[TheMiddleSky]

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Strange, my opinion is actually the opposite. The LCD-3 was more impressive to me at first listen than the TH900. My first impression with the TH900 was that it was a brilliantly designed headphone with superb sound quality, but there wasn't a huge "WOW" factor. With its beautiful appearance it was love-at-first-sight, but not so with the sound.
 
However, as I listened over and over again, I started favoring the sound of TH900 more than the LCD-3. Although I admit the TH900 doesn't have a wide, spacious soundstage as that of the LCD-3 (or HD800, for that matter), being a closed headphone, it has much better imaging capabilities: the ability to create a central focus, distinguish the sound of each instrument, and pin-point the location of the source of sound, generating a crystal-clear (but not so wide) 3D soundstage. There was a post above that said HD800 had better imaging than the TH900, but I disagree. As wide as its soundstage may be, it doesn't have the pinpoint imaging accuracy of the TH900.
 
Also, I found the TH900 to be more refined and detailed than the LCD-3, contrary to what you said. This is purely my opinion and I respect yours too, so please don't take it the wrong way. Yes, the TH900 is definitely an entertaining headphone; I would describe it as fun-sounding, musical, or euphonic. But to me, I found the LCD-3 more fun-sounding. That's probably because I tend to listen to rock music a lot for fun sound, and nothing does rock better than the LCD-3, a.k.a. king of dark sound. But for a wide array of genres, from classic, jazz, new age, and so on, I found the TH900 to be a winner overall. The sound was more refined, with supreme detail, so I was kind of surprised to see that you would consider the LCD-3 more refined and detailed than the TH900. The LCD-3 sounded somewhat veiled compared to the TH900, and I'm talking about the "unveiled" version of the LCD-3.
 

 
I agree with all of that words above except the imaging part as I still find the HD800 more superb with the right set-up. The thing that TH900 take the lead compare HD800 for me is cleaness, for modern dynamic headphone I think TH900 is the cleanest sounding headphone right now.
 
additional note, actually I don't compare LCD3 and TH900 with the same set-up (only with the same songs), I tried LCD3 with M2 Tech Vaughan while TH900 with Fostex HP-A8.

 

[MuppetFace]

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Right now All I have for an amp is a Schiit Asgard. Would you say stepping up my headphone collection to a TH900 is not worth it without a better amp? I really want these headphones. From the sound of them they may be a perfect addition to my collection of headphones. 
 
cheers 

 
Honestly, I think the TH900 sounds fine from a variety of sources even without an external amp. For instance using the headphone out on my MacBook Pro yields nice results in and of itself. As others have noted however the right amp can improve things: adding more control over frequency extremes, a greater sense of space, and overall greater refinement.
 
The Asgard is a little warm sounding, so it'll impart a bit of that on the TH900 too. You may or may not like that depending on your preferences, but a little added euphony can be nice with these. The TH900 is very sensitive, so the Asgard will have no problems driving them; you'll probably find you aren't using most of the volume pot's range in fact.

 

[KCxSmacker]

Quote:

 
Honestly, I think the TH900 sounds fine from a variety of sources even without an external amp. For instance using the headphone out on my MacBook Pro yields nice results in and of itself. As others have noted however the right amp can improve things: adding more control over frequency extremes, a greater sense of space, and overall greater refinement.
 
The Asgard is a little warm sounding, so it'll impart a bit of that on the TH900 too. You may or may not like that depending on your preferences, but a little added euphony can be nice with these. The TH900 is very sensitive, so the Asgard will have no problems driving them; you'll probably find you aren't using most of the volume pot's range in fact.

Nice so that sounds kind of like my d5ks. very sensitive so I am fine tuning the knob for a lot of volume. I love a nice warm sound, so that may be perfect for now ^_^ yay! Looks like I will start to save up. Thanks for the advice. 
 
p.s. thanks to you too songmic ^_~

 

[LinkPro]

I can confirm that my D7000 gets dangerously loud at 11 o'clock with the Asgard.
 
Regarding the TH900, I get the impression that they are like the D7000 with black magic stuffed in the drivers. I'm wondering how much better is the TH900 than the stock D7000? I don't expect 2x better but is it more like 5% or 10-20%? Or is it something like LCD-2 vs LCD-3? Just curious since this is a big investment I'll surely be making in the near-ish future.

 

[Ahzari]

Quote:

I can confirm that my D7000 gets dangerously loud at 11 o'clock with the Asgard.
 
Regarding the TH900, I get the impression that they are like the D7000 with black magic stuffed in the drivers. I'm wondering how much better is the TH900 than the stock D7000? I don't expect 2x better but is it more like 5% or 10-20%? Or is it something like LCD-2 vs LCD-3? Just curious since this is a big investment I'll surely be making in the near-ish future.

I had the D7000s for a long time before the TH900s (I ended up selling them after I received the Fostex).. I can't definitively say what percentage better the Fostex are, but what I can tell you is they are very noticeably better in every way when you do a A/B comparison (except comfort and build). Its a natural progression in audio if you really enjoyed your D7000s - that was the case for me since the D7ks were one of my favorite headphones for the longest time, the first time I tried Jude's TH900s I thought " oook I have to have these." They sound more natural and controlled than the D7000s with the excellent soundstage and look even better. The only headphone that I have tried that I think I would like to own in addition, because they did a few things better / different is the Stax SR009 otherwise the Fostex my favorite dynamic and if you're coming from a D7000 you will not be disappointed in your purchase.

 

[zowki]

I can confirm that my D7000 gets dangerously loud at 11 o'clock with the Asgard.

Regarding the TH900, I get the impression that they are like the D7000 with black magic stuffed in the drivers. I'm wondering how much better is the TH900 than the stock D7000? I don't expect 2x better but is it more like 5% or 10-20%? Or is it something like LCD-2 vs LCD-3? Just curious since this is a big investment I'll surely be making in the near-ish future.

Perhaps my review will help. It compares the TH900 with the D5000:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/627403/review-fostex-th900-vs-denon-d5000

 

[Ahzari]

So what dac's are you guys using with the TH900s? any preferences?

 

[k4klcc]

this headphone is wonderful and better than D7000 in every aspects

 

[tokendog]

I agree 100%.  The first high end headphone I owned was the D7000s and the TH-900s are a significant upgrade to them.  They are definitely from the same family, same genetic pool, but the TH-900 is the more talented and better looking older sister.  
 
EDIT:
 
Technically, it'd be the YOUNGER sister since the TH-900s are newer, but you get my point.

 

[dukeskd]

You can read my head to head comparison of the D7000s and TH900s in an earlier post in this thread, but like everyone said here, it's a huge improvement over the Denon in almost every department.

 

[Rayzilla]

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I gave the TH900 a brief try out and now I day dream about owning a pair of these one day. ...
I recently bought the Ed8 and fell in love with them but I like the detail and the sound stage of the TH900 much more. However, I don't see myself getting rid of the Ed8 because of its amazing isolation and appearance. Isolation is paramount here in HK when public transportation is the primary mode of transportation.
What is the best bang for the buck portable dac/amp that I should get for both the Ed8 and TH900 (using the Samsung Note II)?

My audition of the TH900 was pretty brief but even with just a few minutes with them, I feel very confident that I would enjoy them tremendously. If it had the isolation of the Ed8, I would be daydreaming 24/7.
 
Quote:

... And the funny thing is, I am starting to use the Pro900 at home a little more often.  I guess the treble-freak in me will never go away.  I love to hear detail and some associate the highs with detail.  I don't really know the difference but I do notice that I enjoy more than less highs. Come to think of it, my take from the short audition of the TH900 is that it has some of the Ed8 that I like PLUS some of the good stuff that I like about the Pro900.  I know some of you may be say "whaaaat?", but that is just something that I thought of now.
 
I never tried the SP, I must do that some time soon, but have you ever tried the Pro900? The styling of the SP and the Pro900 are similar but I do not know what the isolation is like on the SP.  Can you comment on that?  I cannot see myself selling off the Ed8 because of its looks and its amazing isolation, which is a very important quality here in Hong Kong because I am so often on the public transportation system.
 
[Edit] And your former Ed8LE's were so close to being mine.

I not an audiophile, I just know what 'sounds' I enjoy and it seems to be a mix of the tighter bass of the Ed8 with the treble of the Pro900. I also like a very wide sound-stage with incredible detail and separation. The Pro900 may not have a very wide sound stage but to me, it seems wider than that on the Ed8.  Maybe I am mistaking the treble of the Pro900 with detail but I just like it. This may sound silly to many of you but this is just what I enjoy.
 
Any comments to my question on the SP?  I really should give the SP a listen.
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Having owned the Pro900 and the Signature Pro I can't really understand what part of the pro900s sound are represented in the TH900s. The Pro900s were one of the worst sounding headphones I've ever owned with harsh treble and overblown bass.. The Signature Pros on the other hand have excellent detail retrieval and bass that I think rival the TH900s in terms of quality. ...

Ok. I may sound silly in what I said but I don't think that the Pro900 are that bad for a $300 (what I paid) headphone.
 
Quote:

...
I have worn my Ed 8 outside frequently and they isolate very well even on the train.

100% agree with you on this.
 
Quote:

When you are really really drunk you think your Pro900's sound like a TH-900. . It's not that hard a leap to make.

It doesn't take much to get me drunk very quickly.

 

[Eide]

So what dac's are you guys using with the TH900s? any preferences?

I use the portable Fostex HP-P1 amp/dac. It was a huge upgrade from my previous amp, Fioo E17. The fact that HP-P1 bypasses the internal dac in the iPhone makes a huge improvement. I'm very happy with this setup. However, I sometimes wonder how much better a full sized amp/dac would be, but I prefer the portability. I like to listen to music everywhere in my house and when travelling.

 

[Soned]

Quote:

I agree 100%.  The first high end headphone I owned was the D7000s and the TH-900s are a significant upgrade to them.  They are definitely from the same family, same genetic pool, but the TH-900 is the more talented and better looking older sister.  
 
EDIT:
 
Technically, it'd be the YOUNGER sister since the TH-900s are newer, but you get my point.

Frankly, I own the LA7000 (modified D7000) and I don't find them that similar to the TH900.The bottom end on the LA7000 and soundstage are far different IMO

 

[dukeskd]

Quote:

Frankly, I own the LA7000 (modified D7000) and I don't find them that similar to the TH900.The bottom end on the LA7000 and soundstage are far different IMO

100% agree on this and it is my conclusion with the stock D7000. I would also say the mid isn't that recessed and the treble more refined.

 

[FriedRice25]

Received mine today and....wow the Force is strong in this one Right out of the box the Fostex sounds superb to me.

I also own the D7000 and have the first impression (after a short listening period) that the Fostex sounds more "complete" than the D7000 (sorry for the untechnical term but talking about headphones is pretty new for me).

Ok, need to go back now and listen some more...