The Koss ESP950 thread (ESP owners, please contribute! :)

[Harry Manback]

Drop doesn't ship until Feb. 2019. I would love to have an electrostat - but I'm not loaning Massdrop money for 4-5 months. I wish they could improve on that.

 

[gardibolt]

It's a smoking deal. If I didn't have a 950 already I'd be all over this. Really an excellent headphone for classical music; everything is airy and precise. Nothing else I've heard comes close to it for capturing subtleties in music.

 

[DeeKay10]

Picked one up as well. Very curious about sound coming from electrostatic headphones.
Massdrop taking cash in advance isn't a new thing, by the way, and I haven't had any problems with it yet.

 

[Roscoeiii]

And after the first drop, there usually isn't the same sort of wait in subsequent drops.

 

[Humblepie]

Well I'm in so far. Picked up a ton of what Massdrop has done already.

I think I paid about $459 for mine, with case and battery pack new in 1992

that's about $900 today so....

 

[GirgleMirt]

Surprised there's not more noise about the Koss ESP/95X... There doesn't even seem to be a thread about them. At 499, it's basically ~300 for headphones and 200 for an amp (or 350 for headphones or 150 for an amp or whatever), so seems to be pretty affordable, and from what I've read so far, early reviews seems highly positive, ex; very detailed, (original) preferable to lcd2, "Keep in mind what else $499 can buy yo: A Grado RS2 or an HD660S (both without a amp), and neither of these headphones really better than the ESP95X.", etc.

I'd be curious to know how they compare to a 400i say. Almost a tempting buy. If it wasn't for weak canadian $, shipping costs/issues, etc., maybe something I'd have jumped on! Almost

This review for instance make it sound for pretty much what I'm looking for, just a clean neutral detailed transparent etc., (high fidelity)

 

[barondla]

I signed up for a set of the Koss ESP/95X. Heard the original 950 at a small Head-Fi event. Superb sound. Far beyond my Sennheiser HD600. Hope Feb. comes quick.

 

[Brahmsian]

I'd be curious to know how they compare to a 400i say.

I’m guessing it dances circles around it. I owned the 400i only to get rid of it. While it rendered classical music very pleasantly and had a nice midrange, it suffered from an almost total lack of treble energy. Deep bass was also lacking. At the same time, they were sibilant in the highs, not with classical but with less well-recorded pop music. In the end, I upgraded to the HE-560, which has better treble and bass. So, yeah, you probly shouldn’t even be comparing the 400i with the Koss ESP950. I didn’t hate the 400i. I liked it, in fact. But the lack of trebble energy finally made me choose the 560. I’m considering the Koss phones as an upgrade to the 560, so if anybody has a comparison between those two that would be great. I mostly listen to classical.

 

[GirgleMirt]

I’m guessing it dances circles around it. I owned the 400i only to get rid of it. While it rendered classical music very pleasantly and had a nice midrange, it suffered from an almost total lack of treble energy. Deep bass was also lacking. At the same time, they were sibilant in the highs, not with classical but with less well-recorded pop music. In the end, I upgraded to the HE-560, which has better treble and bass. So, yeah, you probly shouldn’t even be comparing the 400i with the Koss ESP950. I didn’t hate the 400i. I liked it, in fact. But the lack of trebble energy finally made me choose the 560. I’m considering the Koss phones as an upgrade to the 560, so if anybody has a comparison between those two that would be great. I mostly listen to classical.

Weird! I'd say the 400i is a bit of a bright headphone. You can easily add major bass using EQ though, and even EQ 'away' the 8khz peak and they almost completely change their sound signature, but even without EQ, I never felt there was a lack of treble... But yeah I also agree they do great with classical! Strings for instance, even without EQ, sound really good. But even then, fwiw, I'd say I listen probably half of the time with a slight bass boost (+3dB boost at ~30Hz) and half with with low bass boost and 2-10KHz EQ.

I also agree on the 560, to me it sounded like a smoother and a tad bit more refined than the 400i, but I paid around $230 for the 400i a couple of years ago now, and the 560 was easily 3-4 times the price which made the decision of the 400i at ~25% the price of the 560 really easy!

Buit back to the 95x, on a site which measured the 95x, there was a bit of a low shelf; at <55Hz the bass drops by about 5dB, and from the comments, "I loath to EQ bass because trying to EQ against bass rolloff without spare driver excursion only results in rapidly increasing distortion. The distortion measurements in the bass show there might be not much room left. On the other hand, the ESP95X doesn't seem to roll off but rather is shelved down below 55Hz. I'd bump up 35-45Hz a few db to try to extend the bass before the low shelf."

I just EQ'd my 400i's <55Hz to somewhat get an idea of how the 95x's bass might sound, and yeah not fantastic... Comment there: "* Too much has been made of the shelved bass below 50Hz. A speaker that does 50Hz before rolloff is considered good / decent. In this case, its not rolloff even, it's a shelf down 5db. Unless you are into EDM or trance, not much content in sub bass in most recordings." But yeah I'd kinda disagree with that for speakers, for ported speakers it's really 40hz and then it rolls off, but the 95x is already -5dB at 50Hz... For speakers that would be considered pretty bad, even for a budget 2 way speaker with a 5.5 or 6.5 inch driver... Ugh.. :\ Do you guys miss bass with 950? I'm not a bass head, but I do like to have the bass...

Oh and how is comfort? The 400i are decent at comfort, bit heavy, warm... Ex; Sennheiser 598 is way more comfortable. How should the 95x be about? Supposedly, the 950x pads are an upgrade.

 

[barondla]

Weird! I'd say the 400i is a bit of a bright headphone. You can easily add major bass using EQ though, and even EQ 'away' the 8khz peak and they almost completely change their sound signature, but even without EQ, I never felt there was a lack of treble... But yeah I also agree they do great with classical! Strings for instance, even without EQ, sound really good. But even then, fwiw, I'd say I listen probably half of the time with a slight bass boost (+3dB boost at ~30Hz) and half with with low bass boost and 2-10KHz EQ.

I also agree on the 560, to me it sounded like a smoother and a tad bit more refined than the 400i, but I paid around $230 for the 400i a couple of years ago now, and the 560 was easily 3-4 times the price which made the decision of the 400i at ~25% the price of the 560 really easy!

Buit back to the 95x, on a site which measured the 95x, there was a bit of a low shelf; at <55Hz the bass drops by about 5dB, and from the comments, "I loath to EQ bass because trying to EQ against bass rolloff without spare driver excursion only results in rapidly increasing distortion. The distortion measurements in the bass show there might be not much room left. On the other hand, the ESP95X doesn't seem to roll off but rather is shelved down below 55Hz. I'd bump up 35-45Hz a few db to try to extend the bass before the low shelf."

I just EQ'd my 400i's <55Hz to somewhat get an idea of how the 95x's bass might sound, and yeah not fantastic... Comment there: "* Too much has been made of the shelved bass below 50Hz. A speaker that does 50Hz before rolloff is considered good / decent. In this case, its not rolloff even, it's a shelf down 5db. Unless you are into EDM or trance, not much content in sub bass in most recordings." But yeah I'd kinda disagree with that for speakers, for ported speakers it's really 40hz and then it rolls off, but the 95x is already -5dB at 50Hz... For speakers that would be considered pretty bad, even for a budget 2 way speaker with a 5.5 or 6.5 inch driver... Ugh.. :\ Do you guys miss bass with 950? I'm not a bass head, but I do like to have the bass...

Oh and how is comfort? The 400i are decent at comfort, bit heavy, warm... Ex; Sennheiser 598 is way more comfortable. How should the 95x be about? Supposedly, the 950x pads are an upgrade.

Trying to eq beyond what a driver can do is bad. It also depends on how loudly the headphones are being played. More bass eq is possible at lower volume. Stats reproduce more detail and allow listening at lower levels. So eq could work very well.

i have only heard the Koss 950 for a few minutes ( no eq). They didn't sound any lighter in bass than Sennheiser HD800 or Focal Utopias. They actually sounded a little warmer than those headphones. But, they were all on totally different systems.

The stats can probably be equalized to satisfy anyone except headbangers/bass heads. It is doubtful they will have as much bass impact as dynamic drivers.

 

[Brahmsian]

Weird! I'd say the 400i is a bit of a bright headphone...I never felt there was a lack of treble...

Mine were sibilant with some vocals. Otherwise, they were smooth and pleasant but dull in the treble. I suppose it's relative to other headphones and gear and our own experiences.

 

[barondla]

The Koss/Massdrop ESP/95X electrostatic headphones are being offered again.
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-koss-esp-95x-electrostatic-system#overview

This is another chance to get these stunning headphones.

 

[barondla]

Positive new review of the Koss/Massdrop ESP-95X. https://www.cnet.com/news/gobsmacke...op-koss-headphone/#ftag=rss.audiophiliac.ftag

 

[adeadcrab]

I jumped on this massdrop sale, my DT880 cables are cutting out on me.. have to make do with a 650 for a few weeks

Anybody have comparisons with either the Koss ESP 950 or ESP 95/X and Focal Elex?

 

[GirgleMirt]

Not a direct comparison, but;