One added thought. Put the glue mostly on the edge of the pleather; the section that goes mostly into the slot. If you put too much on and it seeps to the middle of the pleather, it probably will fuse to the foam insert and make it hard.

I pulled out some of the cheap fake leather covering the foam side of the headband and placed glue on the pleather. Using a plastic hotel key card, I put the pleather back into the slot formed by a scarily cheap piece of plastic and the main headband structure. I then squeezed the headband for...

He seems to be using regular Belden wire, which is pretty standard high-quality cabling, not an esoteric multi-thousand dollar boutique audiophile brand.

This may explain why putting my hands near the earcups noticeably alters the sound. If the grill reflected significant sound, I'm guessing putting hands near the earcups wouldn't have such a large effect. It may be only a matter of time before someone finds the exact way to apply painters...

The German car companies pushed for diesel, which anyone who lived in CA in the 1980s/1990s should have realized is a horrible idea because NOx is just as bad, if not worse, than CHG emissions. They eventually found out they couldn't meet US EPA NOx regulations with diesel and just faked their...

All that matters is you enjoy what you have. Once you are at that point, just ignore the noise.

Wifi would be a nice improvement in terms of range and sound quality over the Bluetooth we are currently stuck using. https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/27/24084802/sonos-headphones-june-release-date-rumor-party-speaker

The wooden Stax stand works well. The use of wood and having a wide open gap seems helpful in reducing moisture buildup. Moisture is your enemy with electrostatic headphones. Also the stand has zero sharp edges.

The leather on Stellias tends to darken with use as they accumulate skin oil. The ear cups are dark brown when new and start to look black over time.

There is a common misperception that LDAC is lossless because Sony intentionally put L in the acronym to fool people. It is never lossless and drops bit rates very, very aggressively if the signal is not strong. I have a Hiby R3 that streams LDAC and an A&K DAP that streams APTX-HD. If I move...

Given the thick the grill lines, the headphones would be pretty heavy if there were solid metal rather than plastic. Also, I see plenty of devices with plastic painted to look like metal. It's like vegan leather pretending to be leather and not a petroleum by product.

The Eksonic Aeras is made in the EU (i think Greece). My X9000 sounds great with it. Eksonic also makes a T2, but I believe that model is made in the U.S., so could have some import costs if you go down that route.

My "leather" headband separated along the seam, so the red stitching clearly is decorative. I used Scotch branded no-run super glue to hold the two sides of the headband in place and haven't had any issues since.

My impression is they have given up on this model. So I doubt it.

I have the same issue with the "leather" coming unglued from the headband. Not good for something so expensive.

I would add that the x9000 are physically more open than typical open-backed headphones. This makes the x9000 susceptible to noise pollution. If I open my window, outside noise negatively affects the sound out of these headphones by making them sound lifeless. Strangely, if I put my hands...

This product is very disappointing. Firmware updating via iphone still does not work. The windows app is horrible. Connecting with a USB cable is very glitchy. There clearly was a lack of testing before they sold this clunker.

I recently purchased a x9000 and an Eksonic Aeras. They sound beyond fantastic with classical and acoustic music. I am perfectly fine with other people who think the older models are superior, because I have zero regrets. It's a great feeling listening to music versus chasing equipment - a...

I get this issue all the time with streaming apps but not with locally stored music. I think it has to do with streaming apps constantly checking back with the server, even for "offline" stored music, coupled with the horrible wifi speed of the SE200.

Sony is worshipped in Japan but is not a completely above-board company that is going to chuck money at Audeze and then just let Audeze use this money to do whatever they want. The moment anything goes wrong, the people at Sony who pushed for the deal will blame Audeze and then take a super...

I think AK didn't sell many of these because this device seems to get close to zero attention from them in terms of firmware updates or other enhancements.

I'm not sure it's an issue of mental capacity. Some people like a smoothed over sound because it's more relaxing. Some people want to hear everything. Acoustics also change depending on where you are listening. Anyone who ever has sat in an orchestra next to other musicians and in front of...

Bose quietcomfort 2 earbuds have incredible ANC, well beyond the 5909. On a flight these may be a better bet as they are much less unwieldy than traveling with large headphones and airplane noise tends to overwhelm headphone audio quality anyway.

I'm always surprised how some are skeptical of the benefits of balanced designs despite the ability to introduce audible hum in single ended systems through interference that disappears if you go balanced. People are willing to spend tons of money putting pucks on top of devices, lifting...

It’s totally valid that people who spend good money on equipment should get a sound they enjoy. I’m not sure that is the same as saying people creating music have no expectation on how their work should be heard. Composers absolutely have a vision of how their works should sound. Most...