[PolloLoco]

it. OTE="Dealux, post: 15556670, member: 491838"]
Seriously considering getting a pair of the 95X to compare with my LCD-2 Fazor. I'm expecting less resolution and dynamics but maybe I'm willing to trade that for more transparency and clarity.

Audezes are weird. They have a kind of warmth that super imposes itself over the sound of the headphone regardless if you EQ them or not. To me it sounds like the big leather pads are coloring the sound in an odd way which contributes to this sense of lack of clarity despite otherwise showing all of the signs of a well performing driver.
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I suspect they will be a good complement for each other. The Koss are the best headphones I've ever heard.

While under lockdown I've had a blast modifying a set of Monoprice M1060c. In their current open state Joshua Valour states they're close to the LCD 2. I've never heard them, so I can't say if he's full of it. I'll be adding fazors next week.

They make a great complement to the Koss because they're forward, aggressive and very dynamic. A lot more bass that tightens up when converted to open. By comparison the Koss are more airy, faster and pick up more micro detail.

I was slightly disappointed with the Elex as a complement. While they were more dynamic with arguably my favorite treble, they went for the same airy sound signature but left me craving detail and speed.

Closed, the M1060c are nothing special. Open, I prefer them to the Elex and Elegia I used to own. Though I realize the Focals probably have better technicality.

In your particular case, it will come down to whether you like the signature and leaner bass. I expect the Koss will be nowhere near as warm as your LCD2. The Koss do get better with a better energizer and pads too.

 

[illram]

Does anyone think hooking up a 4v headphone output to the RCA inputs of the E90 would be damaging? I want to use these with another device that has no line level output, and its amp puts out max 3.96v.

 

[barondla]

Does anyone think hooking up a 4v headphone output to the RCA inputs of the E90 would be damaging? I want to use these with another device that has no line level output, and its amp puts out max 3.96v.

Don't know if it would be damaging or not. 4v might overdrive the inputs of the energizer. If Koss put the volume controls on the input of the energizer, you should be fine. If on the output, there could be overload. If there's overload you could hook a passive volume control inline, like the Schiit Sys. Some people do this so the Koss concentric volume knobs can be set once and left alone. Why don't you ask Koss? They're good, helpful people.

 

[ManofTaste]

<snip>

When I placed my order with Vesper, I had my pads customized for me and I did pay a little extra but it still only came out to be less than $75 and mine are angled, all leather, perforated, memory foam, and custom thickness to my specification. The standard all leather pads are much cheaper. Darin charges something like $89 for a standard all leather set.

<snip>

The bass became much better with my vespers, tighter too. The pads were the biggest improvement to these headphones IMO.

@Amish , can you remind us of your custom thickness on the Vesper pads?

 

[Currawong]

I posted a review, including video, for the 95X, if this is helpful to anyone. Annoyingly the price just went up $50.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/massdrop-koss-esp-95x.24340/review/23613/

 

[ManofTaste]

I posted a review, including video, for the 95X, if this is helpful to anyone. Annoyingly the price just went up $50.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/massdrop-koss-esp-95x.24340/review/23613/

Great review! Which improved power supply did you use? In this thread there are people who have used relatively fancy linear power supplies ($75-$125) and others who have used higher amperage basic power bricks designed for medical equipment or whatever ($15-$25). I am curious to know whether the extra coin really brings extra benefit.

 

[Amish]

@Amish , can you remind us of your custom thickness on the Vesper pads?

Angled type design (15х25 mm thickness) 15mm front to 25mm rear in thickness.

 

[Brahmsian]

Any way to connect the energizer directly to a 2017 MacBook? I've been vacillating between buying the iFi micro iDSD for my HE560 and the ESP-9XX but after looking at the energizer and not seeing a digital input I think I have to buy both to connect the ESP to the MB?

 

[robo24]

Any way to connect the energizer directly to a 2017 MacBook? I've been vacillating between buying the iFi micro iDSD for my HE560 and the ESP-9XX but after looking at the energizer and not seeing a digital input I think I have to buy both to connect the ESP to the MB?

Yes, you'll want a DAC. Haven't tried it, but I'd think you could use a 1/8" to RCA cable and feed it from your headphone port.

 

[stuck limo]

Has anyone ever put a different cable type on the ESP headphones rather than the stock? Do they even exist?

 

[stuck limo]

New energizer/amp for mine. Stax Professional edition. Sounds great and helps the soundstage, airiness and general sense of ease and power.

 

[ManofTaste]

Any way to connect the energizer directly to a 2017 MacBook? I've been vacillating between buying the iFi micro iDSD for my HE560 and the ESP-9XX but after looking at the energizer and not seeing a digital input I think I have to buy both to connect the ESP to the MB?

The ESP comes with a 3.5mm male to 3.5mm male cable, which you can use to connect the MacBook earphone output to the energizer's front input. You may want an external DAC that is better than the one built into your MacBook, but you don't need a DAC. I am planning to add an external DAC (a Topping E30) to my system, partly for the volume control it provides.

 

[timb5881]

With the Koss ESP-950 system being 30 years old, does this make them the longest electrostatics model run?

 

[AndroidVageta]

Off hand does anyone know of better than stock earpads that aren't $80-90?

Got mine a few weeks ago and with some EQ I swear are the most amazing headphones I've ever heard, and I've heard and owned a lot and definitely more expensive. The effortlessness and ability to never get shouty or out done is something that NO dynamic or planar I've heard can do. Pink Floyd has never sound so good.

Also all this talk about Stax amps...dammit...though I know no different I will say that the Koss amp sounds a lot better than people made it out prior to getting them and EQ certainly helps but I'm use to it with my iSINE20's already so no biggie by any means.

Definitely a special headphone and one I'm keeping, probably forever. Nothing I've heard sounds as good, I don't imagine much else does under $1,000.

Anyways, if anyone knows better pads that don't cost a 3rd of what I got the headphones for, preferably leather, thanks!

 

[PolloLoco]

Off hand does anyone know of better than stock earpads that aren't $80-90?

Got mine a few weeks ago and with some EQ I swear are the most amazing headphones I've ever heard, and I've heard and owned a lot and definitely more expensive. The effortlessness and ability to never get shouty or out done is something that NO dynamic or planar I've heard can do. Pink Floyd has never sound so good.

Also all this talk about Stax amps...dammit...though I know no different I will say that the Koss amp sounds a lot better than people made it out prior to getting them and EQ certainly helps but I'm use to it with my iSINE20's already so no biggie by any means.

Definitely a special headphone and one I'm keeping, probably forever. Nothing I've heard sounds as good, I don't imagine much else does under $1,000.

Anyways, if anyone knows better pads that don't cost a 3rd of what I got the headphones for, preferably leather, thanks!

There are cheap Chinese pleather pads on EBay for around $15. They're better than stock if you want more bass, but definitely not as good as the Dekoni or Vesper.

My pair weren't properly filled with foam, so there's two wrinkles in each pad, which create an imperfect seal.

The Vesper pads in leather will cost about $70 depending on your selections, and they took a month to get to me. That was before the COVID crisis. They are much better quality than the generic, sound better, and are somewhat better than Dekoni.