As you said, the 500s excel at vocal reproduction. The 5LEs are an even better all-rounder in my setup (NFB-27+SA-31) because they also can do hard-rock/metal, which the 500s slightly fail at.
They don't have the wow effect that the 500s give with the right music (Paul Simon, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and any vocal songs) but they are less genre-oriented, hence a better all-rounder overall.
 
Note: I use the 5LEs with the Alpha Pads. I used to use the 500s with velour pads.

 
 
+1
 
the 5LE where pretty good, i wouldn't say they're more linear though, maybe less colored as in less sweet and less romantic. they have more treble that is kinda buzzy or tizzy sounding, its borderline fatiguing, but i guess its just crisp and still ok. the mids where slightly recessed but good. they where more tight in the bass and didn't seem as wooly as HE-500. i liked them quite a bit, but they're quite similar sounding to HE-500. the HE-500 just smooths the treble, brings out the midrange, but loses some of the bass tightness and control, similar or same amount of impact.