[deafanddumb]

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.  

These phones actually leak from the cup slot, not the pads....I find the TH900 acceptable in work environments....do you should be ok

 

[Trojita]

I went to order some Alpha Pads
 
Out of Stock, orders will be accepted but may not ship before by Jan 7, 2016.
 

 

[Stephan]

I find the stock pads comfortable and not really hot, and I have a big sweaty had that usually heats up other cans easily.

 

[fjrabon]

  I find the stock pads comfortable and not really hot, and I have a big sweaty had that usually heats up other cans easily.

yeah, I agree, I was expecting the worse, but I find them very comfortable so far.  Not as comfortable as the HE400i, but very comfortable.

 

[Kozic]

Anyone try the ZMF lamdskin pads they should fit and are $10 less than the alphas.

Edit, and the Brainwavz are on sale $18.50 w/free shipping @ MP4.

 

[JamieCole]

@moedawg140 and/or @fjrabon do either of you have any experience with the iFi Micro iCan? If so, thoughts on pairing with the X00's? I really like the idea of having a decent analog bass boost implementation, but I want a better desktop solution to the C5D (which I own) or the FiiO products. Output impedance on the iCan is about 0.50 ohms. Not bad but not the ridiculously low output of the m9xx at 0.08 ohms. That's unbelievable...
 
Anyone else have experience with the iCan?
 
Many thanks! 

 

[best7]

  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.

Thank you for the impressions. I rarely post here since I don't have much experience with different gear but the hype about these cans got even to me. I currently own a HE-400 and I really love the bass on them. But the midrange dip and the sometimes piercing treble bothers me when listening to certain genres like acoustic jazz and classic rock. You might say I am looking for a more balanced mid/treble structure while keeping the beautifully textured bass of (at least to me) HE-400. Do you think th-x00 would fit the bill or would it be overkill to have both HE-400 and th-x00.
 
I am using a magni 2 to drive the HE-400. I understand that it would work pretty good with th-x00 too.

 

[fjrabon]

 
Thank you for the impressions. I rarely post here since I don't have much experience with different gear but the hype about these cans got even to me. I currently own a HE-400 and I really love the bass on them. But the midrange dip and the sometimes piercing treble bothers me when listening to certain genres like acoustic jazz and classic rock. You might say I am looking for a more balanced mid/treble structure while keeping the beautifully textured bass of (at least to me) HE-400. Do you think th-x00 would fit the bill or would it be overkill to have both HE-400 and th-x00.
 
I am using a magni 2 to drive the HE-400. I understand that it would work pretty good with th-x00 too.

I like this a lot more than the HE400, as I remembered it.  I think there would be a lot of overlap between those two.

 

[JamieCole]

  Okay, so I am not a professional reviewer by any means, but I am sitting here listening to my Fostex TH-X00's right now and I am extremely happy with them.  I have owned a few other headphones; Beyer DT770, Sen HD595, Sen Momentum over ears and HE560s, with my HifiMan HE560's being my favorite of them all.  The 560 just sounds great out of everything I have.  Everything being an iPhone (maybe not so great out of the phone), iPad, Schitt Modi Stack and a Woo Audio WA7 Fireflies with the tube power supply.
 
Well I opened up my MassDrop box and they are pretty.  The cups are not perfect, a few blemishes and a little wood imperfection.  I think they just add character so I am not going to worry about that.  
 
So I warm up my WA7, it has the SOVTEC tubes in it right now.  I find they are more musical with the HE560 than the EH gold pins. While they are warming up I try them out of my iPhone, I heard they were easy to power so why not.  Not bad, but the tubes should be warm by now.
 
I plug in the head phones and start playing Rebecca Pidgeon's Spanish Harlem.  The bass comes in and its bloated and muddy!!  And this is an acoustic stand up bass.  Oh no.. I play a few other songs across different genres and I am pretty disappointed.  My ears are used to my HE560's that take everything you throw at them and are never more than honest with the music. Everything is incoherent and muddy. Time to test some serious bass so here comes Techmaster P.E.B. with Bassgasm.  Okay these cans have some seriously strong bass, but its not good bass. Everything sounds jumbled.  I try my iPhone again and its def better than the WA7.  I read that tubes might not be that great with these cans, but this bad? while on my iPhone they are good but not much above average.  I try the voltage setting on the WA7, not much change. 
 
Then I remember that I had the monoprice adapter and the WA7 has a dedicated IEM input.  I plug them into that and its a whole new ballgame.  Everything is tighter and more coherent.  I have to turn the amp up much higher for the same volume but wow, these are sounding seriously nice.  The bass is tight and deep.  It slams with dance music.  Totally different sport than my HE560's so I don't feel there is any reason to compare them directly since they compliment each other so perfectly.  The highs are a little recessed it seems, so lets play with the voltage switch... Ok, so I have never heard a difference when flipping that switch before. I was starting to think it was just decorative.  I happen to be listening to a Jazz drum solo at the time, and when that switch snapped into place, the sparkle of the high hats and cymbals jumped up into this wonderful place. Just WOW!  
 
I plugged in my Schitt Modi stack and gave them a whirl on there as well. They are amazing, but I have to give it to the WA7 through the IEM jack with the voltage switch set to high.  Just amazing out of that set up.  I have to keep switching back and forth between the 1/4 inch and the IEM output just to make sure that I am not fooling myself.   When I am plugged into the IEM jack I keep switching between low and high voltage as well.  Def not in my head. 
 
I have never heard any of the Dennon's or the older brothers to these, the TH-600 and 800, so I cannot comment on how they compare.  I just know that I am more than happy with these right now and that IEM output on my WA7 is finally getting used, so there is that.  Worth 400 dollars? Absolutely.  They are just so much fun.
 

 
Thanks for typing up this impression! I enjoyed reading it. The pictures look good too. 

 
 
Also, I'm digging how different the wood grain can be from can to can. Can't wait to receive mine! Soon, yes soon. 

 

[fjrabon]

A few pics:
 

 

 

 

 

[JamieCole]

  A few pics:
 

 

 

 

 
Oh wow, I really like the look of that grain. Thanks for showing off how polished these cups are. 
 
Cheers!

 

[Whitigir]

A few pics:

Your pair is the most beautiful I have seen yet sir ! Btw, anyone know where I can buy these foams that used around the drivers from ? I tried Amazon and it is open-cell inside, but closed-cell from outside ...not working

 

[fjrabon]

Thanks for the compliments guys, I was very happy when I opened the box and saw what I got in the grain/coloration lottery.  I think mine may be darker than most, but it's hard to tell from pictures, as you never know what settings the other person's camera was on.  Playing Outkast - Stankonia on these right now, and oh my god.  Don't think these will supplant the HE400i As my go-to can, but they sure do make quite the complimentary pair.  

 

[Whitigir]

Thanks for the compliments guys, I was very happy when I opened the box and saw what I got in the grain/coloration lottery.  I think mine may be darker than most, but it's hard to tell from pictures, as you never know what settings the other person's camera was on.  Playing Outkast - Stankonia on these right now, and oh my god.  Don't think these will supplant the HE400i As my go-to can, but they sure do make quite the complimentary pair.  

What's your series number. That matter the most

 

[ezekiel77]

  Thanks for the compliments guys, I was very happy when I opened the box and saw what I got in the grain/coloration lottery.  I think mine may be darker than most, but it's hard to tell from pictures, as you never know what settings the other person's camera was on.  Playing Outkast - Stankonia on these right now, and oh my god.  Don't think these will supplant the HE400i As my go-to can, but they sure do make quite the complimentary pair.  

 
Would you say, soundwise, the HE400i is more reference, the THX00 more fun?