I have given the Elex some thought. The middle bump of its “W” signature gives me pause. I wish I could hear one first. Send me yours for awhile 
. Now it is entirely possible that it’s not the amount of a certain range of frequencies - as measured by a FR curve - that I have issue with. It could be a distortion thing that my ears are picking up on and the better the headphone, the less that will happen. I’m probably also going to have to accept the fact that there’s likely to be one or more rounds of returns/exchanges or another slow build up of multiple pairs over time again until I find what I’m looking for.
Its a slight W. Dont worry its great
could you describe how other options compare to the TR-X00?
The Fostex is more a fun/exciting headphone its comes in order of bassyness: ebony, teak and purple hearts versions. the Denon AH-D5200 is a more natural/neutral headphone the EMU is in beween the Fostex and Denon.
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thank you, appreciate it. How do they compare for overall price to performance?
Well the Fostex are no longer being sold. you have to look for them used. The EMU’s are the cheapest at 450$. the Denons are more expensive selling starting at 700$ but of course you can probable find EMU and Denon’s used also.
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A used Edition XX is within my grasp very soon. How does it stack up with my list above? With some fortuitous financial things lately I can snag one with less than $200 out of pocket, probably. Is it worth it? Our common review crew comes up with a mixed bag on this one.
Hey would you please compare the sundaras and elex??? that would be really nice to see a review comparison
Both the headphones are 2 greats among headphones. There are few headphones that can do what they do with the same depth and substance. The Sundara is a neutral bright headphone with great treble extension. The Elex is a slightly W shaped headphone. The Sundara is more relaxed. The treble is bright but controlled. The Elex is more exciting with better controlled treble and better bass extension. However the Sundara does midrange better and this is where the vocals are.
Imo they are both well detailed headphones but i feel the Elex has more. the Elex beats the Sundara at imaging. They both have good soundstage. But the Sundara has an “air” to it. Which might have more to do with treble than soundstage. The Elex’s transients are better than Sundara. Separation on Elex is better.
They are both the best headphones around. But i think the Elex could come down a little in price since the Sundara came out.
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Oh wow you speak really highly of both. Good to hear that considering I bought a sundara recently. Didn’t know it would stack up so well. Thnx for the comparison!
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I guess I’m one of the few dissenters of Focal’s Elex. I did not enjoy my tour pair at all. The metallic timbre was noticeable and it had some weird dips in the treble that where some parts of songs that I was familiar with on my Audeze, Hifiman, and Sennheiser cans went missing or noticeably recessed. I remember enjoying the Utopia the brief time I had with them, but that Elex pair I reviewed was a turn off. Shame because it was very well built, but a tad too heavy with that headband for my taste. The headband of that Elex pair didn’t distribute the can’s weight all that well on my head.
Based on that tour pair, If I had to choose between the Elex and Hifiman’s HE-500, it would be the HE-500 all day, every day.
Thanks for your take. I’ve not heard either. Right now every potential headphone purchase scares me because it’s so hard to know how much midrange and treble is too much.
Why can’t there be a headphone service that works like the original Netflix DVD rental system? Yeah, big time health risks there.
I’ve been thinking about my mid and treble sensitivity. I’m more mid sensitive than treble sensitive. I also can enjoy a bright sound if it’s not sibilant. To me the biggest distraction is when a human voice doesn’t sound like a human voice. Shoutiness and sibilance aren’t natural sounds (well, Mike Tyson might be naturally sibilant). The human voice is a good reference point we all have.
Sennhiser has that in california lol, and some dealers will let you do that but will most likely expect a purchase afterwords lol. I guess there is always amazon, but please don’t do this lol. Also you could try and get on one of the loner tours for reviews ofc
I would be more worried about their build quality though with respects to their drivers, as it seems that a recent batch is experiencing more dead drivers, probably due to the voice coil breaking (see Drop reviews).
My loaner pair came through reddit’s HeadphoneLibrary loaner program (https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneLibrary/). Too bad it seems to be on hiatus due to covid-19.
Can you explain what this is and how you get into it?
Some manufactures or dealers/shops/even individuals loan out headphones that you can try for a week or so and then send them off to the next person, some want reviews afterwords, some don’t. Not sure about how you go about getting involved, never participated in one myself lol
Here is a thread on head-fi of one of their loaner programs. New Loaner Program - Audeze LCD-1 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
All of the loaner programs are on hold for now due to COVID
A lot of good suggestions in this thread. I have a lot of the headphones that others have recommended; here are some of my thoughts:
ZMF Eikon: If you can find these within your budget, it’s hard for me to recommend anything else. These are my co-favorite headphones along with Focal Stellia. My Eikons are the best things I own for vocal-centric recordings. As others have commented, they check your boxes for bass response, non-aggressive treble and they play well with tubes.
Fostex TH/TR X00: These are total bass cannons. I won’t part with mine because there’s simply nothing else that kicks out bass like these, but I don’t break them out often because the signature wears on me after a time. Mids sound recessed and the treble sounds boxed in to me. They’re great fun until I’ve had enough.
Beyerdynamic 1990 / T1.2s: I’ve unfortunately not heard the 880s as a reference point, so I can’t offer comparative opinions, but the 1990 and T1.2 are my most recent acquisitions and quickly becoming favorites for high-energy music like EDM. The 1990s impart an amazing sense of detail, but they strain my own limits of treble-tolerance (and I don’t think I’m particularly treble-sensitive). The T1s reign in the treble, but also seem to lose the magic detail and separation of the 1990s. At first I was let down by their signature, but they’re growing on me–I think I prefer them for longer listening sessions. As a bonus, both seem very good for competitive MP gaming.
Focal Elex (or Elegia): Elex were my introduction to Focal headphones, and one of a handful of purchases in this hobby that made an immediate, strong positive impression. They’ve got very good detail, nice clean bass and are not overly forward in mids or treble. However, given your stated preference toward stronger bass, I’d nudge you toward Elegias over Elex. Elegias are very strong in technicals, very open-sounding for closed-backs, and they have a bass slam that Elex is lacking. If you watch prices long enough, I’ve seen them dip below $600 on Amazon occasionally [$712 open-box at headphones-dot-com right now]. Elegias are also killer for cinematic / casual gaming–I bought a second pair just so I could deface one with a modmic for gaming. 
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Cool. Thanks for this.
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I never understood the metallic timbre thing. They just sounded great to me. But i dont really know what that is. The treble on them though i love. actually thier the best for treble for me. I dont like too much treble on headphones. it gets on my nerves after a while. I dont know how they did it but the Elex manages to have the clarity of bright headphones yet their treble never bothers me. Yet its not dark. I wish more headphones could do that.