Quote:
Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif
How much of the timbre of real life instruments do you think is captured accurately by the HE60, especially in terms of the SR-404? The jump from the latter to the former is quite large, and I've been curious about electrostatic headphones for some time. I'm curious about classical/orchestral/strings/violin in particular.
If the bass really does roll off starting at 80Hz, there is a large chunk of information missing from even classical music.
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I'll be absolutely frank: The SR-404 is at least 90% of the HE60. If you're just dipping your toes in the pool, I would suggest you start of with the much cheaper SR-404. The HE60 and the SR-404 sound sufficiently different for one to pick one from the other purely on the basis of personal taste and not technical merit. It took me a while to get accustomed to the HE60's more intimate sound. I can completely understand why some might even choose the SR-404 over the HE60 purely because of that. The SR-404 has a more airy soundstage. Instruments appear to be sounding from slightly further away. However, the imaging is really not as sharp. I can pick out with more precision the location of the instruments on the HE60 whereas the SR-404 just presents them as a sound coming from roughly so far away. You may enjoy the more diffuse sounding SR-404 depending on the music at the expense of very accurate timbre.
So I've kinda avoided your initial question
Not for long though. Along with bringing the source of sound closer to the listener and imaging more precisely, the HE60 also resolves much finer details. Instruments just sound
that much more realistic than when played through the SR-404. The final product is subtly different, but to me, it's worth just
that much more money. I'd be perfectly happy just listening to my SR-404, but why not go the extra mile for even more realistic sound reproduction if the wallet allows?
Now the violin's sound is unique in a way that it is very complex. There are lots of harmonics and due to the way the sound is produced (friction between horse hair and metal string aided by tree sap/rosin), you don't get a pure tone. There is a lot of "distortion", "coarseness" and a healthy portion of "imperfections". The violin simply doesn't sound as perfect as some might think. These imperfections are most evident when listening to solo violin music, where the microphone is usually placed closer to the performer. It is also these imperfections that give each violin its own unique tone. Hence, solo violin is a good test for micro-detail resolution and overall tone quality accuracy.
In more "diplomatic" terms, the SR-404 is smoother sounding (might be an illusion from the
relative lack of details). Compared to the HE60, everything is covered in a layer of golden syrup. It's tastes wonderful, but you never get to really feel the texture of the underlying pastry. The HE60 takes away a lot of the golden syrup and replaces it with a fine layer of icing sugar. It's not as smooth, but the micro details are now much more apparent. It's really something that has to be heard to be believed.
Having said that, the SR-404 is tremendously detailed as it is. What
really handicaps the SR-404 in terms of timbre is the upper midrange thinness. Some call it colouration, but either way it is something that can't be unheard once you hear it
On certain orchestral tracks, the violins sound unnaturally thin. Again, it's a subtle difference, but it becomes not so subtle when you have some other "reference" to compare it against (my own violin, my own experience from live performances and other transducers).
I quite like how small to medium chamber music and solo violin sounds on the HE60 (eg Bach Partitas, Paganini Caprices, Ysaye Violin Sonatas, Mendelssohn & Schubert Octets, Brandenburg Concertos, etc...). If you're a big soundstage person, then try the SR-404 first. You won't be missing out on
that much. If only the HE60 had a larger soundstage, it would be the perfect classical music all-rounder headphone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Extension is very good, quality is a shade bellow that of the Omega II, tactility is about as good as stats get provided the amp is up to snuff, but there is a rolloff bellow starting around 50Hz and it's quite audible.
This suggests that the diaphragm is quite tight in there.
The graphs (and my ears back this up) put the rolloff as starting at ~50Hz, not 80Hz. The slope is quite steep however.
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The SR-404 does have slightly better bass extension than the HE60. There's some organ music that uses the 32' pipe in a few very exposed bits. The SR-404 clearly has more of a reverberation/resonating effect. I know for a fact that the track is a good test for bass extension because I used it to audition quite a few speakers and the whole room rumbles when those 32' pipes are played.
Track can be downloaded here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/23753831..._in_C_mino.mp3
Tactility is pretty darn impressive for an electrostat. It sounds very "dynamic-like" to me, only with superb control. What sort of qualities are you talking about?
I'll do more listening to figure out for myself where the roll-off begins. They can definitely reproduce low double digit Hz, but most probably at a decreased amplitude as pointed out by many already.
I don't feel the HE60 is really lacking any frequencies. Music still sounds like music in a realistic manner.
