[youngarthur]

What would be the best way, to connect Macbook ,Oppo HA1, to the ESP 950?.Looking forward,to comparing to HD 800. Many thanks.

 

[HemiSam]

  So this E90 amp just isn't very good sounding in my opinion. What other amps/energizers are you guys using? I'm considering ordering some good step up transformers and just sticking those in a box with a basic HV bias supply.

 
I used a 400v KGST amp made for Stax with a Koss to Stax adapter cable.  It made the ESP950's sound more full, but you'll quickly find their limitations with an amp of that caliber.  Having said that, I liked the ESP950's quite a bit.  Great intro to e-stats IM experience.  I preferred my HD650's in the end and now I'm basically listening to two setups:  Stax SR007A's with the KGST and Fostex TH900's powered by a Woo WA7.  Both fed by an ygg DAC.  Honestly, they both kick ass and I'd call them comparable.  Brutally fun and it's generally my listening environment that dictates which setup I'm listening to:  TH900's when there's a bit more background noise or I really want more thump on the bass.
 
HS

 

[doctorjazz]

I got a Stax 323a (still need the adaptor), sine think it isn't an improvement over the E90, I felt it made a really beg difference. Now, though, I'm listening mostly to the HE-1000, through MicroZOTL or Ray Samuels HR-2 (sometimes From Geek Out Special Edition, sometimes From Pono, often recently grin my Linn turntable, may sell the Koss/Stax rig (if I ever get around to it). Really nice, though, comparable to the HE-560. Liked the 560 better generally, but there were definitely things the Koss did better.

 

[youngarthur]

Just lost out on some 950 on Ebay.did not get reply from seller, not good,so now looking in UK,but no luck. I hate HiFi Forums,looked on HA 1 forum,bought one,looked on HD800 forum,bought some,looked on 846 forum,bought some. Will it never end?. So far,have been very happy,with everything. Anyone selling their 950?. See my feedback on ebay/paypal.

 

[Arthrumus]

I just got my Koss ESP-950 in the mail and I figured I'd throw in my impressions as compared to my STAX SR-5/SRM-1Mk2 Pro setup. My ultimate plan is to construct a Koss>STAX adapter so I can drive these ESP-950s with my SRM-1Mk2 Pro, but for now I am just listening with the included E/90 amp. I don't really have any experience reviewing headphones, so bear with me as I don't know much fancy audio jargon. 
 
I have been listening to the 950s and the SR-5s side by side for a couple of hours now, and I have covered most of the genres that I typically listen to. I will offer my opinions based on genre below.
 
I started off with some prog rock in the form of Yes's "Fragile", "Relayer", and "Time and a Word" albums. Listening to these albums on the 950s, I couldn't help but feel they were missing something compared to the SR-5s. Much of the detail I was used to hearing seemed muffled and quiet. Unlike the SR-5, the bass impact is actually present on the 950, which is nice for a lot of music, but in this case seems to be the source of the problem. I don't think that the 950s resolve poorly, but it's as if the greater bass presence kind of overpowers a lot of the subtle details in the treble. When A/Bing the 950s and SR-5s I found that I could listen to the SR-5s at much higher volume levels than the 950s without discomfort due to the SR-5's lesser bass impact. I believe that the higher listening volume of the SR-5s is responsible for bringing out the finer details in really dynamic tracks such as the ones I tested. I did not listen to any classical music on these yet, but I suspect that it would suffer from the same issues as my progressive rock collection. By no means am I saying that the 950s had a poor showing here. Quite the contrary, I found them to perform phenomenally when compared to my dynamic cans. 
 
After the progressive rock, I listen to a few Primus tracks. I expected the ESP-950s to perform exceptionally well against the SR-5s with Primus due the bass driven nature of their music. In general they did perform very well. Songs like "Mr. Krinkle" and "My Name is Mud" were represented exceptionally well, with satisfying and impactful bass which just was not present with the SR-5s. Strangely I do feel that while the bass slam is much better on the 950s, there is something about the texture of the bass that the SR-5s deliver that is a bit more convincing. I'm just nit picking here really. The bass slam that the 950s provided made the experience of listening much more visceral, and that is exactly what I want from this kind of music. 
 
Metal is really the ESP-950's wheelhouse. I started off with Moonspell's "Night Eternal" album and whoa! What a rush! These 950s just dominate! The experience is visceral and powerful, yet still detailed. The SR-5s present a rather dull but detailed representation of this genre, kind of analytical. The 950s are warm and satisfying, which I credit to the harder hitting bass and the forward midrange. I followed this with some of Nightwish's "Angels Fall First" and "Dark Passion Play." Again, the 950's just performed. Iron Maiden's "Powerslave" sounded great, System of a Down's "Hypnotize" was excellent. I even listen to some recent Rush albums "Vapor Trails" and "Snakes and Arrows" both of which sounded phenomenal. I don't really know how to explain it, these are just the best cans for Metal and Hard Rock music that I have heard. I have no complaints. The detail and speed is 100% electrostatic, but the bass impact and forward mids sound absolutely like dynamic phones. Also they are much more forgiving to low quality recordings and low bitrate MP3s than the SR-5s, which is especially important for these genres.
 
Well that's all I got for now. Overall I'm quite glad that I bought the 950s. At this point I still think that I like my SR-5s better for Progressive Rock, which is my favorite genre, but for most everything else I listen to, the 950s surpass them. I hope that switching the 950s over to my SRM-1 Mk2 Pro will fix some of the problems I have with the them, but even as they sit right now I am quite pleased with them. Also I wanted to point out that the build quality is fine. It's all plastic, but it is sturdy plastic that doesn't feel like it would break easily. You might expect more from a ~$750-900 set of cans, but these are electrostatics with an included amplifier, $750 in electrostatic money =/= $750 in dynamic money. 

 

[ho1ysword]

Hey all, checking in again -- my last post on this thread was about two years ago. I just wanted to post a quick rant for anybody browsing this thread who might be on the fence about the ESP-950's.
 
I'm still 100% happy with my purchase, and they remain my primary set.
 
Have I heard phones with better bass? Yes, the HE6 is two notches above, and the LCD2/3 are 1 notch above. The Fostex 900/600/D7K has better impact/slam, but falls short in detail. Stax achieves generally equal or better quality, but lacks impact. The Abyss is disappointing in comparison..... too directionally focused. It might be obvious, but I'm a basshead. One day, I plan to own something from Rythmik.
 
Have I heard phones with better soundstage? Yes, the HD800 and AKG 7XX series shine above in that quality. (Yes, even the humble K701's. If you are into CSGO, just stop there.)
 
Have I heard phones with better clarity? Yes, the HE90, SR009, and SR007 have more of that intoxicating electrostatic speed. The Stax Lambdas have better speed in the higher registers, but quickly lose out in the midrange and base frequencies.
 
Have I heard phones that were both great and cheaper? Yes, the HD600/650 can get generally quite close for half the price of the 950's, and for much cheaper than most of the headphones listed above.
 
But, if you're like me, and you crave authoritative bass with electrostatic mids and a relatively large soundstage, there's really nothing else on the market that compares. At the end of the day, these are the electrostats with the largest commercially available driver.
 
God bless Koss.
 
And also their lifetime warranty program, as I'm on my third set in about three years. They're fairly picky about dust. But this is a high-performance hobby, and it's something I'm willing to put up with for only $650. With these phones and a little bass EQ, I get 90% of the bass of the HE6 and 90% of the speed of the SR009, and at about 10% of the combined price.
 
I'll keep taking them to every Head-Fi meet I go to, and I'll keep trying to convince everyone of their greatness.

 

[doctorjazz]

I think they're great for the price. Have compared them to HE-560 and HE-1000. Found the miss and speed better on the 950 than the 560, but the rolled off treble kept me going back to the 560. And, haven't done had to head with the HEK yet, basically because I can't take it off my ears! (of course, the HEK lists for 3X the 950).

 

[manywelps]

Are there better pads for 950's?  Like velour or leather?  The stock pads don't breath at all...

 

[maverickronin]

  Are there better pads for 950's?  Like velour or leather?  The stock pads don't breath at all...

 
I'm not aware of any.
 
If you're up for a little DIY you could make some yourself though.  I've had good results with Ultrasuede and memory foam pads I've made for my Lambdas.

 

[Rianoris]

Hey everyone -  I've read every page on this thread as I'm 'on the fence'.
 
I'm coming from a PC360 (essentially a Sennheiser HD558/598 with a mic) so I am expecting a large improvement.
 
My question to everyone is this: Do you think an old mid-range motherboard from '07 will hold back the potential of the E/90? My primary concern is the output voltage from the line-out.
 
Due to this, I'm considering an ODAC.
 
My computer is very old, hehe.
 
Thank you.

 

[manywelps]

Originally Posted by Rianoris /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Do you think an old mid-range motherboard from '07 will hold back the potential of the E/90? My primary concern is the output voltage from the line-out.

Maybe, but it won't be the output voltage that's the issue.
 
Do you have the mobo model?
 
Also less expensive dacs: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/wiki/AMPsandDACs

 

[Rianoris]

Thank you for the response! - you were pretty darn quick.
 
Coming from the owner's manual PDF, it's an "Intel P965 Express Chipset" using a "Sigmatel 9227 audio codec".
 
[Source] – in "Appendix" tab.

 

[Rianoris]

[Deleted]

 

[ho1ysword]

Hard to go wrong with a Modi when it's a little cheaper than the ODAC. I'm also fond of the FiiO E10.
 
That said, as long as there's nothing horrendously wrong with the output (obvious distortion, etc.) I'm quite hard pressed to tell the differences between DAC's.
 
It's true the E/90 should prefer a hot, higher voltage input. But really, as far as the overall quality goes, the difference between your mobo output and a decent DAC would probably only be responsible for a 1-5% difference in perceived quality.
 
My ordinary DAC in my E/90 system is a Xonar DX. But for a while after reinstalling my OS, I didn't have time to get the card back running, so I just plugged my E/90 into the Realtek output. I really couldn't tell a difference in quality when I switched back to my dedicated card, but I can get it a little louder without distortion. Not really useful, since that volume level is far beyond what I would ever listen to. YMMV.
 
I'd get the ESP950 set and plug it into your motherboard at 90% software output, and then add a DAC later if/when budget allows. Perhaps you can borrow one temporarily to do an A/B test.

 

[ho1ysword]

I'm almost hesitant to try the HE1K as I suspect they would become my new preferred single can! HE6 bass and electrostatic-class mids.....