The All Purpose Advice Thread

Electrostatics wont work fully with your current setup because your setup does not have an electrostatic amp. Your RME and Marantz only support dynamic headphones.

An electrostatic headphone requires biasing and quite a bit more voltage than what classical dynamic headphones need. On the other hand, electrostatic headphones consume very little current (regardless of what some people may say, electrostatics consume current, little as it may be - no power, no sound).

To get an electrostatic setup you will need to invest on a dedicated electrostatic amplifier, and the options are a bit more restrictive.

As far as electrostatic headphones, I like none except the HE60 and HE90. The rectangular lambda-type stax and the Koss don't fit me very well. And with electrostatic headphones good fit is very important. The omega-type stax give me a little better seal, but sound off to me. Electrostatic headphones have a pretty active fan base. They do offer very low distortion. But unless we are talking about the old Senn electrostatics, most stax ones seem to be a bit thin and colored to me. And they measure like so too. Which is why I have not bought even the less expensive lambda offerings or the Koss which fits me too loose. The Koss is probably less colored and pleasant, but again, they don't fit me well (this causes bass to roll off too much, too soon).

 

Concentrate on content. Discover new and old music. I'm getting old and there is so much old music that I haven't discovered yet.

HD650 already comes with great cables. Anything else is a costly neurotic sidegrade. Stick with DNA and Schiit. They have offered upgrades. If you use a MacBook, I would expect Schiit's in-house developed USB to be something totally awesome, on the level of good CD transports, when it comes out.

As for ICs, see my cable rolling thread. The most expensive wasn't always the best. Any specific IC would be impossible to recommend as the last few percentage points is more a matter of personal preference and system synergy.

The next level is vinyl, but you don't want to go there. TTs are great for people who like to tweak stuff, but also bad for people who like convenience.

In a nutshell, you have a setup that destroys 99.999% of all other setups. Time to listen to music, not gear, and certainly not cables.

 

The step-up transformers seem to be a very bad investment. Consider the Wee Dynamic to Electrostatic Converter: https://wooaudio.com/amplifiers/wee

The Wee sets you back $600, and it's not compatible with none of the Stax Omegas based on their specs. Who knows if it's compatible with anything but Lambdas (which already have a cheap small form factor amp available anyway). Furthermore one may need to get a speaker amp that can put at least 3W since many headphone amps might not.

(Funny fact: It seems the Schiit Magni can put 3W into 16 ohms which might work with the Wee - but the wiring might not be plug-and-play and it maybe bare-minimum. However, the solution is there at the right form factor for the right price. But again, might as well buy the mini Stax amp Stax SRM-252S for even less than the Wee).

As far as Martin Logan I didn't know they had an electrostatic headphone w built in step-up transformer. I thought the Mikros 70 (IEM) and the Mikros 90 (B&W on-ear ripoff) both used dynamic drivers.

 

AKG 7XX isn't better in soundstage than HD6XX. I'd argue that perhaps it's wider, more shallow, and occasionally has hole in the middle issues.

I've heard HD6XX create a pretty deep and precise soundstage on certain rigs. Ultimately is just different and any discussion of soundstage is bullshit when it comes to headphones. It's like talking 1/4 times and trap speed among four cylinder Hondas. Anything outside of HD800 or K1000 is dumb, and even these two do not compare to speakers.

I would consider Vali 2 as an alternative amp if you want to stay cheap and keep a suitable form factor. Tubes have a way of opening up the soundstage.

 

Shit that's bad. I did not know the RPi3 could not power things well through USB.

 

Does not exist.

Nothing is better than HD6XX / HD600 at what they are good at.

However, there are headphones that are better than HD6XX / HD600 at what they are not so good at, but at the expense of losing a bit in what they are good at.

The only two headphones you may want to consider are the Clear / Elex. Faster transient response, marginally better mid-bass, but at the expense of less smooth FR and possibly resolution (the last item only when TOTL amps and DACs are used.)

You have no idea how much better the HD6** series can scale. If you already like what they do and can live with their shortcomings, stick with them.

Otherwise consider a radically different direction: HD800, planars, etc.

 

LOL! I see what you mean. Welp. It's a no go for electrostatic headphones from Martin Logan it seems.

As a side note, I don't like how Martin Logan speakers sound. Best Buy Magnolia seem to like to sell them. I think even Fry's used to carry them. They sound weird to me.

 

Martin Logans sound like ass, except for the CLX when set up right.