Could be nice getting one to have a dynamic again lol. Since based of what I seen u currently have the susvara and d8000 right? Btw the d8000/pro look reeeal interesting.
Thanks alot my dude! This is essentally my first fostex and I Def get the hype! Out of curiosity what’s the difference between the 909 and pearl white?
Hello,
is the Lawton cup mod another giant leap ?
I have the Ebony from Emu in it but somehow something is missing.
I don’t know exactly what. But something is still bothering me.
The Lawton pads improved it but it wasn’t what I was hoping for.
The Yaxi suede pads weren’t bad either but something is missing.
The whole thing is really strange.
When I unpack the Denon D2000 with the rosewood from Emu there is a huge wow wow.
I’m still hesitant about the Lawton cups, especially since my taste in music is varied, which makes it a bit more difficult.
Stop making me want to buy a pair!!
I saw that the Audio 46 shop still has something in stock.
I’ll be putting in more updates here in case anyone is curious 
Today I got more solid time with the 900 PW edition, and It felt like the bass was finally breaking in more as well as the slam factor. At first listen yesterday I was surprised by it not having as much slam as I expected, and while to my understanding the Ltd is indeed rolled back in that in comparison the slam on these today was indeed sick! And because I have the wa8 to try it on as well it showed me what they are capable of because on the wa8 they HIT HARD. Was good shit, bass also opened up alot today as it just had a ton of bass presence in every track I played. Today it really started sounding closer to what I thought fostex would sound like for sure! Treble on this thing is lovely, it does it so damn right where it’s present and very sparkly while avoiding any sibilance. Mids are phenomenal too, very present with a very well done balance.
Since it’s a biodynamic headphone I’m expecting to it basically keep in going on in this trajectory for the next few days where the bass and general impact will open up more and more in addition of course to layering etc although that already seems really amazing.
Also this might be the time to buy em lol. They are on discount on b&h and moon audio at 1399 haha. It’s the main reason I pulled the trigger on them!
No, no, no . . . I will not venture to those sites to see the deal . . . nope, nope, nope.
For me the TL;DR is that pearl white is a hint more sophisticated, the 909 more fun but not crazy loose its still in control of itself.
Pear White was outstanding and “felt” a bit more sophisticated with a smoother more “balanced” signature while still being fun leaning. I liked it for modern Jazz/Jazz Fusion, Funk and progressive variants. Where I want that fun, but still want to enjoy the more natural (to my ears) timber and textures of instruments like saxophones/horns, drums, keys, and vocals, male/female.
The 909 is definitely more “fun” to me bass is more prominent with some sacrifice of textural quality mids are not as forward but for me that makes things like electric guitars etc more enjoyable. The treble is aloe more extended and has a little more bite. I never found it to harsh though though it made me aware that a slew of my recordings we/are in need of better copies. Also the whole stage is expanded everything is more open IMO. I like the 909 for Rock, progressive rock, electronic mainstream pop/rock blues etc. They were better at everything all a round for me - a real daily driver that you just put on do your thing.
Seriously considering another 909 - though I may just try a “Standard” TH900mk2 (Bordeaux) so I can have heard all the “editions” I dunno yet. 909 was def my fav of of the sets I had. But that’s me and I think it also had to do with gear synergy - the 909, v550 and Spring 3 were so good that I think I upgraded some of my phones because I felt I needed to be more “audiophile” but what I had I already enjoyed and was having fun with - I know crazy talking now… lol
Yes, I have a Susvara and a D8000 Pro - I like them both, although they are very different. The D8000 Pro does something really special with the bass - its not a Quantity factor per se, it’s a timbre texture thing going on, I know I’ll be corrected on that observation but that’s how I’m calling it. It has a unique presentation that’s almost planar/dynamic hybrid. I really enjoy it with modern Jazz/Jazz Fusion and Funk - though it also works really well with progressive rock.
Yes, all of the Fostex I’ve had I bought new and IME, 200-250 hours was needed for them to loosen up and smooth out.
Thanks very much for the comparison! Also thanks alot for the description of the d8000 pro, that headphone is of huge interest to me. But I wouldn’t be able to swing that kind of money lol.
Lol. That is an issue sometimes haha, thinking you have to upgrade something for a more “audiophile” sound or whatever lol
So this day, I’ve been able to verify two things. The hiby RS6 amp dosent have the ability to control the th900 PW bass. It sounds a bit limp, you hear the bass note but it dosent have the oomph that it should. The WA8 amp on the other hand has PHENOMENAL bass control, bass has so much texture and great impact and speed is nice too. Also the wa8 really widens the stage which is awesome not to mention generally better impact . The RS6 amp has way more treble quantity, and much more detail in the treble region (well its allows the fostex to sound more like it should basically) and I cannot stress the detail is just much better than on the WA8 for treble.
For now I’ll have to “settle” for a warm Fostex but one day I hope to get an amp that can let it be more neutral-bright with excellent bass control, great impact (punch) and also a wider Soundstage! Honestly tho it’s fine that this is the case, because not only is the wa8 pairing super awesome but it’s also the whole this is a journey thing. Where I won’t get it right in the first try but I’ll eventually find the perfect source gear for this headphone!
Nice! Are you using the internal DAC on the WA-8, or just the RS6?
RS6 dac, can’t remember much about the wa8 dac lol. So I figured I wasn’t the biggest fan of its onboard dac
It’s passable, but probably not as good as the RS6. From memory, pretty laid back and smooth.
OK so here’s the thing, sure I expected great bass and great detail which the Fostex does have what I did not expect however is the sound signature, presentation and dynamics. So first of all, the sound signature really surprised me and I don’t mean frequency response. I’m used to headphones like my Andromedas, Verite or even stuff I had on loan like the Mest or the LSA headphone ( I forget the name) where it’s a very 3D or holographic type of sound and more often than not with large sound stages. The Fostex is different and at first listen dosent have as big of a WOW factor as those headphones do (in presentation that is) where it feels very hmmmm idk how to explain it but standard? No that’s not the word, honestly still don’t know how to explain it but I just kind of think of it as almost traditional? If I had to think of a comparison, it sounds like the drivers of a traditional big speaker with subs. Like it dosent sound like a berrylium driver, dosent sound like a planar driver but it really has the same type of sound that my speaker’s woofer has. It may sound like Duh bro, it’s a biodynamic driver and sure the Nighthawks had that type of sound too (and with loudspeaker presentation) however this just feels next level. I’m not hung up on driver types but this headphone feels like it just really maximizes the strengths of biodynamic drivers. So far it’s the most dynamic sound I’ve ever heard with great differences in the lowest sound to loudest but also big differences I depth where it just feels next fucking level.
Again not to get too hung up with whatever but this headphone even sounds Japanese-made. When you think of Japanese you think of amazing artisans, builders, sculpters etc and the sound that this headphone has just feels like it has the most attention to detail in the sound. I legit feel like I can hear the work that they put into the creation of this headphone. It’s the most incrediblly refined experience I’ve had so far in audio and it’s got such a classy sound.
OK I do have to bring this up too, Bass. BASS, frickin sick dudes it just does bass so damn good and tastefully too. The impact is phenomenal, the bass detail is phenomenal and I love the way it is just shiens in every single track in such a damn tasteful way.
Love it.
Might offer $1k . . . why must you guys do this to me!!
I sure hope those fostex weren’t going plugged into the darkvoice referenced in there, if they were then I’d want to sell them too lol
Meaning they sound bad on the Darkvoice?
Yes very, that’s a really poor choice for them, most otl will be a mismatch to be fair, but the darkvoice really would be a terrible sounding pairing
Only otls that I thought drove them surprisingly well with the MZ3 and the hpa5000xl, but most others were stronger misses
Gotcha, what are some good dac/amp recs under 1k?
