Look:
They look Really cool with a retro aesthetic and I enjoy the blue colour although i beleave offering the headphones in multiple colours could be cool like yellow, green or orange
Sound:
I enjoy almost everything about its sound signiture they are slightly bass light yet the bass is almost a different type of bass due to the speed and size of the electrostatic drivers, the detail retreval still shocks me some times and things like female vocals are captivating, i find that they work with all genras i have tried, metal for example is great as the lighter amount of bass dosnt come into effect while all other parts such as detail retival and the speed allow for every sound to be produced without anything being lossed in the chaos, another genra to bring up is EDM, you would think that EDM wouldnt work due to the âLackâ of bass but as i said before its not a lack but a different style of bass and as stated before the speed and detail allow for this genra to be verry entertaining.
Build Quality:
Sadly as much as i enjoyed the sound of these headphones i cannot say the same about the build quality, the headphone is almost entirly plastic so they creek and feel like they will break if you arent curfle, the pads are not memory foam and the cloth that covers them is soft yet for this price i would have liked an actual swayed lether of a slightly nicer matirial, the pads could also have a slight angle to them as they hang of the head on the back slightly. i overal like the headband as it is soft and has plently of padding and the fake leather is also acceptable the 2 problems i have with the headband are 1)the headband dosnt make propper conntact with my head as the headband dosnt ajust small enough for my head, 2) there is no propper support bar in the headband as you can feel the size ajustment bars moving inside it. the cable is not removable which is unfortunant but im fine with for electrostatics but if the cable has to be soldered on them i would have liked a nicer round braded cable rather then the 6 wire flat cable i also would have proffered for it to have used a 5 pin stax connector as this would allow for the energiser to be upgraded. finally they are able to be dissasembled for ease of transport but this has failed once where the right ear cup has fallen off but this may have been my user error attatching it, id like to see a slightly more robust locking mechanism.
TLDR Sound: They do bass different, detail retrival and speed are astonishing and you just wanât to hear every song you have heard all over again on these headphones
TLDR Build Quality: The chassy & pads feel and looks cheep, the headband needs to ajust smaller, the colour is nice, the head band is comfortable and the pads are not uncomfortable, they also use a proprietray 5pin connector as well as an attached cable
Thanks for reading if you did and sorry for grammer and spelling
It depends on the type of sound you are after and what aspects you want to prioritize. Obviously the 95x is the faster headphone, but the ananda might be a similar level of detail, ananda has more impressive staging overall being more grand and large sounding but with a bit less sharp placement. Timbre wise neither are really all that great but slight edge to the ananda depending on what you pair it with. Dynamically the 95x has better microdynamics but the ananda has superior macro. For separation the 95x pull ahead. Impact the ananda can hit harder than the 95x. Signature wise, the ananda is more bright analytical leaning where the 95x is more neutral mid focused personally. Iâd say they compete on a roughly similar level
Jetman is selling a set on the Buy / Sell thread. I traded those to him a few months ago. I can guarantee you those are a very well taken care of headphones, and Jetman is great to do business with in my experience. FYI.
Aha. Yes, the zen dac is not very powerful, however the ananda is about 102db/mW and 25 ohms
Do you have any experience with the ananda? Is it really hard to drive?
The zen dac is indeed warmer, but also somewhat slightly peaky in the treble as well
That is true, but they also really appreciate power, remember that sensitivity is just a rating of how much volume 1mw gives a 1khz tone will get, unrepresentative of music and they never tell you it will sound good at that level lol, to actually get the drivers moving during music and sound somewhat dynamic, the ananda appreciates having more current behind it than the zen dac can provide
Thanks. Also sometimes my harsher headphones sound louder than it actually is and with warm headphones I get really loud without noticing. I guess volume is also slightly subjective. I also have a 5V external power source for the zen dac, donât know if it helps?
It would, but it wouldnât really improve the zen for use with the ananda (but will improve itâs quality for something like a 58x or for use as a dac)
Not sure if I asked already⊠but is it actually worth it buying a STAX energizer+adapter to replace the ESP/95xâs energizer (as DMS recommended)? Or if I am willing to spend more on electrostats, to just get a STAX system instead and sell my Koss system?
I canât decide which one would be more worth it if I currently have only the 95x system.
It is worthwhile as long as you enjoy the 95x in stock form, although once you get to a certain level it is worthwhile to move to a higher end stax like the l700 or 007/009 (or other higher end stats), but on the same amp I think it can still make sense to stick with the 95x over a l300 or l500. I just wouldnât spend over a grand on the energizer for the 95x as at that point you might as well upgrade the estat itself after you do that
Yeah, my point as well.
Did any reviewers actually test with a STAX energizer? I donât remember that, but if someone can confirm that the improvement is small, then I also donât think investing 2-3 times the price of the whole Koss system for such a tiny improvement is a good idea.
I got my ESP/95x 2 days ago. The detail retrieval is insane! Out of the box they sounded very good and never offensive.
But lows were indeed weak and not punchy, so I boosted them a few dB with EQ. I lowered the 1.2 kHz peak, as well as lowering the treble just a tiny bit to make them nicely chill.
Now they sound perfect!
I just hope my future hybrid leather Vesper pads donât change the frequencies, because I wonât be sure how to EQ them in this case.
Not that these need heavy EQ at all⊠they are great, I just wanted to make them perfect with slight changes.
Damn itâŠthey lasted only a few days until constant buzzing white noise appeared in my right ear cup. Since Iâm in EU, I really hope I donât have to pay the huge customs taxes (twice?) for sending them for repair lol
Did you try it on a different power socket in your home? I had a similar issue with white noise hum. I switched to another socket in my room and it was gone
