[Hun7er]

  Dude, if you can't hear the difference maybe you shouldn't be on this forum?

I can't, I like to read you 

 

[Ali-Pacha]

  Dude, if you can't hear the difference maybe you shouldn't be on this forum?

I do respect your thoughts, but hey ! How do you manage to regularly go to the confrontational side of things ? 

Ali

 

[Moonhead]

Chillax Astro dude, its only

 

[complin]

  Dude, if you can't hear the difference maybe you shouldn't be on this forum?

 
Well thats a sweeping statement if ever I heard one !! I must say rather an arrogant comment too, as each individual has their own experience, priorities and preferences.
Each individual has different hearing capabilities and you are forgetting the most important thing of all, the grey matter between your ears. which has a huge influence on how you compared to someone else perceives sound

 

[cucera]

Many of us here especially in the Stax thread tend to exaggerate the differences between the amps. Yes the BHSE is better, but I could easily live with a KGSS or 717 with the SR-007 (the 009 sounds good even out of lesser amps). As allways you pay a lot for those last few % of sound quality (for BHSE and more so for T2). But for some thats exactly what this hobby is about.

 

[John Buchanan]

   
I would say the Sigmas are between the 007 and Lambdas regarding efficiency. The 007 Mk1 needs a really serious amp to make it sing properly and only the SRM-T2 can do this IME. Alternatives are the BH/BHSE and DIY T2. Possibly the KGSSHV/KGSST not having tried either with the 007 Mk1 I can't comment.   

Having owned the SR-007 Mk1, the Sigma Pro and the Sigma/404 as well as the Lambda Nova Signature, the efficiency of the sets goes like this:
LNS is more efficient than the Sigma Pro, Sigma/404 and SR-007Mk1, all of which are approximately the same efficiency.
Distance of the driver from the ears is the most likely difference between the Lambda and Sigma (using the same drivers), but also the mineral wool absorption and reflection. The SR-007 driver is less efficient than the Lambda/Sigma type driver, as well as possibly being a bit further away from the ear.

 

[Lan647]

IMO the Stax 407/507s have the magic that my old LNS had. The issue with them is they lack realistic bass and dynamics low down to provide the foundation for the music. This further exasperates the treble emphasis they appear to have. The LCD2 and 3, and HifiMan HE-6 models IMO offered real bass and close to mid range Stax transparency. But go to the 007 or 009 and show is over.

Finally we have the rest of the spectrum to back up the (expected) transparency and fast / sensitive transients of a Stax headphone. The 007 IMO may suit mid range digital front ends as it is more forgiving. When I had my 007s I wondered if that was designed in. Anyway, the 009 takes that off and gives you all the information in the incoming signal. Anyone who finds they don't like the 009 I suspect may have issues elsewhere. I don't believe it emphasises anything, just gives you it all, pure music. It is fairly easy to tweak downstream gear for that perfect sound we all need / require (and expect ) at this level.

The 007 is certainly superior to me. It's pure, ultra-transparent and doesn't mask anything in the music. Neither does it emphasis anything to give the impression of greater clarity. While the added treble presence and leaner bass of the 009 may make it seem more neutral and detailed to some ears, that's not what I've found. To my ears, instruments like violins and trumpets sound beautifully organic through the 007 while it still sounds like a really, really good recording through the 009.

 

[dreamwhisper]

Many of us here especially in the Stax thread tend to exaggerate the differences between the amps. Yes the BHSE is better, but I could easily live with a KGSS or 717 with the SR-007 (the 009 sounds good even out of lesser amps). As allways you pay a lot for those last few % of sound quality (for BHSE and more so for T2). But for some thats exactly what this hobby is about.

 
For me variety beats having one perfect set-up.
I don't know about the 717 though, I personally don't feel that amp powers the 007 enough.

 

[MacedonianHero]

The 007 is certainly superior to me. It's pure, ultra-transparent and doesn't mask anything in the music. Neither does it emphasis anything to give the impression of greater clarity. While the added treble presence and leaner bass of the 009 may make it seem more neutral and detailed to some ears, that's not what I've found. To my ears, instruments like violins and trumpets sound beautifully organic through the 007 while it still sounds like a really, really good recording through the 009.

 
The SR-009's bass hits just as hard as the 007s with greater "punch" and definition. The innerfidelity graphs pretty much support this too. I suggest you give them both a thorough in-home listen before making such "succinct" statements.

 I love the 007s, but in the end the 009s are just a cut above. I can understand how some members can prefer the 007Mk1s, heck sometimes with certain genres it is really close with me too; but in the end the tactility, transparency, speed, detail retrieval and holographic nature of the 009s have them coming out on top for me.

 

[Rossliew]

I find the 007s to be dark sounding (not HD650 dark but darker than the lambdas i've heard before - 307/407) but it is still able to ruthlessly reveal details. Would definitely like to try the 009s one day. If, as MH says, the bass hits with greater punch, then that is all that is required for me

 

[MacedonianHero]

  I find the 007s to be dark sounding (not HD650 dark but darker than the lambdas i've heard before - 307/407) but it is still able to ruthlessly reveal details. Would definitely like to try the 009s one day. If, as MH says, the bass hits with greater punch, then that is all that is required for me

 
The amount of bass is just about the same (maybe a wee bit more on the 009s), but the speed and tactility of the bass on the 009s is truly something. Again, my 007mk1s ain't going anywhere...they are in my top 3-4 headphones of all time for very good reason.

 

[edstrelow]

I find the continuing discussion of minor sound differences between various top phones to be beside the point since I have been playing with damping the  earcups with sorbothane. For the longest time   I preferred my Sigma/404 and 007a above all else, but now  I find I am enjoying my damped LNS and 404 lambdas and SRX111 pro so much that I dont 'listen to these earlier favorites. I have has some good sounds coming out of the damped Sigma 's and 007a but I haven't yet got what I think is right. At any rate, beffore you plunk a few grand down on an upgrade, you might buy $10.00 worth of self-stick sorb on ebay or amazstick some on the earcups of whatever you have and see what you think.

 

[fuzzzy]

I have been out of the loop of these discussions for about 10 years. I was quite active on Headwize. I spend much  time discussion Staxes. I am not sure what my username was back then but I am sure it was fuzzy as well. I have a bunch of Staxes. I have been using them since the early 80s.
 
 
Is anyone familiar with the binaural and diffuse field research Stax did in the 70s and 80s? This seems to have an impact on how they tuned the frequency response of their then future models in the following years. I saw some references to dark sounding and frequency response of the different Omega sets but did not read all 1500 pages
 
So, anyone into the beauty of binaural, recording, playback and Stax in particular?
 
Is Darth still around?
 
Is there really a "Fuzzy" (with 2 zees )  on this forum (I want my old userid back, lol).
 
 
Best, Fuzzy.

 

[dripf]

Hi Fuzzy,
 
Rin Choi and MLudovic on HF have done great work around the ED-1 diffuse field equalization developed by Stax and IRT in the 80s. Rin Choi on his blog has analyzed the ED-1 thoroughly and MLudovic has obtained the parameters for DF EQ so that you may reproduce it in software.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/675545/stax-ed-1-and-ed-5-eqs-emulation/30
 
Stax's policy remains not in favour of EQ.

Regards,
 
dripf

 

[Lan647]

The SR-009's bass hits just as hard as the 007s with greater "punch" and definition. The innerfidelity graphs pretty much support this too. I suggest you give them both a thorough in-home listen before making such "succinct" statements.  I love the 007s, but in the end the 009s are just a cut above. I can understand how some members can prefer the 007Mk1s, heck sometimes with certain genres it is really close with me too; but in the end the tactility, transparency, speed, detail retrieval and holographic nature of the 009s have them coming out on top for me.

Guess we're just gonna have to agree to disagree.