[catscratch]

Yes, 'stats lack soul. If, that is, by soul you mean grain, bass bloat, and inability to handle more than a handful of instruments at the same time.

Dynamic driver limitations don't go away as you upgrade to more expensive dynamics. Voicing changes, obvious flaws disappear and transparency level increases, but the fundamental driver design problems remain, and once you you've heard them you cannot unhear them. 'Stats have their own problems - mostly due to limited driver excursion - but they can get around their problems far better than dynamics can get around theirs. Ultimately neither technology is perfect but 'stats come a lot closer.

A transducer's job is to reproduce the sound of your source, uncolored. If you have an accurate transducer but your music lacks soul, then maybe it's time to look at your source.

 

[GuyDebord]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, 'stats lack soul. If, that is, by soul you mean grain, bass bloat, and inability to handle more than a handful of instruments at the same time. Dynamic driver limitations don't go away as you upgrade to more expensive dynamics. Voicing changes, obvious flaws disappear and transparency level increases, but the fundamental driver design problems remain, and once you you've heard them you cannot unhear them. 'Stats have their own problems - mostly due to limited driver excursion - but they can get around their problems far better than dynamics can get around theirs. Ultimately neither technology is perfect but 'stats come a lot closer. A transducer's job is to reproduce the sound of your source, uncolored. If you have an accurate transducer but your music lacks soul, then maybe it's time to look at your source.

good post, I second most of your thoughts. To bad I cant get good ES sound on the go.... wait, stax has portables... are they comparable to jh13's...hmm

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuyDebord /img/forum/go_quote.gif good post, I second most of your thoughts. To bad I cant get good ES sound on the go.... wait, stax has portables... are they comparable to jh13's...hmm

You can mod the heck out of the portable amp to improve SQ quite a bit. The 003 is a very nice headphone when properly driven, just about the fastest thing ever and fantastic with vocals. Great euphonic mids and seriously kicking bass when you get the right fit. However it's still nowhere near O2-level and will probably not be near the JH13 either.

Balanced armatures are faster than dynamics inherently and are going to leave most driver technologies in the dust in about 10 years, maybe less. The fact that they are the most rapidly improving driver technology alone makes them very interesting, and I don't think they're anywhere near maxed out. We will see some absolutely amazing IEMs in the future, the JH13 and ES3x are just the start.

Heck even the lowly UM3x beats the pants off many well-regarded full-size headphones even if its tonal balance is somewhat out of whack. If it had an even FR it would be a killer headphone, and I'm guessing a universal-fit IEM that can do 20-20 with a reasonable semblance of balance is not too far away.

The ESP950 can also run portably with the battery pack for the E90, but don't expect world-class SQ. That E90 box is terrible. Wait, scratch that, calling it terrible is an insult to things that actually are terrible. That amp needs to not exist. It really holds back what is otherwise a world-class headphone.

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, 'stats lack soul ...

it is like having the studio recording of a song and then listening to the same but a live version which, despite lacking the polish of the former, you find exceeds it in so many other ways.

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can mod the heck out of the portable amp to improve SQ quite a bit. The 003 is a very nice headphone when properly driven, just about the fastest thing ever and fantastic with vocals. Great euphonic mids and seriously kicking bass when you get the right fit. However it's still nowhere near O2-level and will probably not be near the JH13 either. Balanced armatures are faster than dynamics inherently and are going to leave most driver technologies in the dust in about 10 years, maybe less. The fact that they are the most rapidly improving driver technology alone makes them very interesting, and I don't think they're anywhere near maxed out. We will see some absolutely amazing IEMs in the future, the JH13 and ES3x are just the start. Heck even the lowly UM3x beats the pants off many well-regarded full-size headphones even if its tonal balance is somewhat out of whack. If it had an even FR it would be a killer headphone, and I'm guessing a universal-fit IEM that can do 20-20 with a reasonable semblance of balance is not too far away. The ESP950 can also run portably with the battery pack for the E90, but don't expect world-class SQ. That E90 box is terrible. Wait, scratch that, calling it terrible is an insult to things that actually are terrible. That amp needs to not exist. It really holds back what is otherwise a world-class headphone.

As a dedicated stat person about the only non-stat phones I consistently like are IEM's which get some of the quickness of stats. Of course now the balanced HD800 is high on my list too.

Agree that the Koss 950 is a great phone. I don'[t think the amp is that bad. Certainly the 950 is better with most Stax amps. But if you use a better power source than the Koss walwart the sound improves. Some people think it sounds good in portable operation with fresh batteries. Of course 6 C cells costs a bit much, maybe 8 rechargeables is the way to go.

 

[mikeliao]

With the OP's range of music, I'd say start with a balanced dynamic rig for its flexibilty and wide choice of headphones. Eventually, try a Stax setup for classical. It'll need some tweaking for pop and hip-hop though, or default to the dynamic setup. As wavoman predicts, you'll likely end up with both. Why compromise, get the best of both...but get the Eddie Current first.

With electrostats, I love the speed and use them for specific types of music...but switching genre and I'll likely switch headphones. Yes, sometimes it feels too constricting. The KGBH LE may be a premier piece of equipment, but there'll always be more special equipment in the future. Pride of ownership vs. convenience and flexibilty?

I'm of a similiar wide range of music and find I use the electrostatic setup about 60% of the time and the dynamic 40%. Although I use the electrostatic setup more, it took a long time to get it to where I was satisfied with it. If I was limited to only one system, I'd pick a dynamic one.

 

[wower]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeliao /img/forum/go_quote.gif Pride of ownership vs. convenience and flexibilty?

^^^ That's very helpful. I haven't decided anything yet but the points you made are strong. I'll still collecting information since nothing has to be decided until 2010 when I plan to pull the trigger. Lately I've been missing the high quality the 02/KGBH LE would offer my classical collection and I'm been thinking I'd be happy with getting the denon 7000 for pop and hip hop and just using it single ended out of my yammy. Which I've been very happy with for years now. The thread got a bit off topic which is fine because its the internet and its interesting to see where it goes (tho becomes slightly less useful for me). Who am I to say where it should go? Still, I like to hear about the steps people took to make the same decision. Also, I'm starting to think it will be better to get the whole set up used. But again, good pieces rarely come up on the used market, which is sort of my measure of a good piece of gear.