[guyx1992]

You have a good computer, you have a good audio system, I say just sit back, relax, crack open a beer and listen to the music

 

[tk3]

You can get a very decent PC for relatively little money nowadays anyway, compared to some years ago.
With some careful part selecting you can have a well performing PC for €/$500, so don't let that hold you back from getting a quality headphone rig.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tk3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can get a very decent PC for relatively little money nowadays anyway, compared to some years ago. With some careful part selecting you can have a well performing PC for €/$500, so don't let that hold you back from getting a quality headphone rig.

Yeah.. My friend is a computer nut, & built my comp for under 400.00.. This was in 03.. Spent around 200 more since then on needed upgrades.. In 5 yrs I only had one major problem with it.. My friend always gets the best stuff dirt cheap as well..

To bad he doesn't build amps & dacs..

 

[wizia]

How are Stax headphones for gaming compared to others (e.g. DT880, A900...)? Are they more detailed?

 

[bjarnetv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizia /img/forum/go_quote.gif How are Stax headphones for gaming compared to others (e.g. DT880, A900...)? Are they more detailed?

i used my float electrostats when playing through COD4 and they crushed my DT770 pros and speaker system to bits.
positioning and detail was unbelievable and everything sounded so real and involving!
havent heard any stax electrostats though

 

[wizia]

thx, i might reconsider my next set of cans

 

[uraflit]

lol. the thought of stax for gaming makes me laugh, yet, sounds so.... right...

on a serious note tho, if one were to buy a good stax setup, where and what would he get? i see some recommendations for the sr-005a here... but what else? i need something liquid smooth like e-stats for the bedside listening =)

 

[sunseeker888]

"Better than live...sometimes" --Unlikely. No gear can be better than live.

I need to try Stax though, I keep hearing great things about 'em

 

[FooTemps]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunseeker888 /img/forum/go_quote.gif "Better than live...sometimes" --Unlikely. No gear can be better than live. I need to try Stax though, I keep hearing great things about 'em

untrue, live versions of clearly studio build songs always sound horrible.

 

[catscratch]

I tried the SR-404 with the SRM-313 and SRM-007t for gaming, and all it did was to show me how lousy my soundcard was, and how low the bitrate in the samples in my Quake 3 was. It did sound better on the Thief games, which have a nice sound engine, but it was still far too revealing of my computer's inadequacies as a source.

I'll stick to the DT770 for the time being.

The positioning was nice, but not a head-and-shoulders improvement over the DT770, and the lack of isolation sucked (my box is loud).

Still, maybe the sound improved in the new generation of games (I haven't played anything more modern than Oblivion, and I still get my kicks out of Starcraft from time to time) and a good sound card will make it worthwhile. I will investigate when I have my new box and an Omega 2.

 

[bjarnetv]

i was using the optical out of an xbox 360 to a beresford dac and a thule ia150 amp, so i guess the source has a lot to say

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunseeker888 /img/forum/go_quote.gif "Better than live...sometimes" --Unlikely. No gear can be better than live. I need to try Stax though, I keep hearing great things about 'em

I've been to some pretty horrible sounding live shows, such as anything in an arena. I'd much rather stay home and listen to my headphones than going to an arena concert. A concert hall with good acoustics, and a band that doesn't play too loud, i.e. not Spinal Tap turning it up to 11, and live is better. I've pretty much stopped going to rock concerts because, IMO, they sound terrible.

I have mostly lower end stats, SR-5 and Magnavox SR-3 clones. They don't blow away my best orthos and dynamics, but they were very inexpensive and far and away the best value of all of my headphones.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FooTemps /img/forum/go_quote.gif untrue, live versions of clearly studio build songs always sound horrible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been to some pretty horrible sounding live shows, such as anything in an arena. I'd much rather stay home and listen to my headphones than going to an arena concert. A concert hall with good acoustics, and a band that doesn't play too loud, i.e. not Spinal Tap turning it up to 11, and live is better. I've pretty much stopped going to rock concerts because, IMO, they sound terrible.

x2 on both. The gospel of live music is very powerful in hifi, but common sense should tell us that it takes well-controlled conditions for a live performance to sound as good as a studio recording, mainly because the studio exists to provide these conditions: no poor room acoustics, no ambient noise, and hopefully no dimwitted cut-rate sound techs who prize volume over quality. Moreover, I've yet to hear an audiophile-grade PA system at any public show, even at high-end theaters and halls. Unamplified music played in a specially-designed room with a politely quiet crowd, like any night at symphony hall? Sure. An acoustic performance in a small venue where the energy between the musician and the crowd is magical? No question. A typical show at a club, arena, or festival? For sheer sound quality, I'll take the studio recording over the live recording any day, and even the studio over the live show. For me, this means at least 60 percent of my music.

But then, there are studios and there are studios. If the recording sounds lifeless and fake, then something has gone seriously wrong in production.

 

[scompton]

One of the best places to see live music in the DC area is the Birchmere in Alexandria. They have signs on the tables that say no talking and if you talk, they'll kick you out. They assume that people are there to listen to music, not socialize. They have mostly country, folk, and bluegrass, but also have quite a bit of rock and jazz, and even a few comedians. The audience is every bit as attentive as at classical concerts, if not more so.

I assume that when they have a dance band, but I've never seen one there so I'm not sure. I have seen rock bands there and they don't have to play loud. It's very nice.

It some times makes me laugh when people complain about compressed dynamic range in music as if it's a new thing and never happened before the last few years. Some of the concerts I went to in the 70s and 80s had 0 dynamic range, just as loud as they could make it.

 

[JohnerH]

Just got my stax kit (SRM-313 + SR-Lamba Classic 303, and I'm also using a SR-X MK2)

OM FREAKY GOD... I have a sneaky feeling my HD650 isn't going to be used a lot

Oh well... I'm in a new level of audio Bliss...

J