Meyvn
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2006
- Posts
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All right. So I FINALLY got my hands on these beauties. I've been looking for some Lambda Pros forever, as many of you have seen, and I ended up going for broke on the Lambda Sigs, since they're the next model up the chain in the same series. Now that they're in my possession, I'm ecstatic that I did. The Lambda Signature is a fantastic headphone. I'll do a bit of a review here, though not as in-depth as perhaps some would like. One important thing to keep in mind is I'm running them off the Pass Aleph 3 off an SRD-6; this is a normal bias transformer, and these are high bias headphones, so keep that in mind as I review these; it may or may not alter the sound. Once I get my hands on a pro box, I'll know for sure.
The lows: when it comes to music that either does not call for impact, or is already very impactful in and of itself, this is an area in which the Lambda Sig shines. The bass is wide, low, and powerful. There's plenty of it, but by no means does it feel at all overwhelming at any time; on the contrary, it's almost a soothing sort of bass; it just flows into your ears in that electrostatic way. In contrast with the K1000, this definitely has noticeably more and noticeably lower bass, but it DEFINITELY lacks impact by comparison. In shorthand: the bass on these headphones works very well for hard rock/metal and classical, but it fails when it comes to not as hard rock, and hip hop/r&b.
The mids: spectacular. They're present, but flowing and subtly beautiful; in terms of quality, they're on par with the Kx01 and K340s, though not as sweet; they're more on the silky side. They don't quite hit the K1000's level, but they're still GREAT in this department. Beautiful vocals, great sounding electric guitars.
The highs: This is where I was thrown off; having the thinnest diaphragm Stax ever made, I was totally expecting them to be UBER detailed, almost harsh; to my great surprise, they were not. Here is where I think it may be the SRD-6 coming into play. It's possible that the normal bias transformer cost me some treble. I guess we'll just have to see about that, if someone can either loan me one or sell me one. But I digress. They were actually quite detailed, and definitely very 'clear' sounding. However, they still were not as much so as the K1000; imagine if you can a mixture between the SR-X and the K701 highs, and I think you'll probably have it right on the money. Still wonderful, still awesome, just not the most detailed can you ever heard, which is kinda what I was expecting given the reputation.
Soundstage: Nothing beats the K1000 here, but these headphones give it their all; they have quite a good sized soundstage. They're probably in the area of the GS1000 or K701, if not a little bigger. They project very well forward. They're not bad as far as side to side and behind, but they're not exceptional in that regard.
Speed: These headphones are of course, extraordinarily fast. There's really not much to say here other than that; if you want pace, rhythm and timing, they've GOT it. Foot tapping will abound.
Instrument separation: All right. Here is the one area where I'd actually just call these headphones average. It's not bad or anything, it just isn't something I would say is a strength of these headphones. Ironically, though, the way instruments are presented with these headphones is a big factor in the reason I'm keeping them; as is clear by this review, the K1000 is my current reference and main headphone; when it comes to instrument separation, I've never heard any headphone perform so extraordinarily well. Sometimes, though, I just want a more together piece of music. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't just want some big blob of noise; but with certain pieces of music, especially harder stuff, it just feels right; a lot of the Mars Volta's stuff is a perfect example; the Lambda Pro's presentation just really suits them well. I feel like the music is hitting me all at once, instead of in the million pieces the K1000 gracefully and beautifully dissects it into.
All right. Well without further ado, the pics: they're not so great because I'm into head-fi, not camera-fi, but hey. I was actually surprised at their color; I was expecting them to look much more like the SR-404 than they did.
The lows: when it comes to music that either does not call for impact, or is already very impactful in and of itself, this is an area in which the Lambda Sig shines. The bass is wide, low, and powerful. There's plenty of it, but by no means does it feel at all overwhelming at any time; on the contrary, it's almost a soothing sort of bass; it just flows into your ears in that electrostatic way. In contrast with the K1000, this definitely has noticeably more and noticeably lower bass, but it DEFINITELY lacks impact by comparison. In shorthand: the bass on these headphones works very well for hard rock/metal and classical, but it fails when it comes to not as hard rock, and hip hop/r&b.
The mids: spectacular. They're present, but flowing and subtly beautiful; in terms of quality, they're on par with the Kx01 and K340s, though not as sweet; they're more on the silky side. They don't quite hit the K1000's level, but they're still GREAT in this department. Beautiful vocals, great sounding electric guitars.
The highs: This is where I was thrown off; having the thinnest diaphragm Stax ever made, I was totally expecting them to be UBER detailed, almost harsh; to my great surprise, they were not. Here is where I think it may be the SRD-6 coming into play. It's possible that the normal bias transformer cost me some treble. I guess we'll just have to see about that, if someone can either loan me one or sell me one. But I digress. They were actually quite detailed, and definitely very 'clear' sounding. However, they still were not as much so as the K1000; imagine if you can a mixture between the SR-X and the K701 highs, and I think you'll probably have it right on the money. Still wonderful, still awesome, just not the most detailed can you ever heard, which is kinda what I was expecting given the reputation.
Soundstage: Nothing beats the K1000 here, but these headphones give it their all; they have quite a good sized soundstage. They're probably in the area of the GS1000 or K701, if not a little bigger. They project very well forward. They're not bad as far as side to side and behind, but they're not exceptional in that regard.
Speed: These headphones are of course, extraordinarily fast. There's really not much to say here other than that; if you want pace, rhythm and timing, they've GOT it. Foot tapping will abound.
Instrument separation: All right. Here is the one area where I'd actually just call these headphones average. It's not bad or anything, it just isn't something I would say is a strength of these headphones. Ironically, though, the way instruments are presented with these headphones is a big factor in the reason I'm keeping them; as is clear by this review, the K1000 is my current reference and main headphone; when it comes to instrument separation, I've never heard any headphone perform so extraordinarily well. Sometimes, though, I just want a more together piece of music. I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't just want some big blob of noise; but with certain pieces of music, especially harder stuff, it just feels right; a lot of the Mars Volta's stuff is a perfect example; the Lambda Pro's presentation just really suits them well. I feel like the music is hitting me all at once, instead of in the million pieces the K1000 gracefully and beautifully dissects it into.
All right. Well without further ado, the pics: they're not so great because I'm into head-fi, not camera-fi, but hey. I was actually surprised at their color; I was expecting them to look much more like the SR-404 than they did.
