this is what came to my mind as well. Or maybe you can find an iem that does what the fh3 does but better
1 Like
or the Purple hearts?I totally forgot about the Cascades, those were actually on my short list when they came out. I’ll have to revisit those and read up on some impressions. The th900s are interesting, they seem to be really polarizing and it looks like they rarely drop into my price range. The struggle of not being able to try out headphones without committing…
2 Likes
1more triple over ear is amazing for bass, also has the different sound presentation. They will take significant bass EQ and keep going. You can go full retard with them 
1 Like
I actually own a set of these. You’re right about being able to crank the bass to stupid levels. The rest of the sound is where they’re lacking for me. It’s hard for me to pinpoint what it is but they just sound kinda… Rough? I guess? I can appreciate them for a bit but I always end up putting them back down.
They’re perfect for my electric drum kit though so I’m glad I have them.
2 Likes
@M0N’s suggestion re: TH900mk2 is a good one. You could also go Emu Teak and Lawton mod it. I Lawton’d a TH-X00 with Lawton’s Purpleheart cups and the bass is just nuts. The treble can be bright and sparkly or more laid back and smooth, depending on your amp and dac stack. Read about it here.
2 Likes
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/foster-th900-mk2-like-new-purchased-aug-2020.945017/
Here’s one that’s pretty new, you could try and shoot for 1k offer. If you keep your eye out you can find them for 1k mark semi frequently. I do think you might have to go around or above 1k to really get what you are after and get something significantly a step up from what you have imo
1 Like
I’ll keep an eye out but I don’t see myself going over the 1k mark. I don’t need a significant step up. Really hard to justify spending that much when these comparatively cheap iems get so close to what I’m looking for.
1 Like
My two recommendations are typically Nighthawks for headphones and Hyla Sarda for IEMs. Both are a bit harder to find nowadays, but can be purchased under 1k. Best of luck with your search. I think you will find a new level of addiction when you experience that bass can have a lot of texture for the first time.
2 Likes
Just saw this, I’d jump all over these if I didn’t just winterized my car…
edit: 30 minutes after I posted, they’re gone 
2 Likes
Purplehearts for sure.
2 Likes
Purple heart modded E-MU Teaks (E-MU sells purple heart cups for abot $150) are your best bet under $1000 new. If you are ok with used get the TH-900 mk2 if you can find a deal.You could also Lawton mod the Teaks like @WaveTheory said.
3 Likes
To sum up, the consensus of the forum so far is get something with a Fostex biodyna driver and go from there. Those drivers are pretty incredible. They dig deep, hit hard, and rumble aplenty. And they do it with pretty good control and pitch definition to boot.
3 Likes
why not get a th900 mk i if you want to save some cash over the mk ii?
1 Like
Makes sense why @Veritas threw the Nighthawks in because they are a biodyna also. Tuning is a lil’ different on the Hawks though. Highs are still very present, just not pushed forward, but they can definitely bump on the low end with the right amp. Hawks are usually my go-to for electronic music because I can crank them up to really feel the bass and the rest of the sound is not fatiguing. Also, a source with a legit bass boost can be pretty fun at times. The Elegia can really rumble (like physically vibrate) with XBass engaged on my Hip Dac. I know you mentioned that the Zen Dac pumped through the Asgard 3 gave a similar but even better experience.
4 Likes
Yes and that just hit me while I was working on something else. A second option is to find an Elegia (mostly available used now) and an iFi product with bass boost. Zen DAC + Asgard 3 amp + Elegia also pretty well covers all the basses. I haven’t heard the combo yet but I imagine the Zen CAN amp with bass boost enabled will also turn the Elegia into bass cannons and then you can use whatever dac you want. Thanks for the reminder @Mr_Makua.
4 Likes
YUP. Fostex seems to be the clear favorite here. My local guitar center has the TH900s. Maybe I can get in there and demo them. The fact that pretty much everyone came in here to direct me to that set certainly has me interested.
Can anyone compare the TR-X00 to the TH900? Both seem to get praise for similar things, low end in particular, but one is waaaaaay more affordable than the other.
1 Like
The th900 is pretty much just an easily higher tier headphone overall, you get better extension and tighter impact, more controlled yet just as punchy and fun, a bit more width but lots more depth, it’s much more resolving overall, treble is a bit more prominent but it’s also more refined overall, pretty much just what the x00 has but much further elevated and refined, that being said this is going off the x00 ebony for the most part. The x00 purple heart might actually have the most bass quantity of the x00 and more quantity than the th900 but it’s not really near the quality of the 900, the th900 is still very much a basshead can imo. Something to note though is that the th900 is more amp picky and demanding so an amp upgrade might be worthwhile later on if you are still using the 788
1 Like
Thanks for the comparison. Still using the 788, still really happy with it. Do they just need a shitload of power? Do you think that even if I got a 4-pin cable to use the balanced setup it still wouldn’t cut it?
1 Like
I don’t think they need a lot of power, but I do think they need quality power which imo the 788 didn’t really provide for my tastes at least
4 Likes