ZephyrSapphire Posted November 28, 2008 Report Posted November 28, 2008 Hey, just wondering. Since there are not many reviews out there. Anyone compared the SR404 with the SR303? Does the SR404 justify the price bump from the SR303?
Duggeh Posted November 28, 2008 Report Posted November 28, 2008 6 Moons did one. Take from it what you will. The difference is the colour, and the cable. Everything else is the same (unless the 303 pins aren't gold plated either like the SR-202). If you've got a really decent rig, you'll probably hear the difference. If you've got an SRM-313 and a Fubar DAC, probably not.
HeadphoneAddict Posted November 29, 2008 Report Posted November 29, 2008 My Lambda cables always get all twisted after the Y-split (the cables that go to each earpiece). Not twisted together, but each one almost has a spiral look to it and I can't get them to straighten out. Does anyone else have this problem? I don't know how to describe this, but it happens when you pass the end of the cable with the plug through the space/hole between headband and the y-split of the cable, and if that happens several times you get the spiral. You have to feed the cable back through the other way to undo it.
Elephas Posted November 29, 2008 Report Posted November 29, 2008 Yeah, those two cables after the Y-split becoming twisted is a problem I haven't found a solution for. I'm careful when storing the headphone and its cable, but sometimes it still happens. Usually I see that it is becoming twisted and am able to fix it with just one pass of feeding the single-cable section and plug through the Y-split. But sometimes that makes the twist worse. It's possible for the single-cable section to pass through the Y-split when the two cables of the Y-Split are overlapped, and each pass just makes it worse. That happened to my W5000 and I think there's no way to fix it other than detaching the cables from the housings. I made the twists worse with each pass I made, and now they are twisted fairly badly. Grados don't have this problem because their housings spin 360 degrees. The HE90, SR-Omega and other headphones with driver housings that detach from the headband assembly are also able to avoid the problem.
Dusty Chalk Posted November 29, 2008 Report Posted November 29, 2008 Is it possible just passing it through the other way might help?
The Monkey Posted November 30, 2008 Report Posted November 30, 2008 Dusty, I think I've tried it, but I'll do so again and report back.
wrecked_porsche Posted November 30, 2008 Report Posted November 30, 2008 It worked! Took a little patience, but now me Stax is tangle free. Thank you HeadphoneAddict and Dusty!
Elephas Posted November 30, 2008 Report Posted November 30, 2008 What do you mean it worked?! How can it work? I can't get it to work! And ol' Dusty gets thanks for just saying pass it through the other way?! It wasn't even a suggestion, it was a question! You think I haven't tried that? Trying to pass it through the other way is the reason my W5000 got hopelessly twisted. Each time I made a pass it made it worse, and reversing didn't help either. It got to the point where anything made the twists worse. If it is only slightly twisted, one pass can solve the problem. But if it is twisted a little bit more, that probably means that the single-cable section has already made more than one pass through, and trying to reverse it exactly is tricky. I'm willing to pay big bucks to anyone with a solution to this. Yeah, I mean it. Big bucks, or maybe even some free audio gear. Those twisties really annoy me.
wrecked_porsche Posted November 30, 2008 Report Posted November 30, 2008 What do you mean it worked?! How can it work? I can't get it to work! It did work, you need patience me friend. I'm telling ya, it worked. You have to try booth directions and observe the changes carefully, it was a PITA to keep track of which direction I was making the loop, but it definitely worked. It was a PITA, but it worked. Want pics? And ol' Dusty gets thanks for just saying pass it through the other way?! It wasn't even a suggestion, it was a question! If it were not for 'ol Dusty, you guys would have given up when you tried only one direction. You think I haven't tried that? You tried. But you didn't try hard enough. I'm willing to pay big bucks to anyone with a solution to this. Yeah, I mean it. Big bucks, or maybe even some free audio gear. Those twisties really annoy me. Send me your W5000 for a week or two. I'll untangle it FOC for ya. Yeah, I mean it.
wrecked_porsche Posted November 30, 2008 Report Posted November 30, 2008 Each time I made a pass it made it worse Taken the wrong way and out of context, this is indeed quite funny and I got a chuckle out of it.
Dusty Chalk Posted November 30, 2008 Report Posted November 30, 2008 Well, what happens is that once twisted, the conducting part of the wire twists within its inner insulation and settles into its new position. And then the inner insulated wire twists within the outer insulation and settles as well. And since Elephas' have been twisted for a while, I believe that they have settled. So, you kind of have to overtwist it the other way and live with it for a while while it settles. The problem that I foresee Elephas running into is knowing the exact amount and direction of overtwist to get it just right to undo the extant twist. And then there's the inherent twist to the cable -- just like phone cords, they may "want" to be twisted just so. And if the wire within the inner insulation has a different "natural" twist than the inner insulation does from the outer insulation, then it might be possible that it will never be "happy", short of taking it apart and rewiring them. That's all theory by the way.
wrecked_porsche Posted November 30, 2008 Report Posted November 30, 2008 ^^^ And ol' Dusty gets thanks for just saying pass it through the other way?! It wasn't even a suggestion, it was a question! Go thank Dusty now. taking it apart and rewiring them. If it were me, that's what I'd be doing too. Should be easy peasy lemon squeezy with the W5000.
Elephas Posted December 1, 2008 Report Posted December 1, 2008 One good thing about the recables such as APureSound and Moon Audio is that their cables are stiffer and less prone to twisting than stock cords such as the W5000's. I haven't had the twisty problem with any recabled headphone. True, the large and heavy dual XLR plugs also make them less likely to pass in-between the Y-split either during use or putting them away. The SR-007 is another headphone with the potential to suffer from the Y-split twisties. My W5000 is a goner for sure. It is so twisted up from my misguided efforts that only detaching the cables can save it. I don't think I've read about this issue anywhere. I'm just glad that it came up and that it's not only me, most everyone has to deal with this potential problem too.
spritzer Posted December 1, 2008 Report Posted December 1, 2008 The Stax wires have only one level of insulation so the wire isn't easy to twist permanently. The Senn wire does have two layers so it's easier to twist. ...unless the 303 pins aren't gold plated either like the SR-202... Just to clarify, the gold plated pins are an indication that the wires used are PC-OCC which the SR-303 uses. This is the only way to discern the rare black, non-wide PC-OCC cable from the OFC variant. The SR-007 is another headphone with the potential to suffer from the Y-split twisties. The SR-007 is the easiest to fix of them all, just rotate the earpieces until the wire is untangled. Threading the rest of the cable through the Y-split also works just as well.
The Monkey Posted December 2, 2008 Report Posted December 2, 2008 Is it possible just passing it through the other way might help? Um, yup, that worked. Occam's razor is a bit dull in my house. Thanks Dusty.
spritzer Posted December 2, 2008 Report Posted December 2, 2008 I was using the SR-1 for the first time in a long while and found out that there was some connection problem in the left side as it dropped out from time to time. I had noted the corrosion on the contacts when I first opened them up but since they played just fine I left it. Big mistake since now that I've gone to town with DeOxit and some sandpaper I have bass and an expansive soundstage that wasn't there before. Nice to see that grandpa still has some life left in him.
Sherwood Posted December 2, 2008 Report Posted December 2, 2008 Bass and expansive soundstage? Sounds like the O2 killer to me
spritzer Posted December 2, 2008 Report Posted December 2, 2008 Nahh, but it's nice to know ones roots.
faust3d Posted December 2, 2008 Report Posted December 2, 2008 I was using the SR-1 for the first time in a long while and found out that there was some connection problem in the left side as it dropped out from time to time. I had noted the corrosion on the contacts when I first opened them up but since they played just fine I left it. Big mistake since now that I've gone to town with DeOxit and some sandpaper I have bass and an expansive soundstage that wasn't there before. Nice to see that grandpa still has some life left in him. How does it compare to SR-3?
spritzer Posted December 2, 2008 Report Posted December 2, 2008 Now it more then stands up to its little brother but the tone is a bit different. The SR-3 has a "thicker" tone, more lush with an over damped bass so it thunders a bit but deep bass is always limited from these small drivers. The SR-1 is a bit thinner and more open then the 3 and dish out a surprising level of detail for something this old. The bass is limited by modern standards but what is there is tight and controlled. Both do have this... ehhh.... horny feeling to the sound so they are a bit larger then life but that reflects the era in which they were designed. Hell, the LP was only a few years old when the SR-1 was introduced.
padam Posted December 3, 2008 Report Posted December 3, 2008 I just saw the SR-3 on ebay. The T1S has a normal bias plug too, so it's tempting
Elephas Posted December 4, 2008 Report Posted December 4, 2008 The SR-007 is the easiest to fix of them all, just rotate the earpieces until the wire is untangled. Threading the rest of the cable through the Y-split also works just as well. OMG, how come I never thought to do that? I must be a complete idiot. I don't deserve to own an SR-007. I'm usually just trying to keep the rotating part of the housings matched up exactly with each other. Good thing I only posted about that here, where it's a secret. I knew you were still holding out on us, what other special Stax secrets are out there?
spritzer Posted December 4, 2008 Report Posted December 4, 2008 I knew you were still holding out on us, what other special Stax secrets are out there? There is always something that I'm hiding...
grawk Posted December 4, 2008 Report Posted December 4, 2008 You really don't want anything he was hiding there tho.
wrecked_porsche Posted December 4, 2008 Report Posted December 4, 2008 Eeeew... now that's just gross! There is always something that I'm hiding... Spill the beans Birgir! (Dan, don't get any funny ideas... eeeew)
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