Listening to the Stax SR-009 and Great Headphone Amplifiers
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com
With just a few phone calls and emails, I've managed to get my hands on the amazing Stax SR-009 headphones, and some of the world's best electrostatic headphone amps and the gear to make use of them, and set them up my demo room for a week of comparative listening.
Quite the ear opening experience!
Marshall Major Heaphone by Zound Industries
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com
Great guitar amplifiers are great because they produce a lot of distortion. I wonder what a great guitar amp maker thinks a headphone should sound like?
Well, here’s our chance … I guess. The Marshall Major ($99) is a mid-size, earpad, sealed headphone, but is actually made by Zound Industries of Sweden. Yes, this is another lifestyle headphone from the makers of Urbanears. I have no idea how much input Marshall had in the design and approval, but let’s give the Major a chance. Throw the drum-kit in the back of the Econoline and we’ll go for a ride to Rock ‘n Roll with the Marshall Majors.
Massdrop Nobel X Earphones
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.comDag nab it! I got so busy last week with the Focal Utopia measurements that I neglected to get the new Massdrop Noble X measured and listened to for a quick report before the drop. Sorry about that.
Massdrop x HiFiMAN HE4XX Planar Magnetic Headphones
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.comOh boy. The folks at Massdrop have gone and done it again. Just got their new Massdrop x HiFiMAN HE4XX in for measurements and a quick listen before the drop.
Meze 99 Neo Around-Ear Sealed Headphones
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.comA first look at this new headphone from Meze...what a difference a pad makes.
Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Pro
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com
From the “Beats by Dre” website:
“Attention sound engineers, DJs, musicians, and hard core music lovers: Beats Pro is the reference headphone designed by audio professionals for audio professionals.”
Well, one and a half out of four ain’t bad.
You’ll know if you’ve seen my Beat Solo headphone youtube video that I would be perfectly happy to dis these cans. Well, I guess you can’t be happy all the time, because there were quite a few things these headphones did surprisingly well. But I’m not perfectly unhappy, the Beats Pro didn’t fail to disappoint in some ways too.
Life in balance I guess … Dre has his place.
Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Solo
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.comWhen I first saw the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Solo ($199 MSRP) I thought they might be the most beautiful headphones I’d ever seen. The fit and finish is stellar; the styling superb; they fold beautifully; the cable is pure sex; they’re comfortable … the Solos are just gorgeous. At the time I thought, “These may be the headphone of the year!”
Except for one little thing …
More Stax Measurements: SR-009; SR-007; SR-507; SR-404 Ltd; SR-404; and SR-003
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.comI'm making ready to head off to RMAF, but I certainly didn't want to shirk my duties measuring Stax headphones, and getting them back to their rightful owners.
Here we go ...
Mr Speakers Ether C is a World Class Sealed Headphone
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.com
Not at all sure I'll succeed, but I'll try to find something bad to say about these headphones.
MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Open Planar Magnetic Headphones
This story originally appeared at InnerFidelity.comI'll admit feeling the MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Closed look a bit alien to my eyes when first I saw it. Now that it's been on my desk for a few months I find it quite appealing. Not so much for it's looksdon't get me wrong, I quite like the lookbut more because I've come to appreciate the comfort of them. No surprises when the Aeon Flow Open showed up...they were right at home on my head. Good thing too, they'll be spending a lot of time there.