padam

a few impressions from the SoCal meet: no. 1 " Audeze CRBN , silky, great low end for an estat, impressive soundstage, faster than the lcd-5 but without the same tactile feel. Sounded MUCH better out of the mjolnir audio than the Z10e. Very different than Stax, and I really enjoyed these. I may not even need to hear the sr-x9000 before deciding to put my order in. Sounds like the waitlist is until Jan … crazy." no. 2 "The best sound for me were the Audeze CRBN's. These are my next dream headphones. They sound totally different from Stax, and have their own sound signature that I really liked. They were musical and had a visceral slam/punch I haven't heard in my own collection of electrostatics. I've never heard the HE-90's, but the CRBN's sound like what I dream a HE-90 would sound like." no. 3 "Unfortunately I don't think they bring anything to the table. As a big 009 fan, I think if you are making a non typical estat-like estat, you better have something special to justify the specific amplifier requirement. This definitely doesn't have either the 007 magic or the 009's extreme detail and lightness. I might need some more time with it but so far I haven't found anything impressive from them." no. 4 "listened to the CRBN after auditioning the LCD-5. Solid headphone, although I preferred the HFM Shangri-la Jr. due to its superior soundstaging and overall refinement. Probably my favourite headphone that I heard today! I detected a bit of grain in cymbals on the CRBN, although the audition was too brief to make any definitive statements. Bass was definitely above average on both the Audeze and HFM by 'stat standards. Some dynamic compression seems to be a fact of life with this technology vis-a-vis planars, but the Shangri-la Jr. does offer more resolution than even the Susvara, and I'm intrigued for sure. Will listen to both again tomorrow and update my impressions." no. 5 "CRBN (some un-obtainium set up). After hearing these I understand why some people warship e-stats. The CRBNs have a delicate presentation, but they don’t ever sound thin or lacking in body. The overall frequency response is very similar to the LCD-5, but the presentation is a lot different. The bass is excellent in texture and level, easily better than the Susvara. Not as punchy as the LCD-5 though. Midrange is equal to or better than anything here. More body to the vocals than the Susvara. Treble, comparing here again to the Susvara, the Susvara are pretty magical, but I like the texture of the CRBN a little better. The soundstage on these is larger, open and layered in a way where I could easily forget I was wearing headphones. The build quality and comfort here again are equal to or better than anything. As far as pure aesthetics, these are the best looking headphones I have ever seen. In person they are stunning." no. 6 "I had a short opportunity to A/B test CRBN and 009s on Mytek & BH. (Also heard CRBN on Mjolnir Audio but I felt the A/B test was much more interesting.) CRBN sounds very tonally correct, polite, but didn’t carry the sparkles nearly as much. Sound stage is smaller than 009s. I felt CRBN is more similar to Elite and Utopia than to 009s. I personally would pick 009s every time over CRBN. I didn’t get to test bass heavy songs at all, which I heard is what CRBN excels at. What a pity." no. 7 "But now for me and the one BURNING question I had was how does CRBN sound on the Blue Hawaii Special Edition? As some one who still owns and enjoys the original 009 my curiosity was peaked! And honestly... for starters I feel like CRBN does everything the original 009 set out out to, it retains that insane sense of speed and detail I love about 009 BUT has a slightly denser tone with noticeably stronger bass with all the detail and transparency I've come to expect. It's sound stage is a little more intimate too and all in all while I still love the original 009's lovely tone, exceptional nuance and delicacy. I could 100% see my-self picking up CRBN as a compliment for when I want that extra bit of weight, heft and intimacy without any lose in the speed or detail that I love about Electro Stats! But overall I feel that CRBN really captures and delivers the true spirit of Audeze! Powerful, detailed TRUE to life BASS! A natural weighty mid range with amazing speed and clarity that alongside with crystal clear highs are all presented within an outstandingly cohesive and precise sound stage. I for one can't wait to get a little more time with BHSE and CRBN! It's likely going to become my new favourite thing to hear at each show until I'm ready to pick up a set for myself!" no. 8 "Overall a fluidic, semi-sweet / modestly dry (in a good way), linear sound with the full FR represented. Bass texture was spot on but overall leans ever so slightly towards a brighter signature not far off from Stax SR-009. Soundstage was great as well, but may be a small step behind Stax Lambda series in that regard. Sense of PRaT was nearly impeccable, though drums may not hit with quite as much authority as a well driven dynamic or planar headphone (something Mark Cohen of Audeze also confirmed). These pull it off so nicely that one may not even notice any shortcomings whatsoever, and can do almost any genre with finesse and seemingly left over headroom to boot. This paired exceptionally well with what I believe was the Mjolnir Audio Carbon e-stat energizer. For a comparison to the SR-009 I would have to do more testing, but I would say the SR-009 has superior sense of resolution, speed, depth and emotional / visceral quality. Not necessarily better overall, just different." no. 9 "Holy moley this was the headphone of the show for me. I'm an electrostatic headphone fan, and the CRBN's bass surprised me. I find the SR-009/009S to be too bright for me and I much prefer the Dan Clark Audio VOCE over them. I don't know how the Mjölnir Audio Carbon sounds since the only thing usually at these shows is the Blue Hawaii, but the CRBN sounded pretty solid out of it. Volume-wise, I needed to turn the volume knob quite a ways for the CRBN, so either the Carbon doesn't output a lot of power (which I doubt since it's made by spritzer/Mjölnir Audio), or the CRBN isn't very sensitive (whose technical specification is unlisted on Audeze's website). There was good texture and presence in the bass region, more so than the other estats I've heard, but it didn't overwhelm the midrange. The midrange had excellent clarity and timbre overall, but was a tad bit warm-sounding to me from the bass region. Unlike any other estat I've heard, the bass seemed to take the main stage away from the midrange, as the mids seemed laid-back in comparison (which reminds me a bit of the 007 MKI from memory). The frequency response sounded more linear/smooth overall compared to what I'm used to hearing from the SR-404. The treble, like a lot of estats, was silky smooth and retains a lot of detail overall. Image separation paired with the Carbon sounded excellent, which is another feature I find estats to do well compared to other transducer types. The soundstaging seemed a bit small compared to the 009/009s/VOCE to me, and was more rounded than the SR-Lambda series. Compared to what I'm used to hearing with the Lambda series, the images were spaced more around my head versus left/right and vertical, which I appreciate. Also like most estats, I was able to turn up the volume really high without experiencing any fatigue. The other transducer types don't seem to be able to replicate this effect, and I have no idea why. Comfort-wise, these rock. Audeze's headband on the CRBN is quite comfortable. Paired with the supple leather earpads, the CRBN fits snugly, but not too snug on my head. The oval-shaped earcups fit on my head pretty well even with glasses on. At 300 g, this thing is insanely light! The "cube" pattern on the earcups' grill is also pretty unique-looking. I feel like I've seen this pattern somewhere else, but I can't put my finger on it at the moment. The strain relief parts from the earcup look more sturdy than those of STAX."

As Hugo wrote, listening sessions will be open to the public in limited numbers in a weeks' time. So be patient, impressions will come. Maybe Head-Fi will also obtain a demo pair from Woo Audio or Stax, etc.

Yes, that's something that the SR-Omega has over the SR-009 as well, even shows up in measurements. A comparison against an SR-Omega is in order, probably in a few months' time when / if I'm given the chance 😉 Fujiya Avic video [Full English translation amongst the comments]

SR-X9000 (flagship model with new fixed electrode MLER-3) officially announced in Japan - MSRP 693,000 yen - Official release date 8th of October, 2021 - Mesh stators (used in SR-X Mk1 and SR-Omega), diaphragm area 20% larger than SR-009S - Lighter aluminium housing with tilt guard mesh structure, 434g weight (excluding cable) - Stainless steel arc assembly - Detachable cable (2.5m and 1.5m length supplied) - Paulownia storage box https://www.phileweb.com/news/audio/202109/16/22761_2.html Looks like a modernised SR-Omega, cheapest domestic price 623,700 yen here: https://www.fujiya-avic.co.jp/shop/g/g200000060690/ US price 6200$ EU price 6850€

If it is a "Project X" development announcement just like it was for the Stax C32 prototype (October 2010, released as SR-009 in March 2011) then they will only tell a rough estimate regarding pricing.

Highly unlikely. The manufacturing process resembles the SR-009S much more than the SR-L700 Mk2, which looks much simpler.

Just a teaser image anyway. Could it be a gold plated copper mesh stator again? The fixations certainly remind me of the Hifiman electrostats.

Coming within 6 days. The SR-X name is obviously taken, so is it going to be SR-010 Omega or something?

Compared two DACes today, the trusty old Lavry DA11 (via USB from my laptop running from battery, cheap power cables and interconnect) against a Lumin X1 network player. Level matched (that took a while and very annoying if you have to change the volume for a different track), connected to a switch -> SRM-T1S CCS + ECC99 -> SR-009 / SR-Lambda (also speakers, time was unfortunately very limited) Never compared sources like this before, heard the systems indirectly, and my preconceptions turned out to be either false (like soundstaging), or way less than expected. The DA11 had more, slightly looser bass. The midrange seemed slightly more laid-back, giving the impression of very slightly less clarity (some described it as "slightly old-school"). Having that 'bass boost on' felt more synergistic (I also find the internal crossfeed being useful sometimes), although the Lumin had a slightly firmer, tighter presentation. In the grand scheme of things, I struggled to find big faults with either, it felt I could just enjoy music without fatigue (well, maybe not true for the SR-009 after a while), and I was quite shocked when I found out the difference in price. And maybe the DA11 can improve with a decent PSU as well. Next time I might just try again to see if I notice some more stuff, congestion, etc. and I might test my amp directly against the CCS ECC99 modded version, that should be super easy (though it needs a few hours of warming up...) DA11+T1S+NB Lambda for under 2000$ all-in (maybe with the CCS mod squeezed in) seems quite unbeatable value to be honest, if focusing on the music itself is the most important thing rather than all those technicalities where it might be lacking. Chief among which is precious little bass texture to speak of, piano lacking in weight also, less speed, etc. The imaging or that final 10-20% detail and extension at the extremes, slight congestion really doesn't bother me, the sound is already very clear, open, quite balanced and extended with stunning seductive mids, that's more than enough for me. On the other hand, if I owned a pair of SR-009s, I would probably try a "heavy-handed" approach, like a Smyth Realiser or a custom EQ besides an amp upgrade, as I felt that a warmer source didn't really change much about the overall character. outro: back at base to finish off Schubert's Symphonies. Even with the stock amp with looser (but yet even warmer) bass, the sound is still wonderful, I only remember the HE90s having that sense of undisturbed connection with the mids (and with more dynamics to boot, I can't care with the technical flaws). Switching to the SR-Omega, phenomenal resolution and imaging, bass cleans up massively, a very nuanced presentation, totally relaxing, flows beautifully. However, it's almost as if all that extra information makes the midrange a bit distant, veiled and disconnected at times. I mean, it's not half bad, maybe it is just showing the Lavry as a "boring" source or whatever, but...as weird as it may sound, it looks to me that all these Omegas, need some work one way or another to reach up to that level of musicality that an SR-Lambda can deliver by default, always, no questions asked.

Pretty sure they've been developing something for quite a while now, Edifier's representative gave a hint about an all-new Omega not long after the SR-009S was released, also mentioning the long product cycle of Stax. While there was only a 5-year gap between the SR-Omega and the SR-007, it took them 13 years to come out with the SR-009, so they will take their time. In the meantime, there is plenty of time to prepare the wallet, I'm expecting a shockingly high price tag above SR-009S, which will keep on going.

Support is also needed for the heavy magnets, adding yet more weight, explained here: https://www.audeze.com/blogs/technology-and-innovation/notes-about-weight-clamping-force-and-earpad-materials Considering the 4000$ price tag on a pair of LCD-4s, 4500$ doesn't seem to be far-fetched, considering there was probably a lot more development involved, but they might be gaining that back rather quickly. Unless they start to loose ground on their home soil, I don't foresee Stax changing their approach and while other people have made stats, they haven't gotten that big on the field itself. A new flagship will be coming eventually, but I'm not sure what they are going to do with the rest, since the SR-007 Mk2 is by far the oldest (and arguably the best) product they make. With the amps, they just don't care too much since making nearly the same thing for more money seems to be the only way to make any form of profit on it unless they start getting those parts from elsewhere. I wonder if it is actually worth it for Audeze to make a cheaper electrostat and start competing with their own products. Probably not worth the hassle and they will keep this line in this price category.

Looks like they've gotten so big, that people are considering getting into stats just because they are making one, while in the past years the trend looked like this: "electrostats are getting old these days, ribbon transducers, planars etc. are evolving and steaming ahead..." I wonder if their next model is going to be cheaper or more expensive, I would have expected a heavier SR-009 tank-like build at this price (even though that is still plagued by issues)

You may try something similar: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-stax-thread-iii.677809/page-881#post-13808930 Or you can just wait until it stretches out enough. If you switch to another one, it will also be tight at first, which is less of a problem than being too loose (oh wait, this sounds a bit weird)

Here is how it looks from the back.

From the picture zooming in, it looks like it has a fan but it looks like it has a hinge for a fully articulating screen as well, just like on the Sharp 8K m43 camera, which has been in development for ages and now Sony comes out with it with FF. I guess it will be only slightly cheaper than the FX6 so still a good distance away from the A7SIII with regards to pricing.

Is that a joystick on top? Maybe they have moved some controls away from the rear so the LCD can be a good deal larger and higher resolution so you can actually see if you are focused correctly? I support that. I don't understand how my first camera (NEX-5N) could have a larger image for video, then they've reverted back to the stills aspect ratio (as well as "temporarily" removing full touch operation...), when in stills mode you could simply use that area to make some nice touch buttons on one side (while the black bars on the top and bottom during video recording are basically useless, wasted real estate). For now, they are trying to segment models by keeping larger LCD screens to video cameras and somewhat weirder entry-level models like the Fuji X-T200.

The latest one has the same box as the SR-009S with the golden lettering.

Great lens, but there are so many fantastic vintage lenses out there, which may climb in value due to a demand for video usage, that's what I would buy instead - unless the price on this goes even lower, which is a possibility. This is the Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.2 (on the EOS R), but I have too many others

I would choose the 727A and have it modified because it is slightly warm, while the 323S is more neutral. But the difference is not that big. But there is also SRM-T1 and its close derivatives, the SRM-T1S and SRM-T1W are also available for reasonable prices and they sound good if they have good tubes in them, although for the best performance they need to be CCS modified as well to tame the bass hump (which I personally don't mind with some headphones) in stock form they can be even warmer than the 727A modded.

The Case For Logan Sargeant: Road To Formula 1 Glory Solid mini-documentary about how one can get into F1, I am routing for a US driver to be there.

Yes it was. Wet races FTW As the British commentators were saying: less downforce, more driver skillz

The SRE-950S has yellow markings.

Two hours into the race and it is still open for grabs, this is hilarious :) They need tracks like this.

It depends, if it has the jumper block on the inside, then you don't need to do any soldering at all to switch the voltage, you just need to move that to the right place, and it's done.

Gold aside, these small 35mm f/1.4 primes are very versatile and fun to use. I wish I'd tried a lot harder to master them, couple the ordinary look with today's social distancing, and it becomes a real challenge to take interesting pictures with them.