Sennheiser HE1060/HEV1060 (New Orpheus)

[spritzer]

Those large Sennheiser badges are just pure class... 

[padam]

Yes and the place was not particularly sound-proof, which was a bit surprising.

But the atmosphere was very friendly and I got 30 minutes to listen whatever I'd like.Despite all the potential oddities with the amp etc. they still sounds very good but I think I was even more spoiled by those old HE90s today...Yes they have those issues that were well-documented numerous times but they don't really seem to matter when they just start to play music.

[mypasswordis]

What are you rocking these days, Adam? SR-009 like in your profile pic? SR-5 Pro? How do they compare to the HE1060?

[DefQon]

Sennheiser HD540 II Gold?

I recall Padam selling everything off on headfi few years ago.

[mypasswordis]

How did your ECR-400/500 refurb go?

@edstrelow ESP6 converted to Stax dipole operation actually sounds quite good, other than the obvious backwave bass cancellation. I never heard the thing stock, as the deteriorated foam gunk shorted the circuit boards and as soon as I unscrewed the cups it was Staxifying time. I'll play around with some Dynamat lining and whatnot in the cups someday.

[padam]

22 hours ago, mypasswordis said:

What are you rocking these days, Adam? SR-009 like in your profile pic? SR-5 Pro? How do they compare to the HE1060?

No, the normal bias Lambdas with the crummy old SRA-3S amp play music perfectly fine for me, that is all that matters. Sometimes I think about at least a better amp but it is a lot more money, needs custom NB input, etc. I am not sure the improvement would be that much better. Soundstaging, bass extension, jada jada is always interesting to compare but in the end they are just less important to me. I brought all my stuff to the hotel as well so that I could at least keep that sound in my head before the meet-up.

It is very difficult because at time I felt that my system was actually similar but with other, more complex symphonic music it is quite different. All in all 30 minutes is still not enough to judge it properly, but I would say the HE1 is a little bit like a turbocharged HD800(S) probably with similar design philosophy but with much bigger, more refined and smoother presentation. It is a sound that maybe a lot of people would be very happy to live with. Again, the HD800Ss were plugged in to a lesser source, but that extra letter hasn't seemed to change my opinion on them. Just not my cup of tea.

The old HE90s don't have the imaging bass detail etc. capabilities but they were simply an absolute joy to listen to. On the one hand, it would have been a huge oversight to miss listening to these. But on the other hand, I actually had to put them down to be able to make it home, which was quite sad... But even if I had ludicrous amounts of money that I didn't know what do do with, it would still be quite a risky buy. Maybe it is the sort of girl who is very very seductive at first sight, and on the long term you'll find it is not all roses... All I know is what I've heard was beautiful music.

Again, as I wrote I mainly enjoy classical stuff with these, and the new ones are probably more universal. But may I am just old-school and I like it like that.

Sometimes I just feel that you can see amazing measurement stuff, look how flat is this and that...and our hearing just does not necessarily react to all of this the 'logical' way, only partially.

Edited March 18, 2016 by padam

[mypasswordis]

10 minutes ago, padam said:

Sometimes I just feel that you can see amazing measurement stuff, look how flat is this and that...and our hearing just does not necessarily react to all of this the 'logical' way, only partially.

 

Thanks for the impressions! Never heard a SRA-3S but normal bias Lambdas are great. There's the old audiophile adage: If it sounds good but measures bad, you're measuring the wrong things. My fav headphone is still the SR-Omega, which I'm sure is less technically proficient in standard measurements than the SR-009. Other than an amp upgrade, is this pretty much your end-game setup?

Most of the time I listen to $7 earbuds straight out of my phone or laptop, which sound just fine to me, so I get my enjoyment of this hobby from the quest to learn more than anything else. Since my end-game setup is no setup at all, I should probably sell everything off.

[padam]

It is basically an SRM-T1 or SRM-006t in a slightly smaller, much more attractive but less sophisticated from. So nothing special on that front.

I hear that the anti-GAS pill is very expensive and needs to be taken in regularly for proper treatment. Because of this, I don't think such setup exists as long as I live. But considering how fiddly it is to try = (re-) buy stuff, it pretty seems very solid at the moment. But who knows it can change in the blink of an eye. 

But one thing is for sure, these NB Lambdas sound absolutely superb to me with the stuff I find to be the most important (maybe not all of them I tested at least four different samples). Referring to my previous theory, on the factory measurements they show more THD than any other Lambda. But I simply hear it as more natural.

My earbud equivalents are the HD250 Linear Mk1 sealed headphones, very comfy (most ones that isolate well also push harder or not circumaural) with a soundstage more like a better semi-open pair, also in need of proper amplification.

I try to avoid listening to them on the same day, these do take a bit more time to adapt to, but more than good enough for undemanding stuff.

Edited March 18, 2016 by padam

[DefQon]

23 hours ago, mypasswordis said:

How did your ECR-400/500 refurb go?

I converted my ECR-400 to full blown stats. Haven't touched the 500 yet except the drivers are removed and just need to be re-assembled.

[wink]

On 17/3/2016 at 7:32 PM, spritzer said:

Those large Sennheiser badges are just pure class... 

Big is bettah, right.....?  perhaps not......   

[Craig Sawyers]

Just dipping into this particular thread for the first time.  I can listen to the SR007 and old normal bias Lambda's (1986) side by side, because I have the T2-klone set up with high bias and normal bias sockets.  Much to my surprise, I actually prefer the old Lambdas to the SR007.  Much to my financial puzzlement too given how much I paid for the 007's - but there it is.

Way way back (late 70's) I had a pair of Koss ESP6, which was my introduction to electrostatic phones.  Sounded great, but you needed perseverance - they weighed a ton (given the transformer and voltage multiplier in each cup, and the substantial construction)  and it was like having your head in a vice.

[padam]

I am so happy that I am not the only one. The HE90s have more in common with the NB Lambdas in terms of voicing, but they are still different.

After I've found out what kind of "witchcraft" the SR007s do to the kind of music I like to listen to, I've got tired of them immediately, and never looked back. Until that point I thought they were ok. There are also other opinions circulating on the web stating the same, they just need to be dug out.

Although this means I am still itching to them these out with a much more powerful amp, not looking good for the future.

Anyway, farewell, HE90s...

After seeing this video maybe they are more universal than I think, I didn't have time to test that one out, sadly.

 

Edited March 19, 2016 by padam

[purk]

That GQ piece was something indeed.  Actually, they did contact me to participate in that episode through headfi in the beginning but they refuse to compensate for any traveling expense so I did not go through with it ( I won't anyway).  I asked them to get Justin on board and allow him to show case his wonderful BHSE but that didn't come through either.  So they must have reached out to this individual some how. 

Edited March 19, 2016 by purk

[spritzer]

It was Larry's set and that is indeed Larry in the video.   

[TMoney]

10 minutes ago, spritzer said:

It was Larry's set and that is indeed Larry in the video.   

With Kerry standing just off camera. 

[mypasswordis]

10 hours ago, Craig Sawyers said:

Just dipping into this particular thread for the first time.  I can listen to the SR007 and old normal bias Lambda's (1986) side by side, because I have the T2-klone set up with high bias and normal bias sockets.  Much to my surprise, I actually prefer the old Lambdas to the SR007.  Much to my financial puzzlement too given how much I paid for the 007's - but there it is.

Way way back (late 70's) I had a pair of Koss ESP6, which was my introduction to electrostatic phones.  Sounded great, but you needed perseverance - they weighed a ton (given the transformer and voltage multiplier in each cup, and the substantial construction)  and it was like having your head in a vice.

You are not alone; I prefer the NB Lambda to 007 as well. It is one of my fav of the Lambda variants. I like to think of it as the headphone the AKG K501 (my first good headphone) wishes it could be. If you buy another pair of ESP6, try converting it to normal dipole operation (ripping out the circuit boards and recabling with a Stax cable). With some strong sound absorbing materials lining the cups the sound has potential to be pretty decent, and it actually weighs a normal amount for a headphone so no neck strengthening workouts needed. More problematic is the odd non-circular shape which makes pads that fit hard to find (the original ones have all leaked and hardened by now). I use SR-007 pads which sort of fit but are circular, so not really.

21 hours ago, padam said:

My earbud equivalents are the HD250 Linear Mk1 sealed headphones, very comfy (most ones that isolate well also push harder or not circumaural) with a soundstage more like a better semi-open pair, also in need of proper amplification.

I try to avoid listening to them on the same day, these do take a bit more time to adapt to, but more than good enough for undemanding stuff.

Interesting.... but don't feed my GAS!! Could you point me to the measurements of the NB Lambda?

[padam]

1 hour ago, mypasswordis said:

Interesting.... but don't feed my GAS!! Could you point me to the measurements of the NB Lambda?

It was a document supplied by Stax where both the Lambda and Lambda Pro was measured on the same graph. It used to be on wikiphonia, but that seems to be dead now.

Update: the image is still available here

All this listening was good for one thing, now I finally took out the Staxes again. The interesting thing is that with recordings that I know that were recorded and mixed really well, thy really do a brilliant job and do not have much problems with imaging either.

[Craig Sawyers]

1 hour ago, mypasswordis said:

You are not alone; I prefer the NB Lambda to 007 as well. It is one of my fav of the Lambda variants. I like to think of it as the headphone the AKG K501 (my first good headphone) wishes it could be. If you buy another pair of ESP6, try converting it to normal dipole operation (ripping out the circuit boards and recabling with a Stax cable). With some strong sound absorbing materials lining the cups the sound has potential to be pretty decent, and it actually weighs a normal amount for a headphone so no neck strengthening workouts needed. More problematic is the odd non-circular shape which makes pads that fit hard to find (the original ones have all leaked and hardened by now). I use SR-007 pads which sort of fit but are circular, so not really.

Interesting.... but don't feed my GAS!! Could you point me to the measurements of the NB Lambda?

There is a possibility that PRO4AA pads fit the ESP6 - apparently they do for the ESP9.  Dirt cheap from Koss https://www.koss.com/accessories/cushions/pro4aa-ear-cushion .

Just seen a pair of ESP9's on UK eBay that I might well spring for.

[mypasswordis]

@padam awesome, just what I was looking for! Now I know I'm not crazy in thinking the Lambda Pro actually does sound very similar to the NB Lambda, with a few minor HF discrepancies. Sad to hear about wikiphonia, it was a treasure trove of info on vintage orthodynamics but I guess Faust didn't feel the need to continue hosting it. I also miss the Father of Orthodynamics, wualta. He taught us so much in a very endearingly quirky way

 

@Craig Sawyers I purchased what I believe are PRO4AA pads awhile back... they are awful and don't fit the ESP6. There is a reason the Koss pads are $5. Even if I messed up and ordered the wrong pads (it's been a few years so I don't remember 100% and can't find any confirmation order email...), they are unusable for any purpose other than to enkindle. Hope you snag the ESP9 and report back!

 

[swt61]

Yeah, Wualta was a good guy.

[wink]

On 3/18/2016 at 10:06 AM, padam said:

(snip)

My earbud equivalents are the HD250 Linear Mk1 sealed headphones, very comfy (most ones that isolate well also push harder or not circumaural) with a soundstage more like a better semi-open pair, also in need of proper amplification.

(snip)

I had a pair of the HD250 Linears, when the only other headphone I had were the HD560 Ovation II.

Paid AU$300 for them brand new and didn't like them at all. I gave them away to a nephew.. MY loss, his gain.    

For isolation, I found the HD280 really good.

[Kerry]

2 hours ago, TMoney said:

With Kerry standing just off camera. 

That was a fun day. Larry is awesome

[spritzer]

I'm still not happy about missing out on dinner with him...  ahh well there is always next time.   

[padam]

Found the old thread about it, I was misled and as a TG fan, I should've known better, it was a funny act  

I wonder, what was the bet for the video hitting 1 million views?

Edited March 20, 2016 by padam

[Tinkerer]

On 3/20/2016 at 7:15 PM, mypasswordis said:

@padam awesome, just what I was looking for! Now I know I'm not crazy in thinking the Lambda Pro actually does sound very similar to the NB Lambda, with a few minor HF discrepancies. Sad to hear about wikiphonia, it was a treasure trove of info on vintage orthodynamics but I guess Faust didn't feel the need to continue hosting it. I also miss the Father of Orthodynamics, wualta. He taught us so much in a very endearingly quirky way

 

@Craig Sawyers I purchased what I believe are PRO4AA pads awhile back... they are awful and don't fit the ESP6. There is a reason the Koss pads are $5. Even if I messed up and ordered the wrong pads (it's been a few years so I don't remember 100% and can't find any confirmation order email...), they are unusable for any purpose other than to enkindle. Hope you snag the ESP9 and report back!

 

 

I had an ESP-6 that I totally refurbished at one point. Cleaned up the boards, resoldered everything, replaced nasty traces with solid copper point to point, all that. The transformers, all the resistors and ceramic caps were still good. The standard Koss pads for it are the 4A, not 4AA IIRC. But I found the best replacement is the Brainwavz extra thick pleather memory foam. Comfy and the seal helps out the somewhat anemic bass. The headband can also be replaced with a much more comfortable Realtek Koss clone from the same era. I forget the exact model but there are a couple. Also converted it to a removable cable since the old one was shot when I got it. Amazingly, the peak lights still worked though.

 

They were the first stats I ever owned, and I kinda miss them. They were a bit weak in the bass and had a couple major treble peaks but pretty good for such an ancient brick. Their major weakness was not being able to crank them up loud I think, and how they didn't take EQ that well.

 

I still have the speaker tap adapter box that came with it converted to balanced for my old orthos though.

 

Fixed up stock

 

And with the mods and different parts swapped in