[setmenu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenB I am I am a little concerned about some of the comments I'm hearing from our thread starter, e.g. "cramped", "harsh", etc. Yikes! I surely hope that these are temporary issues and not symptomatic of the STAX sound. Ken

Obviously whether you like the Stax sound in general is a matter of taste.
But as for 'harsh' ,'cramped' etc, if you feed them with a recording that
exhibits these characteristics you will hear it.
Stax phones show little mercy with dodgy recordings.
That said, any distortions heard are of the highest fidelity.

Setmenu

 

[dj_mocok]

KenB,

Don't take my impressions too seriously, as I mentioned, it's only used for couple of hours and as most (if not all) stax owners here will say, they will indeed sound like that if it's un-burned and from a cold energizer.

I just realised that it's most probably some tracks from the Korn greatest hits, the cymbal sounds overly harsh and some vocals are produced with exaggerated "S" sound (sibilance). Because I have just listened to my Diana Krall SACD and it didn't have those problems that I mentioned. Everything was just smooth.

As what they say, the headphone is probably just playing what your CD really sound like...

PS Setmenu: High-fidelity distortion... Hmmm... sounds great...

 

[Leporello]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenB I am a little concerned about some of the comments I'm hearing from our thread starter, e.g. "cramped", "harsh", etc. Yikes! I surely hope that these are temporary issues and not symptomatic of the STAX sound. Ken

In the beginning I also thought that the Stax may be dynamically somewhat limited. They sounded slightly congested. But very likely the volume was simply too high. Do not try to get the "oomph" by raising the volume.

Regards,

L.

 

[KenB]

Thanks DJ and SetMenu...your most recent posts have relieved some minor anxiety.

I certainly have experienced the situation where music played through my Senn HD650's and even my cherished CD3K's sounded harsh/strident due to a lousy CD recording! If that shrill timbral character were to occur on all CD's (as I experienced with the SA5K's), then I would attribute it to a quality of the headphone. I am trusting that STAX will simply "reveal" the recorded music in as neutral a manner as currently achievable with today's technology.

Ken

 

[dj_mocok]

What I like about stax is, when I listen to a nicely recorded CD, I feel like I can "hear" the vibration of the cymbal.

Another thing I really appreaciate is, well... how to put this...
I don't play guitar, so I might not be able to explain this properly...

I think there are 2 types of acoustic guitar, nylon string one and steel string one.... I am assuming that the with nylon, after you pluck the guitar, the sound is fast and what you hear afterward is only maybe reverb lingering in the air (or in the box?)

But with steel stringed one, after you pluck the strings, the strings themselves are actually still vibrating and the vibration is still creating sound?

Am I right ? Or maybe it's totally different type of guitar that I'm talking about here...

Anyway, the point why I'm talking about this is, with the stax, when I listen to my "Fujii Fumiya - First Love" CD, in the intro when there is a guitar solo, I can clearly hear all those "little vibration from the strings after they're strummed" that I didn't really notice when I used my MS-2 before.
And no, it's not echo, I can assure you that, but it's the strings still producing the faint sound...
It's like I know what's the state of the instrument by listening to it, and what type of instrument it is (if I am instrument-literate)

All in all, it will give you a very realistic presentation of musical instruments. So far I've noticed that with piano, guitars, and cymbals... I haven't really spent that much time on it yet... so I will for sure discover some more as I listen more...

The Staxs are very detailed, but they're not (annoyingly) bright. Well, at least not for me.

 

[xantus]

wow, 4.5 volume? actually come to think of it I was probably listening at that level the first month that I got them too. but after many quiet nights I now listen at 2.5 ish, 3.5 max for normally mastered cd's.

 

[Leporello]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xantus wow, 4.5 volume? actually come to think of it I was probably listening at that level the first month that I got them too. but after many quiet nights I now listen at 2.5 ish, 3.5 max for normally mastered cd's.

My Denon cdp puts out 2 Vrms. On most cds the volume setting I use is about 1.75 - 2. Just tried listening to "Back In Black" at 4.5. Almost blasted my head off. Take it easy, guys.


Regards,

L.

 

[catscratch]

The volume will depend on the output signal strength of your source, right? My 4.5 doesn't have to be the same as your 4.5 if my source is different. In any case, 4.5 is quite loud, but not loud enough to drown out loud(er) ambient sounds, like conversations. I've seen people turn the system up to 6 when listening

 

[Leporello]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch In any case, 4.5 is quite loud, but not loud enough to drown out loud(er) ambient sounds, like conversations.

You are probably right, there must be a difference in output. At "my" 4.5 it was quite hopeless to try to hear anything else. Come to think of it, I have to turn the volume pot much higher if I connect my Stax to my soundcard.


Regards,

L.

 

[dj_mocok]

Just wondering, do you guys upgrade the power cable, or just sticking with the power supply cable that comes with the amp?
I wonder whether power supply cable will make a difference.

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok Just wondering, do you guys upgrade the power cable, or just sticking with the power supply cable that comes with the amp? I wonder whether power supply cable will make a difference.

Depends on if you post pics...

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

if youve spent that much on a stax system already, spending the last couple hundred on a good power cable and ics can only improve the whole setup. buy you must choose wisely, ie asking stax users what they use. my ics are siltech and my power cords are virtual dynamics or signal cable depending on where i have the system set up in the room, depending on space and flexibility of the cords, signal cable is somewhat more flexible than the vd. ymmv of course.

 

[GoRedwings19]

I haven't heard my stax setup yet. I have owned it for over two months now. I will get round to it eventually. I usually like to take my time.

 

[Mike Scarpitti]

OK, read carefully: Stax headphones do not and cannot 'burn in'. The diaphragm is suspended around the edges. After a few months, the very slight 'wrinkles' (small variations in tension) may begin to even out, but that's it!

 

[Mike Scarpitti]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok No, I won't do that. I still need my ears... That's why I'm still keeping my dynamic setup, because I know I will need those and listen to both type alternately. I'm not sure if this is the characteristics of the stax or not, but at this point I feel like Stax is more neutral, and polite headphones. Everything seems to be flat, not in a bad way, but more like very well balanced. This is maybe good for more relaxed, laid back type of music. Eg. Jazz, accoustic, classical... But for some pops and rock songs, I think it will be more enjoyable using MS2. If I were to characterise it, (at this point), I'd say MS-2 is like a "bad boy" with attitude, whereas Stax is more elegant and smooth. Now about bass, I'm not sure why some people mentioned that Stax is lacking bass. Even at this point I can tell you that there is bass. I don't even think that "loss of impact of dynamic headphone" effect is that noticeable in Stax. Some people are too overreacted in this matter.. Now before you jump into conclusion that it's because I don't know bass, I can assure you I have tons of bass heavy stuff. And I still think that it still give you bass.

This is what I have been saying for years to this crowd.