Fostex x Massdrop TH-X00 Review | Page 146 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

bavinck · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:40 AM

akatyay said:
Compared to the AP: AP has better mids (I've added some dampeners to mine from the "doggie treats" package and this tamed the highs/mids a bit). X00 has better bass (even though I like the planar bass texture on the AP and the AP is by no means lacking on this front). Highs are a toss-up, X00 definitely has some air (again, with the Alpha pads) while the AP is a little more closed but perhaps more accurate. Soundstage is also a toss-up, X00 is wider but AP is deeper. Both very coherent headphones.

Verdict? AP slightly edges out the X00 due to the vocals (once modified a bit) but X00 is a very capable closed back headphone for $400.

Compared to the MD 3.2: X00 smokes it in overall presentation and musicality. MD 3.2 again provides good texture on the lows, but X00 has better bass, equal mids, and better highs. X00 has better soundstage too. MD 3.2 does have great separation of instruments.

Verdict? X00 by a good margin, probably going to sell my MD 3.2 as a result. Definitely a bit more air in the X00 (with the Alpha pads).

Let me know if you have any specific questions or if there are any tracks I should specifically A/B when I get home.

How is isolation with the alpha pads. I would like to use these at my work, but I cannot have more than an average amount of leakage for a closed can.

bavinck · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:43 AM

sahmen said:
You don't say! I've been listening to some Erykah Badu tunes this morning, these are tunes that I have not heard for more than 12 years now, but the X00 has given them so much new energy and life (particularly in the lower frequencies), that I am simply having a hard time tearing myself away from my rig to go to the office, even though I do have to go to the office today...

Funny thing is, I am already familiar with these bass riffs and grooves, and yet today these same riffs and grooves seem to be possessed by some new "voodoo," which I have never heard in them before - they're rocking with this euphoric but clean, deep, and tactile slam which is all kinds of crazy!!! This is simply serious trouble (good trouble, anyway), because I need to put the damn cans away and go to the office...! Dammit!

Before the Badu tunes, I tried some others from Patricia Barber's "Modern Cool," and Keith Jarrett's "At the Blue Note" live series, and this bad boy passed all tests with flying colors...

This is really serious trouble....

How to the x00 handle the bass rifts on track 4 of modern cool? That is some of the best acoustic bass I have heard recorded.

akatyay · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:44 AM

bavinck said:
How is isolation with the alpha pads. I would like to use these at my work, but I cannot have more than an average amount of leakage for a closed can.

Isolation is way better with the Alpha pads. With the stock pads, I would not recommend taking these to work unless you have ~15 feet distance from your neighbors (or an office). With the Alpha pads, you'll look a bit more ridiculous but then it's reasonable leakage for public environments.

cocolinho · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:46 AM

I see. Makes sense. Thanks again!

bavinck · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:46 AM

akatyay said:
Isolation is way better with the Alpha pads. With the stock pads, I would not recommend taking these to work unless you have ~15 feet distance from your neighbors (or an office). With the Alpha pads, you'll look a bit more ridiculous but then it's reasonable leakage for public environments.

How would the alpha pads hold up in a library environment?

Looks like the alpha pads are sold out right now, so I will have to wait until the new year. Unless someone here has an extra pair???

akatyay · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:50 AM

bavinck said:
How would the alpha pads hold up in a library environment?

Looks like the alpha pads are sold out right now, so I will have to wait until the new year. Unless someone here has an extra pair???

Library would probably be okay if you have a desk to yourself and are listening at reasonable volumes. It's hard for me to really say as I'm mainly guess-timating the isolation, I need to grab my little brother and see how much sound leaks when he listens to these.

fjrabon · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:52 AM

Been listening for about two hours now, some early thoughts:

1) This thing definitely needs a low impedance amp to push out some current to tighten the bass up. As somebody earlier noted, a good IEM amp can serve them really well. I think you're probably short changing these if you're sending them anything more than 1 Ohm. With my Millett SSMH and AudioEngine D1, the bass is out of control. It seems fun at times, but it's messy. The Lyr on high gain is a recipe for bloated bass. Feed it through a Magni, O2 or Grace M9XX and the bass *really* tightens up. The Vali isn't bad with it per se, but doesn't do any favors at all either.I sort of expected this, from my experience with the D7000

2) two songs to listen to: Fiona Apple - Sleep To Dream and Muse - Super Massive Black Hole. This is certainly a gentleman's basshead can when amped properly.

3) There are times when I just have auditory flashbacks to the D7000 and there are times when I think "man, this is maybe better!" That's all I ever wanted out of it.

4) My cups are gorgeous, I'll put up some pictures shortly.

5) At some point I'm definitely going to have this recabled. As my new work can, I don't need 10 ft and I'd prefer a 3.5mm termination. It's not so much that I mind the cable, it just doesn't serve my needs as is.

6) I like the stock pads. They're firmer than I was anticipating

7) Very good soundstage for a closed can. Not going to compete with the HD650 by any means, let alone a HD800, but it's about as good as you get from a closed can.

8) It seems to keep sound in better than it keeps sound out. Which I like.

9) The treble is exactly what I'm after. Kinda reminds me of the treble of the HE400i, which I like. Forward without ever being sibilant

10) If there's one fault I'll lay early, I wish it was a tad more linear. Occasionally when somebody sings and the melody goes from lower treble to midrange, it sounds like they're turning away from the mic. But at the same time, it's this quality that gives the headphone it's overall fun U shape.

11) I would call it a U shape frequency response in comparison to what I remember from the few times with the TH600 and TH900, which I'd call a V shape.

12) It sounds okay/good out of an iPhone. You can hear distortion on hard, heavy bass transients. I actually prefer its sound out of an iPhone to the way it sounds out of the Lyr (with tubes) in high gain and the Vali.

13) Ranking the amps I've played it out of from best to worst match so far: 1) Grace M9XX 2) Lyr (solid state, lower power) 3)Magni 4) O2 5) Lyr (low power, tubes) AudioEngine D1 5) IPhone 6) Millett SSHM 7) Lyr (solid state high power) 8) Lyr (high gain, tubes)

14) Hadn't seen anybody mention this, but if you flip the bag inside out, it serves as a great cleaning cloth, which is really nice.

These are ultra-preliminary, but thought I'd just dump my listening notes.

dxanex · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:53 AM

Can someone post a pic or two of how they look with the Alpha Pads? Sorry if it's been done already, this thread is moving pretty fast, especially with the hour-by-hour shipping updates from people.

akatyay · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:55 AM

dxanex said:
Can someone post a pic or two of how they look with the Alpha Pads? Sorry if it's been done already, this thread is moving pretty fast, especially with the hour-by-hour shipping updates from people.

I'll do so when I get home this evening. They look pretty nice, kinda like LCD-XCs with the fat Alpha Pads

jamor · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:56 AM

The 59.99 Alpha pads? They don't look very big on the website. Are those pictures inaccurate?

sahmen · Dec 9, 2015 at 10:58 AM

bavinck said:
How to the x00 handle the bass rifts on track 4 of modern cool? That is some of the best acoustic bass I have heard recorded.

I would call the handling of the bass on "Constantinople" extremely articulate, clean, deep, not to mention forcefully tactile, and impactful on this rig - somehow, this baby seems to reach deeper than my He-6, He-500, Beyerdymic T1, even though these all have quite excellent bass... It handles all the nimble and subtle riffs of "Constantinople," with a lot of dexterity, not missing a beat. The best part about the X00 is that it can reach that low, and be articulate, without in anyway overwhelming the mids and highs, or even "contaminating" them, if you know what I mean.

jamor · Dec 9, 2015 at 11:00 AM

Sounds like Fiio E10K will work perfectly with these being only a 1 ohm amp. Maybe I'll hold off on an expensive amp purchase.

akatyay · Dec 9, 2015 at 11:00 AM

jamor said:
The 59.99 Alpha pads? They don't look very big on the website. Are those pictures inaccurate?

They aren't as wide (it takes a bit of work to fit it onto the X00), but they're "fatter" (thicker) than the stock X00 pads.

fjrabon · Dec 9, 2015 at 11:02 AM

jamor said:
Sounds like Fiio E10K will work perfectly with these being only a 1 ohm amp. Maybe I'll hold off on an expensive amp purchase.

You may want a tad more power and/or even lower impedance, to give them their ULTIMATE expression, but yes, I'd guess the E10K will serve them well, certainly better than a tube OTL amp, which they're honestly a mess with.