Now for some INTERESTING news... I've preemptively Ordered something neat. Something probably so overkill for my undeveloped ears that it's ridiculous. I bought a pair of STAX. Not some electret wanna be. Not some numbered cans that doesn't justify the name but a true electrostatic letter set of cans. Stax Gamma with the srd6/sb. What am I in for? I have a few power amplifiers to choose from a Realistic STA-2000, a Technics SA-AX810 and a Pioneer VSX 3300.
I've heard that STAX have a notorious low bass output but since I'm quite satisfied with the hd555's bass perhaps it would be just right? Does anybody have any experience or advise with Stax "earspeakers" for gaming, movies and music? .... couldn't just call them headphones.
Former competitive Quake 3 player here. Been gaming with electrostatics for years, though truthfully the last time I took anything competitive seriously was in Quake 3 OSP... 6 years ago?
Electrostatics don't all have weak bass. They vary in the bass about as much as dynamics do. Just as some dynamics have weak bass and some have monster bass, so do electrostatics. The issue with 'stats is that in order to have big bass they also need a beefy amp, so most of the cheapish budget amps out there really aren't enough to wake the headphones up basswise. That, and a lot of the square Stax, which most people use until they get to something like the O2, kinda lack bass. Hence the reputation for 'stats lacking bass in general, and overall it's not true.
Personally I think 'stats are overkill for gaming. Most games have pretty poorly recorded sound and electrostatics simply have too much detail to tolerate it. So instead of being fully immersive like they should they only expose the flaws in the game engine. In terms of positioning, they're just fine, the positioning is as good as anything you can get your hands on but again, not necessarily better. I really feel that with the way sound engines are in most games, going seriously high-end is totally unnecessary to extract the maximum sonic performance out of a game. For Q3/QL something like a DT770 is totally sufficient. I use the O2 just because I already have it, so why not. Also it's amazingly comfortable.
FWIW though Skyrim uses FLACs for its soundtrack IIRC and generally has a very well done sound engine, so it was a real treat on the O2. I had to constantly keep reminding myself to not turn the volume up to monster levels since as you will most likely find out, electrostatics will go
loud without any distortion at all, and it's very easy to hit well past hearing damage levels and not really notice it.
With the Gammas, make sure they're in good condition, and if there are any issues with channel balance, constant popping, crackling, or squeaking sounds that happen
when you're not moving your headphones, or totally missing bass, let people know, preferably in the Stax thread. These headphones are getting a little long in the tooth and some issues can potentially crop up - but there are ways to fix them as well.
If they work fine you're in for one hell of a nice pair of cans. Electrostatics present detail in such an amazingly natural way, without excessive brightness that usually comes with detailed dynamics. Plus they handle complex music way better than dynamics can and are actually great for things like metal, rock, and busy electronica.
Most stats are utterly ruthless when it comes to sources and recording quality, so be ready to want to upgrade your source and generally get better quality files.
