[cathee]

Interested in TH900, are they considered more bright or dark? How would you describe the sound signature and especially the bass?

The search function is your friend. The sound signature, especially the bass, has been discuss ad nauseam.

In case if anyone is interested... https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fs-fostex-th900-mk2.875779/

Great price for great headphones, GLWS. Word of advice, if you cleaned your headphones a bit before taking the pics (especially the ear pad pics will all the dust/skin) I reckon it would've sold by now.

 

[Kyle 491]

I bought a pair of Sapphire Blue MK2s as I love this shade of blue, so for me its an aesthetically more pleasing TH900 that brightens up my headphone shelf. In fact I enjoy looking at this headphone than I do listening to it, as it is really quite edgy and bright so far, reminding me of my Red TH900 mk1 when it was new, except even more sibilant and uncontrolled around the 7k frequency range than I remember. The 'shhh' sounds are painfully overemphasized.

I removed the pads to see if there was anything that could be done about this, and was surprised that on the right headphone cup the grey foam ring was positioned differently than on the left cup, which covers the same stock 'tuning' hole as my red TH900 mk1 (the semicircular cut outs on the foam ring are aligned with the screws holding the driver frame to the cup). On the right cup those cutout/ indentation areas are positioned one hole lower.

Im wondering if this accounts for the 'new tuning' that the marketing literature alluded to. Can GUIDO or anyone else who has bought check to see if their cups have the same situation? Aside from this difference I cant see any other physical changes, and am curious if this was a simple mistake made in assembly or a conscious design choice (Imo a poor one if so).

Sound signature wise the Sapphire Blue sound almost identical to the Bordeaux TH900 with no reduction in the low end or additional midrange presence that I can detect, but nastier highs for now at least.

I have since moved the grey foam ring to position 4 on Whittigir's EZ mods, or the most treble damped setting, and even switched out the cable for my stock HD650 cable (a mild change but perceptibly dampens the 'shhh' sounds). Its much more listenable now, but still has room for improvement I feel. Will have to see if burn-in is real with this headphone, heh.

 

[malifact]

Hello, I've been thinking of getting the TH900, as it sounds fairly dynamic which is my preferred sound. However, I've read very different things about vocals. Some comments / reviews say the mids are recessed and others say vocals are clear. Are the vocals recessed, in line with the music or presented slightly forward? Thanks.

 

[BenF]

Hello, I've been thinking of getting the TH900, as it sounds fairly dynamic which is my preferred sound. However, I've read very different things about vocals. Some comments / reviews say the mids are recessed and others say vocals are clear. Are the vocals recessed, in line with the music or presented slightly forward? Thanks.

I don't have TH900, but on my latest revision of TH900MK2 the mids are crashing at about 1.1kHz:

The first revision that Tyll measured is even more V-shaped.
Mids on my TH900MK2 don't sound recessed, but that's likely because they are warmed up by that elevated bass.

 

[Thenewguy007]

Hello, I've been thinking of getting the TH900, as it sounds fairly dynamic which is my preferred sound. However, I've read very different things about vocals. Some comments / reviews say the mids are recessed and others say vocals are clear. Are the vocals recessed, in line with the music or presented slightly forward? Thanks.

I had the TH900 with the Sennheiser HD800 & Audeze LCD2 at one time & the TH900 definitely had very recessed vocals in comparison to the two.

Of course the sub-bass on the Fostex absolutely destroyed the other two.

 

[ctaxxxx]

Hello, I've been thinking of getting the TH900, as it sounds fairly dynamic which is my preferred sound. However, I've read very different things about vocals. Some comments / reviews say the mids are recessed and others say vocals are clear. Are the vocals recessed, in line with the music or presented slightly forward? Thanks.

You can have both recessed and clear vocals. That is actually how I describe the TH-900's vocals. The vocals never sounded diffused or veiled to me despite the recession and large soundstage, unlike something with warmer mids like the Klipsch HP-3. The brighter tonality helps with this.

 

[GU1DO]

I bought a pair of Sapphire Blue MK2s as I love this shade of blue, so for me its an aesthetically more pleasing TH900 that brightens up my headphone shelf. In fact I enjoy looking at this headphone than I do listening to it, as it is really quite edgy and bright so far, reminding me of my Red TH900 mk1 when it was new, except even more sibilant and uncontrolled around the 7k frequency range than I remember. The 'shhh' sounds are painfully overemphasized.

I removed the pads to see if there was anything that could be done about this, and was surprised that on the right headphone cup the grey foam ring was positioned differently than on the left cup, which covers the same stock 'tuning' hole as my red TH900 mk1 (the semicircular cut outs on the foam ring are aligned with the screws holding the driver frame to the cup). On the right cup those cutout/ indentation areas are positioned one hole lower.

Im wondering if this accounts for the 'new tuning' that the marketing literature alluded to. Can GUIDO or anyone else who has bought check to see if their cups have the same situation? Aside from this difference I cant see any other physical changes, and am curious if this was a simple mistake made in assembly or a conscious design choice (Imo a poor one if so).

Sound signature wise the Sapphire Blue sound almost identical to the Bordeaux TH900 with no reduction in the low end or additional midrange presence that I can detect, but nastier highs for now at least.

I have since moved the grey foam ring to position 4 on Whittigir's EZ mods, or the most treble damped setting, and even switched out the cable for my stock HD650 cable (a mild change but perceptibly dampens the 'shhh' sounds). Its much more listenable now, but still has room for improvement I feel. Will have to see if burn-in is real with this headphone, heh.

Both cups were on this position (1) in EZ mode ,, https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/8554588.jpg , which i think is the tuning fostex did , maybe ?

I completed the 180hr burning on the Blue TH900 and stopped because i concluded that it is almost the same as my old Red TH900 when it was new ,, same sibilance and dip at 500Hz at the beginning which got better after the burning ,

I think it will be identical to my Red TH900 in its current condition which don't need EQ for the 500 dip beside the sibilance/harshness is way better by i huge margin.

The only deference i could identify which i don't remember on my Red TH900 is that the Blue TH900 has more controlled bass, but really am not sure , because i did a lot of pad swapping during my use of the TH900.

 

[GU1DO]

Hello, I've been thinking of getting the TH900, as it sounds fairly dynamic which is my preferred sound. However, I've read very different things about vocals. Some comments / reviews say the mids are recessed and others say vocals are clear. Are the vocals recessed, in line with the music or presented slightly forward? Thanks.

as ctaxxxx said , vocals never feel diffused or veiled but its presentation is not buttery like the Audeze or HD600 for example ,
that is the tax you have to pay for better imaging and sense of the sound stage.

 

[up late]

I don't have TH900, but on my latest revision of TH900MK2 the mids are crashing at about 1.1kHz:


The first revision that Tyll measured is even more V-shaped.
Mids on my TH900MK2 don't sound recessed, but that's likely because they are warmed up by that elevated bass.

the only difference between the mk2 and the original th900 is the detachable cables. they should have the same frequency response (save for unit variations).

 

[BenF]

the only difference between the mk2 and the original th900 is the detachable cables. they should have the same frequency response (save for unit variations).

Then it's possible that current revision of TH900 also has improved mids. Unfortunately, we don't know how to identify one yet - which serial number guarantees to have the last revision?
Maybe some TH900 owners can measure it and share the results?

 

[up late]

the "current revision" is the mk2. there is also the sapphire blue - anniversary limited edition model, which fostex has tweaked.

 

[GU1DO]

Then it's possible that current revision of TH900 also has improved mids. Unfortunately, we don't know how to identify one yet - which serial number guarantees to have the last revision?
Maybe some TH900 owners can measure it and share the results?

How many hours on your TH-900 ?

 

[jmills8]

Hello, I've been thinking of getting the TH900, as it sounds fairly dynamic which is my preferred sound. However, I've read very different things about vocals. Some comments / reviews say the mids are recessed and others say vocals are clear. Are the vocals recessed, in line with the music or presented slightly forward? Thanks.

Because the bass is very present many believe the mids are not as in their face as most headphones. Mids are very detailed but so is the bass, if the music has bass and so is the treble if the song has treble.

 

[BenF]

the "current revision" is the mk2. there is also the sapphire blue - anniversary limited edition model, which fostex has tweaked.

MK2 has its own revisions, the one that Tyll measured is very different from my newer one (SR #106xx).

 

[BenF]

How many hours on your TH-900 ?

Many hundreds