[The Third]

Yeah stock pads are not comfortable at all. TH610 stock pads are slightly larger ear opening than X00/EMU but should retain same sound. Best third party I've found so far is these + home made attenuation discs. Not perfect sound though.

https://www.amazon.com/Sheepskin-Re...=1&keywords=fostex+pads&qid=1609558181&sr=8-3

I would then settle for the EMU Zebra with TH610 pads. I am doing an extensive review on all cup types for the E-MU's and so far the Zebra sticks out: beautiful spacious sound that leaves no part of the frequency response behind, probably more detailed than the Teak too. Let me know, if you decide that journey, how you fared. I am willing to bet you will not regret it

 

[thug behram]

delete

 

[udailey]

I disliked the Massdrop version of the EMU Purple heart more than any pair ever. Gave them to my small daughter. She broke them. I was glad. The end. Seriously.
I said the same thing years ago here:
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-e-mu-purpleheart/reviews/2032392

 

[bagwell359]

I disliked the Massdrop version of the EMU Purple heart more than any pair ever. Gave them to my small daughter. She broke them. I was glad. The end. Seriously.
I said the same thing years ago here:
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-e-mu-purpleheart/reviews/2032392

Yeah I agree. The Mahogany is the worst headphone I've heard the past six years and I've heard over 100. Ebony has some good points.

 

[SilverEars]

I disliked the Massdrop version of the EMU Purple heart more than any pair ever. Gave them to my small daughter. She broke them. I was glad. The end. Seriously.
I said the same thing years ago here:
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-e-mu-purpleheart/reviews/2032392

I can only recommend Ebony or nothing else. Can't recommend EMU-Teak. Not worth it.

I would even keep the Ebony over the TH900.

 

[theangelboy]

I disliked the Massdrop version of the EMU Purple heart more than any pair ever. Gave them to my small daughter. She broke them. I was glad. The end. Seriously.
I said the same thing years ago here:
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-e-mu-purpleheart/reviews/2032392

Not sure the point you are trying to get across unless this is a comment about purpleheart wood used on any headphones or your dislike for the EMU brand since that product you reviewed is a rebranded CAL! (more or less) and not the TH-X00 this thread is about.

 

[VRacer-111]

What theangelboy said - that EMU Purpleheart is a totally different headphone than TH-X00 based headphones... I don't like the CALs much either, TH-X00 Purpleheart however is an entirely different story, was one of my absolute favorites... until the Denon AH-D5200.

 

[47anLoken]

I currently own a pair of Lawton (only driver) modded TR Purplehearts which I really enjoy as a compliment to my more flat yet fun sounding Quad Era-1. Would buying the Denon D7200 (used but very nice condition $400) make any sense? Anyone own/tested the Purplehearts against the D7200?

 

[dleblanc343]

I can only recommend Ebony or nothing else. Can't recommend EMU-Teak. Not worth it.

I would even keep the Ebony over the TH900.

Interesting, I had the X00 Ebony when they first came out, and found them unbearably bright, and that's back when I liked more forward sounding headphones.

I now own the TH900 Pearl (pad swapped) and picked up a pair of Purplehearts, and think I even prefer the Purplehearts to the Ebonies, personally

Ebonies are the best tuned, perhaps, but it's got the least bass slam and a dry midbass from what I recall, which made it sound the most neutral bright of the lot.

What kind of mods did you do?

 

[SilverEars]

Interesting, I had the X00 Ebony when they first came out, and found them unbearably bright, and that's back when I liked more forward sounding headphones.

I now own the TH900 Pearl (pad swapped) and picked up a pair of Purplehearts, and think I even prefer the Purplehearts to the Ebonies, personally

Ebonies are the best tuned, perhaps, but it's got the least bass slam and a dry midbass from what I recall, which made it sound the most neutral bright of the lot.

What kind of mods did you do?

No mods, and I actually bought both Ebony and EMU-Teak from a fellow that told me I would likely take the Ebony over the Teak (and he was right). Teak is bright, and I can't say the same about the Ebony. TH900 has this annoying 6k peak I cannot stand, and I prefer the bass of the Ebony due to the smaller ear room (stronger presence due to the smaller room, easier to get strong bass).

Never found Ebony bright. It's fairly balanced with sub emphasis is what I liked about it. It's probably best mids of all the Fostex variants.

 

[dleblanc343]

No mods, and I actually bought both Ebony and EMU-Teak from a fellow that told me I would likely take the Ebony over the Teak (and he was right). Teak is bright, and I can't say the same about the Ebony. TH900 has this annoying 6k peak I cannot stand, and I prefer the bass of the Ebony due to the smaller ear room (stronger presence due to the smaller room, easier to get strong bass).

Never found Ebony bright. It's fairly balanced with sub emphasis is what I liked about it. It's probably best mids of all the Fostex variants.

Interesting, thanks. I will have to re-explore this model if ever I get a chance again.

3 years since ownership, so not much audio memory besides it being quite airy for a closed back, but a bit thin sounding. I have the same issues with TH900 Pearl, but a pad swap helps.

Too bad these have skyrocketed lol.

 

[SilverEars]

Interesting, thanks. I will have to re-explore this model if ever I get a chance again.

3 years since ownership, so not much audio memory besides it being quite airy for a closed back, but a bit thin sounding. I have the same issues with TH900 Pearl, but a pad swap helps.

Too bad these have skyrocketed lol.

hmmm. Thin is not what comes to mind for Ebony, particularly with it's bass. Yes, the prices have risen with the X00 due to no supply from Drop anymore. I remember when they were abundant on sale sections going for much lower than now.

 

[1-MiC]

Well I bought a B-stock pair of Ebonies from Drop a Week ago. They said ready to ship and will ship next day, of course they shipped 6 days later.
Anyways I'm very excited. I needed something that doesn't leak as much sound as my Ananda's for when the baby is sleeping. I wanted something dynamic with good bass. I was going to go for the Atticus but had been keeping my eye open for a good price on Ebonies. I wouldn't say they were a good price exactly but they were slightly discounted and I know they re-sell well If by chance I don't enjoy them.

I did grab a pair of Ori pads off SilverEars this week, because I still have aspirations to grab an Atticus down the line. Plus I have huge ears. I'll wait on the lawton mod, to get more familiar with the sound of the Ebonies pre-lawton. I'm sure I won't be able to hold off long.

 

[Masr]

Well I bought a B-stock pair of Ebonies from Drop a Week ago. They said ready to ship and will ship next day, of course they shipped 6 days later.
Anyways I'm very excited. I needed something that doesn't leak as much sound as my Ananda's for when the baby is sleeping. I wanted something dynamic with good bass. I was going to go for the Atticus but had been keeping my eye open for a good price on Ebonies. I wouldn't say they were a good price exactly but they were slightly discounted and I know they re-sell well If by chance I don't enjoy them.

I did grab a pair of Ori pads off SilverEars this week, because I still have aspirations to grab an Atticus down the line. Plus I have huge ears. I'll wait on the lawton mod, to get more familiar with the sound of the Ebonies pre-lawton. I'm sure I won't be able to hold off long.

You're going to really like them if you like strong bass. I was shocked at what this can reproduce and couldn't believe the detail that was missed when using open back headphones. I have the E-MU teaks which are very similar and I also picked up the ori pads which are a huge improvement over the stock. It's not that uncomfortable but it almost feels like an on-ear design given how small the opening is.

 

[gummybear408]

Hey guys, I recently bought some Fostex TR-X00 Purplehearts from Massdrop. They are B-stock, supposedly display unit or refurbished or something like that. They were still expensive though.

Anyway, the headphone itself basically has no bass. It sounds comparable to my open back Fidelio X2 and way worse than my Sony 1am2. The PHs don't seem to respond well to EQ, more bass eq just makes things more muddy and the other frequencies fade away.

Is this a break-in thing or what's going on? Do I need to drive them with an amp instead of my PC port? I looked forward to these as an upgrade compared to the Sony 1am2 but my impression is the Sony 1am2 is way better in terms of music clarity and bass quantity. The Sonys also EQ well and have like at least 3x bass quantity compared these supposedly superior and much more expensive PHs.

What should I do??