So I did play around with the L700 pads on my L300 and comfort does immensely increase (along with a slight clamp increase) but it does make the sound slightly warmer and a bit more distant since there's quite a bit of space between the driver and your ears with the L700 pads. I tried to compensate with more volume but wasn't able to get the same feeling of intimacy before female vocals started getting a bit too much since these are already quite forward in the upper mids/lower treble area. Overall, It's fine for some tracks but for some others, everything just seems further away. With the stock pads, each instrument is well defined and super crisp, whereas with the L700 pads, it just seems slightly more muddled together and the definition of each string or note gets somewhat smoothed over. It feels like the sound is lingering in the space between the driver and your ear and what you end up hearing is the sum of everything mixed together vs the stock pads where there is a great degree of separation between each layer. If you think the L300 stock is harsh, the L700 pads would help I suppose and I'm sure if you have never listened to the L300 with the stock pads extensively, you'd be happy with the sound on the L700 pads, but unless you really have comfort issues with the stock pads, I'd suggest sticking with it. Oddly enough, the surface of the L300 pads are a lot smoother vs the surface of the L700 pads. Luckily, it turns out I am fine with the stock pads after rotating the dust cover 180 degrees so I'll be sticking with that.
Interesting comment about the sonic changes that come with changing pads, and I tend to agree; after all, there are precise reasons why manufacturers adopt a specific pad for a given headphone. I am not surprised you are not happy with the sound of L300+L700 pads. The L300 were acoustically conceived for those stock pads, and there is no tweaking that will make them sound like L700, because the 700s are the only Lambdas to use the sr-009 drivers' technology. That's why the L700 sounds so different from any other Lambda. But there is something important to be considered! most of the music we love and listen to has been mixed and mastered with a precise concept of depth and width, and besides the sonic beauty of these or those headphones, it is also important that they render the position in space of voices and instruments as it was intended by the artists and sound engineers who mixed/mastered the recordings. Although I don't find any headphones to be as fast, resolving, harmonically rich, and a joy to listen to as much as the Stax, I also have to admit that most models are too forward-sounding. Many people love their intimate and highly focused sound, but most of them, particularly the lambdas, tend to change the intended nature of a mix. In particular, they make the voices of most songs sound too in front in the mix, too close to your face. That is very true in those Lambda models that have a response peak around 2Khz, and in general too much mid-treble energy. You may like that, but a more educated type of listening calls for a more accurate position of the vocals in their mix. The L700 partly corrects that issue, but still not enough. Recordings in which I know for sure the voices should be behind certain instruments, still sound a little too forward even with the L700, though to a lesser degree than on other Lambdas. I usually correct that via Eq when I use the L700, and it works like a charm! That said, the L700 is surely on a different level than any other lambda. You get surrounded by music! you suddenly find yourself in this magical place, with the instruments all around you, and with such gorgeous, musical tone and harmonic richness, besides an incredible amount of detail that surpasses the other Lambdas.
Awesome video guys! And very well explained too. Thank you for taking the time to compare in such a very casual way, and one should be able to tell the difference regardless.
you can use a dc voltmeter to set the volume difference, just set the volume you normally listen to, then stop the music and stick the + pin in + output of the amp and the - also on either left or right channel, (check a stax output socket layout diagram online). you should have a reading, then adjust the next amp to the same reading, play some music and compare
As someone that's never tried electrostatic headphones, a comparison to dynamic ones would have been helpful to frame the whole conversation. Anyway interesting comparison
I own both- Stax Lambda pro and Grado RS1. I used to feel the RS1s were fantastic and objectively they are. The Stax however are in a different category altogether; the sound isn't comparable at all to any of the Grado, Sennheiser or Azure phones I've listened to.
Elba Magellan I am not much for the way headphones are typically described. If you have listened to open air headphones before, they sound littlike closed headphones. After I listened to open air phones, I always fimd closed phones disappointing.. The stax sound amd feel much more like there's no limit to the depth or height in volume or tone they can reproduce. Do bad recordings leave you disappointed because you realise that a great recording will sound so much more amazing? With the stax and a great recording without a lot of compression, symbols, rimgs, harps, edm drops amd toplines all sound perfect to my ears. If you are used to listening to a standard pair of iems then you a achance to a decent set of headphones, you may find yourself disappointed with the iems even though they sound the seme as they used to. Your perspective of what's good was chamged by the decent headphones. I felt the stax have made me feel slightly disatisfied with everything else listen to now. I realise there's even more to the recording now. Is that closer to the sort of description you were looking for?
Elba Magellan, there are a couple major differences in the listening experience between electrostatic and dynamic headphones. First of all the speed! The difference is dramatic, the diaphragm overhang of stats is negligible, while it is inevitably there in dynamics. Electrostatic drivers are way way faster, and that is partly responsible for some of the other differences, such as resolution, high treble response, and the feeling that the music, even a very complex and crowded mix, is reproduced effortlessly.The resolution is absurd, very few (and very pricey!) dynamic headphones, such as the HD800, resolve detail at a level that is normal for electrostats. The timbers of the instruments have amazing harmonic richness, and the way vocals sound... astounding! the sense of realism in general is incredible with stats, the music sounds so natural. Another superpower typical of stax headphones is the quality of the imaging, incredibly precise, wide, and with great separation. Also, electrostats are famous for producing negligible harmonic distortion, which is the reason why they sound so coherent and clear and allow you to raise the volume to crazy levels with no loss of quality. It may change depending on the model, but the general perception of listening to stax is that the sound floats in front of you and around you, and is not delivered through your ears, but directly to the brain. The only possible weakness is the bass response, but that again it depends on the model. Some of the more expensive stax models do have bass, particularly sr-007 and L700, but, very in general, good bass response is usually more typical of planar magnetic headphones. And the amp you use also makes a difference, with the amps made by stax being a tad shy in the bass, unlike some third party models.
Had a listen to L300, 500 and 700.. and couldn't believe the difference in audio quality and sheer listening enjoyment/pleasure is staggering from 300 to 700. ( besides the extreme price jump - X3 ). 6+ grand for the L700 earspeakers/Stax amp combo..bloody hell.
I don't think the difference in the amps is apparent with the l300. I have compared all 3 of the lambda models and as an owner of the l700 I can say it is far more resolving to reveal the differences in the amps.
I got the L300 recently and have been eyeing the L700 already (that's how much I liked the L300!). I'm worried however, that the L700 sounds completely different. Can you elaborate on sound signature between them? Do they retain the same sort of sound sig? I've seen people say that the L700 sounded warmer so I'm hesitant as I do love the L300's signature
Ein Variance, did you get to try the L700? if not, I can help understand what's different about them. First of all, they have more bass compared to the cheaper lambdas, and that bass is well extended to the sub frequencies. Rather than calling it's signature "warmer" I'd call it "juicier", mids and mid-bass are more material, better timbered, and there is no comparison in terms of transparency and resolution; I'd say the L700 is the most resolving lambda ever, in the league of 007/009, and the sense of realism of the mid-range is also superior. Speaking of soundstage and imaging, L700 has deeper Z-axis (front/back in space) and a wider image/stage than the cheaper lambdas. Instrumental separation and imaging are absurdly good in my opinion. Also, L700 has better micro-dynamics and much more impact/punch in general. What I find to be not great in their frequency response is a little too much energy around 4-5Khz, and at 9-10Khz, but that could be personal because I am a little treble sensitive. But I correct that easily with an Eq, and the L700, among all the Stax I tried to Eq are the champion, they respond to Eq-ing beautifully, with no distortion! Now, it is important to notice that I Eq the L700 ONLY when I am NOT listening to early or classical music, I only do when listening to jazz, rock, pop, reggae, etc. For classical music I find their signature as it is to be essentially perfect!
I tried all and ill be honest the l700 blew them all out of the water. the comparison is not even comparable. I bought the l700 and the 252s strange combo but it is good
Brandon Lim I got the L300 recently and have been eyeing the L700 already (that's how much I liked the L300!). I'm worried however, that the L700 sounds completely different. Can you elaborate on sound signature between them? Do they retain the same sort of sound sig? I've seen people say that the L700 sounded warmer so I'm hesitant as I do love the L300's signature
I own L500, L700, srm252s and Srm 353x. For me L500 paired with Srm 353x sound better than L700 paired with Srm 252s. L700 paired with Srm 353x is not comparison with L500 paired with srm 252s. Also using Fiio M11 plus as audio source was visible (or audible) below the sound of a deficated DAC , in my case Fostex Hp a4bl. The better are the ear speakers, the bigger become the difference.
Hi Lachlan, I got MA900 on your rec and enjoyed it for 2 year. Then i got some money and wanted to upgrade and after trying a lot of headphones , I found a clear winner, Hifiman HEX V2. I am copying my comment from headfi here. I would love your review of it but my search is over. "I was looking for a genuine upgrade from Sony MA 900 ( my criteria were comfort, quality bass, nice mids, decent amount of detail and wide sound stage), my music source is poor quality mp3 and youtube videos and so headphone has to be forgiving as well as not veiled... quite a difficult combination. Also, my budget was up to $3000 as I had some disposable money. Here is short version of the my odyssey where i bought and tried various headphones before stumbling on to the perfect headphone for me. HD800S (detailed but lean,still not enough bass, no fun) Sony MDR Z1R (Tyll is spot on, its not worth the money, veiled,congested, poor clarity, mids recessed, very disappointing from Sony) Ether Flows (good bass and clarity but start hurting after 30 minutes due to treble, cant listen for more than hour, also feel heavy at times) Koss ESP 950 ( great mids, lack bass, cumbersome set up and minor issues) I even bought a powerful Marantz HD DAC1 amp from local crutchfield to power these headphones. But the winner is Hifiman Edition X V2. I was about the give up this hobby as I was fed up with reading hundreds of pages about too detailed,treble heavy high end headphones that are simply harsh for low quality music files and need extra amp. I love music but I am not an audiophile and I dont listen to high quality audio. I like to watch music videos on youtube which at best have audio quality of 128 kHz. I dont have walkman or other MP3 players and my set up is very simple, laptop with Fiio E17 as DAC/Amp ( it was good enough for MA900). Basically, I just wanted a better MA900 and was surprised to find that meeting all these criteria was not that easy despite how much cash i was willing to shell out. Hifiman Edition X V2 was last ditch effort as i read about it on a related forum. I have been trying it now for more than a week and I can confidently say that it improves on all aspect of MA900 (clear natural sound, much much more detail, nice bass, smooth mids and highs, wide soundstage, musical, not harsh). Biggest surprise was that despite being 400 gm, it is more comfortable for me than MA900 because, first, weight is very well distributed but more importantly, V2 has deeper ear pads and my ear does not touch the driver like in MA900. I can keep it on for hours and it just disappears on my head lying down. I am amazed as I was not a fan of heavy headphones. Few other points. using a powerful amp may be counterproductive. Hifiman means it when they say that It is made for portable devices and is very easy to drive with resistance of 25 ohm. My Marantz HD DAC1 expanded the soundstage and sound was clean but distant and lacked impact. Luckily, I plugged it straight into my laptop and suddenly, It was magic. sound became a little intimate and tickled my ears pleasantly. It got even better with E17 which is a small portable amp. Good for movies due to bass and soundstage, just like MA900 So balanced that i did not even need EQ This is it for now. I can write a lot but you get the idea. This hobby can be insane with endless search amid so much confusion. I am glad that I am out, for now.
SHAMUUU BASSS that actually is a good target to have, I haven't heard much of Hifiman's product, but will be interested on one in the future, one thing also: Amiron Home might be a good one for a more reachable upgrade from the MA900 as well, I did not manage to get to try them for long, but first impressions on build and sound are very favorable.
Thank you for the interesting video guys! I'd like to comment on a couple of things. 1) The Stax driver units ARE amplifiers, besides being energizers. I'm no expert, but it is my understanding that they do both. They do charge the stators and diaphragms with high voltages (I believe around 580V for the stators), but they also amplify the audio signal. The 353x, for example, is a Class-A amplifier, besides the energizing part (not sure about the 252s). 2) The difference between 353x and 252s is pretty big! And well beyond their volume capabilities, which has to be expected due to the important difference in the juice they can feed (4W vs 30W). I think your hearing little or no difference has to depend on the headphones. Probably the L300 is not resolving and transparent enough to show too much difference. They still are very transparent and resolving headphones, particularly if compared to most dynamic headphones, but trying those 2 units with the L700 puts a "wow" on your face. The 252s has a "plastic sound" compared to the other. The 353x has a dramatically higher level of realism, with more natural and "palpable" mids and mid-bass. Bass is better, more present and layered and more punchy with the 353x. The difference in treble extension is also dramatic! with the 353x having extra amount of air in the sound, shine to the timbres, and empty space between the things happening in the mix of your song; in fact, the 353x has better instrumental separation too, and a wider stage, whereas the 252s sounds dry and boxy. In general, 2 quite different listening experiences, at least on headphones with a level of transparency in the league of the L700 or better, with the 353x really sounding like a full range system.
I swore Ive always been able to tell a difference between a lot of stuff even if it's just small differences, for years , anyway I decided to do blind test and sighted swapping with both volume matched. I could hear no difference whatsoever, since then I have sold all my equipment included chord Hugo 2 dac and now listening to music from my phone at 256kps with £40 Sony earphones. I'm glad to be out of the hobby. I will invest my time in to things that actually make a difference. Take care Lachlan.
Muhammad Kharismawan it's not drastic, it was extremely disappointing to find out that a paid a ton of money over the years on equipment that has inaudible differences over a mid range smartphone. It was in my head all along and I really believed I knew the differences.
Mimikyu#778 if it's really headphones from entry lvl to midrange it really have a difference Lachlann and Tom here are talking about the difference in DAC - DAP - Amp chain in general, which usually yields much less apparent change compared to the suggested price difference. Unless your Sony earphone is a real hidden gem it shouldn't be that difficult to tell the improvements (whether in sound, build, features, and/or included accessories). Value are weighted differently for each.
So I did play around with the L700 pads on my L300 and comfort does immensely increase (along with a slight clamp increase) but it does make the sound slightly warmer and a bit more distant since there's quite a bit of space between the driver and your ears with the L700 pads. I tried to compensate with more volume but wasn't able to get the same feeling of intimacy before female vocals started getting a bit too much since these are already quite forward in the upper mids/lower treble area. Overall, It's fine for some tracks but for some others, everything just seems further away. With the stock pads, each instrument is well defined and super crisp, whereas with the L700 pads, it just seems slightly more muddled together and the definition of each string or note gets somewhat smoothed over. It feels like the sound is lingering in the space between the driver and your ear and what you end up hearing is the sum of everything mixed together vs the stock pads where there is a great degree of separation between each layer.
If you think the L300 stock is harsh, the L700 pads would help I suppose and I'm sure if you have never listened to the L300 with the stock pads extensively, you'd be happy with the sound on the L700 pads, but unless you really have comfort issues with the stock pads, I'd suggest sticking with it. Oddly enough, the surface of the L300 pads are a lot smoother vs the surface of the L700 pads. Luckily, it turns out I am fine with the stock pads after rotating the dust cover 180 degrees so I'll be sticking with that.
Interesting comment about the sonic changes that come with changing pads, and I tend to agree; after all, there are precise reasons why manufacturers adopt a specific pad for a given headphone. I am not surprised you are not happy with the sound of L300+L700 pads. The L300 were acoustically conceived for those stock pads, and there is no tweaking that will make them sound like L700, because the 700s are the only Lambdas to use the sr-009 drivers' technology. That's why the L700 sounds so different from any other Lambda. But there is something important to be considered! most of the music we love and listen to has been mixed and mastered with a precise concept of depth and width, and besides the sonic beauty of these or those headphones, it is also important that they render the position in space of voices and instruments as it was intended by the artists and sound engineers who mixed/mastered the recordings. Although I don't find any headphones to be as fast, resolving, harmonically rich, and a joy to listen to as much as the Stax, I also have to admit that most models are too forward-sounding. Many people love their intimate and highly focused sound, but most of them, particularly the lambdas, tend to change the intended nature of a mix. In particular, they make the voices of most songs sound too in front in the mix, too close to your face. That is very true in those Lambda models that have a response peak around 2Khz, and in general too much mid-treble energy. You may like that, but a more educated type of listening calls for a more accurate position of the vocals in their mix. The L700 partly corrects that issue, but still not enough. Recordings in which I know for sure the voices should be behind certain instruments, still sound a little too forward even with the L700, though to a lesser degree than on other Lambdas. I usually correct that via Eq when I use the L700, and it works like a charm! That said, the L700 is surely on a different level than any other lambda. You get surrounded by music! you suddenly find yourself in this magical place, with the instruments all around you, and with such gorgeous, musical tone and harmonic richness, besides an incredible amount of detail that surpasses the other Lambdas.
Awesome video guys! And very well explained too. Thank you for taking the time to compare in such a very casual way, and one should be able to tell the difference regardless.
you can use a dc voltmeter to set the volume difference, just set the volume you normally listen to, then stop the music and stick the + pin in + output of the amp and the - also on either left or right channel, (check a stax output socket layout diagram online). you should have a reading, then adjust the next amp to the same reading, play some music and compare
As someone that's never tried electrostatic headphones, a comparison to dynamic ones would have been helpful to frame the whole conversation. Anyway interesting comparison
I own both- Stax Lambda pro and Grado RS1. I used to feel the RS1s were fantastic and objectively they are. The Stax however are in a different category altogether; the sound isn't comparable at all to any of the Grado, Sennheiser or Azure phones I've listened to.
Justin Seiferth yes but different how? Description would be helpful.
Elba Magellan I am not much for the way headphones are typically described. If you have listened to open air headphones before, they sound littlike closed headphones. After I listened to open air phones, I always fimd closed phones disappointing..
The stax sound amd feel much more like there's no limit to the depth or height in volume or tone they can reproduce.
Do bad recordings leave you disappointed because you realise that a great recording will sound so much more amazing? With the stax and a great recording without a lot of compression, symbols, rimgs, harps, edm drops amd toplines all sound perfect to my ears.
If you are used to listening to a standard pair of iems then you a achance to a decent set of headphones, you may find yourself disappointed with the iems even though they sound the seme as they used to. Your perspective of what's good was chamged by the decent headphones. I felt the stax have made me feel slightly disatisfied with everything else listen to now. I realise there's even more to the recording now. Is that closer to the sort of description you were looking for?
Justin Seiferth thank you that was helpful :)
Elba Magellan, there are a couple major differences in the listening experience between electrostatic and dynamic headphones. First of all the speed! The difference is dramatic, the diaphragm overhang of stats is negligible, while it is inevitably there in dynamics. Electrostatic drivers are way way faster, and that is partly responsible for some of the other differences, such as resolution, high treble response, and the feeling that the music, even a very complex and crowded mix, is reproduced effortlessly.The resolution is absurd, very few (and very pricey!) dynamic headphones, such as the HD800, resolve detail at a level that is normal for electrostats. The timbers of the instruments have amazing harmonic richness, and the way vocals sound... astounding! the sense of realism in general is incredible with stats, the music sounds so natural. Another superpower typical of stax headphones is the quality of the imaging, incredibly precise, wide, and with great separation. Also, electrostats are famous for producing negligible harmonic distortion, which is the reason why they sound so coherent and clear and allow you to raise the volume to crazy levels with no loss of quality. It may change depending on the model, but the general perception of listening to stax is that the sound floats in front of you and around you, and is not delivered through your ears, but directly to the brain. The only possible weakness is the bass response, but that again it depends on the model. Some of the more expensive stax models do have bass, particularly sr-007 and L700, but, very in general, good bass response is usually more typical of planar magnetic headphones. And the amp you use also makes a difference, with the amps made by stax being a tad shy in the bass, unlike some third party models.
Had a listen to L300, 500 and 700.. and couldn't believe the difference in audio quality and sheer listening enjoyment/pleasure is staggering from 300 to 700. ( besides the extreme price jump - X3 ). 6+ grand for the L700 earspeakers/Stax amp combo..bloody hell.
YES! The L700 is fantastic. Just... really fantastic. I think I'd be happy with the 353X and the L700 tho. Much cheaper :3
lachlanlikesathing hi; i need your help some people say that l700 sounds better whit stax 006ts than stax 353x ;is it true? Thank you
The headphones make you look like one of the classic cybermen from Doctor Who hahahhahaa
I have both the 353x 252s and the L300, L700. The amps do NOT make a big difference.... so just buy the L700 and get the 252s
whats the difference in sound signature of l300 vs l700?
Great video Lachlan, thanks for uploading.
does your guys voice pitch go up as the video goes?
Saw a Scarlett pro and rockitt monitors there, doing any recordings soon?
I don't think the difference in the amps is apparent with the l300. I have compared all 3 of the lambda models and as an owner of the l700 I can say it is far more resolving to reveal the differences in the amps.
I got the L300 recently and have been eyeing the L700 already (that's how much I liked the L300!). I'm worried however, that the L700 sounds completely different. Can you elaborate on sound signature between them? Do they retain the same sort of sound sig? I've seen people say that the L700 sounded warmer so I'm hesitant as I do love the L300's signature
Ein Variance, did you get to try the L700? if not, I can help understand what's different about them. First of all, they have more bass compared to the cheaper lambdas, and that bass is well extended to the sub frequencies. Rather than calling it's signature "warmer" I'd call it "juicier", mids and mid-bass are more material, better timbered, and there is no comparison in terms of transparency and resolution; I'd say the L700 is the most resolving lambda ever, in the league of 007/009, and the sense of realism of the mid-range is also superior. Speaking of soundstage and imaging, L700 has deeper Z-axis (front/back in space) and a wider image/stage than the cheaper lambdas. Instrumental separation and imaging are absurdly good in my opinion. Also, L700 has better micro-dynamics and much more impact/punch in general. What I find to be not great in their frequency response is a little too much energy around 4-5Khz, and at 9-10Khz, but that could be personal because I am a little treble sensitive. But I correct that easily with an Eq, and the L700, among all the Stax I tried to Eq are the champion, they respond to Eq-ing beautifully, with no distortion! Now, it is important to notice that I Eq the L700 ONLY when I am NOT listening to early or classical music, I only do when listening to jazz, rock, pop, reggae, etc. For classical music I find their signature as it is to be essentially perfect!
bullshit
would be nice if you can compare the l300 with the 500 or 700 sometime
I tried all and ill be honest the l700 blew them all out of the water. the comparison is not even comparable. I bought the l700 and the 252s strange combo but it is good
thanks Brandon for the info
Brandon Lim I got the L300 recently and have been eyeing the L700 already (that's how much I liked the L300!). I'm worried however, that the L700 sounds completely different. Can you elaborate on sound signature between them? Do they retain the same sort of sound sig? I've seen people say that the L700 sounded warmer so I'm hesitant as I do love the L300's signature
I own L500, L700, srm252s and Srm 353x. For me L500 paired with Srm 353x sound better than L700 paired with Srm 252s. L700 paired with Srm 353x is not comparison with L500 paired with srm 252s. Also using Fiio M11 plus as audio source was visible (or audible) below the sound of a deficated DAC , in my case Fostex Hp a4bl. The better are the ear speakers, the bigger become the difference.
Hi Lachlan, I got MA900 on your rec and enjoyed it for 2 year. Then i got some money and wanted to upgrade and after trying a lot of headphones , I found a clear winner, Hifiman HEX V2. I am copying my comment from headfi here. I would love your review of it but my search is over.
"I was looking for a genuine upgrade from Sony MA 900 ( my criteria were comfort, quality bass, nice mids, decent amount of detail and wide sound stage), my music source is poor quality mp3 and youtube videos and so headphone has to be forgiving as well as not veiled... quite a difficult combination. Also, my budget was up to $3000 as I had some disposable money.
Here is short version of the my odyssey where i bought and tried various headphones before stumbling on to the perfect headphone for me.
HD800S (detailed but lean,still not enough bass, no fun)
Sony MDR Z1R (Tyll is spot on, its not worth the money, veiled,congested, poor clarity, mids recessed, very disappointing from Sony)
Ether Flows (good bass and clarity but start hurting after 30 minutes due to treble, cant listen for more than hour, also feel heavy at times)
Koss ESP 950 ( great mids, lack bass, cumbersome set up and minor issues)
I even bought a powerful Marantz HD DAC1 amp from local crutchfield to power these headphones.
But the winner is Hifiman Edition X V2.
I was about the give up this hobby as I was fed up with reading hundreds of pages about too detailed,treble heavy high end headphones that are simply harsh for low quality music files and need extra amp. I love music but I am not an audiophile and I dont listen to high quality audio. I like to watch music videos on youtube which at best have audio quality of 128 kHz. I dont have walkman or other MP3 players and my set up is very simple, laptop with Fiio E17 as DAC/Amp ( it was good enough for MA900). Basically, I just wanted a better MA900 and was surprised to find that meeting all these criteria was not that easy despite how much cash i was willing to shell out.
Hifiman Edition X V2 was last ditch effort as i read about it on a related forum.
I have been trying it now for more than a week and I can confidently say that it improves on all aspect of MA900 (clear natural sound, much much more detail, nice bass, smooth mids and highs, wide soundstage, musical, not harsh). Biggest surprise was that despite being 400 gm, it is more comfortable for me than MA900 because, first, weight is very well distributed but more importantly, V2 has deeper ear pads and my ear does not touch the driver like in MA900. I can keep it on for hours and it just disappears on my head lying down. I am amazed as I was not a fan of heavy headphones.
Few other points.
using a powerful amp may be counterproductive. Hifiman means it when they say that It is made for portable devices and is very easy to drive with resistance of 25 ohm. My Marantz HD DAC1 expanded the soundstage and sound was clean but distant and lacked impact. Luckily, I plugged it straight into my laptop and suddenly, It was magic. sound became a little intimate and tickled my ears pleasantly. It got even better with E17 which is a small portable amp.
Good for movies due to bass and soundstage, just like MA900
So balanced that i did not even need EQ
This is it for now. I can write a lot but you get the idea. This hobby can be insane with endless search amid so much confusion. I am glad that I am out, for now.
SHAMUUU BASSS that actually is a good target to have, I haven't heard much of Hifiman's product, but will be interested on one in the future, one thing also: Amiron Home might be a good one for a more reachable upgrade from the MA900 as well, I did not manage to get to try them for long, but first impressions on build and sound are very favorable.
I do realize your room is a unite dark, is it because it's recorded late at night or you have a small window?
Thank you for the interesting video guys! I'd like to comment on a couple of things.
1) The Stax driver units ARE amplifiers, besides being energizers. I'm no expert, but it is my understanding that they do both. They do charge the stators and diaphragms with high voltages (I believe around 580V for the stators), but they also amplify the audio signal. The 353x, for example, is a Class-A amplifier, besides the energizing part (not sure about the 252s).
2) The difference between 353x and 252s is pretty big! And well beyond their volume capabilities, which has to be expected due to the important difference in the juice they can feed (4W vs 30W). I think your hearing little or no difference has to depend on the headphones. Probably the L300 is not resolving and transparent enough to show too much difference. They still are very transparent and resolving headphones, particularly if compared to most dynamic headphones, but trying those 2 units with the L700 puts a "wow" on your face. The 252s has a "plastic sound" compared to the other. The 353x has a dramatically higher level of realism, with more natural and "palpable" mids and mid-bass. Bass is better, more present and layered and more punchy with the 353x. The difference in treble extension is also dramatic! with the 353x having extra amount of air in the sound, shine to the timbres, and empty space between the things happening in the mix of your song; in fact, the 353x has better instrumental separation too, and a wider stage, whereas the 252s sounds dry and boxy. In general, 2 quite different listening experiences, at least on headphones with a level of transparency in the league of the L700 or better, with the 353x really sounding like a full range system.
You explained better than i could or would.
This is beautiful
cool, thanks for the impressions
So nerdy, so Good
"Testing with Takyon by Death Grips if that means anything".
haha he actually says Tachyon by nano.RIPE: /watch?v=4LhJmixnlgA
I love the organ on Chrome Country.
One trick to compare is to turn the volume all the way down. plug it in, then turn the volume up. And repeat. This way is much better imo.
Lachlan you need to get the 009's!!!!!!
some people say that the L700 is better
btw, I like your channel
Michael Novak Only Zeos says that, on forums haven't seen anyone to say that.
I swore Ive always been able to tell a difference between a lot of stuff even if it's just small differences, for years
, anyway I decided to do blind test and sighted swapping with both volume matched. I could hear no difference whatsoever, since then I have sold all my equipment included chord Hugo 2 dac and now listening to music from my phone at 256kps with £40 Sony earphones. I'm glad to be out of the hobby. I will invest my time in to things that actually make a difference. Take care Lachlan.
Mimikyu#778 that's drastic, but if that Sony headphone really suit your sound preference and use case, "why not?" right?
Muhammad Kharismawan it's not drastic, it was extremely disappointing to find out that a paid a ton of money over the years on equipment that has inaudible differences over a mid range smartphone. It was in my head all along and I really believed I knew the differences.
Mimikyu#778 if it's really headphones from entry lvl to midrange it really have a difference Lachlann and Tom here are talking about the difference in DAC - DAP - Amp chain in general, which usually yields much less apparent change compared to the suggested price difference. Unless your Sony earphone is a real hidden gem it shouldn't be that difficult to tell the improvements (whether in sound, build, features, and/or included accessories). Value are weighted differently for each.
Gaming in electrostats. I wonder if that works🤔
I'll try this with my L300s! :D
Of course it works.
What do you mean?
I do it all the time?
RCA's from PlayStation to Stax.
P.A.N.D.E.M.O.N.I.U.M.
RCA s in the Controller or the console?
Ruben Cwiklenski hdmi to rca cable.
P.A.N.D.E.M.O.N.I.U.M. OK thank you 😉
Handsome boys, but ugly headphones...
Zreviews did a video like this. You should check it out.
no
ok
He knows Z, I I hint he watched some of his vids, but have vastly different sound preference, I notice between the two.