[chinsettawong]

On the other hand, experienced diy’rs say that insulated stators avoid problems with dust:



If this is not some kind of know-how secret, would you mind to describe, in your opinion, the advantage of insulated stators without outer dust covers over uninsulated stators with dust covers? What would be the shield thickness? Do you think the shield thickness and material can somehow have any effect on the sonics?

Are you asking me?

In my experience, insulated stators are much more noise free than uninsulated stators. You still need a very good dust cover on the side facing your ear. On the other side, it's not that critical. However, if I were to sell my headphones, I would definitely put the dust cover on both side. If done right, the dust covers should not change the sound at all.

 

[jgazal]

Are you asking me?

I was asking Mr. Speakers, but your opinion is always quite welcome and most respected.

 

[mrspeakers]

Thank you for being so informative.

On the other hand, experienced diy’rs say that insulated stators avoid problems with dust.

If this is not some kind of know-how secret, would you mind to describe, in your opinion, the advantage of insulated stators without outer dust covers over uninsulated stators with dust covers? What would be the shield thickness? Do you think the shield thickness and material can somehow have any effect on the sonics?

A fine screen on the outside with an insulated stator was the plan, we had not seen any service issue with this in our testing over several years and felt confident with this. However sometimes when people ask questions its a good time to sanity check ourselves and this question deserved careful consideration.

After a lot of tests this week we concluded we are able to add an outer barrier without audibly or measurably degrading the sound or performance parameters. Accordingly we will modify the driver stack to add an outer dust barrier so the driver is now "impermeable" to particulates. Since the changes are trivial to implement, won't materially impact cost, have no effect on schedule and could potentially improve long term reliability we've decided to make this change and the driver stack will be:

1) outer metal grill
2) protective super-fine screen
3) mylar barrier
4) outer metal stator
5) diaphragm
6) inner metal stator
7) mylar shield
9) inner metal grill
7) Fine cloth dust screen integrated to the ear pad
8) optional filters which can be used for tuning; VOCE will include two filters for three different tunings (they can be above or below the the ear pad's screen). This is particularly fun, as you can instantly tweek the headphone to sound closer to a planar, with minimal loss of resolution. I hope people will enjoy this!

As always thanks to the community for asking great questions and providing great feedback!

We'll be showing full production units at CanJam NY, and we'll be in a quiet room with Headamp and Kimber Cable, so we should have some pretty amazing sound going down and hopefully people will be fully able to appreciate it despite the typical "show conditions."

 

[mrspeakers]

Are you asking me?

In my experience, insulated stators are much more noise free than uninsulated stators. You still need a very good dust cover on the side facing your ear. On the other side, it's not that critical. However, if I were to sell my headphones, I would definitely put the dust cover on both side. If done right, the dust covers should not change the sound at all.

Hey, nice to see you here, and Arnaud as well! A big thank you to you for your wonderful contributions to the community, the DIY stat thread is quite remarkable, and lots of fascinating work is presented there.

Our stators are insulated for this reason and that's why we did the ear side, but as you note, outside didn't affect the sound as we feared so this was an easy call.

 

[TSAVJason]

From your impression, in between Stax and HE1?

That’s a fair question. I like both the HE1 & STAX 009. I consider the HE1 a closed system making it less interesting but there is no doubt it sounds very good. The 009 was until the Utopia my can of choice.

I’d say the HE1 still rocks the estat world best of all but it is closed and does cost $55k. The SR009 at $3800 retail in my opinion is long on the tooth and not as emotional as the VOCE’. To me, the VOCE’ wins my vote when I consider the price & performance. In my opinion Dan has hit this can out of the park, a true home run. The only thing I don’t like about estats is they have limited good quality amp choices.

 

[SeaWo|f]

Our stators are insulated for this reason and that's why we did the ear side, but as you note, outside didn't affect the sound as we feared so this was an easy call.

Just to clarify you have opted to make the driver now fully sealed? If so for me that is great news. I live on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevadas and with kids and dogs there is always sand and dust.. Even though I vacuum the kitchen and great room everyday.

 

[mrspeakers]

Just to clarify you have opted to make the driver now fully sealed? If so for me that is great news. I live on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevadas and with kids and dogs there is always sand and dust.. Even though I vacuum the kitchen and great room everyday.

Correct

 

[statfi]

1) outer metal grill
2) protective super-fine screen
3) mylar barrier
4) outer metal stator
5) diaphragm
6) inner metal stator
7) mylar shield
9) inner metal grill
7) Fine cloth dust screen integrated to the ear pad
8) optional filters which can be used for tuning; VOCE will include two filters for three different tunings (they can be above or below the the ear pad's screen). This is particularly fun, as you can instantly tweek the headphone to sound closer to a planar, with minimal loss of resolution. I hope people will enjoy this!

Do 2) and 9) use the same sort of screen?

I have 009s. I have not heard a screen I couldn't hear !-) However, I have been afraid to remove the mylar (?) sheets that envelop the stators, so I don't know if I would find them audibly deleterious.

I use my 009s without the polymer dust screens that go under the ear pads. They produce a rather large degradation in sound quality and I could not imagine putting them back in. I routinely clean the mylar sheets with ZeroStat and CDA for good measure (i.e., with no empirical evidence that this is necessary or even efficacious). Could you make the fine cloth dust screen NOT integrated into the ear pad?

I also listen without the protective metal screens, to improve sound quality, both inner and outer. Listening notes available upon request. Are 2) and 9) removable by the user? *I* would like them to be !-)

 

[mrspeakers]

2 and 9 are different materials and we will not be changing this further subject to any final manufacturing consideration. The ear pad dust screen is easily removed with a good exacto-knife blade if that's your thing (and keeping in mind potential warranty issues).

 

[Alcophone]

A fine screen on the outside with an insulated stator was the plan, we had not seen any service issue with this in our testing over several years and felt confident with this. However sometimes when people ask questions its a good time to sanity check ourselves and this question deserved careful consideration.

After a lot of tests this week we concluded we are able to add an outer barrier without audibly or measurably degrading the sound or performance parameters. Accordingly we will modify the driver stack to add an outer dust barrier so the driver is now "impermeable" to particulates. Since the changes are trivial to implement, won't materially impact cost, have no effect on schedule and could potentially improve long term reliability we've decided to make this change and the driver stack will be:

1) outer metal grill
2) protective super-fine screen
3) mylar barrier
4) outer metal stator
5) diaphragm
6) inner metal stator
7) mylar shield
9) inner metal grill
7) Fine cloth dust screen integrated to the ear pad
8) optional filters which can be used for tuning; VOCE will include two filters for three different tunings (they can be above or below the the ear pad's screen). This is particularly fun, as you can instantly tweek the headphone to sound closer to a planar, with minimal loss of resolution. I hope people will enjoy this!

As always thanks to the community for asking great questions and providing great feedback!

We'll be showing full production units at CanJam NY, and we'll be in a quiet room with Headamp and Kimber Cable, so we should have some pretty amazing sound going down and hopefully people will be fully able to appreciate it despite the typical "show conditions."

While I'm impressed by the agile way you handled this, I'm now confused as to what "in stock" means on your website. Or have you shipped the first models without this modification? Someone has to have placed an order already.

 

[mrspeakers]

The store says "in stock" or "out of stock," we've been wrestling with a bug that keeps us from saying "out of stock" but taking orders which we hope to resolve later today. Shipping is set for late Feb.

 

[Alcophone]

The store says "in stock" or "out of stock," we've been wrestling with a bug that keeps us from saying "out of stock" but taking orders which we hope to resolve later today. Shipping is set for late Feb.

Aaah, okay That explains it. Good luck getting that fixed!

 

[mrspeakers]

Aaah, okay That explains it. Good luck getting that fixed!

Yeah, I spent too much of yesterday squashing bugs. Not my favorite way to pass time!

 

[Alcophone]

Yeah, I spent too much of yesterday squashing bugs. Not my favorite way to pass time!

I enjoy it. Well, when I didn't cause the bug, anyway.

 

[nepherte]

We'll be showing full production units at CanJam NY, and we'll be in a quiet room with Headamp and Kimber Cable, so we should have some pretty amazing sound going down and hopefully people will be fully able to appreciate it despite the typical "show conditions."

Looking forward to hear the production version at Canjam SG!