[gaijin]

There have been many threads outlining the difference between electrostatic and dynamic phones. The HE90 is no exception - however good it will always sound like an electrostatic phone and will never have the same qualities as the K1000 which is the number one dynamic phone.

I am sure swapping HE90 on the pretext of a bad production run will not change your overall impression of these phones. Don't waste your time !

As for the Qualia, aside from the "cavernous" sound which is more or less pronounced depending on your fit, I find the tone is just off.

For the price of the HE90 system you can get an amazing dynamic K1000 rig. Forget about headphone amps. Go for the best in tube power amps (air tight, kondo, shindo, leben....) and you will not ever think about the HE90 again. I sold my HE90 system more than a year ago and have not regretted it !

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaijin /img/forum/go_quote.gif There have been many threads outlining the difference between electrostatic and dynamic phones. The HE90 is no exception - however good it will always sound like an electrostatic phone and will never have the same qualities as the K1000 which is the number one dynamic phone. I am sure swapping HE90 on the pretext of a bad production run will not change your overall impression of these phones. Don't waste your time ! As for the Qualia, aside from the "cavernous" sound which is more or less pronounced depending on your fit, I find the tone is just off. For the price of the HE90 system you can get an amazing dynamic K1000 rig. Forget about headphone amps. Go for the best in tube power amps (air tight, kondo, shindo, leben....) and you will not ever think about the HE90 again. I sold my HE90 system more than a year ago and have not regretted it !

It sounds like Jason likes the sound of electrostats, so that shouldn't be the problem.

 

[gaijin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif It sounds like Jason likes the sound of electrostats, so that shouldn't be the problem.

The electrostatic sound is seducing, but there is always that little something missing that compels you to upgrade - finally when you get to the HE90 and your electrostatic upgrade path is over you realize you have come to a dead end and you must go back down the dynamic path...

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaijin /img/forum/go_quote.gif The electrostatic sound is seducing, but there is always that little something missing that compels you to upgrade - finally when you get to the HE90 and your electrostatic upgrade path is over you realize you have come to a dead end and you must go back down the dynamic path...

Well....not all of us would agree with that.

 

[smeggy]

Not me that's for sure. I'm at my 'stat journeys end with the SR-X which to me are nigh on perfect for my tastes. They manage to live in joyous harmony with my K1000s and while they may not sound like your typical diffuse field audiophile 'stat they are a high precision weapon like the K1K and work just as well.

 

[J-Pak]

Hey Jason I remember you saying you really like the HD600, maybe it is time to get a custom amp for them (at the same time in an attractive case that suits your tastes)

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaijin /img/forum/go_quote.gif The electrostatic sound is seducing, but there is always that little something missing that compels you to upgrade - finally when you get to the HE90 and your electrostatic upgrade path is over you realize you have come to a dead end and you must go back down the dynamic path...

Not that I claim to have much knowledge with full size headphones (because I'm an IEM guy, at least for the time being, finances not allowing a really nice set of cans).....

...but it sounds to me like there is not a best-of-both-worlds??

Is there no stat/dyna combination headphone? None with a dynamic driver and an electrostatic section? None like a Martin Logan speaker?

Of all the cans I've heard, I do prefer high-end Sony's... the CD3000 were always my favorite (although I owned the CD1000). I can't imagine what the R10/010/Qualia sound like, nor could I hold a candle to your rigs, so I certainly have no comment in that arena.

It just seems logical that one would exist out there somewhere.
If so, what is it called?

 

[mirumu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...but it sounds to me like there is not a best-of-both-worlds?? Is there no stat/dyna combination headphone? None with a dynamic driver and an electrostatic section? None like a Martin Logan speaker?

There's the AKG K340 although I can't say I liked them that much when I borrowed a pair for a while.

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you guys know at which serial # the second batch started with?

I think they started at 32x or there about. My set is one of the last produced and it is in the high 33x.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaijin /img/forum/go_quote.gif The electrostatic sound is seducing, but there is always that little something missing that compels you to upgrade - finally when you get to the HE90 and your electrostatic upgrade path is over you realize you have come to a dead end and you must go back down the dynamic path...

I have already come very close to the top and now I'm buying every flavor of stats' I can find and making my own. I will never buy another set of dynamics unless it's to convert them to electrostats. In fact I have only one set left and it's fine computer games and not much else.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think they started at 32x or there about. My set is one of the last produced and it is in the high 33x.

Thanks!

 

[braillediver]

Is the Dynamight solid state? The way he described the sound almost sounded like a generalization people use when describing the differences between solid state and vacuum tubes. Is Jason describing the difference between a tube amp and a solid state amp?

Euphonic HE90 / Aristaeus vs Glass Dynamight / 010?


Mitch

 

[tjkurita]

Yes, the Dynamight is solid state. But I think an even larger factor is the electrostatic vs dynamic transducer involved, as well as the differences in the design of the cans themselves. It is a system-wide difference that is rather significant and the solid-state/tube thing might indeed be a contributing factor.

But there are "glassy" tube amps. I think the Zana Deux is gaining a reputation as one of these. And there are "tubey" solid state amps. I believe the First Watt F2 is designed as such, and the 47 Labs Shigaraki and Gaincard also have "tube-like" sound.

 

[granodemostasa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjkurita /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, the Dynamight is solid state. But I think an even larger factor is the electrostatic vs dynamic transducer involved, as well as the differences in the design of the cans themselves. It is a system-wide difference that is rather significant and the solid-state/tube thing might indeed be a contributing factor. But there are "glassy" tube amps. I think the Zana Deux is gaining a reputation as one of these. And there are "tubey" solid state amps. I believe the First Watt F2 is designed as such, and the 47 Labs Shigaraki and Gaincard also have "tube-like" sound.

what do you mean by glassy?.....

 

[Nik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaijin /img/forum/go_quote.gif There have been many threads outlining the difference between electrostatic and dynamic phones. The HE90 is no exception - however good it will always sound like an electrostatic phone and will never have the same qualities as the K1000 which is the number one dynamic phone. I am sure swapping HE90 on the pretext of a bad production run will not change your overall impression of these phones. Don't waste your time ! As for the Qualia, aside from the "cavernous" sound which is more or less pronounced depending on your fit, I find the tone is just off. For the price of the HE90 system you can get an amazing dynamic K1000 rig. Forget about headphone amps. Go for the best in tube power amps (air tight, kondo, shindo, leben....) and you will not ever think about the HE90 again. I sold my HE90 system more than a year ago and have not regretted it !

You have sold your Orpheus setup, and I'll do not buy one...

 

[tjkurita]

Quote:

Originally Posted by granodemostasa /img/forum/go_quote.gif what do you mean by glassy?.....

Well, I originally used the word to describe Jason's Dynamight Qualia 010 rig. Jason referenced my description in this thread when he said:

Well, thinking about this, I think you actually described it best when you said my 010 system sounded like glass (and with that Dynamight, that's exactly how it sounded). Euphony to me is kind of the opposite of that.

I would describe it as a very fast, "reflective" sound. The kind of sound that is sharp and clear and clean and makes you think that if you shined a light on it, it would reflect the light. The good part of the sound makes me think high resolution, detail, impact, tightness, dynamic speed and precision. The bad part of the sound makes me think of brittleness, harshness, lowered dynamic range (increasing overall loudness, rather than increasing volume range), hyper-detail at the cost of musicality, unnatural sound. Jason's rig didn't do the bad stuff when I listened to it briefly. But I have heard rigs that do it and they can be frustrating over time. I have never lived too long with any such rig. One was a Gilmore design that I had that bothered me.

The differences in the dynamics is a personal thing. It might be a psychoacoustic thing limited to my own perceptions. When I hear a very fast, detailed, solid state system, I do get an odd feeling that the dynamic range flattens out a little compared to a good valve system.

These things can be subtle or they can be overwhelming. My system is quite different from Jason's Dynamight/010 rig and the difference is clear from the start. Going from one to the other gives a clear illustration of the difference.

Edit: Another way one might describe it (though it is only one part of the difference) is when Srajan of 6Moons described switching from a detailed solid state amp to a 300B amp: He said that when he switched he noticed that the 300B sounded like there were millions of little particles in the air where there were none with the solid state. Glassy is the another way of describing this difference in the degree of clarity. These little particles are not necessarily a bad thing: Remember, the most beautiful sunsets are the result of the light traveling through lots of particles (polution) in the air. Polution is bad, though so maybe my analogy is not very good.