[Duncan_McCloud]

Yeah, they are. Adjusting them requires bending some spring steel, but once they’re dialed in they put next to no pressure on your head. The only thing touching your head is the high-quality leather strap and the pads, which are cashmere-soft.
The K1000 are in no way uncomfortable, but the temple pads are relatively hard. Not so on the SR1a.

I remember temple pad on the K1000 to be a pain. SR1A are way more comfortable to me

 

[Drumonron]

These bad boys have a wow factor, even for someone coming from an SR009.

 

[lazybones]

These bad boys have a wow factor, even for someone coming from an SR009.

I hope so . Just sold my SR009 to buy SR1a + JR. Now I am waiting for for delivery(2 weeks remaining).

 

[Duncan_McCloud]

In the end I bought a cheap stand which looks ok to me and functional.
No matter how I place them, both driver always stretch one against the other.
I hope the pads won't suffer to much the stand position

 

[Drumonron]

In the end I bought a cheap stand which looks ok to me and functional.
No matter how I place them, both driver always stretch one against the other.
I hope the pads won't suffer to much the stand position

my stand only cost 50.00 - for carbon fiber, ss, and padauk wood-cheapo.

 

[Duncan_McCloud]

my stand only cost 50.00 - for carbon fiber, ss, and padauk wood-cheapo.

This was 18€ on Amazon. Since I am in europe I didn't want to deal with customs. Pretty satisfied to be honest

 

[Drumonron]

This was 18€ on Amazon. Since I am in europe I didn't want to deal with customs. Pretty satisfied to be honest
[/QUOTE

as long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters. My headphones live in pelicans when not in use and only hang when an incident arises.

 

[Drumonron]

OK I've been putting these through their paces and I have much more listening to do before critical analysis but I'm gonna say that these ear monitors are presenting me with more detail from the ones and zeroes than I think I've ever heard from any head fastened listening device ever and it takes some adjusting, I'm gonna warn you folks. One must be very careful to keeping the volume low for full experience of the soundstage presented and absorb every bit and byte and morsel extracted. It really is a religious experience that brings goosebumps and chills down the spine. An emotional response is demanded from the SR1a and I cannot resist to it's powerfully presented glory. This device is without question in another level. A new future is realized here for the audiophile. I'm sold.

Comparable to my MySphere 3.2 in the soundstage(holographically speaking, of course) and very close but different in that the SR1a let's me get the same detail but with a bit more volume. That's not to say that it beats the MS 3.2 but rather that it brings the room acoustics from the recording a bit more into focus for lack of a better way to put it. It's early on but take them for what they are, early impressions. I'll keep both as they both have pros and cons. For me, I need different flavors(presentations) for different music/genres.

So yeah, the pro and con of the SR1a is probably going to be it's ability to completely dissect the song pieces and allow them to exist as they were recorded. Exceptionally true hear is the fact that if you have garbage in it's gonna scream the fact that it's garbage into your inner soul via your ear drum. <evil grin> And you know what, you're gonna want to blame the SR1a but then you're gonna realize, it's your crappy file that's being fed or maybe it's just a badly engineered track and the crappy headphones you were listening to before were secretly designed to mask the crappiness all along like some evil sinister flawed social test gone horribly wrong. OR NOT.

As a certain candidate for president in the USA would say, "c'mon man"! I for one am all aboard for this new frontier of "Earmonitors" / "EarSpeakers" - they simply allow one to listen to music the way humans were meant to hear. As for ribbon earfield's - I do believe we may be onto something here where the sky is the limit for scalability with the only ceiling being a monetary one for each who decides to "try" these wonderful instruments of headfield pleasure. It's like molasses for the ears, head, soul, and heart. Give me a helping or two or three. One for the holographic, Two for the detail, and Three for allowing me to feel like the music is live and speakerlike.

All written with a teary eye as I listened to My Chemical Romance and Welcome to the Black Parade with the SR1a from my JotR and I'm only on volume level 3.

 

[julien-hifi]

Hi guys,

I'm wondering if anybody tried to insert a schiit loki with the Sr1a and the Jot R.
I'm hesitating to grab one to push a bit the 20hZ...
Good idea?

 

[FLTWS]

Hi guys,

I'm wondering if anybody tried to insert a schiit loki with the Sr1a and the Jot R.
I'm hesitating to grab one to push a bit the 20hZ...
Good idea?

Yes, it works fine and I only use the 20Hz band and it depends on the quality of the source recording, I feel some could use a little help in that area, some don't. I can't imagine needing to crank it all the way, I've done it but not necessary with my music and the volume levels I listen at. It will improve the sound level of the bass in that area but still will not give the sensation of a large bass drum thwack shuddering and moving air. You've spent 4 grand for the HP and amp. For $150.00 it's a no brainer if you want more bass.

 

[Shahrose]

Got the HSA1b earlier today. You nailed it.

Fresh out of the box and in comparison to the JotR, the RAAL amp projects a larger soundstage in all directions but especially forward (depth). The congestion I complained about earlier in this thread is gone. The separation, as well as layering and imaging is excellent now. I feel the amp also resolves more microdetail such as room reverb, air around instruments and the textures of sounds.

In terms of tone, the sound is darker and slightly warmer as expected (pushing the SR1a more towards neutral rather than lean and bright). Beyond this, the overall sound is more naturally liquid, without resorting to a smearing of transients (like the Black Dragon cable does, however subtly). Overall, this makes the HPs more forgiving of recordings and I don't find the SR1a as harsh as they previously tended to be. Interestingly, It's also easier to notice changes in recording tone and space, just without the edge now.

The improvements are significant and readily audible but just like you said, it's that extra 15% audiophiles yearn for (though these estimates are wildly subjective). I never expected it to be night and day, and it isn't.

Just an update post burn-in. The sound has gained more solidity or density and the SR1a have become neutral now (not bright by my standard anymore). The low-end is adequate but I like a little more presence so I still add with EQ below 125hz. It's been mentioned before, but if done within reason, there's no ill effect to the ribbon's sound.

As a reference for bass, I find the HD800 somewhat bass-shy, the Susvara and Utopia neutral, the HE1000SE and 1266 TC a little bass-heavy (north of neutral for sure).

The soundstage is the most believable of any headphone I've heard with the HD800 taking second spot and the 1266 TC a close third. What I mean by this is, if I close my eyes, how easy it is to visualize a stage of singers/instruments ahead or around me. Size-wise, the other two can sometimes match the RAALs but whereas the former sound like excellent renditions of a room by headphones, the latter sounds like the sounds are actually in front of me palpably.

Everything else I stated in my earlier post stands. More resolving, more natural transients, smoother, warmer, more liquid and more transparent than the JotR. Before I said it's an extra 15% over the Schiit, now it's more like 20-25%. Looking forward to trying better speaker amps to see how much the SR1a scale because so far they've been fairly impressive. As it stands, the SR1a is my preferred headphone for most music.

Out of the ribbon-out, conventional cans sound great, especially the Susvara. I think it's the best I've ever heard them. Fist-tight grip; I didn't think the Susvara could actually have transients this quick (thought it was an inherent limitation). Actually, even from the regular HP-out everything sounds pretty good.

 

[jp11801]

Has anyone with the HSA1b opened the unit to check out the components. Pretty excited to hear the great feedback on this amp.
the curse of the hobby is now I question my amp project.

 

[Drumonron]

Yeah, this Earspeaker is very revealing so I'm going to enjoy it with the JOTR for now but it's comforting knowing that there's nowhere but up from here.

 

[Sherwood]

You could certainly go down from the Jotunheim R. Before my Jotunheim R arrived I was powering the converter box from a (very good) 50 wpc class A amp, and while the sound was great it was seriously underpowered. I perceive the Jotunheim R as slightly less melifluous but much more in command of the ribbons, giving me better dynamics, better bass, and more headroom for EQ.
I keep telling myself it’s better to enjoy this sound as is for a while and not rush out to get a 100 wpc speaker amp before I even know the headphones, but you all know how hard restraint can be.

 

[julien-hifi]

Yes, it works fine and I only use the 20Hz band and it depends on the quality of the source recording, I feel some could use a little help in that area, some don't. I can't imagine needing to crank it all the way, I've done it but not necessary with my music and the volume levels I listen at. It will improve the sound level of the bass in that area but still will not give the sensation of a large bass drum thwack shuddering and moving air. You've spent 4 grand for the HP and amp. For $150.00 it's a no brainer if you want more bass.

Thanks for the answer.
currently my dac, the topping d90 is connected with an xlr AQ water to the Jot R. If i use the loki, that means i need to use rca from the dac to the loki and again from loki to the amp... bit of a shame i can’t use the balance output and would need to get aside my balanced cable.
Complicated