[Seamaster]

I agree with others, the stock pads suck balls. I am glad I got the Ebony, any more bass probably will give me headache

 

[fjrabon]

  I agree with others, the stock pads suck balls. I am glad I got the Ebony, any more bass probably will give me headache

after spending like $200 trying out all manner of alternate pads, I'm back to the stock pads and I LOVE them.  Not to say you're wrong, but rather if we've learned anything from the time these came out on massdrop, it's that there is no "right" answer as to best pads.
 
I am interested to try the dekoni sheepskin once they have the plastic tuning ring though.  

 

[Seamaster]

 
after spending like $200 trying out all manner of alternate pads, I'm back to the stock pads and I LOVE them.  Not to say you're wrong, but rather if we've learned anything from the time these came out on massdrop, it's that there is no "right" answer as to best pads.
 
I am interested to try the dekoni sheepskin once they have the plastic tuning ring though.  

Deeply appreciated your heads up, I wondering if the headphones need gaskets to keep from leaking sound when using none OEM pads?

 

[fjrabon]

 
Deeply appreciated your heads up, I wondering if the headphones need gaskets to keep from leaking sound when using none OEM pads?

I've never noticed more sound leakage with non-oem pads.  

 

[Seamaster]

I've never noticed more sound leakage with non-oem pads.  

I mean better seal may help the sound

 

[fjrabon]

I mean better seal may help the sound

There are two different seals: 1) the seal between the pad and your face and 2) the seal between the pad/connector ring and the headphone
 
1 is absolutely an issue.  One thing everybody should do with their THX00 stock pads before they decide they want new pads is rotate them around.  It took me a lot of fiddling to find exactly the right pad rotation for the best seal, and the sound appreciably improved when they were positioned just right.
 
2 is theoretically an issue, as a pad's material may be so thick that it doesn't allow the connector ring to correctly lock, or it may be so thin that it doesn't fully seal between the connector ring and headphone.  However, in practice I've never seen this be an issue with the pads I've tried.

 

[Seamaster]

There are two different seals: 1) the seal between the pad and your face and 2) the seal between the pad/connector ring and the headphone

1 is absolutely an issue.  One thing everybody should do with their THX00 stock pads before they decide they want new pads is rotate them around.  It took me a lot of fiddling to find exactly the right pad rotation for the best seal, and the sound appreciably improved when they were positioned just right.

2 is theoretically an issue, as a pad's material may be so thick that it doesn't allow the connector ring to correctly lock, or it may be so thin that it doesn't fully seal between the connector ring and headphone.  However, in practice I've never seen this be an issue with the pads I've tried.

You are right. I really wish a pad can sound the same but with bigger ear holes. I have average sized ears

 

[Seamaster]

What is your recommendation for recable? And what connectors work the best? I have a excellent Norne Audio Draug 2 HD800 cable just laying around.

 

[fjrabon]

What is your recommendation for recable? And what connectors work the best? I have a excellent Norne Audio Draug 2 HD800 cable just laying around.

I just had peterek cut my cable in half, and used the cut off end for an extension cable.

 

[mbyrnes]

I got some great listening time in with these last night. These things are unreal good. I am using a Creative X7 with Sparkos OP amps, and also a MZ2 as an amp. The MZ2 really loves the TH-X00 Ebony. The bass is strong and distortion free, the mids are just unreal, and the upper end is sparkly without any fatigue at all. I was listening at some very loud volumes and the Ebonies just took it in stride. I am very impressed with this pairing, and it really has a small venue feel to the sound stage. I fell like I am sitting on the stage with the band. Each instrument has a 3D like feel to it. I am absolutely floored how good this sounds. They aren't even broken in yet, and they are this amazing. I am extremely happy with this purchase.
 
I also ordered some Dekoni pads.   
 
 
These are for the 900, It's their Sheepskin Elite Memory Foam pads. I got them here with the 10% discount for being a first time buyer. They should be here within the next few days. I can get a pretty decent seal with the stock pads, but I was curious about pad swapping because I have read so many stories about changing the sound and getting almost a new headphone with a pad swap. I will definitely post my thoughts on the new pads, as I haven't seen any reviews of these. The opening seems to be large enough for my entire ear, and I imagine this will be more comfortable, and I will be able to get a fantastic seal. 
 
Compared to the also recently purchased Senn HD6XX, I prefer the Ebony by a large margin. I can see for some music the Senns being more ideal, but I really struck gold with the Ebony. Almost a perfect presentation and sound signature for my ideal sound preferences. Should be a really fun few weeks as these break in and I get to go through my music library again with a new outlook. 

 

[PopZeus]

Yeah, I love how the EBs can handle just about anything. They can go from handling March of the Pigs like you were in the recording studio with Trent to perfectly reproducing a Morricone score as if it was presented in the theater. Not gonna lie though, something amazing happens when you play synth, electronic or new wave music through the Fostex. They reproduce those crazy frequencies like they were giant speakers.

 

[mbyrnes]

Yeah, I love how the EBs can handle just about anything. They can go from handling March of the Pigs like you were in the recording studio with Trent to perfectly reproducing a Morricone score as if it was presented in the theater. Not gonna lie though, something amazing happens when you play synth, electronic or new wave music through the Fostex. They reproduce those crazy frequencies like they were giant speakers.

I haven't gotten there yet. Closest so far is probably 'Lourde'. Her albums are recorded so well. Tennis Court is really great.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely need to get to that part of my collection. I'm currently ripping hundreds of CDs to FLAC.

 

[Rawrbington]

The more my ears adjust to these the more i'm liking them.  I hadn't really listened to any headphones besides my LCD2's for the last 3 years so initially i was wondering where the midrange went and that they seemed a little sibilant.  But after a couple days I'm starting to really appreciate them.  Great sounding cans.

 

[Age8E]

I finally received my replacement pair of TH-X00EBs after the first pair I received were broken at the joint between the headband and the left clamp. I went from SN 0044 to 0698, but a low SN isn't worth much to me really, and especially not broken.
 
The new pair are a darker wood than the first pair: almost midnight black. It's hard to actually see the grain unless you hold them under a lamp. I think that aesthetic is pretty cool, myself. As for listening, I've put them through some rock, some electronic (Tycho, DJ Shadow), and some symphonic stuff (the soundtrack to Final Fantasy XV), and I'm already in love. Every instrument stands alone with perfect clarity and almost the entire frequency range just shines. The bass has just the right level of punch without being overbearing; mids are clear and distinct, and the highs ring clearly without wearing me out at all. These would be the perfect headphones for me if they were only just a bit less leaky. But despite that, these are going to be my go-tos for a very long time.

 

[thebrassthief]

Here we go. There is no review page for the EB's so I guess I'm just going to dump this here.


Let’s start for from the beginning with these. I ordered these in the second wave off Massdrop. I was actually really unsure about ordering them because I wanted a headphone for pure music but didn’t want something that would kill me with bass. The TH-X00’s other models, the Mahogany and especially the Purpleheart, want to do just that. People don’t seem to be talking much about the Ebony either so review and reading material is limited, possibly because they’re also the most expensive model of the TH-X00 at $500. I gathered what info I could and decided to take the dive on the EB anyway. My expectation was everything that made the TH-X00, but the bass isn’t trying to kill you anymore and some treble peaks that were around for the Mahog and Purples don’t hurt the EB nearly as much. That’s all I had going into this.

One of the biggest points of criticism that I have about the TH-X00 EB’s is that the box they come in is completely and totally ****-tier. The outside is very plain with the Fostex/Massdrop collaboration logo on it, which is fine, but when you open it up the headphones are in there only held in place by a few piece of cardboard while wrapped in some bubble wrap. It actually blew my mind at how crappy these things are packed inside the box. I’m not one to care about the “unboxing experience” but seeing that just felt tragic, especially for something I paid $500 for. I didn’t expect a steel case or something like the Audeze military box but come on! I wish I took pictures. It was bad.

Physically, they’re Fostex. They look like a Fostex headphone. I don’t know what more I can say about that because, at this point, you either know what that means or you don’t and if you don’t, just know it means you’re getting something really well put together but it also comes with a vacuum cleaner cable attached to it. I’ve seen a lot of Fostex headphones through videos but never had one myself until now and they are pretty ace. I don’t even mind the cable that much. It’s ten feet of boat cord but it’s still really flexible loose. If it gets twisted then you’re going to have a time getting it undone but, again, I don’t mind it really. Some people mod the TH-X00 with a removable cable. I might if I ever get into four-pin XLR. The cups are beautiful. I happen to get a pretty bright pair of ebony cups that don’t need a lot of light to see the grain on them. When you do shine some light into them they really come alive. I think this kind of variance among EB’s is pretty neat actually.

Something else people complain about are the stock pads of many Fostex headphones. They’re kind of deceptive. If you put your hand on them they feel like they could squish against your head very easily but they’re pretty stiff when on proper. A lot of people find replacements for them but I don’t have any. I also worry about the sound changes new pads can make, especially since there is some kind of plastic attenuation ring inside the pad of the TH-X00 that affects sound. A lot of people rip these out of the stock and put them in the pads they like but I’d just rather not do that. For me, the pads are a’ight. They’re not great, they’re not awful, and I can still wear the headphones for several hours at a time without complaint.

Lemme get to the important part of the review and talk about sound. I wanna preface this with a big warning to really critical people: this part could suck because I’m not a seasoned headphone person. I have a nice setup, Modi Multibit into Magni 2 Uber, but the best headphones I’ve owned before these are the AKG K7XX’s and they’re very different.

Being of the TH-X00 line, these babies have bass. They have good bass. They have just the right amount of bass before I feel like it would be too much. I don’t consider myself a bass head and, as I said earlier, the EB’s supposedly roll off the bass ever so slightly compared to the Mahog and Purples. If this is the result, I like it. I’ve also read about treble “issues” with the Mahog and Purples that are smoothed out by the EB. I tend to listen to some weird music that has a lot of high noise and distortion and I don’t think it’s ever been unbearable or fatiguing. I can name one song that got a little too up there but that is credit more to the song than the headphones. If I were to try to describe the EB’s as quickly as possible, it’s like a V sound where the mids weren’t moved but the bass was brought UP and the treble was brought up just a tad. It really makes music come alive compared to my K7XX’s. Those are great headphones but they are flat and really good for gaming too. These? All music.

The soundstage on these isn’t the greatest. The vocals are in the center and sound going right into your ears. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just the way these headphones are. One reason I like the K7XX’s is because the soundstage on those is incredible and the imaging is pretty dang good in combination with the Modi Multi. These don’t quite get the benefit of that.

These headphones have also taught me what it’s like to have to drive a headphone. The K7XX’s on the Magni 2 Uber stay at around 10 o’clock on average. Those are a hard 64 ohms to drive. The TH-X00 EB’s are a super easy 25 ohms and don’t even crack 9 o’clock on the Magni if I want them loud. You don’t need massive power for these and I’m sure that is a plus in some people’s eyes.

I’ve listened to a lot of music with these things in the few short days I’ve had them. Mastodon to Tim Hecker, DJ Shadow to Omega Massif, KOAN to Locrian, GosT to Caspian, Death Grips to Deafhaven. They have been really fun headphones and I basically got what I wanted out of them, something just for music that isn’t going to kill me with one kind of overbearing sound. I’m happy with them and hopefully this little bit of extra info about the EB’s specifically will help someone out.