[adeadcrab]

Something objective to report, when I first used the linear power supply, the energizer light goes from red to green much faster than the stock wall wart. So, it's doing *something*

 

[PolloLoco]

Am I doing this right? 9VDC delivering .3 watts is .03 amps.

I apologize if I contributed to this confusion, but someone above me quoted 0.3W from the specs, and when my power supply was reporting 0.234, I assumed it was W instead of A.

I think it's more likely that my supply is reporting Amps, which means during casual listening its using 2.1 Watts (9x0.234). I went to the instruction sheet for the linear power supply and it doesn't confirm either way, that's pretty crappy documentation.

 

[PolloLoco]

Something objective to report, when I first used the linear power supply, the energizer light goes from red to green much faster than the stock wall wart. So, it's doing *something*

I can confirm this, and the speed of response may be significant. With the wall wart, you have enough time to make out the change between red and green, even if it's a split second. With the linear power supply its instantaneous, maybe a flash of orange before it turns green.

During my casual listening, the power supply reported 0.233 to 0.236 A. Barely any variation. This was with my Sabaj D5 DAC/AMP set to 20 out of 40 (variable line out).

First experiment, I turned the Energizer volume to 100%, not comfortable to listen to. The current draw stayed the same. I was surprised.

Probably foolishly, I cranked my D5 to full volume also. Hurt my ears for a split second before I pulled the headphones off. I kept playing the track at this volume and noticed the current draw would spike up to 0.35 on loud passages, but would still vary from 0.233. It makes me think that a power supply that responds to current draw faster, would be preferable.

I tracked down the Bon Iver album suggested. I'm pretty sure I hear the differences, but wow they're subtle. I couldn't make out improvement with casual music listening. IE, reading or working.

I'm next going to test the linear power supply versus my battery before I return the power supply. If the battery shows the same subtle improvement, that's what I'll stick with.

With regards to leaving the Energizer and headphones on for 6 hours, if that's what it takes to hear them best - I may never take advantage. I've heard the Koss are prone to channel imbalance if left on 24/7. I typically only listen for 2 hours in the morning before work, more on weekends. So perhaps I've never heard them at their best, and I'm not getting the most benefit out of the power supply.

 

[adeadcrab]

I like listening to headphones first thing after waking up, especially early in the morning Though my skin is prone to oiliness so I try to put it off until I've done everything for the day and cleaned my face.

Tried the ESP/95X yesterday and the left channel whine was still there, besides that - there is less present mids than the Elex which I've been using lately, but the sound is to my mind more natural. Especially the low end, where I can perceptibly hear the bassist changing frets during quick passages in a busy mix. The Elex bass is the loudest part of the frequency range, and muffles the mids and little microdetails which the ESP/95X excels at.

I haven't noticed any differences between cold starts and leaving the energizer on for hours before use.

 

[barondla]

With regards to leaving the Energizer and headphones on for 6 hours, if that's what it takes to hear them best - I may never take advantage. I've heard the Koss are prone to channel imbalance if left on 24/7. I typically only listen for 2 hours in the morning before work, more on weekends. So perhaps I've never heard them at their best, and I'm not getting the most benefit out of the power supply.

@PolloLoco Haven't heard any reports of leaving Koss on causing channel imbalance. A shame if true, but we do have the lifetime warranty. Where did you find this info?

Know my Acoustat full range electrostatic speakers take hours to fully charge the panels. The ib covers it. They will play, but don't sound their best when first fired up. An electronics designer modified his set to rapidly charge. I never did that.

Be careful running everything full blast. That can cause a driver to arc and burn a hole in the membrane.

 

[Gregss]

Hello All,

Have had my ESP's for some time now and was always interested in the leather earpads that one site has for sale. But, $80 dollars without shipping seemed just to high for what they were.

Recently found this site which had leather ear pads for less than $18. Went ahead and ordered them, took a couple of weeks to arrive as they came from China, but they arrived just fine and shipping cost was small. Total was around $25.

Have put them on and they fit just fine and feel good. Don't have any $80 ones to compare them with, but am quite happy as they feel good and work fine.

Anyway, you have an option for ear pads now that are darn reasonable.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32836747522.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.43334c4dr4Glpk

Regards,
Greg

 

[fpantalone]

When I had my Koss, I got the Vespar pads. They are SO worth the money. Much more comfortable and a wonderful difference in sound (alacantra/leather) ... to my ears at least. It was a bit cheaper to get them here in Europe, but not by all that much. I eventually ended up selling the 950's as there are ongoing problems with this system that are just too likely to pop up, and it's expensive to ship back and forth to the states, even if the fix is free. Anyway ... ask any Vespar pad owner their opinion and I'll guess that they will highly recommend them.

 

[Gregss]

Hi fpantalone,

I have looked at the Vespar pads and they look nice. Most of us with these headphones have them because we can't afford Stax or the very expensive stuff and need a cost effective solution.

While I am sure the Vespar pads are great, the pads I got (not counting shipping on either one) is about 22 percent the price. Seem to be extremely good for the price. While a Cadillac is great, not everybody wants to pay the price. And no, I have no affiliation with any company selling product.

Greg

 

[PolloLoco]

Hello All,

Have had my ESP's for some time now and was always interested in the leather earpads that one site has for sale. But, $80 dollars without shipping seemed just to high for what they were.

Recently found this site which had leather ear pads for less than $18. Went ahead and ordered them, took a couple of weeks to arrive as they came from China, but they arrived just fine and shipping cost was small. Total was around $25.

Have put them on and they fit just fine and feel good. Don't have any $80 ones to compare them with, but am quite happy as they feel good and work fine.

Anyway, you have an option for ear pads now that are darn reasonable.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32836747522.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.43334c4dr4Glpk

Regards,
Greg

Those look exactly like the ones I got from EBAY for a little less. I'm really happy with mine. Caution, they're pleather not leather as you stated.

The lambskin pads I have for other headphones feel better, but not $80 better - which is why I didn't buy the Vesper pads.

 

[Avi]

My comparison with the stock wall wart and a linear power supply was listening to Bon Iver's album '22, a million' - and the two tracks '33 "God"' and '666' specifically. I went back and forth maybe 20 times between each to make sure. Where on the stock wall wart the drums sounded distant and a little hollow, on the linear power supply they were more like real drums, with weight and presence. Guitars had a more detailed top end, and instruments had more of their own space in the mix, I guess you would call that imaging and soundstage.

I originally bought the linear power supply as I thought it may fix an unrelated hum. I wasn't really expecting much of a difference in sound so was personally surprised that it actually did something!

I hope your ears are better than mine. This was my finding from 2015:

I tried using the KOSS adapter for a week, and then switching to the Medical 3A supply, and I still cannot hear a difference. I've never had "golden" ears, and being over 40, I know my hearing is starting to lose sensitivity, but I get the same bass impact and soundstage with both, and I'm switching plugs as songs are playing. On the scale of the investment we all make in our music, it's small, so I wouldn't advise against it, but for those of us whose ears aren't of the best quality, this is one data point which may indicate that the difference is too fine for us to perceive. Maybe I'll try again after a few more weeks.

What I am perceiving is that I may have sold the Koss short on bass. Low bass is there unquestionably. On tracks intending to show low bass (THX - Ultimate Bass Test, end of "To All the Girls" - Beastie Boys) you will feel the impact. But it doesn't overpower midbass. I feel that I am hearing every note cleanly and clearly without even hints of muddle, and it is easier to focus on just the bass, just the drums, just the melody, just the harmony.

Also, it is more sensitive to DR. For songs with a larger dynamic range you do feel the impact (especially common on drum beats which tend to be more powerful than melody where DR exists).

Lastly, I'm finding it easier to hear the shortcomings of bad tracks (especially ckipping) with the Koss - they resolve more cleanly, and the crackles of clipping are not hidden by other instruments.

I'm just not hearing any significant difference between the default Koss adapter and the medical one.

 

[Avi]

I've heard the Koss are prone to channel imbalance if left on 24/7. I typically only listen for 2 hours in the morning before work, more on weekends. So perhaps I've never heard them at their best, and I'm not getting the most benefit out of the power supply.

Is it that, or more likely the two rings of the volume control getting slightly out of sync? For that matter, I perceive equal volume when the left channel is boosted a hair more than the right. I don't know if it's my ears, the internals of the E/90 energizer, or my pads. Although I did send mt headphones in for repair a few months ago and I still needed the smidgen increase on their return.

 

[barondla]

Definitely hear more bass slam with the ifi adapter ( a bigger, but not linear, supply) vs stock. But, there's also hum. Low level hum can make bass more punchy.

 

[adeadcrab]

The ESP/95X energizer picks up noise from anywhere and everywhere, no reason to believe the adapter isn't introducing noise into the system. The Teradarak LPS doesn't make any hum.

 

[PolloLoco]

@PolloLoco Haven't heard any reports of leaving Koss on causing channel imbalance. A shame if true, but we do have the lifetime warranty. Where did you find this info?

Know my Acoustat full range electrostatic speakers take hours to fully charge the panels. The ib covers it. They will play, but don't sound their best when first fired up. An electronics designer modified his set to rapidly charge. I never did that.

Be careful running everything full blast. That can cause a driver to arc and burn a hole in the membrane.

I have been looking for the quotes online that reference imbalance generated by leaving the headphones powered on 24/7, but haven't been able to find them. If I do, I'll report back to this thread.

Thanks for the warning about leaving everything on full blast. I only did it for 30 seconds to see if the power draw changed.

As for my further testing, my portable battery sounds as good and as clean as the linear power supply. The power LED on the Energizer changes to green just as fast too.

I returned the linear power supply to Amazon. Based on my 41 year old ears, the benefits are really subtle. I wouldn't recommend spending serious money on a linear power supply.

That said, it did occur to me that not all power outlets are equal. If your home's electricity is dirty, perhaps a better power supply filters it out where the stock wall wart lets it through. Maybe that's why some people hear more benefit than others.

 

[r33tom]

Something objective to report, when I first used the linear power supply, the energizer light goes from red to green much faster than the stock wall wart. So, it's doing *something*

adeadcrab did you ever fix your ground loop hum issue? i am in australia as well and recently purchased the esp95x and noticed the same issue as well where i had to ground myself to get rid of the hum.