[gammi]

I can say that Earfish did recently respond to an inquiry about an issue with the head-tracking app, though they did say they had been quite busy with university matters. Receiving the measurement kit from them would be the most convenient way to get measurements of any headphone and see results specific to your own ears, plus the indispensable experience of having your personal HRTF measurement for use in binaural head-tracking or EQing to a speaker response. [...] Otherwise, it would be cool to get more comparative data on harmonic and multitone distortion for the X9000 and DCA Expanse in a lower-noise setting.

I'll give Earfish another email and see if I get a response this time.
In the meantime I'll give it a shot with my miniDSP EARS.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

I'll give Earfish another email and see if I get a response this time.
In the meantime I'll give it a shot with my miniDSP EARS.

If you already have a miniDSP EARS, then it shouldn't be too hard to hook it up to Room EQ Wizard which will capture the CSD with one sweep. Since it already uses a USB interface, I don't think accurate phase and impulse response measurements would be feasible with that setup (the DAC and ADC would need to be on the same audio interface), but REW might still display a decent CSD graph. Use a "4M" measurement length for the best noise rejection in that setup. I personally try to capture 100 dBA out of the driver from my SPL meter both as a distortion measurement baseline and to get reasonable SNR out of the measurement.

 

[zolkis]

Nobody should think they can tell how a big diaphragm headphone sounds by looking at the measurements/CSD alone, especially above ~1000 Hz... (though there have been claims here and on other sites, too). You need both ears and measurements, but the latter nowadays tend to be good enough. I'd say just focus on the sound (says the one with multiple measurement rigs). These are not amps, DACs etc. But comparative measurements on the same gear and conditions can be relevant, IF the seal can be made the same as on your own head... So these in-ear-mike measurements are interesting... but then mainly for the person in question. Approximating from other measurements + your HRTF has some error margins, too.

Unit variations can also be pretty big, mainly because of the ear pads quality control (or lack of), but also the regular error factors.
Of course, one can say that the error margin in subjective opinions is even higher - that's how forums are. But no one expects absolute rankings from opinions.
The human auditory system is amazing, so I think that comparative reviews, experiences combined with statistics and reputation IMHO are better bets than measurements, however good they may be.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

Nobody should think they can tell how a big diaphragm headphone sounds by looking at the measurements/CSD alone, especially above ~1000 Hz... (though there have been claims here and on other sites, too). You need both ears and measurements, but the latter nowadays tend to be good enough. I'd say just focus on the sound (says the one with multiple measurement rigs). These are not amps, DACs etc. But comparative measurements on the same gear and conditions can be relevant, IF the seal can be made the same as on your own head... So these in-ear-mike measurements are interesting... but then mainly for the person in question. Approximating from other measurements + your HRTF has some error margins, too.

Unit variations can also be pretty big, mainly because of the ear pads quality control (or lack of), but also the regular error factors.
Of course, one can say that the error margin in subjective opinions is even higher - that's how forums are. But no one expects absolute rankings from opinions.
The human auditory system is amazing, so I think that comparative reviews, experiences combined with statistics and reputation IMHO are better bets than measurements, however good they may be.

Of course, measurements will not evince one of the experience of something as huge as HiFiMan eggs, but I'd say once you've experienced those, it isn't hard to extrapolate, whereby I've found that I do prefer to maximize the amount of space around my ears. Now, "sounds" can be a term with semantic contention that could be reduced to a frequency domain transfer function, but I suppose people do use that term to include a plethora of contributors to the experience beyond tonality. My main purpose of sharing magnitude responses is an explanation of why something sounded "agreeable" to me (as opposed to "perfected" in EQ), and to show how "easy" a given headphone is to EQ on my head, frequency response smoothness being a sign of exceptionality. Tonal differences are otherwise things I find easy to transparently mold with proper EQ (I've found stuff above 1 kHz (unless you were missing a zero) to actually be quite important, whereby poor ear gain levels can be a deal breaker for my ears, and treble peaks can "dirty" the sound), however much some individuals' hearing may amplify the subjective effects such as imparting increased or collapsed soundstage. I then focus on CSD and distortion measurements for theoretical peak cleanness of sound, albeit somewhat at a level of splitting hairs in identifying what possibly inaudible but at least objective improvements our thousands are buying us (e.g. the HE1000se indeed has lower distortion than the Arya Stealth, and a bit smoother of a frequency response, and other than better build, those were the only accolades I could assign). Otherwise, of course, what sparse frequency response measurements of the X9000 would have never told me how poorly they unfortunately fit on my own head, saving me thousands from what would have been foolish to purchase blind, mind that I preferred the "presentation" of the Meze Elite and HiFiMan eggs.

Anyways, my stance at least on the HE1000se thread (page 320 and on) is of the form, "I happen to not hear the hype, and my personal measurements tell me exactly why [e.g. very similar frequency and step responses between the HE1000se and Arya Stealth despite "unit variations", and a bit of a few dB better distortion performance; or someone believing the HE1000se has "a whole lot more bass" when it should be possible to achieve an identical seal between both headphones, and they may have not volume matched]." I know what has actually made a "day and night" difference for my ears (while maintaining the presentation from similar pad and driver size), and that has been EQ and binaural head-tracking. Unless certain headphone frequency responses or individual HRTFs are actually incurring "magical" psychoacoustic effects on certain individuals, I err on the side of being more critical of how we A/B gear, such as measurably establishing fair volume matching between different headphones and being able to switch between said headphones within 10 seconds, always going back to confirm whether a notable difference was actually heard while being aware of what factors or controls could have influenced that (e.g. pad size or transient response influencing the sense of imaging, or volume differences influencing soundstaging or detail impressions).

 

[jamesjames]

Nobody should think they can tell how a big diaphragm headphone sounds by looking at the measurements/CSD alone, especially above ~1000 Hz... (though there have been claims here and on other sites, too). You need both ears and measurements, but the latter nowadays tend to be good enough. I'd say just focus on the sound (says the one with multiple measurement rigs). These are not amps, DACs etc. But comparative measurements on the same gear and conditions can be relevant, IF the seal can be made the same as on your own head... So these in-ear-mike measurements are interesting... but then mainly for the person in question. Approximating from other measurements + your HRTF has some error margins, too.

Unit variations can also be pretty big, mainly because of the ear pads quality control (or lack of), but also the regular error factors.
Of course, one can say that the error margin in subjective opinions is even higher - that's how forums are. But no one expects absolute rankings from opinions.
The human auditory system is amazing, so I think that comparative reviews, experiences combined with statistics and reputation IMHO are better bets than measurements, however good they may be.

I imagine most on this site at least would agree that sound can't simply be equated with measurement. I've not seen any simplistic idea of that sort here. I imagine most would find measurement particularly interesting where it backs up (or undermines) or simply helps explain one's own subjective experience. My experience of planars and e-stats over many years is a case in point for me.

 

[CannedWheat]

I have found yet another amp that pairs wonderfully with the X9000. It's so sweet and mellow, when listening the Vocals are as sweet as syrup and smooth as silk and sound as if there is nothing between myself and the music. The bass is rich and full. It's truely astounding that I can continue to find ways to make these things sound even more amazing. I cannot wait to try my first MC cartridge with these headphones.

 

[Yuceka]

Just received my SR-X9000s and I am quite happy with the sound. However, what is bumming is the fit. Normally I've never had any fit issues with any headphone but these seem to have next to nothing clamp force, and when I bent down to get something from my desk's drawer, they easily slide off my head. Anyone tackled this issue and found a solution?

Thanks

 

[padam]

Already answered here, the arc assembly of the 007 and X9000 are made out of metal, where you can do this.

 

[Phil95]

I Notice in the HeadAmp site that the HIFIMAN Shangri-la can be used with the BHSE and probably with the Grand Cayman. The Shangri-la is almost 3 times the price of the Stax X9000. Is it really better than the STAX when powered by these amps? Any one with such experience should communicate!

 

[ufospls2]

I Notice in the HeadAmp site that the HIFIMAN Shangri-la can be used with the BHSE and probably with the Grand Cayman. The Shangri-la is almost 3 times the price of the Stax X9000. Is it really better than the STAX when powered by these amps? Any one with such experience should communicate!

Is It better? Yes. Is it $11800 better? That depends on the person, personal preferences, how much they want to budget for a pair of headphones.

They sound different. The Shang Sr is more detailed, has a larger sound stage, sounds "bigger." It is brighter, and has less low end level and impact. I prefer it with EQ, increasing the low end, and decreasing the low treble slightly.

The X9000 is much closer in terms of technical performance than the price tag difference would suggest. It is much better built with better materials, and has better bass (imo.)

 

[genefruit]

I Notice in the HeadAmp site that the HIFIMAN Shangri-la can be used with the BHSE and probably with the Grand Cayman. The Shangri-la is almost 3 times the price of the Stax X9000. Is it really better than the STAX when powered by these amps? Any one with such experience should communicate!

Several, including myself, have found it to be really better than the STAX. Caveats, nobody is paying 18k for them. Better is subjective but many have found it to be an "end game" worthy headphone in resolution. Discussion threads include:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/e-s...tax-sr-x9000-vs-hfm-shangri-la-junior.962759/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cigs-totl-headphone-comparisons.962628/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hif...electrostatic-headphones-from-hifiman.793700/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/vin...tl-comparisons-and-impressions-thread.930051/

 

[Phil95]

Several, including myself, have found it to be really better than the STAX. Caveats, nobody is paying 18k for them. Better is subjective but many have found it to be an "end game" worthy headphone in resolution. Discussion threads include:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/e-s...tax-sr-x9000-vs-hfm-shangri-la-junior.962759/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/cigs-totl-headphone-comparisons.962628/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hif...electrostatic-headphones-from-hifiman.793700/

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/vin...tl-comparisons-and-impressions-thread.930051/

Thank you very much ufospls2 and genefruit, especially for the 4 links provided. I will watch these new (for me) threads.
Note: I have a X9000 (after many other STAX headsets) and a BHSE with Philips Miniwatt (1955) tubes.

 

[kane0206]

The new Stax SR-X9000 definitely needs it's own thread!

So far information has been posted on the general Stax thread here
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-stax-thread-iii.677809/page-1410

and in the "sponsor announcement and deals" area here
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new...c-stax-sr-x9000-now-available-headamp.959733/

(maybe also in other places ...)

Very curious about listening impressions and further information as soon as they become available.

From https://staxaudio.com/earspeaker/sr-x9000 :

Can you help me, I am new to this forum, ordered SR-X9000 but still not sure for the amplifier. Is there a thread where amplifiers are compared on the X9000?

 

[SolarCetacean]

Can you help me, I am new to this forum, ordered SR-X9000 but still not sure for the amplifier. Is there a thread where amplifiers are compared on the X9000?

This is the thread for it. If you search this thread, you'll find plenty of discussion on which amplifiers work well with the X9000. Some people say the Mjolnir Audio Novem pairs really well, others say a Megatron. Personally, I've heard the X9000 on 4 different amps (BHSE, Eksonic Aeras, Grand Cayman prototype, and LTA Z10e), and it sounded great on all of them.

 

[kane0206]

Another brand new review (this has been released today) by Director's Garage (Stax x9000/Mjolnir Carbon CC/dCS LINA DAC).

Hi Werner,

is there any review on head-fi (I am new and could not find a review) where several high-end amps h2h are compared on X9000 e.g. carbon cc vs blue hawaii vs LTA z10?