[JSBachFan]

Where do you get the original original TH610 pads in europe?

I found out that the former link from BenFpointed to spain. In Germany you get a pair of them vor
https://www.amazon.de/Fostex-EX-EP-61-TH610-Almohadillas-repuesto/dp/B01FBZ5C60

I've had my TH900 Mk II's for about 3 months now, and I absolutely love them, especially for the incredible bass and soundstage. It's been perfect for gaming and listening to rock music. Treble doesn't really bother me since I was able to EQ the high frequencies to tame it.

Now that it's been a few years of everyone discussing it: What's the verdict on the Lawton mods? Are they a good overall improvement? I currently love the stock configuration of the TH900 with the boomy bass and soundstage. Is there a Lawton configuration that would simply improve upon those two things? Ideally I'd like to keep the soundstage as big as it is now, and keep the bass boomy, but perhaps improve on the punchiness and clarity?

I am currently trying to improve the stock version of the TH900s after I listened to other head phones like DT1990 and Meze Empyrean. Now I find the mids way too recessed, so it bugs me now.
Since I bought 3 used TH900 I started comparing them. They all have different cables and pads. Turns out one of them has the Lawton pads.
Here are my first results of this comparision:
Dekoni elite velour - not recommended. Open sounding similar to stock pads, but take away some of the character of TH900. Musicality (fun factor) is less which is a no go for me.
Lawton angled sheep skin - they came with one pair of used TH900 that also had original stock pads in the package. At the beginning I did not like the Lawtons and put them away. Last week looking for an improvement, I tried them again and at the moment I use them for everyday listening since they preserve the good TH900 characteristics and have a little less treble.
I will try more pads (and mods) from now on until I find something the preseves the characteristics that I fell in love with and flattens the frequence curve a bit.

 

[duranxv]

I found out that the former link from BenFpointed to spain. In Germany you get a pair of them vor
https://www.amazon.de/Fostex-EX-EP-61-TH610-Almohadillas-repuesto/dp/B01FBZ5C60

I am currently trying to improve the stock version of the TH900s after I listened to other head phones like DT1990 and Meze Empyrean. Now I find the mids way too recessed, so it bugs me now.
Since I bought 3 used TH900 I started comparing them. They all have different cables and pads. Turns out one of them has the Lawton pads.
Here are my first results of this comparision:
Dekoni elite velour - not recommended. Open sounding similar to stock pads, but take away some of the character of TH900. Musicality (fun factor) is less which is a no go for me.
Lawton angled sheep skin - they came with one pair of used TH900 that also had original stock pads in the package. At the beginning I did not like the Lawtons and put them away. Last week looking for an improvement, I tried them again and at the moment I use them for everyday listening since they preserve the good TH900 characteristics and have a little less treble.
I will try more pads (and mods) from now on until I find something the preseves the characteristics that I fell in love with and flattens the frequence curve a bit.

Cool, appreciate the breakdown Other than the pads, what about the rest of the Lawton upgrades?

 

[duranxv]

if you like boomy bass, recessed mids, find the sound stage big enough, have no fatigue with the highs. If you love the red color I’d say don’t bother.
‘personally I love the mod but I had some issues with th900, nothing bad, just curious. Found a fantastic wood for my cups as well.

What issues have you been experiencing since the mods were put in? Which customization level did you go for?

 

[Whazzzup]

What issues have you been experiencing since the mods were put in? Which customization level did you go for?

no issue with the mods. lawton level 3. cable, dampening, ear pads and cups. Love it i had some issues with th900 so i went with a lawton upgrade

 

[duranxv]

no issue with the mods. lawton level 3. cable, dampening, ear pads and cups. Love it i had some issues with th900 so i went with a lawton upgrade

Now that you have the mods in, how has it changed the sound signature of your TH900's? Also, what type of wood cups did you go with?

 

[Whazzzup]

Dude go back about 2 years and you can read up on it. but the point is you don’t have an issue envolving th900 it seems. I did the bass was a bit to much for some electronic, the recessed mids took a little wideness away the highs were ok to me tho. So yes the mods tightened the Bass widened the stage. It’s been so long I don’t remember anymore. It just is what it is now.

 

[squeakez]

I did the Lawton Tune-Up Kit on my TH-900 MK1s and I hated it. I loved the stock configuration and was just trying to improve on it. Just for reference, I have done the Tune-Up Kit twice before - once on a pair of TH-X00 Mahoganys and once on EMU Teaks and it was a definite upgrade in the sound signature. So I was just sure it would improve the TH-900s too. Boy, was I wrong. I could not rip that mod out fast enough. A waste of almost $50. It totally killed the bass for me and other areas that I can't put my finger on.

I decided to upgrade the cups to a Lawton Type 1 - Lacewood and it definitely was an improvement in all the good things that I liked about the cans in the first place. I'm sure it just depends on your music and tone preferences. I listen mostly to EDM and I find the stock sound to be just about perfect for that genre.

 

[duranxv]

I did the Lawton Tune-Up Kit on my TH-900 MK1s and I hated it. I loved the stock configuration and was just trying to improve on it. Just for reference, I have done the Tune-Up Kit twice before - once on a pair of TH-X00 Mahoganys and once on EMU Teaks and it was a definite upgrade in the sound signature. So I was just sure it would improve the TH-900s too. Boy, was I wrong. I could not rip that mod out fast enough. A waste of almost $50. It totally killed the bass for me and other areas that I can't put my finger on.

I decided to upgrade the cups to a Lawton Type 1 - Lacewood and it definitely was an improvement in all the good things that I liked about the cans in the first place. I'm sure it just depends on your music and tone preferences. I listen mostly to EDM and I find the stock sound to be just about perfect for that genre.

That's very helpful. Thanks! For poops and giggles, I bought a TH909 just to compare with the TH900. Waiting on a new amp/DAC (xDuoo) since I read that the 909's are not as flexible as the 900's when it comes to utilizing a wide variety of amp/DAC's. I saw a review where they swore by the xDuoo portable amp/DAC to be one of the better fits for the 909's.

I might consider a Lawton upgrade - maybe just like what you were mentioning - go with Type 1 to improve the signature sound. So you only did the wood cups but not the dampener or cable?

 

[squeakez]

That's very helpful. Thanks! For poops and giggles, I bought a TH909 just to compare with the TH900. Waiting on a new amp/DAC (xDuoo) since I read that the 909's are not as flexible as the 900's when it comes to utilizing a wide variety of amp/DAC's. I saw a review where they swore by the xDuoo portable amp/DAC to be one of the better fits for the 909's.

I might consider a Lawton upgrade - maybe just like what you were mentioning - go with Type 1 to improve the signature sound. So you only did the wood cups but not the dampener or cable?

I originally was going to do the cable mod but, after talking with jmills8 (who owns 6 MK1s) - he said that his favorite cables were the stock cable and an $800 aftermarket cable, I decided to stick with the stock cable and do the cup mod instead. Also, I took the cups off to do the Lawton mod, then took them off again to remove the mod. Then I took them off again to change out the cups. Anyone who has done this knows what a pain in the a** it is to deal with the tiny screws. I was worried that I would strip them if I took the cups off too many times. I don't have any problems with the stock cable at all. I am also using the Dekoni Elite Hybrid pads and like them the best after trying several others.

I am curious what you think about the 909s compared to the 900s.

 

[montanari]

Every once in a while I get the itch to "upgrade" (sidegrade.. Downgrade?) my th900 to la900
But I like very much as it sounds. As you i just listen electronic and hip hop with it.
So I m worried to ruined them and be unsatisfied.
I tried the Lawton pads and didn t like loosing the master bass and muffling all the frequencies (yes they sounded warmer..).
Maybe just a pair of nice cups?

 

[squeakez]

Every once in a while I get the itch to "upgrade" (sidegrade.. Downgrade?) my th900 to la900
But I like very much as it sounds. As you i just listen electronic and hip hop with it.
So I m worried to ruined them and be unsatisfied.
I tried the Lawton pads and didn t like loosing the master bass and muffling all the frequencies (yes they sounded warmer..).
Maybe just a pair of nice cups?

I thought that the cups made a nice improvement in sound for me. Not night and day but definitely noticeable. I would recommend Lawton cups - either Type 1 or Type 4 for EDM and Hip Hop. Not to mention how beautiful they are.

 

[duranxv]

I originally was going to do the cable mod but, after talking with jmills8 (who owns 6 MK1s) - he said that his favorite cables were the stock cable and an $800 aftermarket cable, I decided to stick with the stock cable and do the cup mod instead. Also, I took the cups off to do the Lawton mod, then took them off again to remove the mod. Then I took them off again to change out the cups. Anyone who has done this knows what a pain in the a** it is to deal with the tiny screws. I was worried that I would strip them if I took the cups off too many times. I don't have any problems with the stock cable at all. I am also using the Dekoni Elite Hybrid pads and like them the best after trying several others.

I am curious what you think about the 909s compared to the 900s.

909's arrived yesterday, and I've been working on comparing them vs the TH900's utilizing two different amp/DAC's. Maybe I just need more time for burn in, but so far the two headphones are pretty similar in terms of soundstage and their sound signature. I'm not surprised with the similarity in the sound signature since Fostex specifically said they tried to keep the same sound signature of the 900 with the 909's. I THINK the 909's do have a slightly better soundstage, but it's a little hard to tell at this point. I need to continue comparing them across a number of different scenarios. Bass is very similar so far, still trying to ascertain how the open "grill" allows the bass to "breathe" a bit.

To be honest, I got the 909's refurbished from Amazon because they were $500 cheaper than buying a brand new pair of 909's. They have an Amazon Renewed program where they certify the equipment looks and operates "like new" and they give you a 90 day return period which is really good. Pads look fine, although they seem to be angled a bit. Not sure if that's the original 909 design, because I know the stock pads for the 900's have a wider non-angled circle to fit your ears in. It's possible the pads could be affecting the soundstage a bit by having a narrower opening than the stock pads of the TH900. You never know with these B stock items...

Does anyone have a pair of 909's here and can you show what the stock pads on it look like? Was trying to look through images on Google but I can't get a clear view of them...

 

[ed7090]

909's arrived yesterday, and I've been working on comparing them vs the TH900's utilizing two different amp/DAC's. Maybe I just need more time for burn in, but so far the two headphones are pretty similar in terms of soundstage and their sound signature. I'm not surprised with the similarity in the sound signature since Fostex specifically said they tried to keep the same sound signature of the 900 with the 909's. I THINK the 909's do have a slightly better soundstage, but it's a little hard to tell at this point. I need to continue comparing them across a number of different scenarios. Bass is very similar so far, still trying to ascertain how the open "grill" allows the bass to "breathe" a bit.

To be honest, I got the 909's refurbished from Amazon because they were $500 cheaper than buying a brand new pair of 909's. They have an Amazon Renewed program where they certify the equipment looks and operates "like new" and they give you a 90 day return period which is really good. Pads look fine, although they seem to be angled a bit. Not sure if that's the original 909 design, because I know the stock pads for the 900's have a wider non-angled circle to fit your ears in. It's possible the pads could be affecting the soundstage a bit by having a narrower opening than the stock pads of the TH900. You never know with these B stock items...

Does anyone have a pair of 909's here and can you show what the stock pads on it look like? Was trying to look through images on Google but I can't get a clear view of them...

not sure if it helps but here's how they should look like, quite different from the th900s.
btw it was quite difficult for me to pin point the sound diff between 900 and 909 too... i would say 900 has more/better subbass and 909 has more mid bass,
and then of course the imaging and soundstage are somewhat different

 

[duranxv]

not sure if it helps but here's how they should look like, quite different from the th900s.
btw it was quite difficult for me to pin point the sound diff between 900 and 909 too... i would say 900 has more/better subbass and 909 has more mid bass,
and then of course the imaging and soundstage are somewhat different

Ah ok, so it's the same then. Well, I took some time to test out the 909's in multiple genres of music, as well as gaming. I have to admit, the 909's are just way too similar to the 900's in just about every aspect. It's not really worth the premium over the 900's. In terms of soundstage, the 909's sound slightly more open, but it's hardly noticeable in my opinion. Bass is just as good, but again, nothing that makes it superior to the 900's. The 909's do have slightly more forward mids, but you can easily fix that by properly EQ'ing your 900's.

All in all, I personally will stick to my TH900's unless Fostex can come up with a significantly different new model down the line. I think they definitely outdid themselves when they made the TH900.

 

[jmills8]

Ah ok, so it's the same then. Well, I took some time to test out the 909's in multiple genres of music, as well as gaming. I have to admit, the 909's are just way too similar to the 900's in just about every aspect. It's not really worth the premium over the 900's. In terms of soundstage, the 909's sound slightly more open, but it's hardly noticeable in my opinion. Bass is just as good, but again, nothing that makes it superior to the 900's. The 909's do have slightly more forward mids, but you can easily fix that by properly EQ'ing your 900's.

All in all, I personally will stick to my TH900's unless Fostex can come up with a significantly different new model down the line. I think they definitely outdid themselves when they made the TH900.

Agree