[ratboi]

Pray tell ... who is this 'Boz' you speak of ?

On Islands (King Crimson album)

• Boz Burrell (credited as "Boz") – bass, lead vocals, choreography, production

wikipedia is your friend

 

[Brahmsian]

My initial impression was a bit like yours: mids can be a little shouty, not particularly natural sounding, but then I switched to things I know were recorded and (newly) mixed well, fairly complex music with passages containing plenty of "information" and the ESP/950 were great. Then I switched to Yes's Fragile (Steven Wilson 2015 mix), and again the mids were shouty bordering on painful. I've read these cans will expose bad recordings/mixes/mastering, so for now I'm chalking it up to that.

To me, classical is best with the 950. To me, the instrument separation and open sound is very concert like.

There is certainly a different sound with electrostats that you need to get used to and appreciate. They aren't for everyone.

Never heard a stat but from what I understand they're not for bass-heads. Also I keep making the same mistake, which is to blame my headphones for what is really the recording's fault. But then something will sound superb, and that's when I realize how good the headphones are. The lesson is that when you judge any high quality pair of headphones you have to be feeding it high quality recordings, and most pop music doesn't qualify.

As an example, I just listened to this superb MQA offering on Tidal, the kind of recording you should use.

 

[ratboi]

The only general drawback to electrostatics are that the bass doesn't have an "impact" like dynamic headphones - as no air is moved by the drivers.

Well, it is moved, just in a more controlled manner. But, you knew that. For me, the major difference can be seen if you examine distortion measurements of dynamics vs electrostatics (or planar), especially for low frequency response. So much higher for dynamic drivers. The harmonics are easily heard, and help give the thump you are used to. Add a harmonic exciter to your playback loop, and you can make electrostatics sound kinda like dynamics - nice and thumpy - but without the veiled response in the mids and highs you put up with otherwise. I owe a real debt to cskippy for showing us how to do it.

EDIT: I disagree with the notion that these are only classical playback devices. Put the thump back with 'Real Bass Exciter', and even Bad Company sound good...

 

[ThurstonX]

Pray tell ... who is this 'Boz' you speak of ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boz_Burrell : one album with King Crimson (the aforementioned Islands), then on to bigger things with Bad Co.

Rats, I was beaten to it.

 

[ThurstonX]

Back to the physics drawing board ... No air movement = no sound. No ?

LOL. I was thinking the same thing. Then I realized, my ESP/950 plug straight into me brain, so, no air movement, just eStat impulses. It's good to be the King Borg.

 

[ratboi]

Never heard a stat but from what I understand they're not for bass-heads. Also I keep making the same mistake, which is to blame my headphones for what is really the recording's fault. But then something will sound superb, and that's when I realize how good the headphones are. The lesson is that when you judge any high quality pair of headphones you have to be feeding it high quality recordings, and most pop music doesn't qualify.

As an example, I just listened to this superb MQA offering on Tidal, the kind of recording you should use.

Well, she looks good, can she play?

I've seen and heard Emmanuelle Boisvert play first chair while she was with the DSO at the Max Fisher, and I admit it was hard to pay attention to the violin while she stood there in that white gown and heels. Serious shame she left us for Dallas...

 

[Brahmsian]

Well, she looks good, can she play?

Like an angel, sir.

 

[VRacer-111]

I got in on the latest Massdrop for these and mine came in today. Right off the bat I'm pretty impressed with them using my Gustard X20U DAC with the E90...SO MUCH DETAIL, intonation changes and micro details are really there to hear. I heard a cymbal being hit and pivoting around displacing the air around it...was a weird experience!

I do like the smooth sound quality of the stock pads. I did buy the Vesper pads while waiting for the ESP950 to ship after reading up more on the ESP950. Have to say that I am pretty dissapointed with them compared to the stock pads. Flat out do not like the sound change the Vesper pads impart - takes away from the smoothness, slighter harsher sounding - seemingly adding in a bit of reverb/reflection...just not as pleasant as stock pad sound. Also imparts a slight HD6XX like 'veil' quality to the sound. The Vesper pads just seem to go against the reason I got the ESP950. Comfort is better, as is the bass by a bit, but not enough to justify the changes in sound which I feel are worse than stock...there is no real change in detail either. I am more than fine with the stock pads. Have Loki and will use for EQ'ing the ESP950...

I have a STAX SRM-323S Driver Unit I recently picked up which will be ready to use once I get the KOSS-STAX adapter cable in...hopefully within the next day or two. But for now it's working great off the E90. Absolutely sweet sounding can, like a much more refined/detailed HD6XX with a little less bass. And it's more comfortable as well.

Really enjoying the 'Sins of Hayrule' album that was recently released...

http://music.rozen.audio/album/sins-of-hyrule

 

[fpantalone]

Glad I waited to buy the Vesper pads. The stock pads seem perfectly fine to me. I got these on MD as well as the 6xx, which are still waiting for me in Ottawa, Canada. The 950's have plenty of bass. They are nicely balanced, not bass heavy. If the 6xx have very much more bass, then they're likely ending up on the block. I'm also a fan of the planar bass ... M1060's. Interested to hear how things change with the STAX driver.

 

[crazychile]

Ok ... So I have to take back pretty well EVERYTHING I stated earlier this AM. The culprit ... the Fiio DAP. I think. iTunes on my laptop was acting up yesterday and early today so I couldn't access those files and had to use the Fiio. So I got the laptop thing straightened away a couple of hours ago and ... could these actually get any better with time. They really are terrific !! With just about any genre that I've thrown at them, from heavy strings to Daft Punk R.A.M. Lots of air and very good punchy low end. Reminiscent of my Q701's ... but on steroids. Buh bah Quincy One interesting thing I've discovered with these ... if you cup your hands and put them out a foot or so from your ears, and then slowly bring them in towards your head, some interesting things start to happen soundstage-wise. Anyway ... count me in as a new fan. And yes ... you better throw a good source and good files at them or suffer the consequences. I've always thought my MacBook pro had very good output and these cans prove it. I'll get around to actually using the Mojo as a DAC to feed the E/90, but I can't imagine it getting appreciably better than this !! And I have NO complaints with these pads either. They're comfy, seal well, and $100, plus tax, plus delivery for a replacement pair just isn't making much sense to me. Maybe if you have very sensitive ears, but I thankfully don't. Ok ... back to listening to all of my 'new' music again Cheers !

When I read of your initial discontent yesterday, the first thing that came to mind was , "What DAC is this guy using?" Maybe you had mentioned it but I was short on time and couldn't dig into finding your associated gear. When I came back to reading this morning I was glad to see you had resolved the issue. Things tend to get overly hyped on Head-Fi. The ESP-950 is a great headphone, but it is not my primary headphone and I think for many it isn't the headphone for the majority of listening. It's just one more headphone that does things really well for certain recordings where others just don't quite get there. There are times when I come back to it for a break from the Sennheiser HD-650 or Fostex TH-X00 which affordably cover my tastes for 98% of my listening. But the Koss' do something special and they are inoffensive while letting the subtleties and micro details come out.

Having said that, DACs make a big difference. I've gotten more out of DAC upgrades than I have from amp upgrades, although you're a bit locked in for choices for any electrostatic. Chord Mojo is a love/hate thing for many. It seems to have a certain tone that is appealing to many, but for me Chord is a no go due to their quirky ergonomics and my general opinion that they just aren't a good value. Plus I'm a multi-bit guy, and even a Schiit Modi multibit is a great choice for not a lot of money. But that's my personal preference. In any case, give the Koss' a little time to grow on you and make sure you have proper source source equipment and all should be well.

 

[VRacer-111]

Todays work setup...

Loki is doing great job filling out the low end to give it nice body...

 

[crazychile]

Was wondering if a Loki was for me. Please comment some more about this once youve had some time to live with the system for a while.

 

[Allanmarcus]

I'm also curious on Loki vs basic eq from the player.

 

[VRacer-111]

Was wondering if a Loki was for me. Please comment some more about this once youve had some time to live with the system for a while.

I'm also curious on Loki vs basic eq from the player.

I'm not one who has ever really used much software EQ, just played around a bit with it on UAPP for my Samsung Tablet, but generally would just rather mod the headphones to better fit the sound I'm looking for. Not much modding can be done to bring bass up, and if so there are compromises that mess with the other frequencies. I got the Shiit Loki specifically to help out with some bass boost on my HD700 and experiment with the other cans. Turns out the SHP9500, M1060, and HD700 do respond well to bass boost, sounds very natural with more impact and presence, which is what I was looking for.

I'm very much liking the Loki @ ~3:00 for the 20Hz knob bass boost on most all my phones...gives it that little extra in percussion, strings, and electronic music that really makes the low end come alive yet not overpower anything else. The only can I don't really EQ is my Purplehearts - If I were to EQ them, it would be for some bass reduction on some songs. I just bought 3 albums on Bandcamp because of the ESP950 and Loki... The song below is from one of the albums, and with the Loki 20Hz @ 3:00 and everthing else zeroed it sounds perfect, when bypassed it is lacking the dynamic balance and weight I feel it should have. Seriously, my SHP9500 has more bass impact and presence straight out the headphone jack of my TAB S2 tablet than the ESP950 has when bass boosted with the Loki from a DFR out of my laptop. EQ to me is for personal sound preference, to achieve a preferred signature...and the Loki has been able to do that for all my headphones except the modded Purplehearts, which I absolutely love the sound from as is.

 

[gardibolt]

Had a chance to listen to some more classical music with the ESP-950s last night. Really loving it; the Handel Messiah conducted by Trevor Pinnock came on and the vocals were absolutely glorious through them.

I did have a concern though: given the nature of electrostatics and the high voltages running through the E90 transformer, do I need to be concerned that these might have some kind of electromagnetic field going on? In particular, do I need to keep my planar magnetics away from them? Since they're 1980s/early 90s design it occurs to me they might not have the best shielding. Any problems, or no problems with them right next to each other? Anyone know anything about this? I know just enough to worry....