It's good to have MRael back.

I agree with most everything MRael has said in the thread and yet wish his views on the Etymotic came from experience instead of speculation.

The Etymotic IS very good at retrieving detail although I feel it is bettered by the HP-1000 and Stax. (It is also bettered by them in neutrality and tonal accuracy, as far as I'm concerned.)

Vertigo makes a good point regarding isolation. If you have a noisy environment, of course anything that blocks 25db with be helpful at retrieving detail. However, in a quiet environment I do believe the Etymotic and be beaten.

The Signature II can be had for not much over budget with a bit of negotation and shopping around, if that is your thought.

I do agree, though, that you are far better off upgrading your source. Your current headphone and amp are capable of revealing a lot more than you're probably getting--and this is coming from me.

Believe it, or not I really hate buying compact disc players. 3 years down the road for less than 1/2 the money there will something just as good, or better. Then, it's time to upgrade again.
But, if there is ever a reason to spend the bucks on one it's low level detail. And, believe me, some players do it a lot better than others. Usually, the ones that cost tall dollars are the ones that do it best. Happy shopping!

Crescendo...I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on which big buck CDPs are the better ones at doing low level detail retrieval.

Quote:



Well, my best friend just bought the Musical Fidelity A3, and I think it has good low level resolution, or the ability to hear through the recording at low volumes. But, as you know since you own it the Arcam FMJ 23 it in my opinion is untouched in the detail/resolution department, high, or low volume until you start looking at something like the Wadia 301.

I use a Arcam Cd 23 stax 4040 combo[with siltech 4/120 cable]
and that setup has terrific resolution.
And it certainly goes low.

As for limited dynamics I don't know[not having heard as many
types of phone as most people here]but as an interesting
comparison[for me] when I listen to the sound of a drum when the musician catches the rim with the stick , with my diy planar phones the impact is truly percusive making
a distinctive sharp crack clearly heard[felt even] over the drums
sound.[recording quality dependent as ever]
The same excerpt played through the staxs sounds defined and precise but lacks the viceral crack.[not to say here my own phones
do it better just different]

It's funny I think things can sound 'right' on all maner of kit
when you are listening,but do a side by side comparison and
it often surprises how different those systems sound to each other.


Setmenu

Team Planar

Sorry, but I gotta jump in here.
So, between the Etys and the HP1000 series...those of you who have heard them...which way to go?
tanks,
md

So, for my next headphone in addition to the W100, I plan to go and audition for myself soon, hopefully, and see how I like the Stax headphones in general (to see if they are too analytical, not puchy enough, or if I do like/love them). I will compare them to the other possibilty for my next headphone, the RS-1, which I'd really like to test out some more. Also, I'm buying a new source to help with good resolution at low (volume) levels and also at low (non-volume dependant) levels. I'm very curious about the Stax 3030/4040 vs. RS-1, as these are said the be drastically different in presentation/personality and I would like to know which side I fall on. This thread has been very interesting to read and it's helped me greatly!