Fostex TH600, Alpha Dog, or wait for the new Sony MD-Z7

Pre-order from Sony MY for RM2.4k, withe free RM150 worth of hi-res music
Or order direct from Japan for <RM1.8k and receive much earlier, but might kena to pay tax

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Easier for others to assist you as you have quite a generous budget.

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Budget: RM1500

This post has been edited by widget: Oct 16 2014, 08:51 AM

Like others already mentioned, buy 1 cheaper IEM for jogging, and another more expensive for your critical listening.
RM1.5k can get you lower range model for China-brand CIEM or AAW from Singapore.

You can try Xiaomi Pistons2 from the mass-order forum, and buy some extender if the 1.2m length is not enough.

I believed bro Joshua Chew still owns his TH900.
I used to own the TH600 but sold it after 6 months as I still couldn't get used to the V-shaped sound signature.
The TH series indeed have marvelous bass and clear high, but the midrange sucks-out make some music genres like female vocals, accoustic music, sound odds for my liking.
YMMV

Should have posted your query in Headphone Amplifier and DAC section, instead of this thread.

Anyway, if you're willing to go to RM5k, can audition Oppo HA-1 at E1 Audio.
You might be able to get it for RM3-4k in the scond-hand market if yiu know where to look for

This post has been edited by widget: Feb 10 2015, 07:04 PM

If you like Fostex TH900 but worry about the wooden cup and price, how about it's brother, the TH600?
The long fixed cable is a PITA though, but the sound signature is not so much different from the TH900.
Not sure what is the retail price in Malaysia, but sometimes it appear on Massdrop for US$5xx-6xx range.
If you don't want to wait, can try ordering online from PriceJapan.
That's where I bought my previous TH600 from.

Other full-sized headphones that I've in mind are the MrSpeaker Alpha Dog. Can check with David of E1 on the actual price.
Mind you, it's a bit hard to drive at it is using planar technology. Even the Oppo HA-1 desktop amp struggles to bring out the best of the AD
The sound signature is on the neutral size, and isolates very well.
But it's using lamp skin leather pad, so not sure how stuffy can it get.

My other suggestion is Sony MDR-Z7 but the sound signature is warm, with lots of bass and recessed high.
I own the Sony but I will not recommend to you if you are a treble head. The Sony is quite easy to drive though, as I can plug it straight to my AK100II player, but it sounds better on my Oppo HA-1.

I would also suggest you to listen to Oppo PM-2, although it is not a closed-back can but when I auditioned it, it doesn't leak out very bad, but you do lose out on isolation.

Another full sized headphone that I recommend is Denon AH-D5000, which is already out of production but can still be found in second-hand market or new old stock.
To me, the sound sig is less V-shaped compared to the Fostex TH series.
Denon OEM their older D series from Foster (parent company of Fostex), so they share similar shaped as Fostex TH series and they are also quite easy to drive.
But as David mentioned, these full sized cans benefit from headphone amp.

IMHO, Denon latest D series are not worth the price.

This post has been edited by widget: Mar 9 2015, 06:43 PM

Beyer DTs (770, 880 and 990) are power hungry.
Just saying

I used to own the TH600 and M100, but bear in mind that the TH600 is a full sized can while the M100 is a portable can. Both have V-shaped signature but the TH600 is more pronounced.
The sub-bass of TH600 is very good, but I sold it due to the suck-out mids.
The TH600 has a fixed cable which is 3m long and while it is easy to drive, you might need a better amp to bring out it's best.

Can't go wrong with InEar SD2. I've tried the SD2 and SD3 a few times in SG.
I almost buy the SD2 but the shop in SG always run out of stock for SD2 as they told ke it is the most sought after InEar models and have to place a pre-order with them for the SD2.
The SD3 is too bassy for my taste. Almost like Shure SE846 with the black filter.

I'm nit really a basshead, but I don't mind a bit of bass in my music.
Let say, form JH offering of JH13, 16 and Roxanne, my fisry choice would be JH13 although I own the ciem Roxanne.

Type of music that I listen to are classic rock like Dire Straits, Eagles, U2, and male and female vocals like Michael Buble, Eva Cassidy, etc.