Fostex TH-919 Open-Back Dynamic Headphones

The TH-919 is the open-back half of Fostex's current dynamic flagship pair, sharing the newly developed 50 mm neodymium BioDyna driver with the closed TH-910. Venting the rear of the cup trades isolation for a less pressurised presentation, which is the reason to choose it over its sealed sibling for critical listening in a quiet room rather than tracking on a loud stage.

Electrically the two are matched: 25 ohms, 100 dB/mW, an 1,800 mW ceiling, and a quoted 12.5 Hz to 45 kHz range. The supplied cable is 2 m of 7N-grade high-purity OFC, unbalanced, with a 3.5 mm 2-pole plug per cup and a gold-plated 6.3 mm three-pole plug at the amplifier. It weighs about 385 g without the cable and ships with a synthetic leather pouch.