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Stax and Dynamic Rig Owners: How much head-time on each rig?

Apr 23, 2013 at 9:19 PM Post #46 of 65
I like dark sounding sound sig's for metal and certain rock because it really sounds apocalyptic, like boom, bang, drums and electric guitar right in your face giving you a full knock out sound. With stat's it can sound too thin or bright.
 
Apr 23, 2013 at 10:47 PM Post #47 of 65
Quote:
mohawkus said:
That ethereal sound is what electrostats are known for. Some call it 'sound coming out of nowhere, effortlessly' and some call it an unnatural lack of body. Personally I'm a fan of it even for rock and metal. It allows me to listen to badly mastered recordings without having to chase down a dark or warm sounding headphone(a signature of which I'm not a fan of) A lot of people talk about the lack of impact to the bass, but few talk about it's effects on the mid-range and higher frequencies.

It's all about what you are looking for when auditioning a headphone and the things that are an immediate turn of for you. The sooner you figure out what you're looking for and your pet peeves, the better. Personally for me I need a coherent sound where I can follow the drums, bass lines, and feel the emotion behind the vocals. And I can't stand what some call 'richness' and 'warmth'. I also can't stand headphones that are too unforgiving of the source material. And for me that means stats(and possible orthos, haven't tried them yet). Everything has a compromise, it's a matter of finding which compromises you aren't willing to make.
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The 009 is surprisingly good for rock music. And while it's entire presentation is pretty much flawless, I find the mids to be the most seductive. The bass isn't boomy but it's certainly extended and prominent enough.
 
I agree that they aren't that bad with poorly mastered music, but would add that they certainly scale up with better recordings. To the point that they could actually elevate my taste in music
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The out of your head effect is the best I have heard this side of the K1000. Much better than S-Logic, and even superior to the HD800 in my book.
 
I still have an unreasonable emotional attachment to a few other headphones, and I don't know if I'm quite ready to completely give myself over to these yet.
 
I could have a fire sale toward new upstream gear to see how much more I could squeeze out of these, but I could also trade them for both the other Stax headphones I want to try and keep the others.
 
Maybe the 009s are too good for me lol. It's hard to get used to the idea of having so much economic power on my noggin
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Apr 24, 2013 at 10:48 AM Post #48 of 65
Quote:
khaine1711 said:
Some metalhead's opinions here. The 307 lacks some "bite" to make metal shine, also not snappy enough IMO. The 507 is now my main death/thrash/melodic death metal can; while the He-6 is for the rest of the metal genres that I listen too (mainly black/folk/viking and some power).
 
Back when I had them, the Lcd2 and 3 were epic with Doom metal though. Also very nice with certain folk metal album (Empyrium never sounds better =p). I don't know what kind of metal you listen to, but nothing plays death/speed/thrash metal like Staxes \m/.
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Hmm...i'll try to get some listening time with the SR407 with metal and see if it is good. For me, metal is death/black/thrash/doom, hardly folk metal. So, i guess your opinion is much appreciated 
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 I suppose e-stats have the speed to keep up with the recording but not sure if this will make the bass seem leaner than it should be. Doom might not be so matching considering it needs a lot of "weight" to the music...
 
Apr 24, 2013 at 3:54 PM Post #49 of 65
rossliew said:
Hmm...i'll try to get some listening time with the SR407 with metal and see if it is good. For me, metal is death/black/thrash/doom, hardly folk metal. So, i guess your opinion is much appreciated 
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 I suppose e-stats have the speed to keep up with the recording but not sure if this will make the bass seem leaner than it should be. Doom might not be so matching considering it needs a lot of "weight" to the music...
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I haven't really listened to any Doom Metal since I got my Stax. There is no lack in bass with my SR-5s but still they don't really play doom with enough weight. The SR-5s are a unique case though, I've heard it said that they are like a mix between a Lambda and a Grado. I was going to step-up to a lambda but now I'm not so sure that would be the right move.

I knew I shouldn't have come back here. Now I'm taking another look at Orthos and Dynamics and headphone amps again. My poor wallet. :D
 
Apr 24, 2013 at 7:45 PM Post #52 of 65
Quote:
rossliew said:
DefQon, LCD2 or 3? Understand the soundstage is compressed?
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For the LCD2 yes not quite as expansive as I like it to be. But I've been running mine off a early 80's Marantz PM-32 integrated amp with bass/treble dials and man been enjoying a lot heavy/nu/black metal on it. 
 
Apr 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM Post #54 of 65
Only had my SR-009s for a week or two, but so far, 90% SR-009. There doesn't seem to be anything the LA7000 does better. The 10% is when I'm not near the Stax amp :)
 
 
Oct 23, 2013 at 9:42 AM Post #55 of 65
”The best of both worlds"
 
Dear all,
 
I use the STAX 009 + 007t-2, when I'm listening alone or outdoors - it's THE top sound my system delivers with all sources  … and I could ever dream off .
When I'm listening with my partner in the same room, I use the Sony R-10, with a grace design 903 (I know: not the very best, but it has remote control....!)
As you guessed: the 009, being an open system is used when sound emission is no problem, whereas the R-10, being closed, has little emission and also filters outside noise)
Let's call it:  most likely  ”The best of both (open and closed) head phone worlds"
 
Regards
 
Urs

 
Oct 23, 2013 at 12:35 PM Post #56 of 65
listening a death metal or even heavy metal on 009 its like asking taylor swift to sing a song from sepultura.....lacks everything except the speed. i have 1 (one) journey album on my collection, and 8 out of 10 times when i bumped into their tracks on my 009, i skipped it.....or maybe it was just me but anything more than slow rock should be a dynamic/ortho territory. stats just lack the grunt, slam and the grain of dynamic/ortho. Grainy for me is not always bad.
 
and to answer op questions, my listening time is 99% 009 on bhse. I have a "lowly" hd580 with gilmore lite. I wont part with it no matter what. Just not worth the money I'm getting out of it. But whenever I miss the dynamic sound (the 1%), this setup is suffice for me.
 
Oct 24, 2013 at 4:36 PM Post #57 of 65
I would agree completely with the comments about the Stax being too soft/ethereal for metal back before the 009s. When I heard the O2s they lacked alot of impact and was unwilling to give that up for the Stax sound. But the first time I heard the 009s, i knew they were the ones. Sure they dont have quite as much impact as a pair of LCDs have, but its close enough to keep me happy and the rest of what they do is a revelation compared to any other heaphone Ive heard. And I auditioned them almost exclusively with metal. thrash, death, progressive. Metal is the genre I listen to the most and I think the 009s are the closest thing to a perfect headphone I've heard.
 
Oct 24, 2013 at 8:47 PM Post #58 of 65
souprknowva said:
I would agree completely with the comments about the Stax being too soft/ethereal for metal back before the 009s. When I heard the O2s they lacked alot of impact and was unwilling to give that up for the Stax sound. But the first time I heard the 009s, i knew they were the ones. Sure they dont have quite as much impact as a pair of LCDs have, but its close enough to keep me happy and the rest of what they do is a revelation compared to any other heaphone Ive heard. And I auditioned them almost exclusively with metal. thrash, death, progressive. Metal is the genre I listen to the most and I think the 009s are the closest thing to a perfect headphone I've heard.
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So...did you get them yet Chase?
 
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