I apologize in advance should my review weighted more on this band - Buena Vista Social Club.
Fostex TH600 has given the wow factor to me the last 2 days. I was so surprised to be able to hear of the wide soundstage, clear instruments separation and that accoustic bass on my 24/96 Buena Vista Social Club Flac songs. The unintentional tapping on the accoustic bass body made me look around my room couple of times, thinking wifey just tapped the door to remind me to go to sleep soon (midnight listening thru early morning.....I could get quiet environment this way).
I have demoed the LCD2 too but I could remember not having these toe tapping effect compared to this amazing fostex (how refine would that be of the big brother TH900 :rolleyes
ercussions and the sound of the grand piano were so intimate, lounge session type listening mode (on Pueblo Nuevo song). Each instrument and vocal were layered with excellent separation and soundstage. I kept scratching my head wondering if my meridian explorer (revised version) paired with my ALO Continental V2 had just finally hit that synergy with this type of music with this particular band too thru this headphone.
All vocals were presented nicely, not hidden nor too forward.
For some reason, I prefer my continental on low gain thru out my listening around 11 to 12 o'clock volume. High gain, gave the sense of more "in your face stage" instead of that laid back loungey session on low gain.
I tried Flac song Daft Funk's Get Lucky just to see how they perform with such a different genre of music. I could get the sub bass rumble sound as close as my oldie velodyne subwoofer, and they were tight bass too, love it. Again.....toe tapping.
I moved on to Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now (Alac files) bit disappointed cause I was expecting her strong vocal to be more forward and at the same time with bigger soundstage surrounding her on orchestral instruments........could be the Alac files quality compared to Flac ones.....
Ok now let's see Etta James's Ball and Chain (Alac files).........oh wow......grand piano, Hammond organ, tight bass and of course her amazing vocal........this headphone could bring clarity and the dynamic sound that my beloved Hifiman HE400 could not.........could this be the strength of a typical tesla driver vs. planar?
I have thrown in Bob James's Restoration, Flim the BB's This Is a Recording, Diana Krall's the Look Of Love.......and still loving this headphone. All Alac files.
My lovely Stevie Ray Vaughn's Little Wing suffered a bit on its lushy mid but then the soundstage and instrument separation were still there.....became too cleanical suddenly. Those distortion of amplifiers sound were not as thick as those of my HE400. Pink Floyd's Pulse album was ok too just could not bring out the best of David Gilmour's electric guitar.
I am not good enough to talk about its technical capabilities or should even tempted to try with graphs or charts or its unique frequency spectrum, my apology. I could only rely on the enjoyment that I got of its musicality that this headphone has brought in, listening thru my favorite songs.
Justin, thank you for this demo program. I really appreciate you.
Better go to sleep now.....
Cheers
