CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => Headphone Measurements => Topic started by: Marvey on July 10, 2012, 03:48:43 AM
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STAX SR-Sigma Frequency Response and CSD Waterfall Plot Measurements
(http://www.changstar.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=395.0;attach=1768;image)
These are wierd earspeakers. I don't know if the measurements are right or not because I've only heard these once.
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Nice to see some measurements for these. The Sigmas are personal favorites of mine, and they are indeed rather bizarre. I have the SR-Simga Pro model though, not the normal bias version from the 70s. Not sure how much they'd differ.
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Wow decay is way better than I expected :D
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Beats by Stax.
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I thought these were often hailed as some of the most neutral headphones ever made? Super clean though, I bet they sound great.
It is worth noting that the extreme dip at 7k looks to be an artifact since it's not on the CSD's.
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They definitely have that bass hump and roll off quite a bit on either end. Interesting phones, but I doubt anyone would be able to live with them as their primary cans. I like them for spacey type of music like some 70s prog and krautrock.
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These are THE headphones for shoegaze.
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I heard these at n3rdling's table at the Bay Area meet. Don't remember much about them since I was biding time to get my shot at that Orpheus.
I'm wondering how/if the enclosure interacts with your measurement rig. Kinda surprised to see the CSDs so clean actually given the driver/enclosure config. Makes me even more interested to see how some K1000's would measure.
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I've had a little time to spend with my Sigmas now and I think omega hit the nail on the head for what I am hearing... a (slight) bass hump and some roll off on both ends. Slightly wooly, or at least you don't get that super crisp stats detail right in your ear... they feel a little more laid back. I don't get feel like they do a great job on creating a big sound stage with the driver placement, at least not when compared to something like the K1000.
Great addition to a collection, but I agree, not a primary headphone. They are a bunch of fun to listen to.
They definitely have that bass hump and roll off quite a bit on either end. Interesting phones, but I doubt anyone would be able to live with them as their primary cans. I like them for spacey type of music like some 70s prog and krautrock.
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So, I'm spending some more time with the Sigmas. They really are an interesting headphone!
I started to think they had sort of a closed headphone sound, but then I realized (for me) it sounds more like a room that has sound treatment. There is a spaciousness, but it's like the walls are damped. At least that's what's striking me tonight.
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So, I'm spending some more time with the Sigmas. They really are an interesting headphone!
I started to think they had sort of a closed headphone sound, but then I realized (for me) it sounds more like a room that has sound treatment. There is a spaciousness, but it's like the walls are damped. At least that's what's striking me tonight.
Yeah! That's sort of the way I hear the Sigmas. It's like... being inside a room listening to a source, like a wall of sound but still holographic.
The Sigmas are a significant part of headphone history, because they were the first overt attempt to address the idea of spatial presentation in personal listening. Headphones were really invented more for diagnostics, listening for details in signals and whatnot. Stax wanted to make a headphone that focused on the actual listening experience, something to involve the listener more in music. Or so the story goes.
Dunno if they were the first to care so much about "soundstage," but they were definitely one of the first and most overt (or perhaps over-the-top).
By the way, do you have the Pros or the normal bias ones? There's supposedly a discernible difference, and I know those who have both tend to prefer the normal bias ones.
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I've got the pro's. I've heard the same about the normal bias being preffered. I haven't seen a pair of normals offered in some time, but I'd like to hear them. Of course, Ive got nothing to drive normal bias Stax unless I build something at this point, so not likely I would grab a pair.
I am still trying to figure out if they are really harder to drive, or if it is just the effect of the driver placement/direction that requires some additional gain to reach listening levels.
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These are THE headphones for shoegaze.
The harsh upper mids and highs of shoegaze would definitely match well with those measurements
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Recently sold my Normal Bias Sigma.
I like the Sigma404 and Pro more.
I am sure is a mater of preference but I did not enjoy them as much as the other 2.
Boomier, less deep bass.
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I've got the pro's. I've heard the same about the normal bias being preffered. I haven't seen a pair of normals offered in some time, but I'd like to hear them. Of course, Ive got nothing to drive normal bias Stax unless I build something at this point, so not likely I would grab a pair.
I am still trying to figure out if they are really harder to drive, or if it is just the effect of the driver placement/direction that requires some additional gain to reach listening levels.
I too have the pros and at the last Changfest I got to hear them with a transformer box powered by Lebens. In that setup it opened quite a bit and reminded me of the O2 being driven by a BHSE as opposed to an SRM-323s.
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Tyll measured my Sigma404 a while back.
Here it is
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/StaxSRSigma07381.pdf (http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/StaxSRSigma07381.pdf)