Fostex TH900 Impressions & Discussion Thread

[MacedonianHero]

Looks like the TH900 and D7000 share a similar construction in the headband based on the photos of the Fostex? Quick question, how do these headphones isolate/leak noise? Are they like the Denons in that regard (which is to say, basically like open headphones), or are they more like the Ed.8s or W3000ANVs?
 
Thanks!
 
BTW, great write up on the review MF! Very nicely done.

 

[BrainFood]

Quote:

 Quick question, how do these headphones isolate/leak noise? Are they like the Denons in that regard (which is to say, basically like open headphones), or are they more like the Ed.8s or W3000ANVs?

 
Hi.  It was said earlier that they were identical to the Denons in terms of isolation and leakage.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

 
Hi.  It was said earlier that they were identical to the Denons in terms of isolation and leakage.

 
Thanks! I must have missed that. Well, I guess they're out for me as my closed headphones.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

 
Thanks! I must have missed that. Well, I guess they're out for me as my closed headphones.

 
If you're looking for a high-end sealed can with good isolation I'd look into the Ultrasone SP that MF mentioned, and the Thunderpants.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

 
If you're looking for a high-end sealed can with good isolation I'd look into the Ultrasone SP that MF mentioned, and a Thunderpants.

I did previously own the Edition 8LEs (and I found they were better than the SP...soundwise as well). I'm currently rocking the Audio Technica W3000ANVs. They isolate/leak just as well as the Ed.8s. So I'm a happy camper.

 

[TheOtus]

 
Sometimes I put it around my neck but I don't recommend doing that because, well, it's ugly, lol... and, for two, you might hang yourself in a weird accident, but it's hardly possible.

 
That's gotta be one of the most amusing things I've read in the morning. Ever. xD

 

[devouringone3]

Quote:

 
That's gotta be one of the most amusing things I've read in the morning. Ever. xD

 
Lol thank you!

 

[customcoco]

Dear MuppetFace,
 
do you plan to write any comparison between the th900 and A-T l3000?

 

[devouringone3]

HP-A8 headphone amplifier during the first half of this video:
 

 
I used google transcribe + google translate and could understand the ideas conveyed... it won't learn you anything, it's a turn around of the HP-A8, its inputs, and it's a mention that the TH900 has clarity. If that thing was balanced I WOULD SO BUY IT.
 
Oh yeah and the HP-A8 has a 252 or 256 steps digital volume bar, but this was already known I think.
 
After half of the video you see a lot more the TH900 itself (starting at 2:04), glorious looking in 1080p for those who doesn't own it, lol. At 3:30 he wears it as a demonstration, it looks fine.
 
 
I guess I succeeded in purchasing the Kotori 201 on the Japanese Kotori website.
 
With my Japanese credit card of course (nah, typical Visa worked, but I had no idea if it would and was a bit scared):

 
I still love Japan, they asked me if I was a boy or a girl. I think girl gets a purple headphone case, guy gets brown. They asked me WHEN I would like to have it delivered, in two-days precision, starting after one week of the order, giving me up to two months to receive it, lol.

 

[Ahzari]

TH900s to arrive tomorrow... sitting next to my door waiting on UPS 

 

[AppleheadMay]

Quote:

I used google transcribe + google translate and could understand the ideas conveyed... it won't learn you anything, it's a turn around of the HP-A8, its inputs, and it's a mention that the TH900 has clarity. If that thing was balanced I WOULD SO BUY IT.
 

 
Same here, no XLR out made me look elsewhere, I need two outputs, preferable 1 RCA and 1 XLR.
Since I am a big Marantz fan I ordered me a Marantz NA-11S1 which has both. Apart from being an async 192/24 Dac it also acts as a network player, has AirPlay and Internet Radio.
There is also the SA-11S3 which is an SACD player with the 192/24 async Dac function built in and has USB input as well as RCA and XLR out. Pick your flavor.
 
I must say that I wonder what the HP-A8 sounds like. I have it's little brother the HP-P1 and after a few months I am still amazed how good it sounds, compared to the iCube I had before it's like a Mercedes to a Fiat.

 

[driver 8]

Guys, this is the giddiest a headphone's made me in a long time now and I've gotten a lot of really nice headphones in the past few months.  Everything sounds so great on these.  I can't really collect myself well enough to write detailed impressions (testament to their quality), nor have I had them long enough for such impressions to be credible, but so far it's just been like, "hey kid, did you know how amazing listening to music could be?" 
 
For reference, my current setup is: Wyred4Sound Dac2 -> Lehmann Black Cube Linear -> TH900's

 

[Ahzari]

Quote:

Guys, this is the giddiest a headphone's made me in a long time now and I've gotten a lot of really nice headphones in the past few months.  Everything sounds so great on these.  I can't really collect myself well enough to write detailed impressions (testament to their quality), nor have I had them long enough for such impressions to be credible, but so far it's just been like, "hey kid, did you know how amazing listening to music could be?" 
 
For reference, my current setup is: Wyred4Sound Dac2 -> Lehmann Black Cube Linear -> TH900's

 
so you're enjoying them this much straight out of the box?

 

[driver 8]

pretty much.  I've only had them for a few hours.
 
In defense of everything else.  The Lehmann amp I've been using probably isn't the best amp ever for the LCD-3's (although I like this combo more than the Lyr people laud) or the HD800's (although it's supposed to be a damn good one?); I have a WA22 coming sometime in the near future that might be a more fair basis of comparison. 
 
Right now these just strike me as having a better balance than either of the aforementioned phones (which are fresh in my mind.)  They come across like Super HE500's in their airy presentation and FR that seems to mesh well with everything.  It also helps that they're much more comfortable than the Audez'e and a bit more so than the Senns.

 

[MuppetFace]

Yeah, I was holding back quite a bit while writing up my impressions. I wanted to wax lyrical about these, as they just totally ensnared me with their spell (not at first though... it took a day or two). To be honest I'm still a bit reserved when talking about them for the most part: I don't want to come across like I'm hyping them.
 
But geez, I sure love these 'phones. It's nice to see I'm not the only one. : )