The Entry Level Stax Thread

[miceblue]

What kind of music do you all listen with your STAX? I'm actually surprised that I like electronic music with them. Rock sounds awesome too and likewise for stringed instruments.
At the end of this video, Deadmau5's music sounds great. I don't like the rest of that song though. XD

 

[DefQon]

Drum and bass is the ideal electronic for the Stax I own. That and trance. Anything else with more bass I look at my other dynamic headphones.

 

[mangler]

So no dub step?

How do STAX do with instrumental hip hop/ electronic, something like DJ Shadow or Gaslamp Killer? I've been thinking about getting a 407 or 507 and those are some if my favorite genres, so I'd really like to hear about anybody's experience with that kind of music.

 

[miceblue]

Oh? Look what I found.
http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2013/08/stax-sr-207-back-to-basic.html

 
There's no upper-midrange peak at all if the orange/green lines represent the corrected(?) frequency response.
 

PRO:  A well-extended flat frequency response & clean transient characteristic. Without a doubt, SR-207 exhibits a good electroacoustic behavior within its entire frequency spectrum just like any other Lambda series models; Thus, it can be considered to have a great economic value.

CON: A slight channel mismatch above 1 kHz & inverted polarity. Again, a good acoustic seal is vital for sound reproduction below 100 Hz. It is such a shame that the cable is not replaceable.

 
 

ON SECOND THOUGHT #1: Above data clearly shows the difference between Professional, Signature, and SR-207: As expected, compared to the other two, SR-207 is further damped by a few decibels in the treble for less harshness with its lower/higher ends further extended. Here's a rule of thumb for STAX headphones: The more recent the model is, the wider the frequency bandwidth becomes.

 
 

ON SECOND THOUGHT #2: Just like any other Lambdas, SR-207 turns into an accurate diffuse-field synthesizer when it is equipped with STAX ED-1 equalizer. The simulated result is of a slight downward-tilted diffuse-field characteristic, which is more suitable for general music listening as some listeners find the true diffuse-field target of Professional to be overly bright and harsh.

 
 

ON SECOND THOUGHT #3: A free-field analysis has been carried out at various locations within the frontal volume of the housing using an accurately calibrated microphone. The test result suggests that the entire surface of SR-207's diaphragm is not behaving uniformly just like any other Lambda series models, if not worse. The frequency response magnitude variation occurring at the polarized resonance frequency, 180 Hz,  indicates the diaphragm's stiffness has been slightly increased from that of the classic models.

 
 

ON SECOND THOUGHT #4: Just like the other Lambdas, this headphone is also far from the Olive-Welti target. A substantial amount of equalization is required to match Harman's target response.

 
 
 
 
Well at least now we know some measurements exist for the SR-207.

 

[K_19]

That little mini peak between 1k and 3k must be the slight imbalance in the midrange I've been hearing (causing the "shoutiness" in certain up-close vocals), which I just happen to be extremely sensitive to... I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for the most as it's not much.

 

[miceblue]

And this is why I like measurements. People say one thing, it measures something different. XD

 

[DefQon]

That's why you can't rely only on measurements when buying headphones (or amplifiers/dac's). 

 

[autoteleology]

Measurements are a pretty good rule of thumb when it comes to such a role, though. Subjective experience is far more inconsistent and hard to quantify meaningfully than a measurement.

 

[davidsh]

Signature means the old signature or 404 signature? 

 

[miceblue]

SR-Λ Signature.
 
However, Tyll of Innerfidelity measured the SR-404 Signature.
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/StaxSR404S2742.pdf

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

Measurements are a pretty good rule of thumb when it comes to such a role, though. Subjective experience is far more inconsistent and hard to quantify meaningfully than a measurement.

It depends, you can have a poorly designed circuit that can measure well objectively and it can sound very bad subjectively. Vice versa for the opposite as well. 
 
But measurements with headphones (CSD plots/waterfalls and FR graphs) are more consistent with each other. Usually most of the time if the user has some knowledge on the role of various FR with the measurements they can correlate subjective findings with objective data.

 

[davidsh]

Why is it that an amp like the O2 measuring well doesn't sound amazing? The answer must be found in the minuscule amount if distortion, am I right? Alternatively, I guess it would have something to do with stuff we can't measure.
Above is assuming you strive for transparency and neutrality.

 

[autoteleology]

Maybe people should stop trying to read into measurements that don't really correlate with the listening experience. As far as I'm concerned, the only measurements I can think of at the moment that have any consistent effect on the subjective experience is a frequency and tone/pulse responses. We don't really know how to measure and meaningfully quantify very many parts of the subjective experience yet, from what I've seen.

 

[davidsh]

Don't hope I am included in 'people'. After all I only own tube amps 

 

[NamelessPFG]

I just noticed this thread; took a vacation from Head-Fi for a bit, and I didn't browse the usual Stax thread too often for obvious "everyone only talks about the SR-007, SR-009, KGSSHV, BHSE and DIY T2s" reasons.
 
Still, I guess I'll re-iterate here that my current SR-Lambda + SRD-7/SB setup (a mere $250), paired with an Onkyo TX-SV515PRO receiver I had lying around to provide the speaker-level output to feed that transformer box, still remains my favorite setup out of everything I've tried...which also includes a more recent SR-202 + SRM-212 setup. Modern Lambdas just don't do it for me, I guess...higher clamping force and a more recessed, gratingly textured midrange are two big no-nos for me.
 
I also tried out an SR-Gamma, and imbalance aside, I did find its overall sound signature pretty likeable...but the real deal-killer for me, more than anything else, was the comfort-or lack thereof. The earpads are just way too shallow to keep my earlobes/pinnae from touching the inside of the cup, and that gets very uncomfortable, very fast.
 
And to think that said Lambda was my SECOND major headphone purchase here, first being the AD700 (which was blown away in every way)...yeah, it kinda cut my Head-Fi journey short. Everything else I've auditioned has led to disappointment in one way or another, and I keep going back. Admitted, there's still a lot left for me to audition out there...but I don't feel the need to go out and spend more money on other headphones aside from sheer curiosity.
 
However, I do admit that on occasion, I get tempted by SRM-1/Mk2 Pro, SRM-T1, or other dual-bias-output amps, just because it'll take up far less space on my computer desk than a huge AVR and a transformer box. $350-650 is still far more than I'd like to spend on a mere headphone amp, though...
 
...not that it stops the temptation any when there's a potentially good deal awaiting me, which shall be confirmed when it's delivered to my doorstep. Damn you, eBay!