Leaderboard

Now for something pretty rare... the ESP900... This is the closed back version of the ESP950 made for medical use such as MRI's etc. Not much is known about these and only a few sets have ever surfaced. I'll do a more indepth post about these when I modify them and dig into them a bit. Stock...well...they don't sound good. The earpads are unique to these so when you press them to the head...the sound gets better but it is no 4070...that's for sure.

Now time for something super rare... a balanced SRM-1 Mk2 PP. I didn't think any of these existed as there was the ATR version for studio use which had a stepped attenuator and balanced inputs but in almost 20 years of searching...none have turned up. Then I came across this one last year in Japan in pretty rough shape with tape all over it. I naturally over payed as usual but then again, how often does one find something like this: So years ago I did this and nice to see Stax did the exact same mod as me. Remove the 100R resistor to ground on the other side of the fet and put two resistors off the board in its place. The amp also arrived with one channel dead, shorted transistors and almost open resistors in the front end. Now for the money shot... This is clearly stock from Stax as all the screws match what they used at the time but one odd thing is that the markings are actually engraved into the back and not simply silk screened.

Are you sure about that Birgir? Last time I heard, a guy name Ralph or Rafe said you need at least a couple of days for "Electron Alignment" , I suggest swimming across the Arctic ocean for 3 days as a final measure as well.

The order period for the third batch of the Ravenswood/DSHA3F is closing June 8th. Delivery is expected in late August.

...and if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into miau.

RIP Leon

you mean you didn't just step into it? you don't even need the door

This has been a killer of a week for me so I'm late with the impressions. Then all of sudden we had a holiday today so I finally have some free time. I'm too lazy to find my camera so I'll take some pics later. First off, this is set nr.4 so I very much view it as a "work in progress" but...they are pretty awesome. From the first impressions and until now they keep reminding me of the SR-007. Clearly power hogs (I measured the system with stock cable at 160pf) too and a bit dark sounding. Now in my book this is a welcome reprise from all the bright models out there now. Doesn't mean the treble is subdued or anything like that, it is just not as apparent as with the L700 or 009's for instance. This also gives it a fuller sound and well...that bass. The cups are ported so the bass could have been compromised due to that but not so here, it's deep, tight and tuneful. It doesn't match a closed SR-007 but I frankly don't mind that...I can always grab my 007's if I want to listen to them. These are a bit more tuneful with more presence higher up. One of the first tracks I tried on them is the one which 009, 009S and 009BK all fail miserably at, but no issues here. They replicate the snare drum perfectly and same goes for everything else I've thrown at them. The midrange is perfectly fine and really showcases the difference in mastering on some tracks. The soundstage is just about perfect, follows what the tracks should sound like and doesn't pull a HE90 on us. Not quite up to the layering of the 007's but then again...that is the gold standard. Overall they are very neutral and do what any transducer should do, get out of the way. For me the biggest compliment to any headphones is me willing to listen to them as well, I have a lot of headphones at hand. I've used these almost exclusively since I got them, only swapping out to do comparisons. Now for fit and finish, I have no complaints. The headband is very sturdy with nice spring steel for the main span and they fit my head nicely. A bit snug but then again, I have a melon for a head. I did bend the arc a bit and now I can use them for hours at a time. The housing is attached to the earcups with a single M4 bolt and I did experience some rubbing there. This joint wasn't really supposed to move but for my use, they fit better that way so I place a nylon washer between the two parts and that has fixed this. I've already relayed this to Aumkar who should be arriving back home soon. The only major issue I've had is with the cable or rather one of the connectors. One channel started to drop out and after some troubleshooting this was traced to the mini XLR plug. I bought some new ones and made a quick replacement cable this morning and now it works perfectly. To keep the cost down the mini XLR does work for this but yeah... I'd like something better but given the cost constraints I get why they use it. Same for the cable, getting anything which works for this is difficult and costly. The cable is still better than what Hifiman are using so yeah... I'm not too worried about that. So over all, I'm very, very impressed and I will be working with Aumkar to see if we can't improve on these small issues.

They are quite a bit better than my Massdrop unit sitting here. It's not stock though so angled leather earpads and a Stax Wide PC-OCC cable plus most of the damping in the earcups has been removed. The whole sound from the RR1 is tighter and more focused while the ESP is warmer and slightly softer. It does remind me that I need to post about something in the ESP thread... They do share one thing in common though, squealing. Now the RR1 has dust covers but the left driver on this set has been noisy from the start. It comes and goes and right now it is absolutely silent. The right one has always been silent though.

Wait what? I meant to post the Cure livestream of Disintegration from the Sydney Opera House. Because that was fucking awesome.

23 seconds... any longer and you will ruin any headphones!!!

The previous post was supposed to be longer, but I'm having some issue posting multiple images from Flickr to HC. Yes, the irony of that statement is not lost on me. The stream at the edge of my property. I spent considerable time framing this shot. 35mm F/2 at F/8, 1/60, ISO200. It's just a bunch of trees. Converted to black & white in Photoshop using a high contrast blue filter, then duotoned. I also tweaked the curves a bit and then cropped it to 5:4 (which has been my favorite aspect ratio for a decade now.) The vignetting is organic, and not done by a PS plugin. It's an artifact of how the EF 50mm F/1.4 USM transmits IR. F/8, 1/100 ISO 160. 17-40L at 17mm, F/7.1, 1/100, ISO50. 17-40L at 19mm, F/6.3, 1/80, ISO50. Moar later.

I felt like that back in the day getting into my friends BMW Z3 M...fuck that car was tiny...

MD, I have not. That could be a good call. I had it in my head it would likely be too smallish for my tastes hence the M4, but after driving a couple of 911’s yesterday, I’m more open minded. I didn’t post a pic, but I drove a new 2018 Carrera S that they had on the lot with comfy sport seats...pretty much fully loaded but a PDK transmission. That was fun. That transmission will make most any driver better than they are. Fun car. Just don’t think I need another automatic. HS

Archive, 25–I love this group so much!

So over the last month I've begun a slow return to photography, after 5+ years of near complete inactivity. I started with digging out my old camera gear, blowing the dust off and charging my batteries. Said batteries are all over a decade old at this point and very quickly it became clear they didn't have the moxie to keep my DSLRs happy. They could keep my ca. 2002 IR-modified PowerShot G2 running, however: Taken with a 17 year old, 4 megapixel point & shoot with a wide angle adapter that was meant for (SD) video. Slightly thereafter, I placed several orders to AMZN and got my IR-modified 5D up and running.. My initial adventure wasn't very far ...my side yard. I used my EF 50mm F/1.8, the vintage 1987 Mk I iteration (which is mechanically superior, but optically the same as the plastic "nifty fifty.") Converted to black & white with an blue filter and then duotoned in Photoshop. Taken with my EF 35mm F/2, which has a wonky AF motor but usually works on the 5D. Converted to black & white with a blue filter an duotoned in Photoshop. I pulled a tick off me shortly after taking this photo. Straight out of the camera. No edits at all.

1965 Opa Dual 1019.

Doesn't really fit in any of the -porn threads. Path in Pampas, Argentina.

I'm leaning toward a DIY mattress with Leggett and Platt coils and felted wool pillow top.

Mad dash at the end. Here's my unuseful take (as an inner spring preference side sleeper)... Best: Hästens Most Loved: McRoskey Most Confusing: Duxiana Great, But Always Too Close to a Hästens: Vispring And of course the above have almost nothing in common with each other. In the end we went bang-for-buck and joined the Aireloom club. Ronald Reagan and I finally have something in common. Aireloom Midnight Preferred Ingraham

You can make it better if you can find a Headroom DPS power supply to power the Lite MKII instead of the brick. I spent about a week with the GSX mini and it was fantastic sounding with wide-range of different headphones.

got my GLite mk2 in today. sounds good as fuck. /end

Got to try the GS-X Mini and the Gilmore Lite MKII with my Laylas at Axpona. Very impressed with both with the little CIEMs, not sure I have any headphones to use with the big one anymore, but when Justin decides to make me a Lite in the blue color above, I will definitely add it to the desktop. ?

We'll have a prototype of the new GS-X mini at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest next month!

All are current production mouser parts. mje210 863-mje210g 1 0.49 0.49 mje200 863-mj3200g 1 0.54 0.54 2n5210 512-2n5210ta 3 0.21 0.63 2n5087 863-2n5087g 2 0.13 0.26 2n4393 610-2n4393 2 2.69 5.38 opa134 595-opa134pa 1 2.94 2.94 1n914 512-1n914 2 0.1 0.2 heatsink 513202B02500G (newark) 2 1.67 3.34 dip8 socket 571-2-1571552-2 1 0.81 0.81 2 pin terminal 651-1729128 2 0.82 1.64 3 pin terminal 651-1729131 1 1.21 1.21 .1uf 100v ls=5mm 80-R82EC3100DQ70J 4 0.32 1.28 4.7uf 63v wima 505-MKS24.7/63/5 2 4.33 8.66 22pf ls 3mm 598-CD5EC220JO3F 1 1.79 1.79 10 ohm 71-rn60d-f-10 2 0.11 0.22 49.9 ohm 71-rn60d-f-49.9 1 0.11 0.11 100 ohm 71-rn60d-f-100 2 0.11 0.22 200 ohm 71-rn60d-f-200 1 0.11 0.11 221 ohm 71-rn60d-f-221 1 0.11 0.11 332 ohm 71-rn60d-f-332 2 0.11 0.22 10k 71-rn60d-f-1.0k 4 0.11 0.44 34.8k 71-rn60d-f-34.8k 1 0.11 0.11 75k 71-rn60d-f-75k 1 0.11 0.11 1M 71-rn60d-f-1M 2 0.11 0.22 50k pot 652-3299w-1-503lf 1 3.25 3.25 34.29 per channel not including the circuit board (should be about $5 each if we make 100) plus power supply, chassis, pot... cheapest thing the stax mafia have done to date.

Not at all Jose. For what it is worth I was one of the 48% who voted to stay in the EU, as did the rest of my family. My daughter was in tears when the vote went to leave, and emigrated to Australia. And the daughter of very old friends (a lawyer) retrained in French law and went to live and work in Paris. It is the younger generation who feel particularly betrayed by Brexit.