Massdrop X KOSS ESP/95X Electrostatic Headphone Review

[Atratusnex]

I have a very simple question.
What this Gras Harman Target is:
A. You have to use it because of the properties of the used Gras "artificial ear"?
B. Most people preferences it as the most pleasant for them.

B.....mostly ...the Harman target is for preference

 

[AudioJester]

I used to read head-fi.... Ended up with a expensive Stax system maybe 15 years ago lol. Sold it after a year, but still have my even older Senn HD600s. Did fall into the amp and cable rabbit hole at one stage. Now mostly use Nuraphones with my Samsung S20.

Thanks for the review, its satisfied an itch from all the drop emails I get about this system.

 

[Cahudson42]

Now mostly use Nuraphones

Do we have a 'What headphone do you want tested next?' thread yet?

Sounds like Nuraphone should be added..

 

[Atratusnex]

Do we have a 'What headphone do you want tested next?' thread yet?

Sounds like Nuraphone should be added..

could be hard to measure them...since the gimmick is that they eq the sound from your ear measurements to get you a personal sound

 

[Blumlein 88]

I wondered when someone would make earphones that use OTA for automatic EQ. I guess at least one outfit has in the Nuraphone.

@AudioJester so what is your subjective review of them vs HD600s or something.

 

[AudioJester]

I wondered when someone would make earphones that use OTA for automatic EQ. I guess at least one outfit has in the Nuraphone.

@AudioJester so what is your subjective review of them vs HD600s or something.

Maybe Iam more "used" to the sound of the HD600 and have romantic memories of them, but has been the piece of Audio gear I have owned the longest. The nuraphones are fantastic and love the bluetooth simplicity.

 

[Blujackaal]

heard no "speed" people talk about. Once again I think people take the lack of bass and equate that with 'speed."

Speed is just people hear no overshoot & poor excursion common from Dynamic headphones using a 40mm driver in full size & <12mm in IEMs. While Planar & electrostatic use whole diaphragm can be made to handle more excursion.

While balanced armatures are just stiff metal boxes that need more SPL force to do bass hence EQ is a must to open them up. This is why i don't get 2.1 planar vs well made dynamic speakers.

 

[soundwave76]

When will we see the first Stax measurements?! I vote for the stellar L300 Limited, because I own them...

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Non-harsh headphone for people sensitive to HF.

 

[Tks]

Another headphone test? Freakin awesome! Nice to see this electrostat silliness debunked a bit. Also it seems many people were right with bass being low, look at that drop-off as you go into the sub bass

Oh and that THD sans-noise graph is awesome, great stuff in this review.

 

[mi-fu]

Thanks Amir. That's exactly the type of headphone measurements I would like to see. It also provides some guidance on what EQ is needed.
Looking forward to your reviews on Stax in the future

 

[mi-fu]

The thing I really like about KOSS ESP/95X is its weight. In terms of sound, it is far from perfect. But it is indeed very comfy.

 

[FrantzM]

A bit OT:

thanks to this review and the comments/replies, I have begun to understand something about my experience with my ESL headphones (Stax Koss ESL old) as opposed to electro-magnetic planars (HifiMan HE6, 560).
I wear glasses. My favorite headphones are the HIfiMan HE6, my most used headphones are the HifiMan HE560. I have a Stax and it’s rarely used, the Koss ... once or twice
The HE6 is superlative in most if not, all areas. Heavy and not very comfortable.
The Stax experience is quite bizarre Superb sounding at times, often, boring. Until I noticed after the comments, that I sometimes, remove my eyeglasses when I listen to music. with the planar HiFiMan no difference. They sound the same.
The HE6 remain in my opinion the better headphones. Followed by the Stax properly sealed.

 

[Kyle / MrHeeHo]

From my understanding this design is from the 90s

 

[o7_brother]

The bass in Stax headphones is almost entirely dependent on seal. Some designs seal better on one's head than on a measurement rig, but others make it impossible to get a good seal, and thus good bass extension.

Here is how my SR-009's bass varies from "perfect" seal to deliberately bad seal. Credit to oratory1990 for measuring this:

It's interesting that some graphs out there show Stax being completely linear with a "perfect" seal, but we've never been quite able to replicate this. Here's my SR-007 with a sealed front volume (blue-tack mod). It displays the same behavior; it's never truly flat:

Does this matter to me? No, because EQ fixes it and it basically sounds linear like an Audeze or any other planar magnetic.

Also quick comment by oratory on distortion: "I have yet to measure a Stax headphone with distortion levels above background noise."

 

[odyo]

I'm not fan of harman either. It's nice from 200 to 2000 but 2-5k energy is too much (asians love this dunno why), it's not exciting, airy and rich in the high treble region and sub bass is just too much. It can be better with flat response from 100 to 20 maybe. Not sure. Also every headphone have different presentation and qualities so some headphone may actually give you that missing chest thump instead of mud so you can have more sub bass. DT 770 measures even above harman sub bass but it's not muddy and rumbles when needed. DT 1770 on the other hand always muddy and have present bass.

I would just cut couple db between 2-5k to make it more balanced with upper treble and mids. Bass depends on your headphone. If the sub bass performance of the headphone is bad it's best to leave sub bass out. Headphones are just not at the level of speakers. Headphones needs special structure to transfer sub bass to your body.

 

[sarumbear]

"The retainers on each side of the earphones creeks as you move around "

I stopped reading there!

The headphones that were the gold standard, which spread the KOSS name, suffered from the same. I cannot imagine how after 50+ years on they have not managed to sort it.

Shame on you KOSS!

 

[anmpr1]

husband from living room: wife in kitchen:

If it's a Stereophile reviewer, this is the conversation:

Kathleen in the kitchen: Honey, are you in the living room comparing headphones?

Jonathan in the living room: Why, yes dear, how did you know?

Kathleen in the kitchen: I could tell a change in the soundstage, rhythm and pace, and front to back depth in the new headphones you just switched to.

 

[SpinifexV]

"The retainers on each side of the earphones creeks as you move around "

I stopped reading there!

The headphones that were the gold standard, which spread the KOSS name, suffered from the same. I cannot imagine how after 50+ years on they have not managed to sort it.

Shame on you KOSS!

Well, they are the exact same headphones that they were selling some 30 years ago, the Koss ESP/950. All DROP did was change the color slightly and change the pads. I don't think they are investing anything in R&D anymore, basically surviving by selling the same popular and cheap headphones they made 10-20-30 years ago (the portrapro, the ESP950/95x, the KSC75).

I own the ESP/95x, and I quite like the sound, but those DROP pads really don't do it justice: you need some leather or leather hybrid pads to help with the seal and the bass of these headphones. I use the Vesper Audio custom pads sold by Fong audio and they really help with the sound. Or you can EQ them, they answer well to it.

 

[anmpr1]

B.....mostly ...the Harman target is for preference

It's similar to hamburgers. If you gathered up a bunch of people and asked them whether they liked the Big Mac or the Five Guys, and the results showed that the Golden Arches was preferred by 6.5 out of 10, then that's it.

But even the Harman tests didn't show a 'one size fits all' headphone solution. There were at least three somewhat broad preferences, each representing a rather defined category. Same with burgers, some folks prefer ketchup to 'special sauce'.