[Carl]

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Originally Posted by wualta Nah, I keep fresh scones around for that. Much denser and more likely to fly straight.

Tasty and effective.

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...and this is the reason why. From this description, I'd say the 4070 makes no attempt to sound "musical", "euphonic" or even pleasing. In other words, it's a serious piece of pro audio gear. Would that be fair to say?

Right on the money. Not to say the kill the music or anything, they just don't add anything to it either. And, they manage to keep the musical intergrity down to ridiculously low volume levels, so if you happen to listen insanely low they may actually be more musical than the competition simply by way of that. Conversely, if you happen to listen insanely loud the protection circuit will go off and you won't hear anything.

They have the makings of an excellent second pair of headphones for those who'd not mind their particular personality (or lack thereof), but I'd give caution to anyone planning on using them as their sole headphone. Well, for monitoring purposes I'd say they're pretty much the best the world has to offer, so if you're looking for some monitoring headphones this is the place. For music or films, it's a tougher call.

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Even the headband speaks of situations where the classic arch-and-strap would be too fragile. The brusque safety muting circuit points to professional use too.

The more I use them, the more impressed I am with their build quality. Given the weight of them, I'd say your programme director has more to fear than the headphones do.

They are certainlly aimed at professionals anyway.

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Can you tell if the earcups are stuffed full of some kind of absorptive material?

They're the same as the 404, complete with fart. There is some foam inside them, and judging by how little they leak I'd have to assume that it's absorptive to a point, but beyond that I do not know.

 

[thrice]

Carl,

Congrats man...can't wait to read more impressions!

 

[Carl]

These are great with jazz.

 

[vapman]

They look great! Also, +10 for Shift-JIS ^_^

 

[nikongod]

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Originally Posted by Carl Well, not all the photos I took ended up being uploaded...

you like to wear stax headphones naked? sicko.

for the ports: look for any holes in the housings. i would GUESS that they are near the bottom, where the cable goes into the shells. or jsut send them to me and i will look.

 

[Carl]

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Originally Posted by nikongod you like to wear stax headphones naked? sicko.

Don't lower me to your level

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for the ports: look for any holes in the housings. i would GUESS that they are near the bottom, where the cable goes into the shells. or jsut send them to me and i will look.

The outer shell is completely closed.

 

[wualta]

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Originally Posted by Carl The outer shell is completely closed.

The port was only a rumor, but it would be interesting to see how the Stax engineers picked their way across the problems of designing what's effectively a monopole electret driver.

My question about the absorptive material ran up against a nomenclature problem: we should probably call the earcup the part that cups the ear and the back of the headphone, if it's closed, could be called the driver cup or back cup or something like that. The backwave from the driver has to be eaten up by something absorptive in the back cup, and that's what I was asking about.

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Originally Posted by Carl These are great with jazz.

If my guess is correct and the 4070 has a critically damped moving system, it ought to sound great on everything. I suppose the rockers would like a little builtin reverb, though.

 

[Carl]

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Originally Posted by wualta The port was only a rumor, but it would be interesting to see how the Stax engineers picked their way across the problems of designing what's effectively a monopole electret driver.

The backwave is probably vented back into the soundchamber after being diffused in the baffle, at a guess. I'm sure I'll open them up in the coming weeks to see how it all works, I just need to mull over how I'm going to do it without making it so the earpads don't stick on anymore, as I'd rather not have to buy another set already.

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My question about the absorptive material ran up against a nomenclature problem: we should probably call the earcup the part that cups the ear and the back of the headphone, if it's closed, could be called the driver cup or back cup or something like that. The backwave from the driver has to be eaten up by something absorptive in the back cup, and that's what I was asking about.

You mean the baffle, right?

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If my guess is correct and the 4070 has a critically damped moving system, it ought to sound great on everything. I suppose the rockers would like a little builtin reverb, though.

Like all headphones, and speakers too for that matter, it isn't 100% neutral. It isn't a hugely speedy sounding headphone, despite its PRaT and resolution. Imagine an ambiently lit lounge with an open fire and a quiet get togethering of a few close friends over some mulled wine. It's not a headphone that makes you want to get up and pogo to speedcore.

 

[wualta]

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Originally Posted by Carl You mean the baffle, right?

Strictly speaking, the baffle is the flat surface the driver's mounted on (and presumably sealed airtight to). We could borrow from speakers and call an enclosed driver cup a "cabinet", but that would be twee.


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Originally Posted by Carl Like all headphones, and speakers too for that matter, it isn't 100% neutral.

Being closed, especially, would make it difficult to be neutral, since it's never possible to absorb 100% of the backwave at all frequencies, and leakage tends to create ripples of comb-filter effects.

 

[Carl]

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Originally Posted by wualta Strictly speaking, the baffle is the flat surface the driver's mounted on (and presumably sealed airtight to). We could borrow from speakers and call an enclosed driver cup a "cabinet", but that would be twee.

Cabinet then.

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Being closed, especially, would make it difficult to be neutral, since it's never possible to absorb 100% of the backwave at all frequencies, and leakage tends to create ripples of comb-filter effects.

You also get standing waves inside the housing, too.

 

[Duggeh]

The first earspeaker with a proper earcabinet. I like it.

BTW Carl, as regards the pads, if you pull them off very slowly while its warm then they should stick back on almost as well as they were before (glue is teased up into strands as the pad it removed).

Thats how I took the interior shots of my SR-202 and they were okay. Although the little screws will be a bit gummed with glue, and using a large handled screwdriver with an exactly fitting head is important if you dont want to chip the crosshead ridges.

Besides, if it all goes wrong, you have your excuse to get a trendy set of tartan pads.

 

[wualta]

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Originally Posted by Carl Cabinet then.

[twee voice:] Cupboard.

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You also get standing waves inside the housing, too.

As long as they remain standing inside the cupboard, no problem. If they or anything else creates backpressure on the diaphragm, maybe a problem, which is why we were looking for something like a port or slot, which could be as small as a pinhole.

Does the 4070 isolate well? In other words, when you put them on, does the world go away bigtime?

By the way, when I said "monopole electret driver", I was indulging in unforgivable inside jokery. It's simply Stax humor, nothing more, though Stax really was faced with the problem of turning a dipole into a virtual monopole-- same problem Yamaha messed up when they designed their first series of Orthodynamics.

Anyway, I'm very glad one of us got the 4070. Gives us all something to shoot for. Thanks for the descriptions and photos.

 

[Carl]

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Originally Posted by Duggeh The first earspeaker with a proper earcabinet. I like it. BTW Carl, as regards the pads, if you pull them off very slowly while its warm then they should stick back on almost as well as they were before (glue is teased up into strands as the pad it removed). Thats how I took the interior shots of my SR-202 and they were okay. Although the little screws will be a bit gummed with glue, and using a large handled screwdriver with an exactly fitting head is important if you dont want to chip the crosshead ridges. Besides, if it all goes wrong, you have your excuse to get a trendy set of tartan pads.

Thanks. Unfortuantly I gave back the digicamera I borrowed, so I'll need to get it back again, first.


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Originally Posted by wualta Does the 4070 isolate well? In other words, when you put them on, does the world go away bigtime?

Quite well, yes. When you squeeze the cups together it all almost goes slient, but the pads seem too leak a decent amount at their normal pressure level, so on your head they don't block 100%. People's voices coming in are still audible, but you really have to listen hard.

 

[Jahn]

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Originally Posted by Carl Like all headphones, and speakers too for that matter, it isn't 100% neutral. It isn't a hugely speedy sounding headphone, despite its PRaT and resolution. Imagine an ambiently lit lounge with an open fire and a quiet get togethering of a few close friends over some mulled wine. It's not a headphone that makes you want to get up and pogo to speedcore.

I'd say that sounds exactly like the description differing the Lambda Pro and the SR-X/MKIII. The SR-X is the speedcore can, the Lambda is the spatial lounger.

 

[edstrelow]

I am assuming that the 4070 wooden enclosure does not enclose the ear but only the driver. I.E. the 4070 is a Lambda with a cabinet behind the driver. In that respect the 4070 wooden enclosure is like a speaker cabinet.

There is an interesting distinction here about headphone design. A speaker cabinet does not enclose the ear. It backs the driver only.

The Stax Sigma by comparison places the ear into the enclosure, with the driver in front. Its enclosure is in effect an acoustic "room" not a cabinet.