TH-X00/TR-X00/E-MU Teak/Denon biodynamic general discussion

Ähm it depend.
The Teak is for sure the better Fostex i find.
The Soundmapping is better i find with the Emu cups as the Fostex.
More focus,more clear,more live i find.
I have only the Cups not the Phone self.
With the Denon and Tr x00 the Emu cups works well.

And the Teaks are better as the Th 610 for the self price.
When you would bought a pair Rosewood cups when you consider to buy the Emu Teak.:wink:

Overall yes. The only real difference is the color of the frame and the wood the cups use (this changes how they sound). The only other possible difference is the dampening on the back of the driver might be different, but I can’t confirm.

As for how they sound, from what hear they are supposed to be more similar to the X00 ebony. I’ve only heard the purple heart so I can’t confirm.

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I really want a tr-x00 purple heart but it’s really hard to find

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The Purpleheart is probably the least popular of the Foster headphones because of its FR. You may want to consider an Emu-Teak.

I was recently outbid for a set at nearly 2x it’s normal price. These will only get harder to find.

I really regret not buying one when they were on sale on drop. I was about to pull the trigger but chickened out :sweat_smile:

I haven’t been using these enough over the past few weeks since I got my Hemps and SR80e, been playing with the new toys and all that, but damn did I miss these. They are so big in every way. The cups are huge, like softballs hanging off each ear. The pads (ZMF Ori hybrid) are just big pillows. The treble is clear and detailed without harshness or sibilance. The mids are laid back and warm. And of course DAT B A S S. Kick drum kick you in the head. Deep notes roll like thunder. But then I put on somthing like the Hollow Knight ost and all that bass turns into the most full and lush sounding chello and bass sections while the treble makes things like piano, violin, and harpsichord sound fantastic. The only thing these don’t do fantastic is vocals, and even then these still sound great, just not as perfect as every other aspect of them.

Why did massdrop have to discontinue these? They are so good and Joshua Velour’s review showed that they could still impress and the resulting disappearance of all the ebony stock shows they could have still sold. They should have dropped the mahogany and replaced it with somthing like cocobolo or bloodwood and used that to respark even more interest in them (side note: looking at Lawton’s website is dangerous for my wallet).

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You’ll get your vocals if you do the Lawton mod. :smirk:

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Hello,
Any one try this Pads?

The Alcantara looks not bad.

I want to try them but can’t justify the purchase since I’ve found my preferred sound for my PH already. They are on Amazon USA so maybe they are also available on Amazon Germany.
https://www.amazon.com/YAXI-Comfort-TH-X00-Earpads-Alcantara/dp/B07G549JWW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=yaxi+th900&qid=1573407792&sr=8-1&linkCode=sl1&tag=zeos-20&linkId=0b7ae2ae41768027403db9866fd574af&language=en_US

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Damn you, don’t tempt me any more than I already am. Maybe I’ll get some cups for Xmas. But I dont know what wood to choose and then I’ll have to start pad swapping again :dizzy_face:. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

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Mark Lawton told me that purpleheart is considered a Type 5 wood. If you look on his website you’ll see his type 5 options. If you select one of those type 5 woods, my understanding is you’ll get more and better PH type sound. He sold me his last pair of PH cups, though. Their arrival is imminent, so stay tuned!

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Ever since I completed my TR-X00 Lawton mod with Lawton cups (museum grade marbled ebony) (I tried a bunch of Lawton cup woods before making a final decision) with an exhaustive pad exploration, I have lost all interest in perusing any other closed back headphone. I hardly even visit this thread anymore. lol

I feel I succeeded in designing/modding my perfect end-game closed back.

Much thanks goes out to Mark Lawton for his expertise and help along the way.

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   **Updated tuning and New cup design needed**

I’ve been trying to mod the my mohogany X00 without ruining any low end sub or mid bass and open up sound stage without making the sound too sibilant and increasing any 6 - 8K peaks and I’ve nailed it…

Quarter turn of each of the four screws

This is the tuning to have: On the screw for the cups if you do a quarter turn of each of the four screws the soundstage opens up considerably without adding substantially much treble.

Bass:

You get added bass extension and detail of more luscious sub bass.

Mids:

the vocals come forward in the upper mid range. Heads up it does make the headphone substantially more intense. If you want that more intimate more relaxed tighter bass extension keep the cups 100% clamped down don’t untighten the screws.

Treble:

You’ll notice not too much has changed more detail is present during tracks and is tip toeing the line of ALMOST becoming sibilant.

Half turn of each of the four screws

This is going to be the final stop.

Soundstage:

This will open up the soundstage even more the most the headphone becomes the widest it possibly can without too much sacrifice even adding a more vertical soundstage slightly].

Bass:

Adding more sub bass but you start to lose the detailed bass you’ve most likely come to love. This is why I advise the quarter turn.

Mids:

You’re going to notice you’re starting to lose energy in the mids giving way to more peaks in the treble especially in the 6 - 8k range. its not too bad yet maybe to some its what they’re looking for.

Beyond the half turn [3mm spacers]

Soundstage:

Now you’re going to experience a much more open X00. its going to be like you’re not even wearing a semi open and it sounds almost completely open. [ Soundstage starts to feel similar to a MK3 Argon or a Verite closed.

Bass:

The Bass has gotten extremely muddy at this point. Its in the mids its in the upper mids its everywhere.

Treble:

surprisingly airy treble??? [ This must come at the cost of the energy being taken away completely from the mids] but you’ll notice you’ll have peaks in the 5 - 10 k range [Find any sibilant tracks and it gets too much, someone may like it not me].

Mids:

Biggest draw back is the once intimate gone forward mids become completely distant and you’ve made the X00 blatantly V shaped.

Tuning principals of the XOO and new cup design

The X00 series is extremely sensitive of any air added for the driver to move. Only changing cups, loosening the screws to add more air and pad swaps will affect the soundchange you would want. Adding in dampening ruins the bass COMPLETELY.

This leaves me at a weird point. [Not enough air being vented from the cup but the cup needs to be close to the driver] I think with a revised cup design perhaps similar to an Eikon/Atticus with the vent holes it could potentially harness all good points of tight bass control, airy treble and forward mids. I’ll be designing a mocked up cup design and getting it milled out on a CNC machine here in Australia and report back with my findings. Then release the successful cup designs for anyone to use and then let the Wood tuning begin. [Maybe some nice Tasmanian oak]. Its clear this biocellulose driver needs some air.

**PLEASE NOTE ** that this tuning was done with Dekoni sheepskin pads and that the heavier leather helps smooth out the treble slightly from stock pads.

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Hello,
Sounds interesting i h would have to test with the quarter turn.
Because of the homebuilt history it might be more difficult than you think.
Salop said Emu did a pretty good job with the cups they offer.
I don’t know how to top it, except to create a different interior design.
But I’m curious about the results and efforts you’re going to make, and that you might offer something made out of wood is of course great.
It would be great if there was a little bit of competition.

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I agree, Emu has made some beautiful and great cup designs, materials and tuning. I was thinking of keeping it simple. Same cup dimensions as the current X00 then add vent holes like a ZMF closed back

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Don’t forget, ZMF have ended up with a closed design without the vent holes for the VC that many prefer to the Eikon and Atticus. Might want to look into how they achieved what they did without the venting.

I thought the venting just moved to the ring of the cup instead of the face for the Verite. Think that’s what I’m seeing here

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I was talking about the huge venting holes on the Eikon and Atticus and how ZMF was able to get away from them and have a much more closed design with much better isolation yet attain an even larger stage. There’s a lot going on with the VC design.

My point is… Simply chopping huge holes into your TR-X00 cups might not be the best solution. :slight_smile: But by all means, go ahead and try it. I’d enjoy seeing photos.

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If I may be honest.
I own the mahogany myself and I liked it very much in the beginning.
With time less than I restored the D7200 and the Denon D2000.
Before you go to any trouble, try the Emu Purplehearts, if you don’t like it you can always stick to your plan.
In the meantime I took the mahogany down and exchanged it for ebonies also from Emu.
And I do not miss the mahogany at all.
If I had to compare all three, the mahogany would be the worst cup.
Even the plastic cup from the Denon D2000 is better.
For me the mahogany is much too shrill on top and too soft in the bass.
Otherwise everything fits in terms of liveliness and stage.
You can pick it all up with the Puroel heart cup from Emu.
It is less shrill, gets more pressure in the bass and very good scenery and liveliness.
I don’t want to miss it anymore.

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