Наушники — Fostex TH910

The Fostex TH910 is a sealed dynamic model from the Japanese maker Fostex, launched next to the open-back TH919 as a pair of top models that share one driver and one set of mechanical parts. It is the sealed version of the two, with a housing of solid hard maple and a finish in traditional Japanese lacquer.

Key specs that matter

Fostex fits each earcup with a newly developed 50 mm BioDyna driver with a neodymium magnet. Fostex rates the impedance at 25 ohm and the sensitivity at 100 dB/mW, and the driver accepts a maximum input of 1,800 mW. The quoted frequency response runs from 12.5 Hz to 45,000 Hz. Weight is approximately 385 g without the cable. Fostex ships it with a 2 m unbalanced Y cable with two 2-pole 3.5 mm plugs at the earcup end and a gold-plated 3-pole 6.3 mm plug at the source end, made from 7N grade copper with a purity of 99.99999 percent.

Engineering and use context

The BioDyna driver was reworked for this generation with an improved edge design around the diaphragm, which Fostex says reduces unwanted resonance. The mechanical parts are made from a lightweight magnesium alloy, and the company states that this cuts their weight by 20 percent compared with aluminium. The maple housing carries a foil pattern finish, built up from a black lacquer base with silver foil laid over it, and each cup is finished by hand in the Urushi tradition. The ear pads use two layers of low-resilience urethane under a silk protein synthetic leather, a covering the maker claims lasts three times longer than conventional material. The head pad and headband are made of natural sheepskin, and the box contains a pouch of synthetic leather for storage. With a detachable lead that plugs into each cup separately, the cable can be replaced without opening the headphone.

Pairing

Thanks to a load that is simple to drive, the TH910 works from portable players as well as from desktop headphone amplifiers, and the full-size plug on the stock cable fits the jack found on most home headphone amplifiers. Anyone using a mini-jack output will need an adapter, since no smaller plug is supplied in the box. The high maximum input rating gives a wide margin when the headphone is driven from a powerful desktop amplifier.

Alternatives

The Fostex TH919 is the open-back counterpart with the same BioDyna driver, magnesium alloy parts and lacquered maple housing.