Fastest Dynamic Drivers that can match Electrostatic Drivers?

The Qualia drivers sound very fast for dynamic and it would appear that the HD800s also have some serious speed.

The K-1000s are fast with a good speaker amp.

IF by dynamic you mean moving coil, closest IME would be the K1000. IF by dynamic you're broader and mean can be run from conventiaonl amplification solutions, that opens up the terrian for ribbons and air motion transformers. HD800 is the new kid of the block for ultrafast transient speed in a coil driven headphone by reports and I have faith in Tylls ears.

What about Sony's SA5000?

i heard it was very fast too...at the same time kinda unforgiving also ........??

I would dispute this comment.

The speed of movement on a dynamic diaphragm depends on the power of the magnet, the stiffness of the surround and the weight of the diaphragm and voice-coil.

Powerful magnets with light diaphragms and voice-coils will be faster than heavy diaphragms / voice-coils and small magnets.

Most Sennheiser headphones use voice-coils made from aluminium ribbon to make them light and responsive - and the magnets are neodymium.

I'm not saying they are the fastest, but they are certainly *not* slow.


Having said all this; no dynamic can ever be as fast and as responsive as an electrostatic - in the same way that a dynamic microphone can never be as fast and responsive as a condenser microphone.


I have heard that the new HD 800 comes close to the electrostatic sound (due to large diameter voice-coil, large magnets and ring radiator). But we will have to wait and see the truth of this when people get a proper chance to listen and compare.

I hope this helps.

John Willett
(Technical Support - Sennheiser UK)

[QUOTE=Duggeh;5369344]IF by dynamic you mean moving coil, closest IME would be the K1000. /QUOTE]

After hearing and owning a lot of dynamics over the years, I would agree.

Close seconds would be:

Sony SA5000
Audio Technica W5000
AKG K501

Of those I have heard the K1000 stand out as a clear #1.
Never heard the Qualia 010, vintage Grado's, and like though.

Well DT880 is a fast headphone. Its FR was actually modeled after ET-1000 and tailored to have very fast transient response. It is not as fast as stats but is still one of the faster affordable dynamic headphones. I like mine a lot

DT880 is renowned here for its inconsistent and very extreme opinions on its speed. Many claim DT880 is absurdly slow, while others claim it is very fast. I'm not sure which it is, but its square wave graph looks pretty good on headroom, although its upper midrange is very very polite, where a lot of 'speed' appears to our ears.

that said, i've made a couple posts asking about how they compare speed as I have not been able to tell TOO much difference other than upper mid definition between my dt880, stax, and IM716's. I only detect that stax ~ im716 is maybe a bit faster than my dt880's, but both are significantly more defined in the upper mids.

Member,

I'm going out on a limb here and assuming that since you described stax as insanely expensive in another thread, you're not here looking for Qualias.

What kind of price range are you looking at?

I'll third or fourth the K-1000; it is quick. Also fast are the Sony MDR-SA5000 and the Beyerdynamic DT48.

Another piece of the puzzle here is the amp you use. Amps are not all created equal, some with superior power and high damping factors exert a strong control over the driver. The better the damping factor, the "faster" a headphone sounds. If anyone thinks a Sennheiser is slow, they're not using the right amp.

Still, it seems that dynamics lack just that certain something extra that planars have. I decided not to invest in an electrostatic headphone rig. However, I own both ribbon and AMT loudspeakers. They add a level of naturalness and realism I haven't heard elsewhere. Especially the ribbons on vocals. The bass response is lousy, but if you're just listening to vocals, they're about indistinguishable from the real thing.

1000/48
SA5000

Fastest: K1000
Faster than Stax: K701, K601, K501, K500, SA5000
As fast as Stax: DT770, DT880, D2000, D5000, QP55x, QP250, ESP950, SR225, MDR-F1
Slower than Stax: HD650, HD580, DX1000, KH-K1000

SA5000 is the "fastest" dynamic I've heard, I feel like AKG/Grado are around the middle speed wise, the 600/650/580 sennheisers being toward the rear. From what I hear about electrostats though none of the above mentioned should be able to touch them in speed, I will know for myself in a couple of days .