[HeadphoneNewbiee]

Hello, let me start by saying how glad I am that I found this forum. It ultimately was what led me to purchase my first electrostatic headphone setup. Now I am no veteran in regards to headphones in fact I'm quite a noob. The only headphones (or sets) ive ever owned before was a razer black shark and a wow headset, blashphemy I know! However I have long been interested in getting a nice pair of headphones focusing only on the sound with no attachements like microphone etc. I knew I wanted a headphone with amplification so I looked for sennheiser hd600/650 (and other similar alternatives) since they seem to be very well established headphones from what I can read on this forum and other places. But then I stumpled upon the fascinating electrostatic headphones which I read is the creme de la creme of headphone technology.

Long story short I looked online for used electostats and ended up purchasing a srx mk3 and a srm-313 amplifier. The problem then is that I just can't get them to sound right and this is where I hope that this is because of my setup rather than the inherent sound of the headphones.
I have read the glossary description and I'll try to describe and compare the sound of my just purchased srx mk3 and my razer blackshark.

First of all with the srx mk3 every sound (that is not bass) is incredibly clear, I think the words analytical and articulate fits well. This is a bit in contrary to my razer blackshark which is much more bassy but also much more blanketed I can however partly "remove the blanket" just using EQ. In the inverse case, bringing out the base on the srx, seems impossible no matter what settings I use they just don't have that oomphf. My blackshark definetly feels fuller than my srx which is a big problem when I listen to classical music as I just cannot feel the bass (or maybe technically sub-bass?) in any way what so ever and knowing that the bass is missing it frankly sounds worse with my srx.
To sum up I would say that the srx feels breathy, bright and natural while the blackshark that I'm used to is definetely less natural, blanketed but has better bass/sub-bass.
I don't know if I used the terms correctly but I did my best.

Is there anything to be done about the bass/sub-bass or does it simply not have the frequency range to play certain music in which case would it be worth to buy a newer pro bias electrostat, say the L300?

 

[Monsterzero]

Hi and welcome to HeadFi. I have not heard your new STAX estats, but generally speaking estats are not known for having big bass. The lack of bass youre (not) hearing is doubly compounded by the bass heavy Razers that you're used to.

There is a period of adjustment many go through when moving from headphone to another, especially when they have extremely contrasting sound signatures.

I suggest reading this thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-entry-level-stax-thread.676272/

Use the search function in that thread and see what others have said about your STAX model. If your answer still isnt answered you can try to post your question there. Im not sure you can post in that thread though as you're a newcomer.

 

[HeadphoneNewbiee]

Thanks, I will take a look.

 

[HeadphoneNewbiee]

I am delighted to report back that after getting used to the smaller bass signature (and admittedly adjusting the eq for greater bass) these headphones simply do play much better not and not only that, it does so at much greater volumes too. What I found is that the bass is definetely there it just doesn't "surround" you in the same way as my razer blackshark which I must admit I miss a little bit.

 

[HeadphoneNewbiee]

Update, all the former headsets ive ever owned are now trash to me.

 

[HeadphoneNewbiee]

I also found out why the bass feels so small, its missing in the right ear (or at least not as loud)

 

[HeadphoneNewbiee]

I know it has been a long time since I made this post but I feel like I need to say that I found out my (original) pair of srx-mk3 had a defective right driver which made them sound very thin but I since bought a different pair of mk3s and I must say a proper working one makes a huge difference. I wouldn't say they lack bass and I would not even consider applying EQ to them.

I liked them so much in fact that I now own a pair of 007II which I just love!

 

[AKGman]

I know it has been a long time since I made this post but I feel like I need to say that I found out my (original) pair of srx-mk3 had a defective right driver which made them sound very thin but I since bought a different pair of mk3s and I must say a proper working one makes a huge difference. I wouldn't say they lack bass and I would not even consider applying EQ to them.

I liked them so much in fact that I now own a pair of 007II which I just love!

Do you mean, you now have a pair of the SR-007 MkII ?

The SR-X Mk3 is an old design, pre-dating the Lambda, so maybe newer phones such as the L700 or SR-007 & 009 would have better bass. The Mk3 is also an on-ear headphone, so it may not be as comfortable wearing it for long periods, as the Lambda.
I have heard some Lambdas such as the Lambda Pro, and they have decent bass. But with electrostatic headphones & speakers, you won't get as much bass as you can potentially get with dynamic headphones & speakers.

 

[HeadphoneNewbiee]

Do you mean, you now have a pair of the SR-007 MkII ?

The SR-X Mk3 is an old design, pre-dating the Lambda, so maybe newer phones such as the L700 or SR-007 & 009 would have better bass. The Mk3 is also an on-ear headphone, so it may not be as comfortable wearing it for long periods, as the Lambda.
I have heard some Lambdas such as the Lambda Pro, and they have decent bass. But with electrostatic headphones & speakers, you won't get as much bass as you can potentially get with dynamic headphones & speakers.

sorry yes I ment SR-007 Mkll and yes the mk3s are very unpleasant to wear for longer time. The metal structure inside the headband presses down on your head and they are also very uncomfortable to wear with glasses too. Personally I don't think the srx-mk3 lack bass maybe thats just my taste but I am thinking that maybe there is just a large variance in the condition of these old headphones. I have two SRX-MK3s and they have distinctly different sound signatures one is full of bass and sounds warmer and one with very little bass and very cold sounding what causes this I have no idea. Subbass however is something neither of my MK3s have which is something I really notice when I switch between my newer pro bias headphones.