Fostex TH-X00: The Power of Community Design

Crowdfunding takes a new path, one that I didn’t expect. I guess it’s more crowdshopping than crowdfunding; Massdrop is a site based around a bunch of people buying a product and the more people buy, the better the discount. Massdrop has really facilitated an audiophile community with the majority of the products featured on the site being related to music. Massdrop and Fostex have gotten together to create a new pair of headphones with the audiophile community contributing quite a few pointers. The result: Fostex TH-X00. And they look to be an amazing pair of headphones. Did the community get it right?

Looks

The TH-X00 is an excellent looking pair of headphones. There’s a definite sense of elegance here as opposed to the casual recognition of a set of Beats headphones. The lacquered wood make this a stylish pair of headphones that could be used pretty much anywhere. Additionally, Fostex is a well established brand and the build quality looks to carry over as well. The TH-X00 is beautiful and sturdy, a welcome combination when compared to similar $399 headphones. The padding on the ear cups and the headband make for a very comfortable listening experience.

Something to consider is the practicality of these headphones. As with any over ear headphones, they are a bit large but not obnoxious. The TH-X00 cord ends in a 6.35 mm jack as opposed to a standard 3.5 mm on most smartphones so you’ll need a separate adapter. From a style standpoint, they’re versatile but from a functionality standpoint, maybe not so much.

What It Does

The TH-X00 is classified as reference headphones which means they deliver high quality yet neutral audio for the purpose of production. This also means you can hear the higher production value in certain tracks. In other words, the TH-X00 deliver such good sound that they will surely last you for a long time. There’s no replacement for excellent sound so until you can find a better sound in a similarly priced pair of headphones, the TH-X00 will do the job well.

So who is the TH-X00 for? Well, they’re hard to find right now so you must be a dedicated consumer looking to get the most value for money because there aren’t too many competitors out there that can’t deliver the same quality of both build and sound for the same price. So good luck finding one, there are likely to be a few more opportunities in the future.