The Headcase Stax thread

[BoilermakerFan]

It was solely for comfort. But the sound has changed a little, but it could be the source as it was just briefly tested with my wife's iPod Mini. The bass is stronger and the highs were a little quiet. Seems counter to what you would expect since the driver fit is a little loose on the tip and the driver is pulled out of the ear and moved away. I'm fighting off an ear infection and I'm really congested too, so I can't give final impressions until the fit is checked by the audiologist on Monday and my congestion clears up. The loose driver is actually growing on me though, since they can pull away from the tip in the event of a cable snag. Keeps the cable safer and prevents the discomfort from a ripped out in ear tip. They definitely do not need the headband anymore. The tips are not silicone, but a harder plastic with 30% silicone that softens and seals better as the ears warm it up. They get more comfortable with time.

[ujamerstand]

Holly sweetness! How do you like the soft tip? * I mean, what does the surface feel like?

edit: nvm, thread updated.

Edited November 26, 2010 by ujamerstand
new post answered my question.

[n_maher]

Well crap. Presumably in retaliation for being ignored for so long, my O2s have developed a faint, continuous squeal in the left driver. Sounds like air leaking out of a tire. Deliberately "farting" the ear cup will stop it for a few seconds before it comes back. Dust, I assume?

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!

[spritzer]

It could be dust or it could just be the Exstata bias supply acting up. Let's just say that Stax would never put something like that in their amps...

[Emooze]

It could be dust or it could just be the Exstata bias supply acting up. Let's just say that Stax would never put something like that in their amps...

My condolences Stretch. My exstata makes high pitched squeals with my lambdas quite often as well so I hope it's just that.

[GPH]

Custom SR-001s, very nice! I would definitely buy these phones again if Stax did something to improve the design and make them more comfortable.

[Hopstretch]

It could be dust or it could just be the Exstata bias supply acting up. Let's just say that Stax would never put something like that in their amps...

Thanks. Will investigate further. No noise so far with the 404LE, though, which seems to point at the headphones rather than the amp?

[digger945]

Moisture could have an effect. By itself or in combination with the dust. Do you hear anything different when you have the phones on and then touch the amp?

Want me to come on down and help troubleshoot it with ya? ... over a glass of that $15 a bottle stuff.

Edited November 26, 2010 by digger945

[spritzer]

The drivers on those are very different so they will behave differently. Your best bet would be to try the set with another amp. I do think that dust inside the SR-007 is not very likely unless somebody did something horribly wrong when changing pads...

[Region2]

Those customs are great! I've been looking into custom tips for the SR001 even before I purchased them and I couldn't seem to find any good information. Did the audiologist make those custom sleeves or is there a particular company you sent the molds off to to have them done?

[BoilermakerFan]

Those customs are great! I've been looking into custom tips for the SR001 even before I purchased them and I couldn't seem to find any good information. Did the audiologist make those custom sleeves or is there a particular company you sent the molds off to to have them done?

My audiologist used a national company called Starkey out of Minneapolis, MN. He did the ear impressions, marked were we wanted the tips to end and where in the ear they should be. Then I go back in Monday for final fitting. The tips have made the 001s darker. I suspect we can fix it with a shortening of the tip insertion depth, opening the ID and polishing it will help. If it doesn't, then I'll have them remolded with a much larger ID to following the stock opening.

BUT, comfort has improved exponentially for the better, so I will keep at it until I get the sound sig back and have the same fit.

[Region2]

Thanks Boilermaker! I looked into the authorized dealers in my area and the same person I was going to go for some custom molds is on the list. Thanks for the information, it was informative. I hope the changes to the custom tips will improve the sound.

[BoilermakerFan]

A copy and paste from the other site, but I wanted to keep you guys up to date too:

Update on the 001 tips.

They were still sounding dark. I went back to the stock tips and headband and confirmed the mids were recessed and the highs were rolled off. Went to my fitting appointment and the audiologist shortened the tips about 1.5mm and flared the ends slightly. That made a huge difference for the sound and improved the comfort even more. But, the mids are still recessed and we think we know why, but I'm going to let my congested ears clear before making my final analysis. However, I'm still going to have them remolded. I paid $170 for two little pieces of plastic to fit the ends of my 001s, might as well get them perfect. My audiologist said he felt there was a misunderstanding or assumptions made that caused the tips to look the way they do when mounted on the driver, with the driver flush to the side of my ear instead of being aimed down the ear canal as they do stock. He felt they did that to hide the tip and make it more stealth. I told him I don't really care if the whole damn tip is visible, I only care about a solid fit, a comfortable fit, and maintaining the stock sound signature when the driver was positioned correctly. I really have no plans to wear these out in public per say. The bend and the reduced ID kill the highs and recess the mids. We're going to manipulate and use clay to reposition the driver where it should be in relation to my tips and have Starkey make the tip ID oval to match the Stax driver. But the great part is that they can rescan my modded tips to get the new length of the inner ear section correct from the factory, so they will be the 1.5mm shorter from the start, and they can also shift the ID opening a bit in the tip as the right side was off by 2mm compared to the left. Then the new tips get scanned again and stored at Starkey, so if I break, wear out, or lose a tip, they can run either one individually or as a set.

So, I'm really glad I decided to pull the trigger and try it. I know we'll get the sound correct on the second attempt since we can mod them slightly in house if the sound is off a little again. The improvement in comfort and the secure fit is just simply awesome. I'll find out the material mine are made from. I can highly recommend it. It's very hard when you first go to insert them and they are cold. This makes it much easier to put them in. When they warm up the are much, much softer and they expand to seal off the ear canal. They do not really add any isolation because the driver is open and the sound comes through, or leaks out, but for me that is a good thing. Too much isolation or more closed sounding cups really compress the sound stage for me and the air is gone. These tips keep that same air and nice soundstage of the stock setup. Now I really can't wait to get the remolds back, upgrade to the new 003s when they are finally hitting the streets, and get my magnum opus 'stat amp built for them.

I guess the best praise I can write is that these tips have shown me enough potential to deliver everything I wanted in the 001s such that I'm ready to mod my little amp and I've decided to hold off on LCD-2s. I don't have the gear lust for the LCD-2s now that I had even two months ago. I still love the sound of the LCD-2s, but the lust to own a set has dwindled significantly now. I just wish the iPhone 4 was a better source for the 001 amp. It runs out of oomph and I have to have the iPhone up to one click off full volume and the 001 amp is easily 70-85% of full rotation for normal enjoyable levels or listening. My Sony DAP does better at 55%-70%, but the Denon CDP straight into the 001 achieved acceptable levels of loud at 30%-50% of the range on the attenuator. So I think a Music Streamer II + or Pro will have to find it's way into my travel bag and I'll just buy a little Pelican case to hold everything in one waterproof, impact resistant box.

[K3cT]

Well, long story short there is an O2 MK1 on sale in my local headphone forum and I'm seriously, very seriously tempted to sell my dynamic stuff to fund it. Could the SRM-1/MK2 drive it while I wait until the DIY KGSS-HV is ready?

[spritzer]

Replace the caps in the SRM-1 Mk2 and reset the bias and it will be fine. Convert it to balanced to double the voltage swing...

[The Monkey]

Yes, it could drive it. Not terribly well, but acceptably until the badass amp is ready.

[Hopstretch]

Yes, it could drive it. Not terribly well, but acceptably until the badass amp is ready.

Truly badass amps are always ready. For anything.

[Voltron]

Truly badass amps are always ready. For anything.

So too is the Rage Eagle!

[n3rdling]

Do it k3ct

[HeadphoneAddict]

I'm sitting here listening to my normal bias SR-Lambda right now, and I still can't believe how freaking good these are for a vintage phone. I don't think I could ever part with these, which I preferred to my Grado RS-1. I recently sold my son's SR-Lambda in order to buy him a LNS for his pro bias Woo WEE, and I'm thinking about a pro bias Lambda for myself which I need like a hole in the head. Won't have the LNS for a few weeks, but I'm looking forward to trying them out.

I used to own the SR-404LE, which I thought were a little dark sounding for a Lambda model. The SR-404LE sounded kinda like a faster and more detailed/spacious version of the HD600, so not bad at all, but also not very energetic or exciting sounding. On the other hand, my old Lambda Signature had too much of that "etch" or hint of brightness to the sound. I've always felt the normal bias Lambda were just right, and they stood up well to the 404LE.

[cetoole]

I prefer my normal bias to my LNS, and preferred to to my Lambda Pro (which sparked my selling said Lambda Pro).

[spritzer]

The SR-Lambda is indeed the holy grail which reminds me, I think I have a set or two in Japan...

Doesn't the WEE use the crappy SFI sockets? Then it wouldn't be a problem to just add a voltage divider to the bias supply and turn one of the outputs into a normal bias one. You just need two resistors for the VD and a new ballast resistor for that output.

[BoilermakerFan]

The SR-Lambda is indeed the holy grail which reminds me, I think I have a set or two in Japan...

Doesn't the WEE use the crappy SFI sockets? Then it wouldn't be a problem to just add a voltage divider to the bias supply and turn one of the outputs into a normal bias one. You just need two resistors for the VD and a new ballast resistor for that output.

Yes, yes it does and they are still shipping without a plug in the center position to prevent Normal Bias plugs from being plugged in...

I the mods would have to be done at the jack, it looks like the bias board is encapsulated in epoxy.

Spritzer, have you heard the new 003s? It looks like the new 003s have silver screens on the back and they changed the diaphragm from 2.5 micron to 1.5micron, but I haven't been able to really get any more info on them. But for $200, I think it's easier to grab them and have the new driver with my custom tips and just swap cables when I want to go portable.

[spritzer]

Why the hell would they put the bias board in epoxy? This isn't 20+kV, air will easily contain any sparcs. Considering how fubar most bias supplies are I am a little worried...

The SR-001 Mk1 had the 2.5um diaphragm, the Mk2 has 1.5um. I haven't tried the new one and most likely won't for a while.

[BoilermakerFan]

Why the hell would they put the bias board in epoxy? This isn't 20+kV, air will easily contain any sparcs. Considering how fubar most bias supplies are I am a little worried...

The SR-001 Mk1 had the 2.5um diaphragm, the Mk2 has 1.5um. I haven't tried the new one and most likely won't for a while.

Well, maybe I'm interpreting the pic of the interior wrong... But it looks it looks filled to me. But they have left the center terminal open on the SFI jacks but have Pro Bias on both jacks. Are you really surprised? Still seems asinine to me, I would have gladly paid $75 more for the Teflon jacks and both bias levels. Well, not really since I can build my own with much wider bandwidth and luvdunhill's jacks.

Thanks. I think AudioCubes has the new 003s in stock since they note the new 1.5um diaphragm. I'm just glad the sales volume is low enough on them that Stax kept the housing the same so my tips will be interchangeable as well as the cables.