Fostex X Massdrop TH-X00

I dunno, I don't find the treble to be nearly as grating as the 900. The bass response makes them come across as warmer to me.

 

The treble is definitely more pronounced than in the HE-500, especially on the songs I was listening to. Doesn't sound warm to me yet, despite the powerful bass. The bass is too clean for me to call it 'warm', but I've got a weird definition of warm.

 

So you're saying dark is the result of extra bass and toned down midrange? I always thought of dark as rolled off treble and a little extra bass.

 

Noone's complained loudly about the earpads, which was the big deal of HF, so noone's having any problems? I think they fit just fine, though I can't move them around with my glasses on otherwise they squeak against the 'protein'.

 

Fit for me is fine. I'm finding that the firmness of the pads makes it hard to get a good seal with glasses on. I tilt my glasses so the temple pieces point slightly upwards grandpa style so there's nothing in between the pads and my head.

 

Yo Hands where dem measurements at!?

 

Oh my bad haha. Very curious to see how your measurements compare to Purrins.

 

These are really fun sounding headphones! They leak like a mofo and the pads don't get that great of a seal, but they don't need to when the bass is pretty fantastic. I listened to some 2Pac and E-40 to get an idea of what these can do and I was blown away. The bass is definitely more fun than the Alpha Dogs, but the Alpha Dogs have a smoother sounding treble response, these are a little bit brighter but I think they were tuned that way so the bass wouldn't overwhelm the sound signature. Otherwise, they sound a lot better than the TH900s I heard based on memory. Those were not very balanced sounding at all and hurt my ears with too much sibilance.

 

Got mine in today. My initial impression is that they're slightly v-shaped as well, but in a tasteful manner. Actually they're more like what Purrin described, and more like a w-shape. So in that manner, I think they're both warm and slightly bright at times-- depending on the recording. Bass isn't as bloated as what early impressions from others lead me to believe. The mid-bass is well controlled and doesn't show much sign of bleeding into the low midrange. Low bass can be a bit tubby, but I actually like it like that, as it gives drier recordings or anything done in a studio a nice wet meaty reverb/foundation. Testing it out on live recordings now in more realistic rooms... hmm, slightly bloated for my tastes but still well within reason. Honestly I blame most of the wooly comments on a lot of the Head-Fi populace that probably doesn't have any idea about a good damping factor when amping.

I was worried about the upper midrange sounding shouty and plasticky based off the measurements... doesn't seem to be the case; timbre accuracy is nice.

I do detect some lack of lower midrange presence that the HD800 and PM3 had based off of memory.

The wood cups are nice, and mine don't have any blemishes. These things are much lighter than I thought they would be. So light in fact, that the cups almost don't seem like they're actual wood. When tapping on the wooden cups I get a lower pitched ding, but it sounds plasticky from the outside, these are high gloss indeed. That's no complaint, just an observation, and lighter is always better for comfort anyways.

The earpads aren't as bad as I was led to believe based on other impressions either. My god, the openings are small, but their contour allows for more ear space than what the openings would otherwise indicate. Very much like the old DX000 series based off my memory.


Anyways those are first minute stream of conscious impressions. I like what I hear so far.

 

Got mine today.
They sound very good and remind me of my old Lawton-modded D5000s. And just like the Denon, isolation is minimal and leak almost like an open-back can... Oh well.... guess I'll use them at home.

 

Might have to jump on these next drop, they're too physically attractive to pass up. Just for those quickies/one nighters, personality isn't as important in that case.

 

It only took me two recordings to realize I greatly prefer the tuning of the X00 to my PM3. I think the PM3 sounds rather shouty in comparison (lots of emphasis around 2-3khz)

The treble of the X00 seems to be more raspy and prone to sibilance than my anax modded EQ'd HD800. (EQ is a bass boost and -3db centered around 8khz.)

 

I will say that compared to the TH600, the TH-X00 has a much wider soundstage. That was really what hit me first with them.

 

I just got a hold of mine yesterday. I will likely go into more in-depth impressions in a measurement type thread, but I have to say - these sound offensive on a Valhalla 2. Too bright for comfort. Sibilance City. I started here, felt kinda bummed out, then switched to my iPad for a much more pleasurable listening experience. I ended up enjoying them for most of the night portably. Also, they're too efficient for Project Ember (loud noise floor at 0 volume).


EDIT: My treble fatigue comes from about 8kHz (high sibilance area). I know some folks around here who don't like the treble/upper mids on certain headphones (Marv on the HE-6, Hands on the HD600, etc.) but I have no issues with the HD600 or the HE-6 like I have with the TH-X00 on a bright amp. FWIW.