[Shane D]

I did the driver tune up. I don't think there was much of a difference. Thinking I should have left the cups empty.

I am waiting on a balanced cable from Periapt.

 

[chechu21]

Has anyone tried them with the fostex th 900 ear pads?

 

[Shane D]

I came across a thread about "best headphones for jazz" and one of the 'phones listed was the 610's. I was pretty surprised, but decided to give it a shot. I recently bought three albums by Thelonius Monk. It was interesting, but in the end they would not be my choice for jazz. But it did offer a different perspective. Nice to try different things.

Speaking of which, I just redid all my playlists on my DAP to change it up. I used to just have music by decade. I decided to sort by my interpretation of what's what.

After my Jazz experiment I went off to "Rock 1". This is all my rock stuff from the 60's and 70's. Springsteen, Zeppelin, AC/DC, Steely Dan, etc. This is what the Fostex TH-610's were built for!

PS: After stepping back for several weeks, I am more impressed with the Lawton Driver mod.

 

[obsidyen]

TH-610 is a good allrounder but I also agree they are amazing for rock music. I actually think it is one of the best headphones for rock music, regardless of price. It has that raw power and dynamic qualities which makes you really pumped up. The rock music I listen is mostly British rock and bands like Green Day, Arctic Monkeys etc.

 

[Hiltonk]

Fostex TH610 Heaven.... iBasso DX220 with 4.4 Balanced Amp8 and litz pure silver cable. Yum... RME ADI-2 DAC... Yum... I enjoy my HD600s for something more layed back but nothing beats the punch and accuracy of the TH610s.... I tried them all and the only thing that tempted me other than these was the $4.5K Focal Stealia. I found some more test data on the TH610s today which explains why I like these so much.

They are very tight and flat through and up into the mid bass with deep sounding fat bass that doesnt overwhelm like the TH900mk2 do. (the TH900Mk2 made my ears bleed with their razerblade treble - TH610 are much much smoother but can bite if you have an overly bright recording)
They have a very tight impulse response and a high correlation towards the Harmon curve. Harman PPR scores: 79/79 ≡ 69%/69% (L/R) (Correlation to the ideal Harmon curve) Lots of air, presence. low distortion and very low reflections and fast decay from the factory damping. I love them.

All reference data from> https://headphonetestlab.co.uk/test-results-manufacturers-e-h-fostex-th610


My Perfect Match

TH610 Heaven by Hilton, on Flickr

My Workstation

Workstation by Hilton, on Flickr

Uncorrected Response

Raw by Hilton, on Flickr

Corrected Response

corrected by Hilton, on Flickr

CSD - Low resonance!

CSD by Hilton, on Flickr

Test Data

testdata by Hilton, on Flickr

 

[Shane D]

TH-610 is a good allrounder but I also agree they are amazing for rock music. I actually think it is one of the best headphones for rock music, regardless of price. It has that raw power and dynamic qualities which makes you really pumped up. The rock music I listen is mostly British rock and bands like Green Day, Arctic Monkeys etc.

I had to break my rock into three playlists:
1) Rock 1 is everything pre-1980. 806 songs.
2) Rock 2 is 1980-2000. 835 songs.
3) Rock 3 is 2000 to present. 968 songs.
Canadian, British and American rock at its best.

Just sitting here on Sunday morning with my Loki/tube amp/TH-610 and going through my pop playlist. My tube amp is kind of bass light, but the 610's with added bass from the Loki make everything fun!

 

[obsidyen]

Fostex TH610 Heaven.... iBasso DX220 with 4.4 Balanced Amp8 and litz pure silver cable. Yum... RME ADI-2 DAC... Yum... I enjoy my HD600s for something more layed back but nothing beats the punch and accuracy of the TH610s.... I tried them all and the only thing that tempted me other than these was the $4.5K Focal Stealia. I found some more test data on the TH610s today which explains why I like these so much.

They are very tight and flat through and up into the mid bass with deep sounding fat bass that doesnt overwhelm like the TH900mk2 do. (the TH900Mk2 made my ears blead with their razerblade treble - TH610 are much much smoother but can bite if you have an overly bright recording)
They have a very tight impulse response and a high correlation towards the Harmon curve. Harman PPR scores: 79/79 ≡ 69%/69% (L/R) (Correlation to the ideal Harmon curve) Lots of air, presence. low distortion and very low reflections and fast decay from the factory damping. I love them.

All reference data from> https://headphonetestlab.co.uk/test-results-manufacturers-e-h-fostex-th610


My Perfect Match

TH610 Heaven by Hilton, on Flickr

My Workstation

Workstation by Hilton, on Flickr

Uncorrected Response

Raw by Hilton, on Flickr

Corrected Response

corrected by Hilton, on Flickr

CSD - Low resonance!

CSD by Hilton, on Flickr

Test Data

testdata by Hilton, on Flickr

I also find Stellia interesting... Have you had a chance to compare it to TH610?

 

[Hiltonk]

I also find Stellia interesting... Have you had a chance to compare it to TH610?

About a year ago I listened to the Stellia when deciding on what headphones to buy and ended up going with the TH610 as I couldnt justify the cost difference.
They are different, but out of Elegia, Sen 820S, LCD2, Sony 7Zm2, ZR1 and 900Mk2 the TH610 had the most neutral sound while still extending down low with punch and not sounding hollow or boring like some of the others. Here's my thoughts below from when i did a mini review.

TH610 headphones embarrassed many so called high-end closed-back phones.

Tried the Sony Z7m2 and Z1R but they were both a real let down - The 7Zm2 no matter which AMP i used just sound hollow and way too laid back in midrange, Z1R was fuller and warmer but just too bloated in midbass.

Focal Elegia - wow how bright do you like your mix.. they have a clearly elevated top end that doesnt bite as such and it's a bit tamer on AMP9 but with AMP1m2 and AMP8 they'd become fatiguing pretty quickly.

LCD 2 Closed actually sound quite good, but they are very bulky, heavy and ultimately the top end wasnt as smooth as I was expecting with a sibilant S on male and female vocals.

Fostex 900mk2 - wow that's a lot of bottom end (way too much) and I was surprised how sibilant they were too - TH610 is much closer to neutral with a better top-end.

Senn HD820's - yes they have that Sennheiser sound, wide wide imaging, luscious midrange, nicely present and airy treble, present low-end, nothing competes with the combined imaging and midrange and bottom end balance but are they worth $2400??. The bottom end was also a bit lacking compared to TH610.

The Stellia... How many unicorns, dolphins and dragons did they slay to create the ingredients for these?? Again I say OMG!!! These are the real deal, end-game closed backs for sure, no doubt about it... and their price surely shows it, @ $4500 AU that's even a bit rich for me. Having said that they do have a very slight bit of midbass bloat but the rest of the frequency range was very nice, full, present and accounted for with out any drawbacks except maybe being a bit dry at times compared to the TH610. The TH610 should't be competing with any of the above mentioned headphones based on the TH610 price, but they most certainly do and have a sound I love apart from the occasional bite from brightly recorded mixes. I find the TH610 to be lush, warm, punchy, full and forward without being too pushy and a little bit of shimmer up top where it counts. Certain songs come on and I just have to crank the volume.. i just cant help it they are such fun! Would I swap the TH610 for Stellia??? NO WAY. Would I like a pair of Stellia YES.

Stellia is the darker orange trace and TH610 the lighter trace. Similarish bottom end and midrange upto lower treble range but above that is where they differ the most.
Stellia was punchier and slightly into lower mids unfortunately. If the Stellia punch was 20 to 40hz lower they would have been absolutely killer. As it is the TH610 sound full, punchy and more natural.. This tester actually said both headphones correlated to 69% of the Harman Curve and I'd 100% agree with the measurements based on my listening comparison.
Stellia vs TH610 by Hilton, on Flickr

 

[obsidyen]

About a year ago I listened to the Stellia when deciding on what headphones to buy and ended up going with the TH610 as I couldnt justify the cost difference.
They are different, but out of Elegia, Sen 820S, LCD2, Sony 7Zm2, ZR1 and 900Mk2 the TH610 had the most neutral sound while still extending down low with punch and not sounding hollow or boring like some of the others. Here's my thoughts below from when i did a mini review.

TH610 headphones embarrassed many so called high-end closed-back phones.

Tried the Sony Z7m2 and Z1R but they were both a real let down - The 7Zm2 no matter which AMP i used just sound hollow and way too laid back in midrange, Z1R was fuller and warmer but just too bloated in midbass.

Focal Elegia - wow how bright do you like your mix.. they have a clearly elevated top end that doesnt bite as such and it's a bit tamer on AMP9 but with AMP1m2 and AMP8 they'd become fatiguing pretty quickly.

LCD 2 Closed actually sound quite good, but they are very bulky, heavy and ultimately the top end wasnt as smooth as I was expecting with a sibilant S on male and female vocals.

Fostex 900mk2 - wow that's a lot of bottom end (way too much) and I was surprised how sibilant they were too - TH610 is much closer to neutral with a better top-end.

Senn HD820's - yes they have that Sennheiser sound, wide wide imaging, luscious midrange, nicely present and airy treble, present low-end, nothing competes with the combined imaging and midrange and bottom end balance but are they worth $2400??. The bottom end was also a bit lacking compared to TH610.

The Stellia... How many unicorns, dolphins and dragons did they slay to create the ingredients for these?? Again I say OMG!!! These are the real deal, end-game closed backs for sure, no doubt about it... and their price surely shows it, @ $4500 AU that's even a bit rich for me. Having said that they do have a very slight bit of midbass bloat but the rest of the frequency range was very nice, full, present and accounted for with out any drawbacks except maybe being a bit dry at times compared to the TH610. The TH610 should't be competing with any of the above mentioned headphones basded on the TH610 price, but they most certainly do and have a sound I love apart from the occasional bite from brightly recorded mixes. I find the TH610 to be lush, warm, punchy, full and forward without being too pushy and a little bit of shimmer up top where it counts. Certain songs come on and I just have to crank the volume.. i just cant help it they are such fun! Would I swap the TH610 for Stellia??? NO WAY. Would I like a pair of Stellia YES.

Thanks for the impressions! Stellia must be amazing for sure, I'll go to a store that sells them but I don't think they let anyone listen to it with the current situation. I can afford it but it's still a lot of money and regretting such a big purchase would be very annoying. I would never give up my TH610 (unless Fostex releases a TH620) but I'd still want a Stellia some time in the future.

 

[Hiltonk]

I'm ordering some Lawton Chambers today!

Wild Ziricote
Wild Ziricote by Hilton, on Flickr

Wild Chechen
Wild Chechen by Hilton, on Flickr

Flame Marbled Walnut
Flame Marbled Walnut by Hilton, on Flickr

Black Limba
Black Limba by Hilton, on Flickr

Hopefully I'll get them before christmas.

 

[Shane D]

I'm ordering some Lawton Chambers today!

Wild Ziricote
Wild Ziricote by Hilton, on Flickr

Wild Chechen
Wild Chechen by Hilton, on Flickr

Flame Marbled Walnut
Flame Marbled Walnut by Hilton, on Flickr

Black Limba
Black Limba by Hilton, on Flickr

Hopefully I'll get them before christmas.

That is a LOT of money on cups!

 

[Hiltonk]

That is a LOT of money on cups!

But oh so worthy.... Cant wait!!

 

[Hiltonk]

Lawton Chambers on their way, hopefully receive them by Friday!

 

[Hiltonk]

Just doing some more research before they get here.

Will also do testing with minidsp Ears... Not just frequency response but also decay/reverb tests.


Janka Hardness in pounds-force -

Walnut 1010 lbf (stock TH610 cups)
Zelkova Serratta 1040 lbf (Sony R10 Cups - just for comparison)

Wild Ziricote 1970 / 2200 lbf
Wild Chechen 2250 / 2300 lbf
Flame Marbled Walnut 1010 lbf
Black Limba 490 /840 lbf

 

[Lohb]

Cups supposed to swivel 360 degrees on these..? Anyone find they have a gap down and behind to the cheekbone due to lack of counter-pressure like the old DxK cans headband design ?