KOSS ESP-950 Thread

[tintin220]

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I guess this is what people would say is a slight lack of PRAT. I mean slight, because these are NOT far off from LCD2 in SQ, IMHO. The LCD2 actually does sound harsher in the treble, as I have found on some brighter recordings. The mids are a wash. I'll have to compare more, but I'd say they are on par with one another in vocals, with a slight LCD2 lead due to their better intimacy.

If you ever felt the LCD2 had too much bottom, the ESP950 really is an amazing alternative.

 
This is pretty much exactly how I described them earlier. I'm glad to you enjoy them and feel similarly. Unfortunately, all these good impressions and reviews probably means the price might never go back down...

 

[Gary in MD]

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Just wanna say that I guess I have adjusted because I don't feel like these lack much of anything. They're a warmeer side of neutral, but neutral nevertheless.

I think my problem was that I was playing them too low. These like a little more on the volume to push the dynamics out.

I'm extremely happy with their sound. I still prefer a little more bite in the bass, as the bass on these is rounded and a bit soft. That softness gives it a sense of fullness, but ultimately, it's not forward enough for my taste.

I guess this is what people would say is a slight lack of PRAT. I mean slight, because these are NOT far off from LCD2 in SQ, IMHO. The LCD2 actually does sound harsher in the treble, as I have found on some brighter recordings. The mids are a wash. I'll have to compare more, but I'd say they are on par with one another in vocals, with a slight LCD2 lead due to their better intimacy.

If you ever felt the LCD2 had too much bottom, the ESP950 really is an amazing alternative.

I've actually found that you need to keep the 950s in their volume sweet spot for best results.  Too soft and you lose dynamics, too loud and they can get a bit harsh, particularly on any marginal recordings (i.e., many modern rock recordings).  They will reveal garbage being sent to them.  I made the mistake of listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers on them when I first got them, and they sounded awful, mostly because they just don't like being over driven by the wall of sound.  Try Eagles' Hotel California and it's a whole 'nuther story. They really love that album.
 
On the whole, I still prefer the "meatiness" of the LCDs.  But I like the Koss enough that while my LCD-3s are out of commission, they are getting the head time over the Beyer T1s.

 

[TMRaven]

Playing too low and losing dynamics vs playing too loud and getting hit with shrill sound and playing garbage in getting garbage out is kind of a universal thing with all headphones.

 

[DefQon]

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I'm really interested in raw detail.  Find some very complex songs and listen for some very delicate things!

The ESP950 pulls a lot more micro and macro detail than most of the common modern Lambda's and the LCD2's by far. The thing is the LCD2's have a pretty laid back/dark signature, some people call this veil I call it just a different sound so the perceived is shelved or behind a dirty glass window. I found a way to fix this by recently acquiring a vintage 80's Marantz integrated amplifier with a headphone out and bass/treble dial controls. Adjusting +1db to bass and +1.5-2db to treble really has brought up my LCD2's to a newer level. Better so than when I had it with the Burson 160/Soloist/Conductor, B22 (2,3 channel, balanced), Vioelectrics V100/V200. But still loses to my VI+, but tube vs ss bit unfair.

 

[aj-kun]

http://www.douglashifi.com.au/1658/37/headphones/audiophile-headphones/koss-electrostatic-esp950-detail.html
 
Stumbled on this whilst searching for speakers.
$700 for Aussies. (think I saw them or $1200 on another site)

 

[jazzerdave]

@MLE, I'm glad to see that you're enjoying the ESP-950's.  Like we discussed in our PM's, I didn't really have any concrete expectations for what you'd think.  I definitely didn't think you'd find them perfect, but they seem to sit with you better than I expected.

 

[RedBull]

http://www.douglashifi.com.au/1658/37/headphones/audiophile-headphones/koss-electrostatic-esp950-detail.html

Stumbled on this whilst searching for speakers.
$700 for Aussies. (think I saw them or $1200 on another site)

700 aud price not bad at all. Hope that includes international shipping cost also?

 

[RedBull]

defqon, speaking of micro detail, how do you compare micro/ambience details to hd800? I am sucker for micro detail, esp for movies and 800 is my pinnacle in this area for now.

i am very tempted to snatch that 700 aud in the earlier post

 

[Gary in MD]

Quote:

Playing too low and losing dynamics vs playing too loud and getting hit with shrill sound and playing garbage in getting garbage out is kind of a universal thing with all headphones.

Actually, it's universal with all audio devices:  it takes energy to move enough air, but too much energy creates distortion in the driver and the sound.  The minimum amount of energy it takes a given design to produce the desired sound pressure levels across the audible frequency range, and the maximum amount of energy it can handle before it starts distorting audibly, varies for each design.  Some designs have wider sweet spots, produce the desired sound balance and volume with less power, produce less distortion at higher SPLs, and/or mask the garbage better than others.  The ESP-950s are less tolerant than my other headphones, by a wide margin.  But if you adjust the volume properly for each recording, they are very nice cans.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yeah, I find them to handle high volumes not as good as the SR407, which sang happily regardless of volume.

Jazzerdave: yeah, im really enjoying them. They don't dethrone the LCD2 or SR407, but they are clearly top tier, neutral cans. They have a fullness to them which the SR-407 lacked, though it's more forgiving and softer sounding overall.

The mids are more fluid sounding than the SR-407 which were a little dry and not as forward in the mids (probably a very mild mid bass hump on the 407).

I wish the build was much better, and they were more secure on the head. As far as neutral cans go, these would be quite competent end game cans.l for a majority of people.

 

[DefQon]

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defqon, speaking of micro detail, how do you compare micro/ambience details to hd800? I am sucker for micro detail, esp for movies and 800 is my pinnacle in this area for now.

i am very tempted to snatch that 700 aud in the earlier post

For me the HD800 when well complemented by a very good amp is few levels ahead of the ESP950 to my ears. This doesn't say the ESP950 is crap (though the stock amp is fairly a shocker). I'd say buy the ESP950 and give it a go as it may be a good sidegrade to you. I'm almost itching to buy 2 sets, 1 for stock and 1 to remove the stator diaphragm and find a good foster phone for it and see what mods from there onwards I can tune it to my taste. I believe only spritzer has most likely done something similar to this process mentioned.

 

[FlySweep]

I've been listening with the ODAC > E90 > ESP950.  Music is well recorded stuff from my MOG subscription (HQ/320kbps streaming MP3)
 
I've only been using it for a couple of hours but, I'm curious.. just how 'light' is the bass supposed to be?  It's got got a bit of punch.. though the low end presentation seems, well, a bit "strange" to me.  Do note I'm quite familiar with what bass from 'neutral' cans are supposed to sound like.. I own (and love) the HD800 & Paradox.  The ESP950 seems to lack texturing ability in the bass region... it's incredibly glaring actually.  The mids are indeed, sweet, delicate, and airy.  Treble is utterly non-fatiguing, but has just the right complimentary presence to accommodate the midrange and 'complete' the sound.  Where I'm perplexed is the bass.. I'm wondering if my E90 (or headphones themselves) might be faulty.  I could best describe the ESP950's bass to sound like how bass sounds on an IEM if the cable's polarity is incorrect.  The bass sounds 'inverted' & 'hollow.'  My apologies if this is a bit vague, but if you've owned custom IEMs/cables (and plugged the pins into the shells improperly), you'd understand what I'm describing.
 
Despite me buying a 'used' 950.. the packaging it arrived in looks like it has never been used.  It appeared completely brand new.  All accessories,cables, etc. are in 'pink' plastic pouches which fit perfectly in the bag's slots.  The pads are in brand new condition.  Even the cable ties wrapped the cables like they were never straight from the factory.  I'd be amazed if this was a defective unit.. but it seems like it wouldn't be all that improbable since there has been some history of this in the past..  Perhaps my unit needs to be serviced.. or broken in? Or?  I get what everyone talks about now as far as that 'stat' sound.. that light, airy, fast, open presentation.. but the bass has me a bit perplexed.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I've been listening with the ODAC > E90 > ESP950.  Music is well recorded stuff from my MOG subscription.
 
I've only been using it for a couple of hours but, I'm curious.. just how 'light' is the bass supposed to be?  It's got got a bit of punch.. though the low end presentation seems, well, a bit "strange" to me.  Do note I'm quite familiar with what bass from 'neutral' cans are supposed to sound like.. I own (and love) the HD800 & Paradox.  The ESP950 seems to lack texturing ability in the bass region... it's incredibly glaring actually.  The mids are indeed, sweet, delicate, and airy.  Treble is utterly non-fatiguing, but has just the right complimentary presence to accommodate the midrange and 'complete' the sound.  Where I'm perplexed is the bass.. I'm wondering if my E90 (or headphones themselves) might be faulty.  I could best describe the ESP950's bass to sound like how bass sounds on an IEM if the cable's polarity is incorrect.  The bass sounds 'inverted' & 'hollow.'  My apologies if this is a bit vague, but if you've owned custom IEMs/cables (and plugged the pins into the shells improperly), you'd understand what I'm describing.
 
Despite me buying a 'used' 950.. the packaging it arrived in looks like the ESP950 had never even been used.  It appeared completely brand new.  All accessories in 'pink' plastic pouches which fit perfectly in the bag's slots.  The pads are in brand new condition.  Even the cable ties wrapped the cables like they were never used.  This is a BNIB 950 for sure, so I'd be amazed if this was a defective unit.. but it seems like it wouldn't be all that improbable.  Perhaps my unit needs to be serviced.. or burned in? Or?

These do seem to have very rather rolled-off bass, maybe you're just not used to bass response that is rolled-off? The other cans you are used to (HD800 and Paradox) both have outstanding bass extension, evident in their measurements, so using their bass behaviour as your reference-point, a very rolled-off bass could throw you off by a lot.
 
Edit: then again, the bass measurements of ESP950 appear to conflict between the different sources, the ones on IF show the 950s to have fairly good extension in fact, unlike the measurements from GoldenEars and ThePlaceThatShallNotBeNamed. Curious. Perhaps you should do a sinewave sweep with your own ears, and see what the perceived bass response is, especially around the low bass.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I dont think tbe bass is hollow. I think it's rather full sounding, but soft and subdued in impact. In terms of ambience, I think it holds it's own nicely. It doesn't decay as quickly as the 407, which decays at lightning speeds but hits noticeably tighter and harder than the 950.

 

[jazzerdave]

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I dont think tbe bass is hollow. I think it's rather full sounding, but soft and subdued in impact. In terms of ambience, I think it holds it's own nicely. It doesn't decay as quickly as the 407, which decays at lightning speeds but hits noticeably tighter and harder than the 950.

 
I'd agree with this.  In contrast to the HE-6 which offers a very tactile experience, the ESP-950 can seem a little soft, letting you hear everything but not necessarily feel it.