Fostex x Massdrop TH-X00 - My new favorite headphones!?
Fostex x Massdrop TH-X00 - My new favorite headphones!?
2016-02-03
in spite of all the requests I've never
gotten around to reviewing anything from
fostex that changes today because our
friends over at mass dropped asked me
very nicely to check out their latest
collaborative effort
the fostex THX zero zero mass drop
edition possibly the most ass-kicking
pair of cans I have yet had my hands on
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alright so let's take a little look
around these babies shall we the cord is
an unnecessarily thick and heavy braided
affair that reminds me of the one on my
Denon HD 2000s it feels you know
reassuringly premium if you're into that
sort of thing but I'd have preferred
something a little more practical and
super preferred something detachable it
just doesn't sit right with me to have a
$400 product potentially damaged by a
five-dollar piece of wire
moving up the headband according to the
product page was designed with minimal
padding because thanks to its curvature
it just doesn't need anymore and I wish
I could agree with that statement I
almost did because the moderate clamping
pressure of the ear cups supports a lot
of the weight of the headphones without
crushing my skull so it could have been
outstanding but it comes away with a
quite good rating here because of this
who made the boneheaded call to put
these hard seams on the underside of the
headband I mean can we just all agree
once and for all that Bayer dynamic does
headbands perfectly and copy them
already moving on we find the smooth and
satisfyingly clicky steel rod sizing
mechanism along with a mass drop logo
silk-screened on the one side of the
magnesium alloy body and a serial number
on the other which brings us finally to
the business side of things the gloss
finished mahogany ear cups house custom
tune 50 millimeter dynamic drivers based
on the fostex sound signature that so
many people love but with bass tones
down a little bit and some of the edge
taken off on the highs more on this
later for now though they look
absolutely stunning both on and off your
head and while I'm still partial to
genuine leather the faux leather cushion
covers are made of some kind of eggshell
protein or something that in theory
improves breathability
and in practice didn't make my ear sweat
submission accomplished I guess the ear
cushion pads themselves are a little bit
firm for my liking although they are
sufficiently plushy meaning that a solid
break-in period with the th x0 zeros is
a must
though frankly I don't think if I wore
them every day eight hours a day for a
year they would quite match the
cloud-like comfort of my HD 600 s in
spite of those complaints though largely
thanks to their lightweight thoughtful
no-nonsense construction I have no
problem classifying the thx 0 zeros as
very comfortable but let's talk sound in
my usual battery of tests run on a
Mayflower o DAC and o2 ranging from
music you wouldn't like very much to
music you'd really hate if you were some
kind of audio snob the thx zero zeros
absolutely blew away my expectations
female or male vocalists take the center
stage which is right up my alley
highs are astonishingly detailed but
without the fatigue that I get with
longer listening sessions on my AKG k7
xx's and the lows honestly remind me of
nothing else in my entire stable they're
just so well controlled it's like my
ears are hearing the kinds of sounds
that I'd expect to feel in my chest at a
live performance with the only thing
missing being the actual physical impact
of the percussive note on my body and
they pull this off without being like
tuned for Millennials overpowering I
mean I'm not much of an EDM guy but man
give me a bass drop on these any day of
the week it is freaking exhilarating and
on top of that I am not much of a closed
back headphone guy either the HD 8 DJ's
impressed me with their Basie and fun
sound signature but in time it was back
to the HD 600 s with the k7 xx only
really coming in behind them for comfort
reasons with that said though it was
pretty easy to forget that these are
closed back I don't feel like I'm
listening in a small room or that my
music is unnatural
like I'm giving up part of the
experience to spare the people around me
who don't share my musical tastes or for
sound isolation on the subject of which
my daughter was fussing for about 10
minutes while I was listening to these
at a very reasonable volume and I
totally didn't hear her which means
they'll have to take away my dad of the
Year award but that's okay because at
least I got a kick-ass new set of daily
driver headphones out of the deal
because that is what you're looking at
here in spite of my minor comfort
complaints these tickle my ears in a way
that I just haven't experienced before
I love tight punchy bass I love clear
vocals I dislike highs that are accurate
to the point where they're just kind of
unpleasant to listen to and the thx zero
zeros do lots of what I like with very
little of what I don't what a great
product if you're shopping for a new
headphone in the four hundred dollar
range
oh yeah did I mention they're pretty
expensive I'm confident that if you buy
these you'll be happy you did just move
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