Fostex X Massdrop TH-X00

Agreed. There really isn't enough of this happening in the hobby. I'm very excited for everyone who's getting a fantastic headphone at a fair price. It's really great that we have people like Will from Massdrop working to bring these products to reality. Thanks to Alex at Cavalli for getting a fantastic affordable amp out there, thanks to LH Labs for making a great portable DAC/Amp combo, EC for bringing great sound to affordable prices, Schiit for making even their top stuff affordable and their bottom stuff awesome, Sennheiser for still selling their 650 and improving it all these years and probably so many others I've overlooked. While we live in the age of absurdly priced headphones, we also live in the age of some really amazing products at pretty affordable prices.

I was able to resist picking this up (I really don't need it), but I'm excited to hear this.

 

Has taken some willpower but decided not to jump in after all. Convinced myself that the pad openings are too small.

Instead I grabbed the HD650 with the Amazon deal and decided to go for broke with Gungnir Multibit instead of Bifrost Multibit to pair with the Liquid Carbon. Maybe 2nd time will be the charm with the HD650 (with finally the right setup driving it).

I'll live vicariously through you lucky TH-X00 owners. Looking forward to more Massdrop collaborations springing up, and I also hope this kind of trend continues. I'd think it would be win-win for the manufacturers and obviously us hobbyists.

 

There are a few people who "get it". Hopefully more follow with similar ambitions and business plans. I can't thank them enough.

I pretty much did the same thing you did. I got the HD650 with the Adorama deal to go with the already bought Gungnir Multibit and Liquid Carbon. I just need a balanced cable for the HD650 and I'm good for now. I have a personal rule now about just getting one headphone at a time and using that for awhile before getting another. Oh, and I'm not exactly flush with funds.

That said, thanks to Massdrop and Fostex for putting out a product that's not only affordable and capable, but popular as well. Cheers!

 

It would be cool if Fostex and Massdrop release a different kind of wood for the next TH-X00 drop (if there is one).

Or, offer different wood cups separately at a reasonable price

 

I got in on the drop within the first couple minutes, but now I'm waffling on canceling my order. I wanted a good circumaural closed headphone, but now I'm wondering if I really have a use for it. At home, I'm very happy with my HD650, and where I can't use the HD650, I'm happy with my UERM. I could use the TH-x00 at work, but I don't have a ton of time to listen to music and the UERM is fine there too. Ultimately, I guess it'd be something to rotate with the HD650 at home, but it doesn't sound like I'm getting a very different sound signature from my HD650. On the other hand, the HD650 with better sub-bass would be pretty great...

 

I'm in the same boat as you but was like, I don't have a non planar closed headphone so...okay! Plus HD650 with more subbass and less midbass would be amazeballs.

 

Kudos to Massdrop for forcing the issue to bring some sanity back to the price/performance ratio. Hoping this and the recent Hifiman He-400S are signs of things to come.

Very tempted to buy but hard to justify as the owner of a fully modded th900. My assumption is that the signatures would be similar, but with the modded th900 having the better technicalities and slightly more fun signature of the th900 platform. Like someone else stated a fully sealed version would have been the tipping point for me, but I suspect the fact that it is not fully sealed is a big part of its signature.

The bigger question given quite a few comments I have read is what does this say about the future of the th900? Can a more balanced model and closer competition (from a technicalities point of view) to the hd800S be far away?

 

he400s ..yuck I still don't understand the hype. The mids are cool and seperation is aiight but the timbre is odd. Id buy two hd650's over one of those. But the thxh00 should be a real price to performance king.
... I really like bio cellulose drivers.

 

I'd put your money towards an upgrade rather than a sidegrade. Save a few hundred more and pick up an HD800 used for <$800 while their price is low, and then upgrade your amp if necessary. For isolation, UERM > THx00. For most technicalities other than bass extension, HD650 > THx00.

 

My head is too damn big for the HD800, but point taken. I'm leaning towards canceling and putting the money into a Torpedo III kit.

 

Too big for the HD800? That's not possible ...

 

I agree I have a "custom size hats" sized head and they fit me perfectly.

 

Me too. Most XL hats don't fit me and if some do, they leave a sharp, deep indent on my forehead, and the HD800 still fits me at one less than max extension, very comfortably too.

 

I'll try another pair when I get a chance, but the pair I tried wouldn't fit at max extension. Maybe I didn't get it fully extended like I thought.

 

he1000 is supposed to be giant maybe that would suit you, you macrocephalic bastard

 

No way I could make my own 4 pin cable. I usually get my cables from Dyson Audio on eBay.. will ask em about it.

 

It'd just be soldering the correct wires to an XLR 4 pin. That's what I'll do after I get it and see if anyone posts pics of them doing it.

 

You mean megacephalophobe

 

Not really. Just generally pedantic actually.

 

Hey leave the head out of this!
Megaphallic though... Hmm...