Post by solderdude on Feb 11, 2017 17:03:10 GMT
This is the Massdrop® Fostex TH-X00. The build quality and comfort is high. The cups are made of mahogany wood. It has 50mm (Tesla)drivers with a Biocellulose membrane/cone. Foster is the company that manufactures these drivers and headphones for several companies such as Denon, Creative and ofcourse it's own Fostex brand has a long standing reputation for making nice sounding and luxury headphones.
LUXURY is what this headphone is breathes.
The headband is soft, pleasant to the touch and has a good adjustment range of 35mm and fill fit on most heads. Clamping force is low and pretty constant over a large adjustment range. The cups can swivel in any direction and have enough 'range'.
The pads are pleather and are slightly angled. They feel pleasant and are soft to the touch. Room for the ears is much smaller than the outer size of the pads would suggest. My ears fit fine though.
The cable is designed for home usage on hifi equipment. The cable is long and terminates in a gold plated 6.3mm TRS jack plug. It does have a luxury feel to it with woven cloth around it. The cable is not very pliable, a bit stiff and feels somewhat heavy but is not very microphonic. You can only hear some faint noises in the cups when the cable rubs against something.
The low impedance makes it quite suited to be driven by portable equipment. This headphone SHOULD have come with small connectors in the cups and a long and short lead. It is easily driven from most portable sources but does perform better on desktop amps and the efficiency is decent.
Isolation from outside noises is average to poor. Even though this is a closed headphone it still lets in outside noises. It is attenuating somewhat but even with music playing you can still hear people around you talking. Not the best if you want better isolation.
Comfort is high and the feel as well as looks is luxurious. Another important aspect of headphones is sound.
The first impression matches the luxurious feel and looks. A warm, full bodied sound with pleasant mids and 'soft' but quite present but not elevated treble. Quite reminiscent of the Denon Dx000 series. Perhaps slightly improved though.
The bass does not bleed into the mids yet, just like the Dx000 series lacks a bit of 'punch/impact'. It's a bit 'soft' but not yet 'wooly' and 'full bodied' sounding. Integrates nicely with the rest of the sound. The voices and instruments sound 'luxurious' and 'warm' and free of distortion. The mids could be called 'lush' and slightly lacks the ultimate clarity some other headphones do better.
The treble is 'soft' yet stays a bit behind where it concerns the finer nuances. It is a bit 'coarse' sometimes and 'splashy'. It doesn't sound shrill/harsh or nasty anywhere though.
Luxurious soft treble with plenty of 'splash' but lacking in small details. Extension is great.
On longer listening sessions the slight lack of clarity and 'sharpish' edge it has with some music makes me want to end the listening session sooner than I wanted. I feel a Kameleon filter is in order here to address these issues.
More measurements and details HERE
Below the frequency response of the TH-X00, left, Right.
It measures very flat from 30Hz to 2kHz. Above 2kHz the shortcomings of this driver become 'visible'. From 4kHz onwards the response is kind of 'ragged' with lots of peaks and dips close together. Extension is excellent though and goes all the way up to at least 30kHz. Most likely beyond that as well. The peak at 11kHz is probably what 'bothers' me the most about the treble. The ragged response usually means the treble lacks the finer nuances and may well be the case here too. Bass and mids are tonally correct though.
The bass drops off fast below 40Hz (right channel) and 30Hz for the left channel.
The lack of 'ultimate clarity' strangely enough isn't very visible here. Just a narrow 5dB dip at 3kHz.
Distortion is impressively low. Most certainly in the bass (below 200Hz) where most headphones do not perform nearly this well.
The somewhat 'soft' bass certainly is not explained with frequency response nor with a higher amount of 2nd order distortion of bass signals.
For an easy 'fix' of the treble peak some toilet paper may come in handy again.
Below the frequency response of the stock TH-X00 and with 1 ply of 2-layer toilet paper in front of the driver.
As can be seen the treble peak is reduced by a good 4dB. The overall amount of treble is not reduced as much though.
The step response below shows somewhat less and shorter ringing.
Positives:
- Looks
- comfort (pads and wearing comfort)
- Full bodied distortion free sound
- Non microphonic cable
- Neutral to warmish 'full sounding'tonal balance.
- Soft and pleasant highs
- Can be driven from portable sources
Less positive:
- Cable length and stiffness, no 3.5mm jack
- Cable not replaceable.
- Bass quality (lacks tightness)
- Treble quality, slightly lacks finest nuances and small 'peak'
- Does not isolate well for closed headphones
This headphone does a lot of things right and shouts 'luxurious' in everything.
Most people will be perfectly happy with the sound.
The less than desired tightness of the lows and the sharpish 'treble edge' may cause listening fatigue after a few hours and may be a deal breaker after a while for those looking for ultra detailing and tight bass. Given the price-point (as it is a massdrop colaboration) it has quite high value.
Those looking for a high-end sound will have to look further but will also have to spend a LOT more money.
Those looking for full bodied sound with a pleasant almost neutral sound need to look no further.
A Kameleon module will be constructed that addresses the clarity and treble peak issue.
The 'bass issues' can not be addressed with EQ.