[Àedhàn Cassiel]

Finally, someone who agrees. I think the SR-009 makes all music sound far better than other headphones I have owned.

I agree with this as well. The specific reason I ask about HD6X0 / HD800 comparisons is because it gives me a benchmark for judging if their take applies to me. If they like the HD6X0 more than the HD800 then I know we have quite different tastes. I know I'm spoiled as Hell and I don't WANT to sound elitist, but after spending a lot of time with the HD800 (and LCD-4) I would honestly have a hard time coping if the HD6X0 was all I could use for a year.

For judging advice here, if someone is blown away by the detail of the L700 and doesn't feel the SR007 is a huge increase... well, I think the HD800 is a huge increase over the HD600 and if they disagree with that we probably hear things pretty differently, and I should lean towards those that say the SR007 is indeed a significant step up.

 

[Hi-Fi-Apricity]

I understand where they are coming from on the "less detailed better for lo Fi music" angle. I think at a certain point music stops 'scaling' so to say. Californication by RHCP for example is precisely as enjoyable on HE560 as it is on my L700. On the other hand well mastered stuffs like Pink Floyd is immensely improved by the detail and otherwise 'invisible' nature of the L700. I don't think I good headphone can make bad masters sound worse, moreso bad music has ceiling.

 

[tigon_ridge]

Keep in mind that a lot of faults (not all) in a recording can be largely ameliorated with EQ. I have these several songs that I love, but the sibilance ruins it when I want to play loud, until...BAM!

Magic dust has been sprinkled, and the so-called "bad recording" gets cured. Of course, this also changes the timbres of musical instruments, but using such EQ is no different than switching to a different headphone that inherently produces less of those frequencies.

 

[catscratch]

By "detailed," might you mean "bright"?

No, I mean detailed.

I'll give you an example. One of my favorite game streamers doesn't have his microphone set up properly. At normal conversational levels, everything is fine. But as soon as he raises his voice, the mic goes into distortion. On the HD650, this is still listenable, but on the L700, it's just a mass of distortion. On top of that, the L700 easily picks up the differences in the voice depending on how far away from the microphone he is. When he leans into the microphone as intended, his voice sounds fine. But when he leans back and there is more distance to the microphone, the tone of the voice changes and it becomes thinner with a noticeable echo as more reflected sound is picked up.

Now, this is pretty neat when you want to hear everything. I can spook one of my favorite streamers by telling him how close he is to the mic even when his webcam is off. But does it actually make the sound more enjoyable?

15 years ago I would have told you yes. This was all shiny and new, and I wanted to hear everything. But today? Not really. I just want to hear a streamer, not a mass of distortion or weird spatial effects. With the HD650 I can still hear all that stuff, but it's far more subdued and I have to pay attention to it to pick it up.

Now this is something of an exaggerated example, but at some point you stop wanting to hear the problems and just want to hear the music, or whatever else you're listening to. Detail has its time and place, but it's not "everywhere" and "all the time," at least for me.

An old friend of mine is a mastering engineer in Hollywood. When I told him I had Stax, his response was "What are you going to listen to that's that well recorded?"

 

[Àedhàn Cassiel]

No, I mean detailed.

I'll give you an example. One of my favorite game streamers doesn't have his microphone set up properly. At normal conversational levels, everything is fine. But as soon as he raises his voice, the mic goes into distortion. On the HD650, this is still listenable, but on the L700, it's just a mass of distortion. On top of that, the L700 easily picks up the differences in the voice depending on how far away from the microphone he is. When he leans into the microphone as intended, his voice sounds fine. But when he leans back and there is more distance to the microphone, the tone of the voice changes and it becomes thinner with a noticeable echo as more reflected sound is picked up.

Now, this is pretty neat when you want to hear everything. I can spook one of my favorite streamers by telling him how close he is to the mic even when his webcam is off. But does it actually make the sound more enjoyable?

15 years ago I would have told you yes. This was all shiny and new, and I wanted to hear everything. But today? Not really. I just want to hear a streamer, not a mass of distortion or weird spatial effects. With the HD650 I can still hear all that stuff, but it's far more subdued and I have to pay attention to it to pick it up.

Now this is something of an exaggerated example, but at some point you stop wanting to hear the problems and just want to hear the music, or whatever else you're listening to. Detail has its time and place, but it's not "everywhere" and "all the time," at least for me.

An old friend of mine is a mastering engineer in Hollywood. When I told him I had Stax, his response was "What are you going to listen to that's that well recorded?"

No joke, I have a streak of Asperger's (never been diagnosed personally but it runs in the male side of my dad's family and I have a few of the traits), and I think I'm an exception to this rule. I'm guessing there's some genuine sensory overprocessing going on behind that for me. I've said this in this thread already but ahem *even in stock form* I found the HD800 unequivocally more enjoyable than the 600/650, regardless of genre. Sometimes even while the treble was piercing my ears. I just can't trade that crispness in the imaging for anything.

 

[nishan99]

mid-fi HP are already way more resolving than high-end non estats speakers, so HP resolving in general is already more than enough for music enjoyment.
Speakers audiophiles understand how good sound is more than HP audiophiles.
it's about sound presentation in general is what's most important, things like SS, imaging, extensions and timbre are what make that good experience.

 

[491838]

I'm about to drop $2.2K on the L700 and 353X. Shenzen Audio apparently offers you the ability to cheat on import tax, which would be super helpful, but I haven't figured out how they do that yet. I've contacted them about it.

Anyone have any experience buying from them? I live in the EU so the import tax would be significant if the full value is declared (19% of that).

 

[Zoide]

I'm about to drop $2.2K on the L700 and 353X. Shenzen Audio apparently offers you the ability to cheat on import tax, which would be super helpful, but I haven't figured out how they do that yet. I've contacted them about it.

Anyone have any experience buying from them? I live in the EU so the import tax would be significant if the full value is declared (19% of that).

How about you don't try to defraud the government and pay your taxes like you should?

 

[491838]

Import tax is theft lol.

 

[tajpapa]

I'm about to drop $2.2K on the L700 and 353X. Shenzen Audio apparently offers you the ability to cheat on import tax, which would be super helpful, but I haven't figured out how they do that yet. I've contacted them about it.

Anyone have any experience buying from them? I live in the EU so the import tax would be significant if the full value is declared (19% of that).

Here in my country every imported goods are being opened and looked upon, not being opened until the goods itself but only until they could see the text/label what's inside and they will google the price. If anyone cheats them, they will impose a hefty tax upon the goods and even they could go up to black listing the person.

However I've imported tiny IEMs and they didn't even bother even though it's already passing the max value allowed before got taxed. I guessed the volume of the goods matter much. But definitely full size Headphones like these will be noticeable.

 

[491838]

Is there an EU store that sells the L700 and 353X? Can't find anything good.

 

[Doom0]

Stax has distributors all across the Europe. Looking at your profile, you are from Romania, so according to Stax website your local distributor is DVDPLANET. Contact them. Their website contains nothing, but Google reveals that it might have changed to Stereoplanet, which offers Stax products.

Finally, if you buy it from official store (regardless of which EU country - but prices vary among different distributors), you will pay European import tax. It sucks, but there's no way around it. Other possibility is to look for used gear at lower prices.

 

[491838]

I'm skipping the purchase for another year or less. Not sure that I want to pay upwards of $400 in taxes for an already super expensive set-up and possibly deal with issues at customs.

 

[tigon_ridge]

Nothing is certain but death and Staxes.

 

[Hubert481]

Hmmm death...
Stax for sure