New Head-Fi'er here. Going back and forth on what to do.
Been reading through this thread the last couple of days, up to page 350 now. Been looking for reasons NOT to buy the TH900 because in order to buy them I have to sell of some other non-headphone related collectibles. Haven't found any reasons yet though
I'm only an audiophile in spirit, not in practice mainly due to the cost of the hobby. I have been surviving just fine with nothing but some Klipsch S4i IEMs for privacy while using desktop speakers for the rest of my music listening. For at least a decade though I have dreamed of owning a truly GREAT set of over hear headphones
Finally decided to jump into the game recently without much knowledge. Tried to stick to a lower budget and started with Sennheiser Hd598's. While I loved the sound and spaciousness of my first open-backed headphones, the non-existent sub-bass was a dealbreaker. They had no balls.
So I decided to take a step up while still on a tight budget. Did a lot of Head Fi research and settled on the HE-400 with the Magni/Modi combo. First off, I will say that I hated the M&M combo. Much preferred using the Magni alone with my standalone Aiwa dual CD burner from the 90's which I'm sure is garbage by audiophile standards but for someone without a trained ear is perfectly fine. Regardless of my M&M feelings, the HE-400 themselves sounded great to me...except once again for the lack of sub-bass. It wasn't completely missing, but it was missing just enough to disappoint me and send them back (tried velour pads and cable upgrade to no avail). On albums like the Haxan Cloak's "Excavation" and Tim Hecker's "Virgin" there are prominent moments of sub-bass critical to the full enjoyment, and without that compressed feeling on my head I just knew that I would reach for my IEM's most of the time out of convenience and the added feel of the bass in my head.
So then I realized that maybe I'm not an actual audiophile and I'm more of a "classy basshead." The TH-900 immediately jumped onto my Amazon wishlist, but alas it was just a wish for now. So I decided to go with something a little closer to entry level and see if it was good enough. Went with the Denon D600 Music Maniac. Was immediately impressed by the bass response on the Haxan Cloak album and temporarily thought that this is what I was looking for. Unfortunately, they didn't suit at least half of the albums I played them on. They sounded muffled and bloated. No sparkle, crappy clarity, and obvious spikes at certain frequency ranges that left some vocals sounding uneven. So I sent back my 3rd choice and gave up on my dream.
Or did I.......I am really really tempted to get the TH-900 despite my budget limitations. But over the last month of experimenting I have learned that I can not trust reviews and descriptions of the sound, it is far too subjective. If I do get them, I absolutely will not be able to get an amp that costs more than the Asgard 2. That is bar none the top of my total budget allowance. I did not like the sound signature on the D600's and although the TH-900 seems to address all of my concerns based on what I have read, I just don't know if I can trust reviews anymore.
Decisions, decisions. Tired of losing money on shipping and returns. /End rant.......review to come in the future.....???????????
Incredible synergy with my TH-900 (rewired balanced)!
