SillyHoney
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2009
- Posts
- 810
- Likes
- 15
It's been seven hours and fifteen days... Since my Stax SRS-2050A was delivered
I have been spending about 100 hours with the system so far so I can do a tiny review and quick comparison on it. Happy reading
Background
I'm just into Audiophile world for just about 6 months. At that time I was a young and innocent boy eagerly looking for a replacement for my lost iBud and had no idea about what was waiting for me ahead. I ended up finding Head-Fi, made the first purchase SRH440. After that things are totally out of control. I then bought an X-Fi Notebook soundcard, HD555, ATH-CK7, Denon D5000, Woo Audio 6, Denon D7000 and ATH-M50. Now I'm temporary stick with my most favorite, Stax
That said, my gear is pretty limited. My rig was SRH440 and HD555 straight out of X-Fi Notebook 1/8", no Amp. Then D5000 driven by Woo 6, no DAC. Then D7000 driven by Denon AVR-589 receiver, no DAC. Only my current rig can be considered proper when I purchased my first DAC, Gamma-2 by MisterX. My headtime with each can is short and most of the time I don't have more than one can at a time to do a proper A/B comparison. Well what else do you expect from a starving student? So please keep that in mind when reading throughout my review.
Setup
Sony Vaio --- Flac --- Gamma-2 via USB port --- SRM-252A --- SR-202
Reference Albums
Riding with the King - B.B. King v. Eric Clapton, Unplugged Album - Eric Clapton, Buddy's Baddest - Buddy Guy.
I will mostly compare my current rig with iPhone 3GS --- Woo 6 --- D5000 since it's my 2nd most proper rig so far.
I don't wanna take D7000 into the comparison since my poor receiver headphone output may be the reason for my biggest expectation turned out to be the biggest disappointment D7000
First impression (No DAC)
The very first time I listened to my Stax (less than 30') I realized several things: Sound signature is totally different from Denon. Pretty much higher resolution. More forwarding. Not as smooth at high. Fuller mid-range. And of course, not as bassy.
After having some more headtime with it, my first impression still stands correct. I learned that the differences in sound signature is because Stax is more neutral and Denon is more color. I realized a lot more details that I didn't notice when I play with my Denon. I find the music is more engaged because of its forwarding and less smooth high. Vocal sounds wonderful and lifelike. Bass is not the kind of skull vibrating as that of Denon. And new things worth noticing: Better soundstage and imaging.
The first 50 hours (Still no DAC)
I realized this one is the keeper for sure. I love every bit out of it. I was totally floored on every single aspect of sound it brought on me. My jaw keeps dropping and I keep smiling every time I hear music sings through the system.
Mid-range: There is no brainer here. Stax's mid-range completely and utterly destroys that of D5000. Sorry Denon lovers but there's no contest. If you guys ever know how much I loved D5000 out of Woo 6 you will know that I'm not bashing D5000 nor trying to start a flame war here. It's just Stax mid is so good or at least so good compared to my other cans. I will use the terms "full", "warm", "forwarding" and "intimated" to describe the mid. If on D5000 Celine Dion and I each sitting at each corner of the room while I'm listening to her voice then on Stax I feel like I'm holding her in my arms while she put arms around my neck and whispering in my ears.
High: Coming from harshness of SRH440 and somewhat thin and pale high of HD555, D5000 with its smooth, fuller and color (in a good way) high already set my standard on high to a whole new level. But for my taste of music (mostly Hard, Metal and Blues) and my age (I guess) Stax does a better job on high for me. I find the smooth and laid-back high on D5000 is kinda boring sometime. Stax high is more forwarding, powerful and slightly distorted (the best term I could find) and that breathe soul into guitar solo, piano and percussion. B.B. King and Eric Clapton's guitar works in Riding with the King are so beautiful, soulful and emotional (in case you don't know, those two guys are the bad boys in guitar world. One holds 3rd place and the other holds 4th place in Rollingstone's The 100 greatest guitarists of all time).
I respect the high of Denon and understand why it suits better for classical and jazz music and for older people
but for me I prefer Stax when it comes to high.
Bass: Strange enough. I *think* I prefer Stax bass. Don't get me wrong. I do miss my D5000 and am wishing to have a Denon here to enjoy its deep low and powerful bass on some songs. I'm even thinking of buying it back when I'm done fixing some serious dents in my wallet. However in overall Stax bass is more of my liking. It's more controlled, still punchy enough and the quantity does not dominate the whole spectrum hence making the sound much more balanced. Even more strange, I haven't realized my 8" Infinity subwoofer sounds that bad before I heard the bass of Stax. Guess that can be partially explained by my liking of Stax sound signature. I'm more of a "neutral" guy than "color" guy I think.
Resolution: I always know the important role of attack in music, especially when it comes to rock but honestly I had very little or next to no idea about the role of decay until going stats. Well, to tell the truth I didn't even know about the term "decay" before I'm Staxed (That also apply to "spacious" and "airy"). It's just on one day, when I was listening to Buddy Guy, on Johnny Johnson's terrific piano solo in a song named 7-11, I was "What the hell is that? Why the notes last so beautifully? There's must be a term in Describing Sound - A Glossary thread". I looked it up and bingo! I found decay, spacious and airy. That small story tells something about my Stax definition compared to that of D5000 right?
So yes! Attack and decay are much better on Stax. That level of detail, in combination with larger and more 3D soundstage (Well, 3D soundstage is another thing I understand thank to stats) and more spacious sound of instruments result in better imaging. On Eric Clapton's Unplugged it's clearly showed off.
The next 50 hours (With DAC)
Well, there's not much to say here since everything is just better. Well, much better. Much more refined. I just want to echo the old saying: Garbage in -> Garbage out. The role of DAC is much more important than I thought. So if you don't have one? GO GET IT
Other notes:
For modern music, say Nu-Metal, Alternative, Hip Hop, R&B etc... I miss the Denon. Those nowadays noisy mid-range and electric bass suite better with V-shape FR and color cans like Denon. Listening to those type of music on Stax for long session hurts my ears really.
Comfort: My Stax is so comfort. I have zero issue with it. Some bigger heads may find the clamping force somewhat strong I think but other than that I'm perfectly content with my Stax comfort wise. And keep in mind that I'm comparing it to the king of comfort out there.
Isolation: Zero
Bottom lines
I can confidently say that there is not much of placebo or psychological effect, if any, in my love for Stax. There are only quite a few short reviews out there for SRS-2050A and there are zero fixed idea on them, not like many much more popular headphones in Head-Fi. I actually intended to stop at Denon and tried to keep them but I couldn't. For Stax it's quite an opposite. I took a risky shot with Stax and funny enough it turned out to be the keeper.
As I said above, my audiophile experiments are limited, as well as my gear. I'm not as professional as you guys and English is my second language so my first review might be boring and unhelpful for some of you guys. It's just my experiment on a not so popular system I want to share with you guys Head-Fiers.
After all it's just my humble opinion
Pictures
Background
I'm just into Audiophile world for just about 6 months. At that time I was a young and innocent boy eagerly looking for a replacement for my lost iBud and had no idea about what was waiting for me ahead. I ended up finding Head-Fi, made the first purchase SRH440. After that things are totally out of control. I then bought an X-Fi Notebook soundcard, HD555, ATH-CK7, Denon D5000, Woo Audio 6, Denon D7000 and ATH-M50. Now I'm temporary stick with my most favorite, Stax
That said, my gear is pretty limited. My rig was SRH440 and HD555 straight out of X-Fi Notebook 1/8", no Amp. Then D5000 driven by Woo 6, no DAC. Then D7000 driven by Denon AVR-589 receiver, no DAC. Only my current rig can be considered proper when I purchased my first DAC, Gamma-2 by MisterX. My headtime with each can is short and most of the time I don't have more than one can at a time to do a proper A/B comparison. Well what else do you expect from a starving student? So please keep that in mind when reading throughout my review.
Setup
Sony Vaio --- Flac --- Gamma-2 via USB port --- SRM-252A --- SR-202
Reference Albums
Riding with the King - B.B. King v. Eric Clapton, Unplugged Album - Eric Clapton, Buddy's Baddest - Buddy Guy.
I will mostly compare my current rig with iPhone 3GS --- Woo 6 --- D5000 since it's my 2nd most proper rig so far.
I don't wanna take D7000 into the comparison since my poor receiver headphone output may be the reason for my biggest expectation turned out to be the biggest disappointment D7000
First impression (No DAC)
The very first time I listened to my Stax (less than 30') I realized several things: Sound signature is totally different from Denon. Pretty much higher resolution. More forwarding. Not as smooth at high. Fuller mid-range. And of course, not as bassy.
After having some more headtime with it, my first impression still stands correct. I learned that the differences in sound signature is because Stax is more neutral and Denon is more color. I realized a lot more details that I didn't notice when I play with my Denon. I find the music is more engaged because of its forwarding and less smooth high. Vocal sounds wonderful and lifelike. Bass is not the kind of skull vibrating as that of Denon. And new things worth noticing: Better soundstage and imaging.
The first 50 hours (Still no DAC)
I realized this one is the keeper for sure. I love every bit out of it. I was totally floored on every single aspect of sound it brought on me. My jaw keeps dropping and I keep smiling every time I hear music sings through the system.
Mid-range: There is no brainer here. Stax's mid-range completely and utterly destroys that of D5000. Sorry Denon lovers but there's no contest. If you guys ever know how much I loved D5000 out of Woo 6 you will know that I'm not bashing D5000 nor trying to start a flame war here. It's just Stax mid is so good or at least so good compared to my other cans. I will use the terms "full", "warm", "forwarding" and "intimated" to describe the mid. If on D5000 Celine Dion and I each sitting at each corner of the room while I'm listening to her voice then on Stax I feel like I'm holding her in my arms while she put arms around my neck and whispering in my ears.
High: Coming from harshness of SRH440 and somewhat thin and pale high of HD555, D5000 with its smooth, fuller and color (in a good way) high already set my standard on high to a whole new level. But for my taste of music (mostly Hard, Metal and Blues) and my age (I guess) Stax does a better job on high for me. I find the smooth and laid-back high on D5000 is kinda boring sometime. Stax high is more forwarding, powerful and slightly distorted (the best term I could find) and that breathe soul into guitar solo, piano and percussion. B.B. King and Eric Clapton's guitar works in Riding with the King are so beautiful, soulful and emotional (in case you don't know, those two guys are the bad boys in guitar world. One holds 3rd place and the other holds 4th place in Rollingstone's The 100 greatest guitarists of all time).
I respect the high of Denon and understand why it suits better for classical and jazz music and for older people
Bass: Strange enough. I *think* I prefer Stax bass. Don't get me wrong. I do miss my D5000 and am wishing to have a Denon here to enjoy its deep low and powerful bass on some songs. I'm even thinking of buying it back when I'm done fixing some serious dents in my wallet. However in overall Stax bass is more of my liking. It's more controlled, still punchy enough and the quantity does not dominate the whole spectrum hence making the sound much more balanced. Even more strange, I haven't realized my 8" Infinity subwoofer sounds that bad before I heard the bass of Stax. Guess that can be partially explained by my liking of Stax sound signature. I'm more of a "neutral" guy than "color" guy I think.
Resolution: I always know the important role of attack in music, especially when it comes to rock but honestly I had very little or next to no idea about the role of decay until going stats. Well, to tell the truth I didn't even know about the term "decay" before I'm Staxed (That also apply to "spacious" and "airy"). It's just on one day, when I was listening to Buddy Guy, on Johnny Johnson's terrific piano solo in a song named 7-11, I was "What the hell is that? Why the notes last so beautifully? There's must be a term in Describing Sound - A Glossary thread". I looked it up and bingo! I found decay, spacious and airy. That small story tells something about my Stax definition compared to that of D5000 right?
So yes! Attack and decay are much better on Stax. That level of detail, in combination with larger and more 3D soundstage (Well, 3D soundstage is another thing I understand thank to stats) and more spacious sound of instruments result in better imaging. On Eric Clapton's Unplugged it's clearly showed off.
The next 50 hours (With DAC)
Well, there's not much to say here since everything is just better. Well, much better. Much more refined. I just want to echo the old saying: Garbage in -> Garbage out. The role of DAC is much more important than I thought. So if you don't have one? GO GET IT
Other notes:
For modern music, say Nu-Metal, Alternative, Hip Hop, R&B etc... I miss the Denon. Those nowadays noisy mid-range and electric bass suite better with V-shape FR and color cans like Denon. Listening to those type of music on Stax for long session hurts my ears really.
Comfort: My Stax is so comfort. I have zero issue with it. Some bigger heads may find the clamping force somewhat strong I think but other than that I'm perfectly content with my Stax comfort wise. And keep in mind that I'm comparing it to the king of comfort out there.
Isolation: Zero
Bottom lines
I can confidently say that there is not much of placebo or psychological effect, if any, in my love for Stax. There are only quite a few short reviews out there for SRS-2050A and there are zero fixed idea on them, not like many much more popular headphones in Head-Fi. I actually intended to stop at Denon and tried to keep them but I couldn't. For Stax it's quite an opposite. I took a risky shot with Stax and funny enough it turned out to be the keeper.
As I said above, my audiophile experiments are limited, as well as my gear. I'm not as professional as you guys and English is my second language so my first review might be boring and unhelpful for some of you guys. It's just my experiment on a not so popular system I want to share with you guys Head-Fiers.
After all it's just my humble opinion
Pictures
