Jman456 Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 I am in need of some bass cannons. I did own a pair of Cascades but unfortunatley sold them and now regretting it. Has anyone tried both the Cascades and the TH900? can anyone tell me which is better or suggest another HP for bass? Any help would be greatly apricated. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 (edited) They are fairly similar. TH900 has more refinement overall to its sound. As for impact, I feel Cascade had the edge. Final D8000 (yes I'm selling a set, but that's not why) are how bass should be done. 2-3x the price though. Source: Have actually heard them in my own system for extended periods. Not just reading graphs Edited October 22, 2021 by Bengineer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yetiman Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 I have both the Cascade and the th900mk2 Love them both, The Cascade are definitely more/bigger Bass ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman456 Posted October 22, 2021 Author Share Posted October 22, 2021 57 minutes ago, Bengineer said: They are fairly similar. TH900 has more refinement overall to its sound. As for impact, I feel Cascade had the edge. Final D8000 (yes I'm selling a set, but that's not why) are how bass should be done. 2-3x the price though. Source: Have actually heard them in my own system for extended periods. Not just reading graphs I may go the TH900 white but the reports of killer highs might put me off. I guess I may have to track down another Cascade. As for the D8000s there a bit out of my price range. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Cascade has some savage highs too. Just EQ the TH900 peak. I honestly didn't find it bad. Not sure what people complain about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman456 Posted October 22, 2021 Author Share Posted October 22, 2021 (edited) 9 hours ago, Bengineer said: Cascade has some savage highs too. Just EQ the TH900 peak. I honestly didn't find it bad. Not sure what people complain about I pretty much don't eq but I have read putting TH610 pads help with the peak. I might just have to bite the bullet and buy a pair to see how they really go. From what Ive read the Pearl th900s have a smoother treble than the reds which could be good. Edited October 22, 2021 by Jman456 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 They are subtle changes overblown by the Head-Fi folk. The Blue ones sounded ok to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman456 Posted October 22, 2021 Author Share Posted October 22, 2021 Im curious hows the bass on the D8000s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 3 minutes ago, Jman456 said: Im curious hows the bass on the D8000s? Can't compare It has impact, its more detailed, faster/tighter. Makes the bass on everything else seem a bit average! It also has mids and super resolving highs, unlike most bassy boys.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman456 Posted October 22, 2021 Author Share Posted October 22, 2021 1 minute ago, Bengineer said: Can't compare It has impact, its more detailed, faster/tighter. Makes the bass on everything else seem a bit average! It also has mids and super resolving highs, unlike most bassy boys.... I thought they were considered bright HPs. Are the treble too much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Not the D8000 Pro. The D8000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey4054 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 (edited) 23 hours ago, Jman456 said: I am in need of some bass cannons. I did own a pair of Cascades but unfortunatley sold them and now regretting it. Has anyone tried both the Cascades and the TH900? can anyone tell me which is better or suggest another HP for bass? Any help would be greatly apricated. Cheers. Yes. The Cascade is better as a pure 'bass-cannon' and has more mid-bass quantity, but the TH-900 is a far better headphone overall and in a much higher tier than the Cascade. The TH-900 can hang with top-tier headphones like 1266, LCD-4 etc. The Cascade certainly does not. To clarify, I own both the D8000 and TH-900 and have heard the Cascades, but don't currently own them to compare directly. But I liked them when I heard them, especially for it's portability. Edited October 23, 2021 by Monkey4054 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey4054 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 7 hours ago, Jman456 said: Im curious hows the bass on the D8000s? I honestly don't like to admit this, but for my personal preferences, the TH-900 might be as good if not better in some areas than the D8000.... no joke. The clarity/resolution of the TH-900 is on par with the D8000. D8000 Pro is better than both for clarity/detail/resolution, but the bass is pretty weak. It's unfortunate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey4054 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 21 hours ago, Jman456 said: I may go the TH900 white but the reports of killer highs might put me off. I guess I may have to track down another Cascade. As for the D8000s there a bit out of my price range. Cheers Reports of killer highs are exaggerated. They have sibilance depending on source/recording, but the highs really aren't piercing or that fatiguing. The Focal Clear fatigues me way more/faster than the TH-900 and you can always do an easy pad-swap or use a warmer source if the highs do actually bother you. I would make the assertion that most people who try the TH-900 and expect piercing highs are often surprised that... they really aren't that piercing. Although, the caveat being that it is source dependant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 34 minutes ago, Monkey4054 said: I honestly don't like to admit this, but for my personal preferences, the TH-900 might be as good if not better in some areas than the D8000.... no joke. The clarity/resolution of the TH-900 is on par with the D8000. D8000 Pro is better than both for clarity/detail/resolution, but the bass is pretty weak. It's unfortunate. Not even close! I didn't mind the TH900 MK2 Sapphire. But it sits comfortably at its sale price I feel. The boosted treble doesn't stand up to the D8000, LCD4, 1266. YMMV (and does). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 30 minutes ago, Monkey4054 said: Reports of killer highs are exaggerated. They have sibilance depending on source/recording, but the highs really aren't piercing or that fatiguing. The Focal Clear fatigues me way more/faster than the TH-900 and you can always do an easy pad-swap or use a warmer source if the highs do actually bother you. I would make the assertion that most people who try the TH-900 and expect piercing highs are often surprised that... they really aren't that piercing. Although, the caveat being that it is source dependant. Most don't find the Clear fatiguing, but do find the TH900. Our ears all have different sensitivities to certain frequencies hey. I find the Utopia faitguing though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey4054 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 27 minutes ago, Bengineer said: Not even close! I didn't mind the TH900 MK2 Sapphire. But it sits comfortably at its sale price I feel. The boosted treble doesn't stand up to the D8000, LCD4, 1266. YMMV (and does). Yeah definitely YMMV. I will agree to disagree, but it depends on what you're listening to, for metal music I think the TH-900 has better charicteristics overall, but the D8000 is more versatile and less polarising I would say. 27 minutes ago, Bengineer said: Most don't find the Clear fatiguing, but do find the TH900. Our ears all have different sensitivities to certain frequencies hey. I find the Utopia faitguing though Yeah don't know what it is exactly, something in the upper mids perhaps? But the Clear makes my ears feel violated very quickly. Maybe it's volume? I guess considering the TH-900 is V-shaped I probably don't end up listening as loudly with them compared to the Clear, which I definitely crank a bit too loud. Maybe 85-90dB range. I've measured my TH-900 level at about 75-80dB range, much safer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 You'll tend to listen to closed at a lower volume too. That ambient cut. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey4054 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 Just now, Bengineer said: You'll tend to listen to closed at a lower volume too. That ambient cut. Definitely. Even lower with NC headphones too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman456 Posted October 23, 2021 Author Share Posted October 23, 2021 3 hours ago, Monkey4054 said: Reports of killer highs are exaggerated. They have sibilance depending on source/recording, but the highs really aren't piercing or that fatiguing. The Focal Clear fatigues me way more/faster than the TH-900 and you can always do an easy pad-swap or use a warmer source if the highs do actually bother you. I would make the assertion that most people who try the TH-900 and expect piercing highs are often surprised that... they really aren't that piercing. Although, the caveat being that it is source dependant. I actually own a set of clears and find their tuning really good. They are so neutral that I find I can crank the volume without any spikes. As for the TH900 I guess I will have to go hear them for myself. Ive pretty much watched all the youtube vids and some say the TH900s mid range sound thin? Bit difficult to tell when ive never heard them. Im interested in the pearls as they have the same tuning as the blue (more focused bass and smoother highs?) At this point the D8000s are out of my price range but the TH900 and Cascade are still viable. Ive had the cascades but get the general impression the TH900s are better? Hard to tell when half the vids say their good and half say their treble harsh. Right now I think my only option is to see if A2A in adelaide has some TH900s to listen too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey4054 Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 32 minutes ago, Jman456 said: I actually own a set of clears and find their tuning really good. They are so neutral that I find I can crank the volume without any spikes. As for the TH900 I guess I will have to go hear them for myself. Ive pretty much watched all the youtube vids and some say the TH900s mid range sound thin? Bit difficult to tell when ive never heard them. Im interested in the pearls as they have the same tuning as the blue (more focused bass and smoother highs?) At this point the D8000s are out of my price range but the TH900 and Cascade are still viable. Ive had the cascades but get the general impression the TH900s are better? Hard to tell when half the vids say their good and half say their treble harsh. Right now I think my only option is to see if A2A in adelaide has some TH900s to listen too. Yeah definitely try them if you can, I think A2A in SA should most likely have a pair you can try, they are quite a popular headphone. I can certainly understand the thin mid-range comment, I would say 'lean' sounding sure, especially if you are coming from Sennheiser or Grado headphones or anything with a really rich, emphasised mid-range. For metal and rock it works quite well, but for acoustic or any vocal-centric genres, the 900 is probably not the most suitable choice. My understanding is that the 'different' tuning on the blue and pearl models is so subtle that you probably won't be able to tell the difference. I've heard from several member on Head-Fi that have owned and compared the Red and Green to the Blue and Pearl and yeah, barely any discernible difference. So I'd probably recommend whatever is the cheapest, unless you really prefer the look of the Pearl or Blue I guess... If you really want bass-cannons and you listen mainly to genres like hip-hop, rap, EDM the Cascade is what I'd go for. But the TH-900 is the better headphone overall IMO, no doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman456 Posted October 23, 2021 Author Share Posted October 23, 2021 57 minutes ago, Monkey4054 said: My understanding is that the 'different' tuning on the blue and pearl models is so subtle that you probably won't be able to tell the difference. I've heard from several member on Head-Fi that have owned and compared the Red and Green to the Blue and Pearl and yeah, barely any discernible difference. So I'd probably recommend whatever is the cheapest, unless you really prefer the look of the Pearl or Blue I guess... If you really want bass-cannons and you listen mainly to genres like hip-hop, rap, EDM the Cascade is what I'd go for. But the TH-900 is the better headphone overall IMO, no doubt. Thanks for the info, the pearl are $200 more than the red. If the difference is so small its probably not worth the pearl! In regards to genres I listen mainly to metal (Slipknot/Sevendust/Tool/Mudvayne/Incubus/Pantera) funk (Lettuce/Mark Lettieri/Shob) EDM (Infected Mushroom/Pendulum/3D Stas) its all pretty varied. I don't listen to much acoustic or vocal centric music. Im thinking the TH900 might be the better all round performer over the cascades. All I need to do now is actually hear them! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 Lawton do some mods too, wooden cups, big angled pads. My biggest gripe with the TH900 is same build quality as the TH610 ($600?) And the pads are narrow and thin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman456 Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 (edited) 11 hours ago, Bengineer said: My biggest gripe with the TH900 is same build quality as the TH610 ($600?) And the pads are narrow and thin. Yeah on a few of the reviews I watched they said there were issues with the build quality (some falling apart) and headband is an old design that wears easy. Seems its going to be a difficult decision. Edited October 24, 2021 by Jman456 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengineer Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 D8000 is built like a tank and uses Japan's finest materials. F.Y.I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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