Fostex X Massdrop TH-X00

That's a solid April fools suggestion. But honestly there are a lot of people who think the difference is a color or dye rather than separate materials.

 

But what if I want a silver logo on my mahogany TH-X00?!

 

^The "WB Edition" will not stand for you-know-who, but will be the Write Board Edition. White. With pens. Thanks aufmerksam.

 

A lot of Ebony has zebra-like stripes in it with darker areas and lighter stripes. The sample shown for the promo shots is for the most part very black. Do you know if some of these units will have the zebra-striping on them, Will? Or is there just a very dark stain applied over the entire cup?

Also: holy shit, these are 100g more than mahogany or purpleheart.

 

^There is some striping in the approved Ebony prototype samples but they are quite dark overall. The stripes are more apparent when looking closely. An earlier sample had more zebrawood-like stripe contrast and was lighter overall, but that was not the final selection.

To reiterate Will's post earlier, there is NO stain applied to any of the cups for any of the TH-X00 wood editions.

(For example: It's pretty crazy to me, but the Purpleheart wood really is that purple. The cups are all purple if taken from the heart of the wood. I have a sample PH pair with variation in the cups that we rejected but I have actually considered buying them because the one cup looks very good with variation. However, people will expect more consistent purple across the whole of the cup...)

 

What you are looking for is now available in the form of E-mu Teak on Massdrop.

 

Those are nice looking phones. How's the tuning? The FR looks V-shaped.

 

Never heard the Teak, but I highly doubt the motors/magnets are different between it and the TH-X00. Based on Tyll measurements of both they look as close to identical in terms of tonality, distortion, impulse, impedance, etc. as I can discern.

 

got the purple heart shipping/tracking email today, shows that it shipped out of edison nj. Estimated delivery date is a week from today even though i'm an hr away.... =(

 

Same, but at least I know they're on the way!

 

That's DHL for you. 1 hour delivery, 7 days of hostage time to make their premium shipping options seem more reasonable. Mine's scheduled for 8/19 delivery in California.

 

Although a rainbow+metallic pack of sharpies might be a decent drop of its own too.

Plus Ethiopian lambskin and zebranowood inserts ala Ultrasone?

 

Knowing Ultrasone, they'd probably skin an Ethiopian proper if they thought that it'd add "value" to their products.

 

No coloring in the Purpleheart's cups? Wow, that's some crazy colored wood if so.

BTW, my PH's shipped last tuesday from Edison, they have now reached Hamburg, Germany. An euro-hub of sorts for DHL, I'd think. Let's see if there's VAT etc. taxes to be paid. I bet there is.

 

I got mine a day after DHL dropped it off USPS, so no hostage situation here.

 

And here I thought my pergola was a headphone stand.

 

An hour after I leave for work, I get an update about a delivery. Work's a drag, traffic sucked, but I eventually made it home to my beautiful Fostex TH-X00 Purplehearts.


Products mentioned:

AKG K553 PRO (https://www.amazon.com/AKG-K553-PRO...F8&qid=1471574651&sr=8-1&keywords=akg+553+pro)

Audio-gd NFB-15 (version 2014 with transformer upgrade) (http://audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB1532/NFB15.32EN.htm)

Fiio E10 “Olympus” (Predecessor to the linked E10K) (https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-E10K-Headphone-Amplifier-Black/dp/B00LP3AMC2)

Fostex TH-X00 PH (https://www.massdrop.com/buy/fostex-x-massdrop-th-x00-purpleheart-headphones)

HIFIMAN Crystaline Silver Cable (https://www.amazon.com/Crystalline-...71&sr=8-3&keywords=crystalline+silver+hifiman)

HIFIMAN Focus Pads (https://www.amazon.com/HIFIMAN-Focu...1471573942&sr=8-1&keywords=hifiman+focus+pads).

HIFIMAN HE-500 (https://www.amazon.com/HiFiMAN-HE50...qid=1471573922&sr=8-1&keywords=hifiman+he-500)

Audio-gd NFB-15 (version 2014 with transformer upgrade) (http://audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB1532/NFB15.32EN.htm)


Appearance, Build Quality, and Comfort:

The Purplehearts are a little darker in color than I expected, and they are also more purple. Either way, these are some great looking cans. At first glance, the headband appears to be uncomfortable. This concern never proves itself, but I cannot understand why every company hasn’t made a deal with Beyerdynamic to copy their headbands of this style. Further down, the height of these can be adjusted easily, almost too easily, but stays in place once in place on my head. The mechanism allowing the cups to swivel looks and feels to be of a very high quality. A light tap reveals the purpleheart cups as being thinner than one might think. Judging from the pictures, I was never really sold on the earpads being large enough for me. Well...they were just as snug as I expected, and I’m sure some of us will need a little more room. The TH-X00’s earpads, though not as supple as the stock AKG 553 Pro pads, are plush enough and made of a comfortable material. Whatever eggshell membrane protein concoction Fostex cooked up works well here. Heatwise, the TH-X00 PH was tolerable, as I didn’t notice how warm my ears were until removing a few hours of use. This ten-foot beast of a cable is much thicker than the Crystalline Silver cable on my HE-500. It’s flexible, it feels excellent in hand, its termination is done well, and it should be sturdy enough to last for years.

All things considered, the TH-X00 is noticeably more comfortable than my HIFIMAN HE-500 with Focus Pads. I wish there was some ruggedness to these cans. There doesn't appear to be, so this won't make a very good portable headphone.


Sound:

Material Mentioned (all from Spotify Premium unless mentioned otherwise):

Deorro – “Five Hours” (Punch, punch, punch).

Nero - “Promises” (This is used to sniff out any stinking sibilance)

Eagles – “Hotel California” (If I can’t enjoy this song, I won’t keep the headphones)

Deadmau5 – “Strobe” (I use this to elicit emotion and judge resolution and detail. There is what seems to be a rainstick at 2:46 and 3:29 that can be resolved VERY differently. Some resolve down to the individual bean/pebble, while some almost omit the sound entirely)

Alexey Arkhiposvskiy – “Doroga Domoi” (I use the original mix of this for some of that sexy balalaika love).

Miles Davis – “So What” (Another resolution tester. The trumpet and saxophone in this recording can vary greatly from headphone to headphone).

Sam Smith – Lay Me Down (The vocals from the 2014 recording (without John Lennon) are outstanding).

Virtual Barber Shop (Imaging test from Youtube).


(Impressions are when pairing the “Fostex TH-X00 PH and Audio-gd NFB-15 except when stated otherwise)

WOW! Punch, punch, punch is right. With the Fiio E10’s bass boost on, the Purplehearts come alive on “Five Hours.” The sibilance test to end all sibilance tests, “Promises,” proves too much for the Fiio E10 and Fostex TH-X00 PH. However, when paired with Audio-gd’s NFB 15, that sibilance is tamed. Right from the start, the guitar pulls you into “Hotel California.” The TH-X00 PH does well here. Phew. The rainstick test is passed in “Strobe,” especially the second occurrence at 3:29. “Doroga Domoi” captures me in a way few songs can. Things were going well until “So What.” I felt my AKG 553 PRO ties the TH-X00 PH in the trumpet test and bests the TH-X00 PH in the saxophone test. Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down” was truly haunting on the TH-X00 PH. This was one of the few times in my life a song has utterly captivated me. The musicality of the headphones shone through the lacking mids and took me for an emotional ride my HIFIMANs never took me on. It should be made known that, even with the recessed mids, vocals can still wow with the TH-X00 PH.


As advertised, the TH-X00 PH has very ample sub-bass. Transients aren’t exactly perfect, but the punch is there. I don’t want to use recessed as a definer, but there are definitely some recessed mids here. I suspect the somewhat bloated upper bass is causing this by bleeding into the low midrange. If a small EQ around 100-250Hz can solve this, the low-mids might be saved. Once you get into the upper mids, the v-curve starts showing back up. On Fiio’s E10, some of the highs were a little strident, but, again, Audio-gd’s NFB-15 reigned in another potential issue.


Low level detail was surprisingly good with the Purplehearts, much better than my HE-500. Imaging is a bit tricky. Sounds to your left and right are well imaged, but sounds that should be in front of you and off to the side a bit seem out of place until they’re directly in front of you (I hope you can understand that). Soundstage is very wide for a closed headphone but not very tall. The stage’s depth isn’t spectacular either. The small bit of isolation is great for noisy home and office use, but there is too much leakage for a cubical situation.


Conclusion:

Sure, the Fostex TH-X00 PH’s have a slightly recessed midrange, but WOW, the musicality of these cans can be overwhelming. Adele’s voice breaks beautifully, Sam Smith woos, and Deadmau5 entertains on the TH-X00 PH. Detail is good up top and acceptable across mids and bass. They scaled well from Fiio’s E10 to Audio-gd’s NFB-15. Look elsewhere for a studio reference experience. The Fostex TH-X00 Purpleheart is unabashedly a v-shaped delight.


Notes:

The TH-X00 PH had some awful hiss and distortion that went away within about ten or so seconds. Weird, huh?