fostex resolution is ok...separation isn't that great. not a lot of air around the voices. piano and plucks of strings sound pretty good. Great bass rumble There's this metallic tinge in the upper-mids. Vocices don't have that rounded sound. Have to give it to the bass slam and rumble and atmosphere. Compared to the Abyss, the abyss has a lot more control, a lot more refined, more dynamic, delineated, more realistic, not a comparison. Meze 99 doesn't have as good separation or nearly bass heft as the Fostex but the vocals are more realistic and it's still amazing musical. Something about the Fostexs annoy me. meze 99 mid-forward. unsettling about the fostexs