[theangelboy]

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??

That doesn't sound right. My purpleheart had plenty of bass right out of the box and they are easy to drive, although they do sound better with an amp. Unfortunately, that sounds like there is something wrong with them.

 

[1-MiC]

Comparable to an X2 is the question for me, Is that normal, or not? I’ve heard X2’s have good bass as well. It makes me wonder if your expectations were too high for the bass? Maybe you have another source you can connect it to?

I can say mine came looking/feeling brand new. I use an amp but I’ve been using them daily since they’ve arrived and don’t think there’s any problems with them.

If you have a feeling there is an issue with your drivers, I would contact them immediately!

 

[theangelboy]

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??

Comparing the measurements of the X2 and the THX00 (although I suspect the link below is the mahogany version even though it doesn't specify, the purpleheart has more bass compared to the other woods) it's pretty evident that the Fostex has more bass across almost the entire range.
X2 Measurement
TH-X00 Measurement

And I just did some listening to my Purpleheart set. The amount of the bass and the slam is immediately apparent. Then, when I EQ the bass up (low shelf filter, 100hz +4db) it becomes silly how much bass there is and how clean it stays. Even when listening straight off of my motherboard the bass remains the same amount if a little less tight. The biggest difference listening without an amp is the highs becoming more blurry and less well defined. So I would say if your set doesn't sound like it doesn't has any bass, something is up.

 

[Ad720]

I've been thinking about re-terminating my Ebonies (TH, so non removable cable) to balanced 4 pin xlr. I'd keep the stock cable, shorten it to 8 feet, terminate and then make a balanced to single ended adapter with the remaining 2 feet, keeping the original 1/4" connection.

I'm pretty good at soldering and it seems like an easy enough job - $15 in parts and an hour of burning my fingers. Doing the full on detachable cable mod seems like a much bigger animal that I don't think I'm up for.

Has anyone put a 4 pin XLR on thier X00s? Any tips?

I absolutely love these and I'm not planning to sell them anytime soon but I do wonder how much it would affect resale. Would this be a selling point or a detrement? Probably depends on the person...

 

[Ad720]

I've been thinking about re-terminating my Ebonies (TH, so non removable cable) to balanced 4 pin xlr. I'd keep the stock cable, shorten it to 8 feet, terminate and then make a balanced to single ended adapter with the remaining 2 feet, keeping the original 1/4" connection.

I'm pretty good at soldering and it seems like an easy enough job - $15 in parts and an hour of burning my fingers. Doing the full on detachable cable mod seems like a much bigger animal that I don't think I'm up for.

Has anyone put a 4 pin XLR on thier X00s? Any tips?

I absolutely love these and I'm not planning to sell them anytime soon but I do wonder how much it would affect resale. Would this be a selling point or a detrement? Probably depends on the person...

Just in case anyone else was looking at this, I went for it.

Came out really well. Very easy job, under an hour and $15 in parts.

My advice is to use a continuity tester to easily determine which brown wire goes to which cup. I took off the left cup, which told me which wires were left+ and left- and then it was simple process of elimination for the right side. I took off about 18 inches of the stock cable and then use some of the leftover on the 1/4" end to make an unbalanced adapter.

 

[Ad720]

Did the Lawton "Tune Up" mod in these last night.

Still using the stock ebony cups and Eikon pads. No EQ for these impressions.

I'd say the bass is more controlled and a bit more "bouncy". The bassline in "Flashing Lights" by Kanye is a little busy and can get lost but it's holding up better than before. "Wormwood" by Moe is another one that has a bassline that can get muddy and it sounds good here as well.

I'm hearing some odd resonances especially on the left side evident in the third note, the lowest, in the bassline of "Doing it Right" by Daft Punk, which is my bass test song so I may need to go back in to double check my work - may have slightly misapplied one of the pieces?

I do feel like the treble is better. I love "So" by peter gabriel but it can get a little sizzley on these headphones. Big improvement there, "Sledgehammer" still has some sibilence in the outro but it's much more tolerable. "Gaucho" is another one that was tough with these and that's a little better as well.

 

[SilverEars]

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.

I can't agree with X00 being detailed headphones. They are more fun wood bass headphones, and not strong in detail retrieval. It's strong with low resonating bass that makes it unique from other headphones. It has a character that distinguishes to be worthwhile to own. I maybe being a bit harsh as majority of my headphones are detail retrieval headphones.

 

[495709]

I can't agree with X00 being detailed headphones. They are more fun wood bass headphones, and not strong in detail retrieval. It's strong with low resonating bass that makes it unique from other headphones. It has a character that distinguishes to be worthwhile to own. I maybe being a bit harsh as majority of my headphones are detail retrieval headphones.

How do compare the bass of the x00 in relation to the denon 9200s?

 

[SilverEars]

How do compare the bass of the x00 in relation to the denon 9200s?

It's more sub-emphasized, but not as characteristic as the 9200. 9200 isn't all that subby, but is very expressive in terms of variations there are of bass expressions. Maybe the crap in the track in the way it expresses is not there, but it just expresses it really intersetingly that you want to try out more and more bass tracks to see how it expresses the bass. Ebony is more of, "ah that's real nice with resonating subs" kinda sound. 9200 seems more detailed in the bass.

 

[495709]

It's more sub-emphasized, but not as characteristic as the 9200. 9200 isn't all that subby, but is very expressive in terms of variations there are of bass expressions. Maybe the crap in the track in the way it expresses is not there, but it just expresses it really intersetingly that you want to try out more and more bass tracks to see how it expresses the bass. Ebony is more of, "ah that's real nice with resonating subs" kinda sound. 9200 seems more detailed in the bass.

Will be interesting for me to pick between the ebonys and the mdr-z7s once I can compare them together.i do like strong bass.

 

[SilverEars]

Will be interesting for me to pick between the ebonys and the mdr-z7s once I can compare them together.i do like my bass.

I found Z7 tonality really weird, or wonky.

 

[495709]

I found Z7 tonality really weird, or wonky.

You're hard to please lol.Good to hear other peoples opinions though.

 

[The Third]

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??

I swear I had this problem too for a while, until I swapped my stock pads to these recently: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/4000155060413.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.1ab94c4dlipymt

I have owned the X00 Ph for years now, and until recently have totally rediscovered them again because apparently the stock pads (which looked quite fine) did not give my any sort of bass impact. The replacement pads are much better than the stock pads as I feel it has improved the imaging and bass control/impact by quite a bit.
Really for anyone thinking their PH lacks bass, those pads I posted are magic, as they don't change the sound negatively in any way just improve it.

Try giving this soundtrack a shot then watch or listen to this or to this and turn up the volume. The PH has a somewhat invasive lower midrange peak and highs if you turn up the volume, but on the tracks I posted it doesn't show so the volume can be turned up easily. If you after all that then find your X00 PH still lacks bass it's probably a defective unit.

These do like the juice though, running them on high gain on my SMSL SP200 (more than 3 watts power output), they really start sounding at their best. It's still quite the respectable bass though, not overpowering in any way but very very nicely present, controlled that goes deep into the 20hz range. Finally, with EQ and these pads I posted I am sure they can full-fill their prophecy as bass head vibrating monsters but without EQ despite the fantastic bass I just don't see that happening, the bass is still of audiophile kind meaning clean and controlled without being totally overpowering everything. Anyone that claims different have never heard I always did think the X00 PH had more of a low mid-centric presentation with great bass and attacking highs. If at the end you are still not satisfied, look to closed back headphones like the DT770-80ohms and not a semi open one like the Fostex X00

 

[The Third]

Replacement pads, more comfortable, better sound, cheap thus would highly recommend!!!
Replace them

 

[47anLoken]

I've tried different pads for my Purplehearts and stock pads sounds best, bass impact is definitely not a problem. I also don't agree that they need a lot of juice to sound good. One of the few headphones I'm fine running straight from my phone, although they sound better with my ifi micro idsd black.