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Anyone knows the frequency response of the Stax L300 Limited edition?

JohnYang1997

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It's about the low frequency drop off and attempts to compensate for that.
Oh. ok. You may take a look at omega on that website. Superb low extension. Also i remember that sr 207 has pretty good low extension from innerfidelty.
 

soundwave76

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There is quite a bit of discrepancy past 6 kHz between his unit and the one measured by Rtings, so you might find the profile too bright.

I just set up the Roon EQ to oratory's measurements. You are right, sounds quite bright and the bass is also a bit too boomy for my taste... probably the closed structure of the Elegia emphasises this. However, this sounds MUCH better than without the EQ.

How would you decrease the brightness - just decrease the 2000Hz high shelf filter from the 8dB or do you have to touch all of the treble filters?

(This is off topic from Stax Ltd 300 yes, but there is no own Focal Elegia thread, so maybe we can use this thread instead :) )
 

soundwave76

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@flipflop, If you have the time and energy to estimate the EQ filter values based on the Rtings measurements, I would sure like to try them out as well and compare them to oratory's measurements.

Roon EQ user interface seems very easy and intuitive to use. You are right, those settings would only work on Roon, but that would be ok in my work laptop. I haven't decided yet if I will buy the Roon license to my home PC. If I will, then using Roon on my work laptop would make sense. If not, then I will of course try Eq APO.
 

JohnYang1997

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@flipflop, If you have the time and energy to estimate the EQ filter values based on the Rtings measurements, I would sure like to try them out as well and compare them to oratory's measurements.

Roon EQ user interface seems very easy and intuitive to use. You are right, those settings would only work on Roon, but that would be ok in my work laptop. I haven't decided yet if I will buy the Roon license to my home PC. If I will, then using Roon on my work laptop would make sense. If not, then I will of course try Eq APO.
Both have some issues in measurements. Oratory's mostly has issues around 5-6k and lacks a bit high frequency extension. Rtings' measurements usually pretty accurate up untill 8khz-10khz and then drops. Only way to eq properly is to use your ears. Best way is to use a reference sound and match them. But it's really hard for most people. This requires a lot of training and experience even some talents. Another way I found that works for many people is to set up a pre eq that makes the frequency response should sound flat across the frequency range then eq the headphone using tone generator. After that turn off the pre eq and tweak a little bit balance afterwards. This method is pretty accurate and is far better than using most measurements. Tho it still needs some training to master. I did this a long time ago, probably can't find the file. I'll try to upload it tomorrow.
 

Thomas_A

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If that's the case, why there aren't any body talking about it? They simply shouldn't distort at least when not eqed. No matter high spl or not. Many models have superb low frequency extension even. https://www.inexxon.com/stax-übersicht-overview/stax-kopfhörer-headphones/sr-omega/ this website has majority of stax headphones measured. From vintage to newest.

As I mentioned it did not apply to all Stax, only some models. I don't have the models at hand since this review was around 15 years ago. Since Innerfidelity started I also looked at some of their models. Both LF extension and distortion vary hugely among Stax models.
 

JohnYang1997

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As I mentioned it did not apply to all Stax, only some models. I don't have the models at hand since this review was around 15 years ago. Since Innerfidelity started I also looked at some of their models. Both LF extension and distortion vary hugely among Stax models.
1, Would you please be more specific on the model names. Then I can look a bit deeper into it.
2, The LF extension is solely depending on the acoustic design of the housing. The driver itself can produce same low frequency as planars.
3, Distortion is basically depending on the low extension. The calculation is the harmonics divided by the fundamental. So the absolute amplitude of the distortion harmonics aren't high.
4, If the distortion is very audible it has to be way over 3%, you don't perceive distortion as distorted under 1%.
 

flipflop

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How would you decrease the brightness - just decrease the 2000Hz high shelf filter from the 8dB or do you have to touch all of the treble filters?
That would be the only way to bring down the treble, but it also messes with everything from 1 to 6 kHz. Made you a new profile largely based on the Rtings measurement. It also has less bass.

Bands
Filter 1: Low shelf, 250, Hz Gain 2.0 dB
Filter 2: Peak, 800 Hz, Gain -0.2 dB, Q 1.5
Filter 3: Peak, 2100 Hz, Gain 3.0 dB, Q 6
Filter 4: Peak, 4100 Hz, Gain 7.9 dB, Q 2.5
Filter 5: Peak, 5900 Hz, Gain -2.3 dB, Q 7
Filter 6: High shelf, 10000 Hz, Gain 2.5 dB

Preamp: -8.0 dB
 

Thomas_A

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1, Would you please be more specific on the model names. Then I can look a bit deeper into it.
2, The LF extension is solely depending on the acoustic design of the housing. The driver itself can produce same low frequency as planars.
3, Distortion is basically depending on the low extension. The calculation is the harmonics divided by the fundamental. So the absolute amplitude of the distortion harmonics aren't high.
4, If the distortion is very audible it has to be way over 3%, you don't perceive distortion as distorted under 1%.

I have to dig up the test in the magazine, it is buried somewhere. I will try but it may take a while to find it.
 

soundwave76

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I just tried the rtings EQ values @flipflop for the Focal Elegia. Doesn't sound right at all. Treble and mids sound all messed up. Oratory's EQ values with minor treble + bass decrease sounds much better to my ear.

Question about the Q-values. You don't list them for both shelf filters. What's the reason? Roon wants some values for these as well.
 

flipflop

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I just tried the rtings EQ values @flipflop for the Focal Elegia. Doesn't sound right at all. Treble and mids sound all messed up. Oratory's EQ values with minor treble + bass decrease sounds much better to my ear.
My profile is really not that far off from his. The main differences are 2-2.5 dB less sub-bass, 4-6 dB less treble past 6 kHz, and 2 dB more gain at 4.1 kHz. You could try to reduce the gain of the last mentioned filter from 7.9 to 5 dB.
Question about the Q-values. You don't list them for both shelf filters. What's the reason? Roon wants some values for these as well.
The boxes for the Q-factors become grey and uneditable when you choose those filters in Peace. The default values are 1.5 for both.

I suspect that Roon isn't doing the same thing as Equalizer APO. The EQ graph should look like this:
gjhhgjhg.PNG
 

soundwave76

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Aah... it did NOT look like that. I had the values correctly, but filter 4 was high shelf instead of peak. You can imagine the sound was wrong. :) Now it's fixed and it sounds better, but I still think oratory's EQ values are better. For example the filter 1 is too much and extends too high imo.

Btw, here's how the EQ settings look in Roon

roon.jpg
roon.jpg
 

flipflop

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Aah... it did NOT look like that. I had the values correctly, but filter 4 was high shelf instead of peak. You can imagine the sound was wrong. :)
Yeah, that couldn't have sounded pleasant. Glad I was right, though, and didn't make you chase shadows.
Now it's fixed and it sounds better, but I still think oratory's EQ values are better. For example the filter 1 is too much and extends too high imo.
Last piece of advice: change the frequency of filter 1 from 250 to 150.
Anyway, use the profile you like the most. I wouldn't want to you to do otherwise.
 

JohnYang1997

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2e11efff0cf65830.jpg

Raw frequency response of L300, L300ltd, SR-009. Use digitizer to get the values. And choose your favorite target response for best result( I recommend etymotic target).
 

Wombat

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I would hope that Stax do and share. If not I would ignore them.
 
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