So I've been hearing about this for some time now, but it looks like it's finally going to go live this week. Fostex (makers of the renowned TH-900 closed headphones) are releasing a custom headphone in collaboration with Massdrop in the States. Apparently they have made some tweaks to the original 900/600s (sorting out some treble heat, correcting the bass response), together with a new mahogany finish.

I'm totally all over this (even though it still retains the non-removable cables I hate in Japanese brands), wondering if anyone else here is getting one?

My current pair of closed headphones are a ZMF Vibro limited edition (which I also love, and wonder why no one talks about), guess I have a weakness for custom wood-finished closed cans

More details here and here

Also, an informative (though slightly hyped) video from Jude over at headfi:



This post has been edited by echineko: Nov 25 2015, 07:16 PM


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Everything from Jude is "the best ever" lol, but this should be good poison.

You go ahead la, I'm happy with what I have.

I know right, still can't get over him crying on the HE1060, almost . But no worries, I'll make the sacrifice this time, let me PM you about some IEMs though

Went from an impulse buy of the TH-900, back to owning a TH-600 for a bit then sold it off. It was always a regret a couple years ago not to stick with the TH900.

I might jump on this, if it's priced right.

It's priced at $400 USD, I think it's a steal based on how it measures and was received. But might go for an upgraded earpad in future, depending how I like the fit

Edit: Also, TH-600 seems to be discontinued, I somehow believe Fostex will use the feedback from this to eventually launch a replacement (pure speculation from me, though). I always planned on getting a TH-900 eventually, but then this came around

This post has been edited by echineko: Nov 25 2015, 06:33 PM

Oh, 400 bucks doesn't sound so bad.

I don't know if there will finally be a true successor of the TH600 finally or not. I mean, the TH600 is almost like a D5000 rebrand. Yeah it has different construction of materials, the drivers a slightly tweaked and they do sound marginally different, but generally the TH600 is/was D5000 in a new uniform. So yeah, that's like how many years now?

Man, the TH900 is still arguably the best closed headphone I've ever heard though. That sweet, sweet, amazing mid-bass. Haven't heard anything on a headphones that has quite match it yet. Some people may still disagree to this day and say that the D5000/TH600 have the same quality in bass though.

Apparently a lot of people found the TH600 a bit hot on the treble. How would you contrast them? Not entirely sure if that's because of poor synergy of their chain, or badly mastered tracks, or the headphone itself, personally I didn't see the problem. Then again, I also used the HD700 for sometime and didn't find any problems with that either, so maybe I unusually treble-tolerant

And I loved the positioning of the TH900 as well, but recently I've been really into the lower tier Fostex custom mods, specifically the ZMF Headphones Vibro (mine is pictured below). I'd even say the ZMF are more "closed" than the TH900 (better sound isolation). But at this price, and with the initial feedback, seems a worthy addition


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Denon why u no let Fostex do the job for u?

Really? I personally like the treble on the TH600 though. I felt that it gave a lot of energy, never really feel like it was harsh or fatiguing. The TH900 sounded more controlled, it's definitely not very sparkly either in comparison, feels more natural. But I generally do like energetic treble and that's what the TH600 provided, in a closed headphone that is.

Man I have not had the chance to listen to some of the modded Fostex cans out there. So, being more closed, does the Vibro add to the sub-bass that the TH900 sorta did lose out in comparison to the D5000?

For those who knows how to read FR/CSD, SBAF has some diagrams up for view at Link.

From the graphs it looks the 5K to 8K peak was not smoothen out but in much more flatter than it was with the mid range more flatter. From what I remembered the TH900 had a weird V shape signature which I personally do not like where the mids were VERY recessed.

wow it looks sooooo nice
want to put it next to my woody

also duno if my amp can drive it properly and how it will sound then

really hope i can keep my wallet safe and skip this one but damn it looks so gorgeous

Remember the part where I said the ZMF are customs? You can actually ask for the tuning to be emphasised as per your preference, ie. more emphasised on the bass, more neutral, etc. For me I was happy with the default tuning, and didn't really ask for any changes. It also comes with adjustable bass ports for you to play with by default

I also did get a chance to try the higher-end Omni (signed up for the audition program when it was launched), and to me that had a better sub-bass extension. But I was looking for closed, the Omnis are semi-closed. Anyway, don't want to derail the conversation, PM me if you're curious about the ZMFs. But here, a pic of the Omnis I auditioned for you


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That was already linked in my first post la But I agree about the flatter signature, should be interesting to try.

Check out the first link in my original post (I edited it so you can view the Massdrop page as a guest), the impedance of these guys is apparently 25 Ohms, doubt it will be a problem for most amps

Edit: That's 25 Ohms, with a magnetic flux density: >1 tesla, if you look at the specs. Somehow I find that pretty amazing. The TH-900 had a density of 1.5 tesla

This post has been edited by echineko: Nov 25 2015, 07:40 PM

i understand about ability to drive but what i mean is more towards synergy

need to keep finding excuse to skip this

I just gave up when I saw the full details, heh. But so many interesting stuff recently, later I'll need to list more stuff in Garage Sales

when you say give up
you mean give up in trying to resist right ?

Yes Good thing I planned for some purchases heading up to Christmas already

good for u
my initial plan was not to spend any money until after CNY


look lets see if its still on my mind after a few weeks
i never fail to forget that way

Poisoned!! Read a few reviews and now I'm itching to hear the Fostex sound! Stayed away from the 900 bcos of the recessed mids, but now that it's fixed it's firmly in my radar!!

Bro do you know the day and time for this drop? I will be on holiday but can skip out to make an order haha. Having one of the first serial numbers would be nice!

Ok if my source is correct the drop starts at 10pm tomorrow. Malaysian time of course.

Everybody ready?