Holy Crap! The New Stax Omega Looks fierce! (Stax SR-009)

[Torpedo]

According to the second and last graphs, and also based on my own experience with frequency response plots, I'm afraid the 009 are going to be too bright for my blood

[livewire]

I love bright. But the price aint right.

[n3rdling]

Hi Gu, welcome I personally wouldn't take the treble measurements too seriously...I have a hard time believing it's down ~35 dB in some areas. Maybe somebody can send Tyll a KGSSHV to measure some stats eventually

[chinsettawong]

Perhaps the microphone that is used to measure the FR isn't of correct type. The roll-offs in high frequencies look terrible.

Wachara C.

[Torpedo]

It's not the last octave what concerns me, but the peak at around 5KHz. I guess the very same mic was used to measure the 007 and the 650.

[deepak]

Rehosted since they were only loading after multiple clicks (might be a HC software problem?)

[Hopstretch]

Tyll's HD650 measurements versus anon's HD650/SR-009 comparo.

[Wmcmanus]

I read the welcome message two years or so ago and have been lurking since. I finally joined up as I figured this would probably be the best place for information/discussion on the 009s but have held off posting until I had something substantial to contribute...

Brilliant first post! "I know you guys a bunch of abusive assholes, so I've been a fly on the wall for 2 years... and now here is an extremely useful post concerning the most anticipated new product in years..." Well done.

[livewire]

Bravo!

I've been waiting to see this kind of useful data, didnt know it existed yet.

[El_Doug]

Thanks a bundle for the info, Gu Sensei! thank you too, Deepak, for re-hosting the pictures - that's much easier than clicking on each link

I too am a bit concerned with regard to that 4k peak, though I'm not shitting my pants over it. Given the similarity of the rest of the peaks in that region to the 007, this may be the perfect little boost to wake the headphones up a bit! 4k is really not THAT high, and is still within the fundamental range of the piano (though just barely). I don't typically have a problem with brightness until the 6k mark, which for some reason causes me to feel a great deal of pressure and pain in my ears (this happens with the HE90s for me). given the 009 has a slight recession around 6k, these may very well be the perfect headphones for me

[deepak]

I too am concerned about the peak. Hope they aren't tonally like the SR-404 or SR-507. Though it looks like those Lambda peaks occur at a higher frequency

[padam]

It could be connected with diffuse-field equalization to give a bigger headstage.

[El_Doug]

I too am concerned about the peak. Hope they aren't tonally like the SR-404 or SR-507. Though it looks like those Lambda peaks occur at a higher frequency

precisely!

I have read that the resonant frequency of peoples' ears can very between 3 and 4k. Thus, given the size of the peak, this could be a very polarizing headphone indeed. For some this will be impossibly bright (those with smaller ear canals, and thus higher than normal resonant frequencies in their ears), but for the bulk of us this should not be an issue

[deepak]

What I'd like to see is those measurements overlayed with SR-Omega

[spritzer]

Yeah, these graphs don't look too promising but knowing which version of the SR-007A they used is critical to understanding the graphs. SZ2 and SZ3 sound nothing like each other in the top end...

[arnaud]

It could be connected with diffuse-field equalization to give a bigger headstage.

This makes a lot of sense, and correlates with my subjective impressions.

I have read that the resonant frequency of peoples' ears can very between 3 and 4k. Thus, given the size of the peak, this could be a very polarizing headphone indeed. For some this will be impossibly bright (those with smaller ear canals, and thus higher than normal resonant frequencies in their ears), but for the bulk of us this should not be an issue

Maybe these graphs should be interpreted with care. For instance, they may have been taken by someone wearing in-ear mics and not equalized. Then, the 4kHz peak would just be what you said: visualization of the outer ear resonance effect. Now, they indeed can't be perfectly balanced for anyone's ear but that's not news in the world of headphones.

The lack of equalization would also explain the large drops at 8kHz and such I assume.

So, in my view, these graphs only tell us the 009 is brighter than 007A in the 4kHz zone. I have similar issue to Gu_Sensei with bright / harsh recordings, but other than that I feel the 009 is the more neutral of the two when comparing to my 007A. At least I don't feel any artificial brightness, like happens with the peaks in 8kHz range of HD800.

Or ... it could be my ears are shot from overexposure to loud sounds (i.e. 20dB sensitivity drop in the 4kHz zone), that'd be a worry .

Edit: trying to decipher the thread where the measurements were posted -> the person who measured the 009 said that the differences between left and right ears of the 009 are likely due to non-calibrated mics / changes in ear shape and mic location. So, it does seem like an individual measurement on someone's head while wearing some of these (possibly borderline accurate) in-ear tiny mics.

Edited August 11, 2011 by arnaud

[Torpedo]

My point is that all those measurement are supposed to have been made using the same measuring system, that is microphone, ADC, dummy head (if any), etc. Any differences from phones we know how they sound, should keep a relative proportion, so if the 009 has about 5dB of higher response at 4KHz than the 007, that should be something we could hear.

I for one can stand better a peak there than in the 5.5-9KHz range, but still not sure I want a pair of phones with 5 extra dB of response at 4KHz compared to the 007. We'll see.

[recstar24]

Gu sensei = awesome 1st post. Welcome and the graphs are great.

[rogue]

Yikes, that 4K peak may just make me scratch the SR-009's off my 'want' list. I'm wicked sensitive to brightness, and while the SR-007 may be a bit dark in the grand scheme of things, it's still one of the least fatiguing and euphonic phones I've heard. Thus it's one of the few that I actually own

[postjack]

could just mean the sr-009 does better for lower volume listening. of course i've used the PS1000 for quite a while so its obvious lower level listening and brightness don't trouble me like it used to.

having said that i can't seem to scrounge up $5,000 for these cans anyway. really stoked to hear more impressions roll in from HCers though.

also best first post ever from Gu. still expected someone to tell you to STFU and take it to head-fi though.

[padam]

This is great about the (balanced) Qualia and not so great on the SR-007 (with 717) at least for me. At low volumes there is not enough bass slam to keep me happy and at high volumes it has some but starts to fall apart rather quickly.

This is the reason why I can only guess a Blue Hawaii or similar is so great because probably the bass and high notes come earlier so a lower listening volume can be used and with better dynamics. I tried the SR-007 with a DIY GES and the bass was great but it was too dark for me.

Gu, how is the SR009 for bass impact? I guess a 717 that you use as well is a not a bad match for this headphone because it has a warmer sound to compensate some of the brightness (or maybe a DIY GES or similar as well).

Edited August 12, 2011 by padam

[Torpedo]

could just mean the sr-009 does better for lower volume listening. of course i've used the PS1000 for quite a while so its obvious lower level listening and brightness don't trouble me like it used to.

...

Not really, to be so, we'd need the peak at the frequencies our ear is less sensitive at low SPL, not where it's most sensitive which is close and around 3.5KHz Good cans for low volume level listening are the ones with response curves in V shape like the PS1000 you mentioned, GS1000, etc.

[purrin]

I'm betting that 4kHz peak and the following trough is a result of internal reflections that would be otherwise be filtered by our ears/brains. You see a pattern of that (to a greater and lesser degree) respectively with the HE6 and O2, both headphones with similar earcup designs. Whereas this pattern does not exist with the HD650s and the Lambdas, which have a very dissimilar design.

I like what I see relative to the Lambdas though.

Edited August 12, 2011 by purrin

[Torpedo]

Sorry purrin, but the O2 (007, second graph) don't have that peak. Again, the difference between both phones in that area is about 5dB.

[padam]

Uh oh, taken from HF and connects to what Birgir said about the MK2.5 as well (it was in the thread about the HE90 and BH that was put on for sale):

"I am not very happy with the SR009 that I bought so I am looking for another.

The SR009 to me as well as Wiktor is the better version of the Omega 2 mkII but with better detail, soundstage, clarity and

transparent but the brighter tone is still the same. The mid is more forwarding comparing to the O2mkI, O2mkII and even

SR Omega, so I don't think it can be compared with HE90. I listened to it for few months and now I changed back to SR Omega,

some with HE90 (I am still waiting for my aristaeus) and the R10 and LCD2 rev1 and rev2 with my new 300B Balancing act.

I will do more research on this HE90 , however John seems to be an honest and straight shooting guy and easy to communicate with."

The amplification source etc. might change a fair bit though (at least that is how I see with the Qualia it can sound totally different with one source to another) and some might simply just fancy the sound as it is.