The diary entries of a little girl who is now 30! ~ Part 2 - Page 126

Quote:

Originally Posted by DigitalFreak 

 

The amp section actually looks pocketable now. MF you're a STAX oficionado in your opinion is this gear worth the risk of investment and whats that big slot in the front for?

The SR-003 and SR-001 are pretty much the same IEM. The former has a regular Stax pro termination, so it can only be used with regular Stax amps. The SR-001 was made for a proprietary amp that took batteries, so you could in theory use it on the go. Only problem is, due to the open design, it leaked like crazy and offered zero isolation.

The SR-002 and SR-003mk2 are pretty much the same way as the successors to the SR-001 and SR-003 respectively, the main difference being the termination.

That portable amp and SR-002 would have the same issues as the SR-001, but this can be overcome somewhat by using a pair of earmuffs or some other protector to go over them (just don't smash them too tightly or it's going to block the airflow). Why on earth would one go through the trouble? Because the SR-001 / SR-003 (and now the SR-002 / SR-003mk2 I'm sure) are some of the best sounding IEMs on the planet. Seriously. They sound like mini SR-007s. It's ridiculous.

So, in theory, you could have a portable rig that could compete with a fullsized electrostatic desktop rig costing thousands more.

You know, not to hype these or anything... (now you know why I'm so f'kin' excited!).

Quote:

Originally Posted by rroseperry 

I'd completely forgotten the TakeT H2+ and that you had it. I dunno. These just make me think, "Why not get speakers?"

That's a perfectly valid point. The same thing could be said of the K1000 too however. Both it and the Floats are basically "earspeakers" in the truest sense of the word, hanging beside the face rather than directly contacting the side of the face. It's going to provide zero isolation, so it automatically forfeits the usual headphone advantage of limiting noise (both for you and those around you).

The only practical reason why someone would want to get these, to my mind, is space. These are more self-contained than a set of floor speakers, or even some desktop monitors. In terms of sheer performance, I do find speakers outclass headphones on a variety of fronts (we'd be talking about $1000-3000 speakers here given the cost of these headphones). However on the flip side I personally find headphones to do a few things better than speakers. So for performance reasons, it's just a priorities thing I suppose.

I think the bigger question is, why would someone get these headphones (K1000, H2+, and Float QA) as opposed to other headphones? Their designs offer advantages (and disadvantages) compared to more "standard" styled headphones. In that sense it's like a compromise: they offer benefits of speakers (a better sense of spatial immersion, more realistic imaging) but retaining enough of the benefits of a personal device worn on the body. In places like Japan and some parts of Europe where space is a premium, I imagine that's a big factor in choosing something like this.