[eee1111]

My SR-009S does not sound anything like you have described. With my A-10, I have not heard a better pairing of any headphone. I think the amplifier's design plays a large part of getting the performance out of the headphone. While the A-10 was previously tuned for the SR-009S, that has now been removed with it's latest update and the voltage supplies adjusted.

I was being sarcastic. I was calling them out. I didn’t post anything about how they sound

I don’t agree that Stax 009 sounds like crunching potato chips

009s is a great headphone

 

[dukeskd]

009 are underrated.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Someone from european Union interested in a pair of used CRBNs in mint condition.
For beginners I could also offer an Mjölnir SRD-7 Energizer.

 

[Roasty]

had a small meet up in a friend's house yesterday. got the opportunity to try out my friend's LTA Z10e amp + Stax X9k and Audeze CRBN. The last time I heard these headphones was in the Sg CanJam, so getting a chance to listen to them again but in a non-show setting was great!

tried the CRBN first, and my friend was preparing me for the "farting". oddly, I heard zero farts, but turns out that was because I was wearing a baseball cap and was not getting a complete seal. he asked me to remove my cap and try it again and immediately I heard a loud one from both drivers. it was really quite a loud abrupt rustle and it gave me quite a shock.

without the baseball cap, the "farts" were indeed very prominent and persistent. moving my head from side to side, just talking and opening/closing the jaw, leaning back on the seat and resting my head backwards all resulted in sudden loud farts.

and then suddenly, the was a channel imbalance with the right side becoming very muted. my friend said that to remedy that required occasional slapping of the cup, and/or pressing the cup in towards the head and "releasing" the membrane (?). After several pushes and several slaps on the cup, he managed to return proper sound from the right side.

I dunno man... it seems like his CRBN needs to be sent back for a change to the new revision? when I listen to headphones, I don't want to be constantly worrying about these sudden loud sounds that will produce themselves even when talking or taking a sip of water from a cup, or even leaning back into the chair.

I do hope he manages to get his headphone sorted out as he did mention it can get quite annoying (and I can imagine, because when I have my hps on I sometimes like to walk around the room, look out the window, have a coffee etc etc hence my 3m length hp cables).

Otherwise, the CRBN was aesthetically appealing and very comfortable on the head. sound wise, I preferred the Stax x9k as I thought it offered a more balanced sound with better clarity, air, detail, spaciousness, imaging etc bass was also tighter and more detailed. the CRBN had lusher mids and stronger low end but seemed a bit bloated and the top end was not as "stat" like as the Stax. I will probably get a lot of flak for saying this but the CRBN did remind me of the Empyrean.

I do have to add, I think the LTA Z10e was holding back both headphones somewhat. reason being, the Stax sounded better to me at the show, paired with a T8000 amp; this pairing had a wonderful full bodied sound without ever sounding harsh/bright. but the Z10e and Stax last night sounded a bit thin in comparison. also the amp volume play was a bit of an annoyance with both headphones; anything below 33 and it sounds too soft and dull, and anything above 36 sounded suddenly too bright and forward. meaning I could only use 34 and 35 on the volume.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Yeah, the farts are annoying. As an aside, after my post in this thread about Audeze customer service, they reached out directly to me and offered to look at my CRBN and make any needed repairs. I sent it off yesterday. We shall see what they say

 

[musicman59]

had a small meet up in a friend's house yesterday. got the opportunity to try out my friend's LTA Z10e amp + Stax X9k and Audeze CRBN. The last time I heard these headphones was in the Sg CanJam, so getting a chance to listen to them again but in a non-show setting was great!

tried the CRBN first, and my friend was preparing me for the "farting". oddly, I heard zero farts, but turns out that was because I was wearing a baseball cap and was not getting a complete seal. he asked me to remove my cap and try it again and immediately I heard a loud one from both drivers. it was really quite a loud abrupt rustle and it gave me quite a shock.

without the baseball cap, the "farts" were indeed very prominent and persistent. moving my head from side to side, just talking and opening/closing the jaw, leaning back on the seat and resting my head backwards all resulted in sudden loud farts.

and then suddenly, the was a channel imbalance with the right side becoming very muted. my friend said that to remedy that required occasional slapping of the cup, and/or pressing the cup in towards the head and "releasing" the membrane (?). After several pushes and several slaps on the cup, he managed to return proper sound from the right side.

I dunno man... it seems like his CRBN needs to be sent back for a change to the new revision? when I listen to headphones, I don't want to be constantly worrying about these sudden loud sounds that will produce themselves even when talking or taking a sip of water from a cup, or even leaning back into the chair.

I do hope he manages to get his headphone sorted out as he did mention it can get quite annoying (and I can imagine, because when I have my hps on I sometimes like to walk around the room, look out the window, have a coffee etc etc hence my 3m length hp cables).

Otherwise, the CRBN was aesthetically appealing and very comfortable on the head. sound wise, I preferred the Stax x9k as I thought it offered a more balanced sound with better clarity, air, detail, spaciousness, imaging etc bass was also tighter and more detailed. the CRBN had lusher mids and stronger low end but seemed a bit bloated and the top end was not as "stat" like as the Stax. I will probably get a lot of flak for saying this but the CRBN did remind me of the Empyrean.

I do have to add, I think the LTA Z10e was holding back both headphones somewhat. reason being, the Stax sounded better to me at the show, paired with a T8000 amp; this pairing had a wonderful full bodied sound without ever sounding harsh/bright. but the Z10e and Stax last night sounded a bit thin in comparison. also the amp volume play was a bit of an annoyance with both headphones; anything below 33 and it sounds too soft and dull, and anything above 36 sounded suddenly too bright and forward. meaning I could only use 34 and 35 on the volume.

I listed to the CRBN and the X9000 at Axpona and confirmed I made the right decision ordering the X9000.

To me the CRBN sounded more like a planar headphone than a electrostatic so I understand what you are saying about the Empyrean.

I have able to listen to the CRBN on the Z10e, BHSE, Carbon and Woo ES8. I was very disappointed on the Z10e. The CRBN sounded thin with no body. On the rest they sounded much nicer but still not like the typical electrostatic sound.

Basically your experience correlates to mine.

 

[ThanatosVI]

CRBN did remind me of the Empyrean.

Pretty fitting actually.

More full bodied and thick with powerful Bass compared to other estats.
Just like the Empyrean has those differences to other planars.

 

[eee1111]

had a small meet up in a friend's house yesterday. got the opportunity to try out my friend's LTA Z10e amp + Stax X9k and Audeze CRBN. The last time I heard these headphones was in the Sg CanJam, so getting a chance to listen to them again but in a non-show setting was great!

tried the CRBN first, and my friend was preparing me for the "farting". oddly, I heard zero farts, but turns out that was because I was wearing a baseball cap and was not getting a complete seal. he asked me to remove my cap and try it again and immediately I heard a loud one from both drivers. it was really quite a loud abrupt rustle and it gave me quite a shock.

without the baseball cap, the "farts" were indeed very prominent and persistent. moving my head from side to side, just talking and opening/closing the jaw, leaning back on the seat and resting my head backwards all resulted in sudden loud farts.

and then suddenly, the was a channel imbalance with the right side becoming very muted. my friend said that to remedy that required occasional slapping of the cup, and/or pressing the cup in towards the head and "releasing" the membrane (?). After several pushes and several slaps on the cup, he managed to return proper sound from the right side.

I dunno man... it seems like his CRBN needs to be sent back for a change to the new revision? when I listen to headphones, I don't want to be constantly worrying about these sudden loud sounds that will produce themselves even when talking or taking a sip of water from a cup, or even leaning back into the chair.

I do hope he manages to get his headphone sorted out as he did mention it can get quite annoying (and I can imagine, because when I have my hps on I sometimes like to walk around the room, look out the window, have a coffee etc etc hence my 3m length hp cables).

Otherwise, the CRBN was aesthetically appealing and very comfortable on the head. sound wise, I preferred the Stax x9k as I thought it offered a more balanced sound with better clarity, air, detail, spaciousness, imaging etc bass was also tighter and more detailed. the CRBN had lusher mids and stronger low end but seemed a bit bloated and the top end was not as "stat" like as the Stax. I will probably get a lot of flak for saying this but the CRBN did remind me of the Empyrean.

I do have to add, I think the LTA Z10e was holding back both headphones somewhat. reason being, the Stax sounded better to me at the show, paired with a T8000 amp; this pairing had a wonderful full bodied sound without ever sounding harsh/bright. but the Z10e and Stax last night sounded a bit thin in comparison. also the amp volume play was a bit of an annoyance with both headphones; anything below 33 and it sounds too soft and dull, and anything above 36 sounded suddenly too bright and forward. meaning I could only use 34 and 35 on the volume.

It’s their first attempt.

My opinion is that given the amount of people who have complained it’s fair that I’m gonna sit the crbn out. Sound wise I believe they’re right up my alley with lush mids. But I can definitely wait for their next try at estats if it ever happens. The farting is a substantial issue for way too many people. I’ve watched the videos too and that doesn’t scream quality.

 

[zolkis]

Right, that kind of popping farting needs to be solved. I am certain the CRBN v2 will be somewhat better, but it might take until v3 to become truly mature. Until then, the pricing needs to drop, which is difficult for a small company, especially in today's market challenges. Callbacks are not cheap, either.
But I salute the CRBN introduces the "visceral" sounding e-stats (more so than the Stax 007 Mk1).
I would try to make the following improvements for the CRBN:
- improve the driver, farting, more efficient production
- less expensive housing
- better optimized ear pads (suggestions here)
- smaller price, in the Stax 007 range.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Otherwise, the CRBN was aesthetically appealing and very comfortable on the head. sound wise, I preferred the Stax x9k as I thought it offered a more balanced sound with better clarity, air, detail, spaciousness, imaging etc bass was also tighter and more detailed. the CRBN had lusher mids and stronger low end but seemed a bit bloated and the top end was not as "stat" like as the Stax. I will probably get a lot of flak for saying this but the CRBN did remind me of the Empyrean.

I do have to add, I think the LTA Z10e was holding back both headphones somewhat. reason being, the Stax sounded better to me at the show, paired with a T8000 amp; this pairing had a wonderful full bodied sound without ever sounding harsh/bright. but the Z10e and Stax last night sounded a bit thin in comparison. also the amp volume play was a bit of an annoyance with both headphones; anything below 33 and it sounds too soft and dull, and anything above 36 sounded suddenly too bright and forward. meaning I could only use 34 and 35 on the volume.

As for the farts, I would have your friend compare the sound of his to the few vids in the thread. If they are as drastic I'd send them back. Thankfully mine aren't and it barely happens for now, albeit because of adjusted behavior on my end.

Regarding the sound, I agree with your general assessment. They aren't really stat like in many ways, although I think this is kind of the point for the target audience. The only thing I would add is that the CRBN does scale up really well with better amplification. Still won't have the top end of some other stats, but they can open up a bit more (speaking of the T2 in my case, but full acknowledge the price).

But I salute the CRBN introduces the "visceral" sounding e-stats (more so than the Stax 007 Mk1).

Have you compared the two? And with what amp? I'm only curious, as I've seen this once or twice.. I've compared them countless times and the MK1 has far more visceral impact and overall bass (although I would argue that the CRBN's bass is more accurate). It's much more comparable to the TC and Audio Technica L3000 (again not quality), which I have on hand. The CRBN on the other hand is simply not in that category. It's a pretty big difference so I'm wondering how people are arriving at that.. unless it's just the serial and model variations at play.

 

[VandyMan]

Yeah, the farts are annoying. As an aside, after my post in this thread about Audeze customer service, they reached out directly to me and offered to look at my CRBN and make any needed repairs. I sent it off yesterday. We shall see what they say

Yes, please let us know.

I had very little issue with my CRBN when it was new, but I feel like the farting problem has gotten worse over time. I sent an email to Audeze about it and got the same response as you.

Edit Dec 27th: Audeze replaced my CRBN and the issues are resolved.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Yes, please let us know.

I had very little issue with my CRBN when it was new, but I feel like the farting problem has gotten worse over time. I sent an email to Audeze about it and got the same ridiculous response as you.

Audeze says that you should put on the CRBNs before plugging them intoyour amp. So if you want to get a drink, use the bathroom, answer the phone, talk to someone for a minute, etc you are supposed to unplug your headphones? It is total nonsense. If that Audeze's expectation for how the headphone will be used, I would not recommend anyone buy them, even though I think they sound terrific.

I want to Stress, that the problem does not exist on every CRBN.

I can leave mine connected when turning on/off, and put it on/off repeatedly without issues.
If I put them on/off too fast or press on the earcups then I get the crackling, but it's really not an issue.

That means, that it is possible to have a working CRBN without these issues and telling your customers to live with them is Kind of ridiculous.

 

[Chefguru]

I want to Stress, that the problem does not exist on every CRBN.

I can leave mine connected when turning on/off, and put it on/off repeatedly without issues.
If I put them on/off too fast or press on the earcups then I get the crackling, but it's really not an issue.

That means, that it is possible to have a working CRBN without these issues and telling your customers to live with them is Kind of ridiculous.

Both pairs I’ve had, including the one they replaced, and the two units I demoed, had the issue. Perhaps you are less sensitive to the issue yourself ? Is it not the same as in my video ?

 

[ThanatosVI]

Both pairs I’ve had, including the one they replaced, and the two units I demoed, had the issue. Perhaps you are less sensitive to the issue yourself ? Is it not the same as in my video ?

Can you link your Video again?

Edit:
Oh wait just realized thst you're not Vandyman.

It's like in your last Video were you explained the seal and impact on the crackling. Which seems totally fine if you put them on carefully and don't headbang.

I remember you (or someone else) uploading a Video with exzessive crackling, that one was way way worse than mine

 

[number1sixerfan]

Both pairs I’ve had, including the one they replaced, and the two units I demoed, had the issue. Perhaps you are less sensitive to the issue yourself ? Is it not the same as in my video ?

I saw your video and mine doesn't have the issue anywhere near significantly. It's easily livable in my situation. But that's part of the thing that's alarming to me.. this level of variance alone should really be unacceptable imo