dj_mocok
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2003
- Posts
- 5,635
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They're finally here, those 404 and 313... I was getting anxious about it and becoming paranoid, thinking something bad had happened...
(Actually it was just 8 days ago when Koji notified me that he already sent them, so maybe I was anxious..
)
Yeah, as in Head-fi culture, so I gotta post this "mandatory" first impression...
Actually I'd better start off with some stupid things I did first... When I took out the amp (energizer) from the box, I thought it didn't come with power cable, so I thought 'darn it, no cables??? What the heck were they thinking??' So I ran downstairs to the electronic shop and bought a power cable for the amp...
Went back, plugged them in, stripped off the cables from my headsave classic, plugged the stax in, and started listening to the headphones right away..
Halfway through, I realized that I actually plugged the RCAs into the LOOP OUT (the left hand side)
So then I reconnect them RCAs into the RIGHT hand side of the connection (just confirming, the correct one is the right hand side ones right?) And played a few CDs... Then halfway there, I though, hang on... what's that little brown box there ? Then I just realised I actually oversaw that little box, and inside were the power cable and RCA cables that come with the amp... Duh !
(again!)
So then I reconnect them with the proprietary power cable and now they're on my bed, my pillow is listening to them at the moment...
Okay, since it's not burned in yet, and according to you guys it needs 200hrs, I think I'm in no position to make any judgement about the sound at all.... So I'll just let you know something else about them...
Packaging
The packaging is similar to those Alessandro headphone ones, A.K.A "Minimum money will be spent on packaging". The headphones and the amp came with their own boxes. The box for the 404 is made from thin carton, with styrofoam box inside that stores the headphones. No fancy stuff.
Well, the box that come with the amp is even worse, It's pretty much a box made from brown cardboard with no artworks whatsoever, only descriptions on the rear and some other infos...and inside is the amp, covered with styrofoams. It's just like an OEM product.
Although nothing fancy, but they offer sufficient protection for the stuff inside, enough said. I actually prefer them like this. That means no money is spent on fancy box, and the money is spent on the important bit, the product itself.
Headphone Comfort, Smell, and Material
Before this, I THOUGHT Audio Technica Air series headphones were comfy, but this Stax is even much more comfortable than those. The 404 isn't heavy at all for me, and when you wear them, they just "sit" there on your head, no unnecessary clamping, and not loose you need to readjust them every 15 minutes or so... The upper headband is very soft, you can tell it's not made from cheap material at all.. Same goes with the headphone pads. The leather like materials are very soft to your ears, but maybe it might get a bit warm in summer... that's all.. Overall, although in the picture they look like a cheap plastic headphones, but once you see them and wear them, you'll know they are not cheaply made at all...
Oh, and they smell like a weird wet paint, right out of the box.
And the cables, when some say the improvement from 303 to 404 is only cable, but I can tell you that even it's only cable, it's worth it. The cable is wide, made from solid material but yet it's not stiff and annoying like MS2 cables.
Headphone Creaks
Now, I'm sure I read it somewhere, Stax headphones (maybe older ones?)creak and they make annoying sound when you move your head around. Well, I can confirm that the 404 DOES NOT creak, squeak, squeal, yelp, groan, etc... at all.
I tried to move my head to every direction possible, and after the point of risking dislocating my neck, I still haven't heard a single creak.
Sound?
Well, so how do them 404 + 313 combo sound, right out of the box, plugged in, and listened straight away? They actually sound quite good to me, but I only listened to a few songs briefly. I haven't experienced those magic of Stax... maybe after more burn ins... The problem is, I don't burn-in my headphones purposely, but just let them go as I listen to them, so this might take a loooong time, in my case.
I have been using my MS-2 almost all the time lately, and the main difference I can find, right out the box is:
If Grado (MS2) sounds like the musician and the band is playing around your head, the 404 is like shifting the musician and the band to the front of your face, separate and line them up together (depends on the CD?), and slightly elevated them.
Instrument separation is clearly more evident using 404 even though it's not burn in yet. And as everyone said, it does give you the impression that they create music effortlessly, everything sounds so easy to reproduce. I can hear clearer texture of decay of the instrument, compared to MS2. And this is right out of the box.
But they somehow still sound "stiff" to me, a bit cold..
Unforgiving you ask? Well, so far, I put them only even or not slightly more unforgiving than the MS2. The badly recorded CDs that I can't stand to hear still sounds like crap... and the one with slight audible hiss but still enjoyable with my MS2, remain the same using the 404.
But I don't know, maybe as the headpone gets more burn in, and the energizer gets more burn in and more warm up, they might become a CRUEL, EVIL, unforgiving system, LOL..
I'm not sure at this point yet...
About bass, I haven't played my "Bass" CDs yet, so I can't tell you much about that... plus they're not burned in, remember?
One thing I notice, lower frequency seems to sound "slowish" to me... maybe it's because the energizer is not warmed up yet, or the burn in issue, not sure...
Volume
I think for most CDs, I need to turn the volume knob to around 11 o'clock (maybe even 12 for loud stuff) to get the desired volume. Is this normal?
This fact has made me pretty much write off Eric's Nitrogen cables since they attenuate volume, and maybe a bit too stiff to fit into the cramped space in my shelf.
The Energizer, SR-313
Don't know how they smell like, I forgot to smell them.
They are solidly built, sturdy, and they actually look bigger in real life to me. It's a bit long, which is sometimes not shown in the pictures. Volume knob is very smooth. No complain here.
Anyway, so that's my earliest impression possible I can give about the system. Maybe I'll post some more later....
And thanks to all of you Stax owners for the information prior the purchase. Really helpful indeed. You just got yourself another team stax here.
(Actually it was just 8 days ago when Koji notified me that he already sent them, so maybe I was anxious..
Yeah, as in Head-fi culture, so I gotta post this "mandatory" first impression...
Actually I'd better start off with some stupid things I did first... When I took out the amp (energizer) from the box, I thought it didn't come with power cable, so I thought 'darn it, no cables??? What the heck were they thinking??' So I ran downstairs to the electronic shop and bought a power cable for the amp...
Went back, plugged them in, stripped off the cables from my headsave classic, plugged the stax in, and started listening to the headphones right away..
Halfway through, I realized that I actually plugged the RCAs into the LOOP OUT (the left hand side)
So then I reconnect them RCAs into the RIGHT hand side of the connection (just confirming, the correct one is the right hand side ones right?) And played a few CDs... Then halfway there, I though, hang on... what's that little brown box there ? Then I just realised I actually oversaw that little box, and inside were the power cable and RCA cables that come with the amp... Duh !
So then I reconnect them with the proprietary power cable and now they're on my bed, my pillow is listening to them at the moment...
Okay, since it's not burned in yet, and according to you guys it needs 200hrs, I think I'm in no position to make any judgement about the sound at all.... So I'll just let you know something else about them...
Packaging
The packaging is similar to those Alessandro headphone ones, A.K.A "Minimum money will be spent on packaging". The headphones and the amp came with their own boxes. The box for the 404 is made from thin carton, with styrofoam box inside that stores the headphones. No fancy stuff.
Well, the box that come with the amp is even worse, It's pretty much a box made from brown cardboard with no artworks whatsoever, only descriptions on the rear and some other infos...and inside is the amp, covered with styrofoams. It's just like an OEM product.
Although nothing fancy, but they offer sufficient protection for the stuff inside, enough said. I actually prefer them like this. That means no money is spent on fancy box, and the money is spent on the important bit, the product itself.
Headphone Comfort, Smell, and Material
Before this, I THOUGHT Audio Technica Air series headphones were comfy, but this Stax is even much more comfortable than those. The 404 isn't heavy at all for me, and when you wear them, they just "sit" there on your head, no unnecessary clamping, and not loose you need to readjust them every 15 minutes or so... The upper headband is very soft, you can tell it's not made from cheap material at all.. Same goes with the headphone pads. The leather like materials are very soft to your ears, but maybe it might get a bit warm in summer... that's all.. Overall, although in the picture they look like a cheap plastic headphones, but once you see them and wear them, you'll know they are not cheaply made at all...
Oh, and they smell like a weird wet paint, right out of the box.
And the cables, when some say the improvement from 303 to 404 is only cable, but I can tell you that even it's only cable, it's worth it. The cable is wide, made from solid material but yet it's not stiff and annoying like MS2 cables.
Headphone Creaks
Now, I'm sure I read it somewhere, Stax headphones (maybe older ones?)creak and they make annoying sound when you move your head around. Well, I can confirm that the 404 DOES NOT creak, squeak, squeal, yelp, groan, etc... at all.
I tried to move my head to every direction possible, and after the point of risking dislocating my neck, I still haven't heard a single creak.
Sound?
Well, so how do them 404 + 313 combo sound, right out of the box, plugged in, and listened straight away? They actually sound quite good to me, but I only listened to a few songs briefly. I haven't experienced those magic of Stax... maybe after more burn ins... The problem is, I don't burn-in my headphones purposely, but just let them go as I listen to them, so this might take a loooong time, in my case.
I have been using my MS-2 almost all the time lately, and the main difference I can find, right out the box is:
If Grado (MS2) sounds like the musician and the band is playing around your head, the 404 is like shifting the musician and the band to the front of your face, separate and line them up together (depends on the CD?), and slightly elevated them.
Instrument separation is clearly more evident using 404 even though it's not burn in yet. And as everyone said, it does give you the impression that they create music effortlessly, everything sounds so easy to reproduce. I can hear clearer texture of decay of the instrument, compared to MS2. And this is right out of the box.
But they somehow still sound "stiff" to me, a bit cold..
Unforgiving you ask? Well, so far, I put them only even or not slightly more unforgiving than the MS2. The badly recorded CDs that I can't stand to hear still sounds like crap... and the one with slight audible hiss but still enjoyable with my MS2, remain the same using the 404.
But I don't know, maybe as the headpone gets more burn in, and the energizer gets more burn in and more warm up, they might become a CRUEL, EVIL, unforgiving system, LOL..
About bass, I haven't played my "Bass" CDs yet, so I can't tell you much about that... plus they're not burned in, remember?
One thing I notice, lower frequency seems to sound "slowish" to me... maybe it's because the energizer is not warmed up yet, or the burn in issue, not sure...
Volume
I think for most CDs, I need to turn the volume knob to around 11 o'clock (maybe even 12 for loud stuff) to get the desired volume. Is this normal?
This fact has made me pretty much write off Eric's Nitrogen cables since they attenuate volume, and maybe a bit too stiff to fit into the cramped space in my shelf.
The Energizer, SR-313
Don't know how they smell like, I forgot to smell them.
Anyway, so that's my earliest impression possible I can give about the system. Maybe I'll post some more later....
And thanks to all of you Stax owners for the information prior the purchase. Really helpful indeed. You just got yourself another team stax here.