[Eudis]

The TH900 has the same kind of damping. I am not surprised then.
I was able to remove 1/4th of its thickness without causing change in FR and CSD, but the sound clarity improved a bit. Removing more polyfill caused a 3kHz ridge in the CSD, but wasn't really bothering, it made piano more reverberant, but not much other harm. The Twaron Angelhair made the cups damping much better: more relaxed sound, better bass, even treble improved.

The biggest change in sound (especially bass) was caused by changing the foam damper rings around the drivers to felt rings. Then, the ear pad mods can make the sound stage, bass, and especially mids come through more clearly and with less V shape. With the ear pad mods even the original damper sounds very good. 

All in all, the main benefits of modding the TH900 come from modding the ear pads (get spare pads for that purpose), and that leaves the headphones unmodified.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/763965/fostex-th900-mods

The foam ring on the driver on the front side is a wave guide. You need it to have a good seal against the metal frame or you lose ALL the bass. So it needs to be the same diameter and thickness as the stock wave guide. Thats where the clarity and openess comes from. Loss of all the bass.

Again if you get a good seal against the gap the frame has then you can effectively control the bass through the porousness of the material and its damping properties

 

[Age8E]

I'm devastated.
 
I had my TH-X00EBs shipped to the wrong address because I forgot to change it after I moved. USPS took two weeks to process the forward, and didn't locate and move the shipment along until I called and complained, making the interminable wait for these cans even longer.
 
Today, at long last, I received them, opened them... and they're broken. At some point in transit, the left side plastic ear cup clamp broke right in half where it attaches on a swivel to the metal pin on the headband.
 
I've sent an email to Massdrop but probably won't hear back until Monday. I believe they can be repaired... but whatever Massdrop chooses to do, it's going to be even longer before I can finally enjoy these headphones.
 

 

[zolkis]

The foam ring on the driver on the front side is a wave guide. You need it to have a good seal against the metal frame or you lose ALL the bass. So it needs to be the same diameter and thickness as the stock wave guide. Thats where the clarity and openess comes from. Loss of all the bass.

Again if you get a good seal against the gap the frame has then you can effectively control the bass through the porousness of the material and its damping properties

 
A wave guide usually works through deflection, but the foam ring looks more like a damper in the Onken-type loading of the driver. It mainly damps the midrange. If the seal is not tight, more mids get through and indeed the bass becomes relatively less. Actually this is one way to modify the sound for less V shape.
 
Through dozens of rings made from various felt densities and makes, I've got a pretty good experimental grasp on how the sound is changing. Interestingly enough, micro-trimming the good seal around the felt rings actually helped to achieve more transparent, less boomy/more linear, and more extended bass and midrange. But you're right, a good seal with controlling the sound via the material properties only is better. Fostex seems to know very well how to tune this, and the reason the headphones sound like this is likely because they wanted them this way . However, if one would like different sound, it's very easy to achieve.
 
However, the 600 Hz notch cannot be fixed with the damper alone. Looks like the mahogany cups and ebony cups don't have that problem, and from the TH900 thread it seems there are also TH900 units with less of a notch at 5-600 Hz.

 

[boostergold90]

Had to bail on the drop due to some unexpected medical issues. Hopefully it won't be too long before either these or the E-MU's drop again. Look forward to seeing everyone's impressions when they arrive. 

 

[SHAMuuu]

  Had to bail on the drop due to some unexpected medical issues. Hopefully it won't be too long before either these or the E-MU's drop again. Look forward to seeing everyone's impressions when they arrive. 

Health first budddy!
 
The good news is that this woody madness will surely result in many many more drops.
 
WORST CASE scenerio is well you might have to deal with a Fostex 610 when it drops a bit its in the same line as EMUs and x00
 
hope you recover speedily
 
Happy Holidays

 

[boostergold90]

 
Health first budddy!
 
The good news is that this woody madness will surely result in many many more drops.
 
WORST CASE scenerio is well you might have to deal with a Fostex 610 when it drops a bit its in the same line as EMUs and x00
 
hope you recover speedily
 
Happy Holidays

Ah, thanks. Nothing major, just expensive. At least I'll have my deductible all paid for the year before the first week of 2017 is even over. 
 
Will definitely be watching Massdrop and this thread anxiously to see what comes up over the next couple months. 

 

[SHAMuuu]

  Ah, thanks. Nothing major, just expensive. At least I'll have my deductible all paid for the year before the first week of 2017 is even over. 
 
Will definitely be watching Massdrop and this thread anxiously to see what comes up over the next couple months. 

Hopefully not too anxiously
 
Word in the EMU thread is you can also contact Chan at EMU for direct business and its $450 U.S. for Teak so you have options
 
And yes, I will admit Ebony is very beautiful and seductive, so i don't blame you

if set on Fostex Ebony

 

[boostergold90]

 
Hopefully not too anxiously
 
Word in the EMU thread is you can also contact Chan at EMU for direct business and its $450 U.S. for Teak so you have options
 
And yes, I will admit Ebony is very beautiful and seductive, so i don't blame you

if set on Fostex Ebony

More anxiously than I should. I tried reaching out to Chan a couple times over the past week but never heard back, assuming between the holidays and the drop they just shipped he's slammed. Probably for the best, I'll try him again when things get sorted. The Fostex Ebony look amazing, but I wouldn't complain about E-MU Teak or Ebony either. 

 

[Zyker]

How does the TH-X00 ebony compare to the AudioTechnica A1000Z?

 

[mbyrnes]

Subscribed

 

[Zyker]

You know, as I think about it, I wonder if I just want to save up the money and get a Mr. Speakers Ether C Flow, instead...

 

[jangojames]

I'm devastated.

I had my TH-X00EBs shipped to the wrong address because I forgot to change it after I moved. USPS took two weeks to process the forward, and didn't locate and move the shipment along until I called and complained, making the interminable wait for these cans even longer.

Today, at long last, I received them, opened them... and they're broken. At some point in transit, the left side plastic ear cup clamp broke right in half where it attaches on a swivel to the metal pin on the headband.

I've sent an email to Massdrop but probably won't hear back until Monday. I believe they can be repaired... but whatever Massdrop chooses to do, it's going to be even longer before I can finally enjoy these headphones.

Hopefully Massdrop will help you out, but this is the replacement for the part I think you're referring to: http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/501287-Fostex-1412548286

Good luck!

 

[DecentLevi]

  You know, as I think about it, I wonder if I just want to save up the money and get a Mr. Speakers Ether C Flow, instead...

Great point! Come to think of it I've tried all three TH-X00 variants and the Ether Flow open/closed and the Ether is far superior. The Ether is a different sound signature; slightly darker in a laid back way - possibly a smidget less bass than the Ebony but a much more organic and tamed down top end with more inner detail, vivid mids and an overall presentation that is immaculate and smooth; it super resolving and refined... though IIRC maybe the dynamics are a tad too slow & thick akin to an HD-650, and not to mention they cost multiple times more than the Ebony.

 

[DavidA]

  You know, as I think about it, I wonder if I just want to save up the money and get a Mr. Speakers Ether C Flow, instead...

It really depends on the sound signature that you want, if you like a nice bass/sub-bass then the TH-X00 would be my recommendation but you will also get the highs which can be harsh/sibilant to some.  With the Ethers you will get a technically better headphone but to me they were boring and lack the energy to get my feet tapping.  The Ethers have nice detailed bass there is not enough to keep me interested in the music and for genres like classical that the bass is not as important an HD-800 does a better job with the sound stage and imaging for less money these days.

 

[Zyker]

I ended up not doing the drop...  I figured I'd either save up money and get some crazy cans (like the Ether C Flows) or, I'm hoping, Mr. Speakers will release a new set that's cheaper than their Ether Cs.