[flipper2gv]

   
Too bad I couldn't let you borrow the two STAX I owned so far. I would have been interested in your comparisons. The main things I found slightly lacking in the SR-207 (and to a lesser extent, the SR-30, which rocks harder, but doesn't sound as good most of the time) were bass, impact, and the weight of the instruments. Very accurate, but just a little too light. (I guess that's what people mean when they call STAX ethereal, but thankfully, it wasn't overly bright and airy like the word ethereal may imply.) Aside from that, they were phenomenal.

 
I'm quite surprised to hear you say that, because when I told you this exact thing you were defending the SR-207 saying they had, and I quote: "epic bass".

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I'm quite surprised to hear you say that, because when I told you this exact thing you were defending the SR-207 saying they had, and I quote: "epic bass".

 
I have said all along that the SR-207 is slightly bass-light. It *does* have epic bass, in terms of both quality and also when there is heavy bass in the music, because when there's that much bass, you don't notice so much that it's missing a little bit. Unfortunately, since I was already using most of the SRM-212's volume knob, I could not boost the bass with EQ without encountering distortion.
 
By the way, in case you didn't see, I recently bought an extreme basshead headphone. hehe

 

[Fearless1]

  At home, I'm listening to the HE-6. Experimenting with lots of pads and mods at the moment (current config: FocusPad w/ vented foam spacers, grill mod & fuzzor mod... will probably experiment with Audeze Vegan pads next). Still waiting on the Marantz PM-500 to arrive, it has been "Delayed in transit" according to the tracking. Very annoyed. H/K PM640 Vxi is serviceable for the time being. 
 
 

The Vegan pads are the ticket, after hearing them on the HE6 I purchased them for the 500, 400, 400i (modded to fit) and the HE4. It improved the sound of all three to my ears.

 

[Hansotek]

 
At home, I'm listening to the HE-6. Experimenting with lots of pads and mods at the moment (current config: FocusPad w/ vented foam spacers, grill mod

The Vegan pads are the ticket, after hearing them on the HE6 I purchased them for the 500, 400, 400i (modded to fit) and the HE4. It improved the sound of all three to my ears.

Oh wow. Ok, definitely ordering a pair of those tomorrow then. I've heard lots of positive impressions, but a thumbs up from a fellow metal head is definitely worth some extra weight! Are you using any additional mods like the Fuzzor or oohgami's felt circle mod with the Audeze pads?

 

[Fearless1]

Oh wow. Ok, definitely ordering a pair of those tomorrow then. I've heard lots of positive impressions, but a thumbs up from a fellow metal head is definitely worth some extra weight! Are you using any additional mods like the Fuzzor or oohgami's felt circle mod with the Audeze pads?

I tried  and reversed my fazor mod. I use Mr Speakers doggie treats for a bit of treble taming and did the grill mod.

 

[Hansotek]

 

Oh wow. Ok, definitely ordering a pair of those tomorrow then. I've heard lots of positive impressions, but a thumbs up from a fellow metal head is definitely worth some extra weight! Are you using any additional mods like the Fuzzor or oohgami's felt circle mod with the Audeze pads?

I tried  and reversed my fazor mod. I use Mr Speakers doggie treats for a bit of treble taming and did the grill mod.

 
Awesome. I have a pair on the way! 

 

[NZtechfreak]

From the HA-2 these are sounding pretty good with the metal I've briefly listened to:

 

[Music Alchemist]

Random: does anyone remember the '90s PlayStation game Cool Boarders 2? I have the soundtrack and am listening to it at the moment. It's like a mixture of rock, metal, and even a little death metal influence as well.
 

From the HA-2 these are sounding pretty good with the metal I've briefly listened to:

 
You got the McIntosh MHP1000?

 
I heard those are one of the best closed headphones out there.

 

[NZtechfreak]

You got the McIntosh MHP1000? :eek:

I heard those are one of the best closed headphones out there.

Yep, just in time too, about to see a significant exchange-rate related price hike here after the final unit in the country sells (from $3000 NZD to $3800 NZD - I paid a fair amount less than that though - the price hike will be pretty helpful if I sell it later!).

I was for a time very focused on closed cans, now that I'm sorted with HE6 amplification I've decided it's time to settle the high-end closed cans conundrum for good! Will have a 5-way comparo MHP1000, Ether C, T5p, Blackwood (maybe Omni) and Pandora Hope VI (having already discarded the Ultrasone Ed 8, Sig Pro, El8c, W3000ANV and LCD-XC). TH900 will be the only one missing I think, but given that's relatively leaky it doesn't fit the brief for me.

 

[Music Alchemist]

So the M30x seems to fare better with modern hard rock than metal.
 
Oh, and I got a JVC HA-M55X today. Bad sound, but I got it for 1) crazy bass and 2) to use its pads (said to provide the most bass impact) on the JVC HA-SZ2000 later. Unfortunately, I can't even boost the bass to basshead levels at the moment because the amp I got isn't powerful enough. No matter. The price I paid for the headphones (they're normally $50) is about the same price as the pads alone would cost anyway.
 

Yep, just in time too, about to see a significant exchange-rate related price hike here after the final unit in the country sells (from $3000 NZD to $3800 NZD - I paid a fair amount less than that though - the price hike will be pretty helpful if I sell it later!).

I was for a time very focused on closed cans, now that I'm sorted with HE6 amplification I've decided it's time to settle the high-end closed cans conundrum for good! Will have a 5-way comparo MHP1000, Ether C, T5p, Blackwood (maybe Omni) and Pandora Hope VI (having already discarded the Ultrasone Ed 8, Sig Pro, El8c, W3000ANZ and LCD-XC). TH900 will be the only one missing I think, but given that's relatively leaky it doesn't fit the brief for me.

 
Now you just need to add these high-end closed models to the comparison: Sony MDR-R10, STAX 4070, Ultrasone Edition 5, and the rumored Sennheiser HD 801.

 
Though it's under $400, the Philips A5-PRO is intriguing as well.
 
Speaking of settling conundrums...I figure that getting my ultimate basshead rig taken care of early on is the most logical course of action, since audiophile headphones are sooo much more expensive.

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

So the M30x seems to fare better with modern hard rock than metal.

Oh, and I got a JVC HA-M55X today. Bad sound, but I got it for 1) crazy bass and 2) to use its pads (said to provide the most bass impact) on the JVC HA-SZ2000 later. Unfortunately, I can't even boost the bass to basshead levels at the moment because the amp I got isn't powerful enough. No matter. The price I paid for the headphones (they're normally $50) is about the same price as the pads alone would cost anyway.


Now you just need to add these high-end closed models to the comparison: Sony MDR-R10, STAX 4070, Ultrasone Edition 5, and the rumored Sennheiser HD 801.

Though it's under $400, the Philips A5-PRO is intriguing as well.

Speaking of settling conundrums...I figure that getting my ultimate basshead rig taken care of early on is the most logical course of action, since audiophile headphones are sooo much more expensive.

Warning about the hm55x pads with sz2000, they are not comfortable enough to be worn for over an hour. The drivers touch the ears, and I have relatively smaller ears. If you're gonna use them for shorter period, good enough. I ended up ordering the alpha pads, which cost me almost half the price I paid for the cans themselves lol. Worth it for me though, I absolutely love these cans, especially for purely fun listening (commuting, cleaning, mindless work etc).

 

[Music Alchemist]

Warning about the hm55x pads with sz2000, they are not comfortable enough to be worn for over an hour. The drivers touch the ears, and I have relatively smaller ears. If you're gonna use them for shorter period, good enough. I ended up ordering the alpha pads, which cost me almost half the price I paid for the cans themselves lol. Worth it for me though, I absolutely love these cans, especially for purely fun listening (commuting, cleaning, mindless work etc).

 
Oh yeah, I forgot you had it too. My ears may be even smaller than yours, because the HA-M55X pads are very large for me. They surround my ears with lots of room to spare. No comfort issues for me except for the strong clamping force of the headphones themselves. The drivers of the HA-M55X don't come close to touching my ears, and the HA-SZ2000 has even larger drivers, so I would assume it wouldn't be more shallow. I'll have to see. I'm getting other pads for it too, anyway. HM5, Alpha Pads, etc. But wait...the Alpha Pads are $60 and the HA-SZ2000 is over $200. Perhaps you got an unbelievable deal on a used one? So do you use EQ with yours? Wanna share your settings?

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

Oh yeah, I forgot you had it too. My ears may be even smaller than yours, because the HA-M55X pads are very large for me. They surround my ears with lots of room to spare. No comfort issues for me except for the strong clamping force of the headphones themselves. The drivers of the HA-M55X don't come close to touching my ears, and the HA-SZ2000 has even larger drivers, so I would assume it wouldn't be more shallow. I'll have to see. I'm getting other pads for it too, anyway. HM5, Alpha Pads, etc. But wait...the Alpha Pads are $60 and the HA-SZ2000 is over $200. Perhaps you got an unbelievable deal on a used one? So do you use EQ with yours? Wanna share your settings?

I got them for 180,alpha pads were 71 with shipping since I am in Canada. So yeah, not exactly half but pretty pricey for a set of pads. They look real comfy though.

I push 30, 60 and 80 up, with 30 the highest. Also push 8k and 10k slightly up. Still quite veiled, but I am mainly looking for the thunderous bass so I like it.

 

[Max Choiral]

  Now you just need to add these high-end closed models to the comparison: Sony MDR-R10, STAX 4070, Ultrasone Edition 5, and the rumored Sennheiser HD 801.

Could you please share a link regarding HD 801?

 

[Music Alchemist]

I got them for 180,alpha pads were 71 with shipping since I am in Canada. So yeah, not exactly half but pretty pricey for a set of pads. They look real comfy though.

I push 30, 60 and 80 up, with 30 the highest. Also push 8k and 10k slightly up. Still quite veiled, but I am mainly looking for the thunderous bass so I like it.

 
Cool. I'm sure the HA-M55X needs EQ much more than the HA-SZ2000...because the 55 isn't even worth bothering with without EQ. (Looks really cool, though!)
 

  Could you please share a link regarding HD 801?

 
I've just read rumors about it on this site. No official links available, to my knowledge, sorry.
 
But the Orpheus 2 is definitely comin' out! Gotta wonder whether it'll be better or worse than the original Orpheus HE 90.