The Stax thread (New) - Page 556

DO OTHER PHONES SOUND COLORED AFTER THE OMEGAS?

It's odd but after a few weeks with the 007A, when I listen to other Stax like the 404 and Sigma/404, they now sound distinctly colored to me. It's like the 007A recalibrates your hearing. I don't think I have ever had similar phenomenon after another headphone purchase.

Does anyone else get a similar phenomenon?

The 007A brings out a great deal more timbre and micro dynamic detail (as well as some macrodynamic detail) but when you go back to the other phones, this detail is gone and replaced with a sort of gloss or coloration.

I am still trying to find words to describe the coloration, and it seemed that the earlier phones sounded somewhat "metalic" in the sense that there is almost a ringing sound superimposed on the music.

The 007A is also somewhat warmer in sound, the 404 models colder. I have heard that warmth can mean even order harmonics in the signal and cold can indicate odd order harmonics.

Usually I would say that the 007A sounds better than the other phones but I was listening to the old Karajan Rosenkavalier the other night the overall impact wasn't as good as with the Sigma/404. Part of this was that the 007A brought out more tape hiss than the Sigma/404 which tended to mess up the "air" between instruments and voices. There was no doubt that the 007A was more accurate, but the spatial presentation of the Sigma/404 added another auditory dimension which the 007A, being a more conventional set of phones, lacked.

It made me wonder what a set of 007 drivers would sound like mounted in a Sigma-type enclosure.

I must do more comparisons though to get a better feel for these differences.

I have a similar experience but with the difference that I regarded the 404 as colored from the beginning, reinforced by the tube coloration of the 007t amp that I had at first. But going from 007 even more emphasizes the coloration of other headphones. I think the 007 is very neutral and transparent and not much of a signature of its own, at least compared to other headphones. There are some flaws as somewhat lacking impact, clearly with 007t but less so with 717. It is said to have clearly better impact and control with some other non-Stax amps.

The 404 has more punch but is colder in a way. I don't think this has anything to do with distortion and harmonics. The 404 has an upper midrange peak that give more emphasis but can be tiring. Also the frequency response is uneven with drop in the middle, a Grado like curve. Sometimes the 404 sound better - especially on old recordings because it is less detailed and more forgiving. It can also give some extra punch to old rock recordings. But at the expense of loss of microdetail, the natural tone of instruments and with the superimposition of its sound signature.

It is not easy to find an equal to 007 - if there is one.

I should have mentioned I am using the 717 amp. I am not finding any lack of punch with the 007A rather I have to adjust the volume down at times so the crescendos don't blow my ears off.

What I am getting at is not just coloration due to different frequency responses. Virtually all phones sound different from each other that way. The 007A seems to have a tonal characteristic, or rather an overtonal characteristic unlike anything else I have making the others seem to have this sort of metallic ring sound.

Ed, I have the 007 Mk 1 and it is a superb phone, but I still like the LNS and the Sigma 404 for different reasons. The sheer comfort of the Sigma 404 is nearly unbeatable for my boof head - see pic - and the spacious sound is good, but I miss the very bottom end of the LNS and the 007 Mk1. Although someone criticised the vocals heard on a Sigma, I still think they can't be beat for wonderful handling of sibilants - far better than either the LNS (in particular) and slightly better than the 007. I must admit, I am liking the LNS more these days (I think you mentioned this too). One thing I am not so sure about with the Sigmas is that at relatively high volumes (much more than I usually listen to), the Sigma 404s start to sound as if they may shout a little - just on the edge of this without obviously doing so. For me, this is not often a problem except when I just wanna head bang, but it's something the LNS and the 007 Mk 1 just don't even think about doing - there is a seemingly limitless dynamic range. I guess I was lucky I got the LNS rather than the 404 - from all descriptions, it sounds like the LNS is the least bright of the two. All running from the SRM-717 (balanced all the way from the Studer to the Apogee Mini-DAC to the 717)

Good point about the comfort of the Sigmas. Inspite of their bulk and somewhat loose fit on the head, they are exceedingly comfortable and do not warm up the head, basically because there is a big space inside the earcups and they are not sealing. The 007A is more than a little annoying because it is hard to adjust, if it slips then you lose bass. The Sigma is foolproof by comparison.

I can't see a problem with the Sigmas with vocals. In fact I think they are the best phone, period, for classical choral and opera aside from the lack of detail compared to the Omegas. I am mostly listening with the Sigma/404 and Sigma Pro. Possibly there is a problem with the low bias Sigma. I certainly haven't heard this but I listen to these much less.

Hey Guys quick question. Has anyone tried an srd7 or other energiser with a gainclone type amp if so what were your impressions. Did it match with using a higher end amp or out perform the lower end srm's?

tks.

It has been said that the 007A/007 Mk2 is easier to drive than Mk 1, I wonder how much? Also depends somewhat on the type of music, it seems you refer to classical music. Bass heavy rock etc. is harder to drive than classical music. I think that a big advantage of the 007 is that tonality it excellent and this is very important for classical music. I mean that the instruments sound natural and realistic and you hear micro-details like the movement of the bow against the strings and the airflow from a flute. Different violins and flutes also sound different.

It is a good thing if the 007A is easier to drive because most 007 owners still have Stax amplifiers (99% ?). There may be two questions - the difference between Mk1 and Mk2 with Stax amps and the difference with the best possible amplifier.

With all my Stax amps (SRM-717, 007t, T1W & 1mk2 Pro) the O2 and O2mk2 are about the same to drive. If I listen to the O2 then switch to the O2mk2 I have to turn up the volume a little to match levels. If I measure them using pink noise the O2 is .5 to .75 db more efficient than the O2mk2. The measured load is the same. If there is a difference in an amps ability to drive the load it is almost un-measurable. I would expect this because the drivers and cables are the same (there is a air vent on the O2mk2 to eliminate the Stax fart). While the load is the same the sound isn’t. The O2 is the better phone. Birgir has a mod to plug the air vent which makes the O2mk2 sound more like the beloved O2.

The Sigma frame gets "shouty" when it is pushed hard since it can't handle the extra energy that the driver is giving off as vibration. This is to be expected and is less of an issue with the Lambdas since the driver is so close to the ear and the baffle is nice and thick aluminum.

I went the other way around and got the SR-007 before all the other headphones so that was the standard they were measured against. The Sr-007 Mk1 is still here and the rest if gone except for the other two Omegas which will probably be buried with me in the end.

Look over in the Dared mp5 thread started by Elphas. Someone there mentions using a dared mp5 with a stax tranformer....which is a gainclone ss amp with a tube preamp. I just recieved Dared mp5 clone...a "sonic integrity mp5-ds"...but is essentially a Taiwan version. Still burning in so haven't tried it with my Stax set up yet. Waiting on some mullards also to roll...no sense using the inferior stock tubes.

Thanks Tako Ill go look.

stax crackling/squeaking

I always thought it was the pad glue, but once I replaced them the crackling never went away. This would only happen with a seal if I adjusted and put pressure on it. I would push it against my head and it would begin to crackle -- sometimes it would take a while for it to finish and snap at the end. Just tried now to blow in on the other side - seemed to fix it. Fooling around a bit more it would squeak and cut out - until I put more pressure and make it snap/crack. What is this?

Pressure against a loose driver membrane? The same thing happens to one of my orthos, but the crackling happens only if I compress the phones against my ears with a good seal, and stops immediately.

Yes. Exactly, but not always immediately for me. Wondering if I can fix it without taking off my pads! Or can I ignore this safely? I just put these ones on, gah!

There could be either a torn dustcover or some foreign particles have entered the driver and are causing it to either arc or changing the behaviour of the electrostatic field. Both are bad news indeed and not much can be done without extreme risk to the driver.