Hey! So I know itâs been a hhhwile now, but maybe you or someone reading this can remember: where would the 95X be sitting among similar Hifiman models, strictly in terms of detail capability? Letâs assume EQ is not a problem, so personally I would make them just as bright as any Hifiman weâre comparing. You already placed them above the Ananda, do they reach Arya levels for detail? Or maybe even HEK levels?
Hmmmm Iâm not really up to speed on a lot of the new hifiman models like the stealth updates for the ananda or ayra, but Iâd say that on the base level koss system and assuming the hifiman have reasonable ish chains to drive them for their performance level, in terms of specifically detail, itâs clearly above something like a sundara or 560 or edition xs, above the ananda (although not next tier better imo), and below the ayra. In comparison to the he6 especially an og it would more wildly depend on the chain but Iâd also say that on an appropriate chain thatâs also going to be a step ahead for sure in terms of detail. Itâs def not at the level of a hek (either v2 or se) or above in any case imo
If you upgrade from the stock energizer and get a pretty nice one with some adapters, it can scale and that would make it compare more favorably to something like the arya imo in terms of resolution (hard to do apples to apples but potentially similar level if you boost it far enough?, although if you then keep boosting the arya it would widen the gap). Hard to really do a proper comparison as it would also depend on the chain you drive the hifiman with in terms of what they could do, since for lets say something with the arya itâs going to depend on the level of your chain for how far ahead it might be. Also going too far on the stat amp for the koss really calls into question value prop, and at that point it might make more sense to consider moving to a more capable estat. While great for the price, the koss energizer does hold them back from what they can potentially do imo
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OK, thanks! Of course I meant this question as a potential buyer of the base versions of everything, so what makes this a fight in the Ed.XS/Ananda price class is the stock 95X vs. the Hifiman if powered by something decent, nothing too crazy, no special purchases just for this shootout, just like no special Stax energizer for the 95X. Otherwise the comparison gets unmanageable real fast, with everything you could upgrade around each headphone. 
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Gotcha gotcha, yeah Iâd say from an overall resolution perspective the 95x system on itâs own is going to be ahead of an edx or ananda with a typical chain for those imo, really donât think you can go wrong with the 95x for the price, imo my favorite estat + energizer combo under 1k, personally prefer it to the l300/500 and accompanying entry stax amp
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OK then. Iâll see which of these competing tall/oval cup models I can get a good deal on, as Iâm also trying not to stray too far from the 2017 price of my 400i lol. With the 95X the one worry still holding me back is that some reviews say theyâre not that big on staging while comparable egg-shaped Hifimen get worshiped and offered baby goat sacrifices for their soundstage size. 
Man I have to get mine looked at or open it up. Got my left channel cutting out on the Koss and it basically killed me inside. Really hate not having them around due to the detail. 
So, while I do think the lower end egg shaped hifiman like the ananda or edxs have a fairly grandiose stage, having decent wow factor off the bat, they actually arenât as deep and accurate as the koss, and the koss is still honestly on the larger side of things in comparison to other headphones. Itâs just really a case of the hifiman having a more immediately âwow that sounds largeâ stage but the koss providing more spatial information more accurately that gets smoothed over or is absent on the hifiman imo
Doesnât the 95x come with a lifetime warranty? Pretty sure you just register the headphones then ship it to them along with a check for like 15 bucks or something, would have to check though
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Yea I drag my feet on that stuff. I will here eventually this year. I tend to like to fix my own issues since I got an iron if its just a connection issue, but with estats not sure if its an issue with the membrane keeping charge due to a mechanical issue etc. Even the box smh.
Re: comparisons, this angry power supply builder man whoâs blasting everyone for changing wall warts on the 95X seems to think theyâre a bit better in detail than even the 1266 and the HEK: Massdrop x Koss ESP/95X Electrostatic System Reviews | Drop | So...after a few...
Just what I needed to hear while waiting for that shipment to come in. 
(I mean on both counts - including the âyou donât have to spend extra on a different power supplyâ.)
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OK, I need to stop listening to these and get some food in me. Real âgotta re-listen to whole collectionâ thing going with these, god damn.
So on first listen after 1-2h of energizing them I was not impressed. Most importantly there was a surprising lack of any âmagicâ, of any eye-widening realization of âa-ha, this is the electrostatic sound everyoneâs been gushing aboutâ, they just sounded like good headphones with good extension, deep enough bass, not a lot of impact, wide enough stage, mayybe more detailed than the 400i, couldnât be sure without an A/B.
Today I went for the A/B after 21-22h of keeping them plugged in, both 95X and 400i driven by the Oppo HA-2, except of course with the added energizer for the 95X (fed from the separate line-out of the HA-2). For the first few songs I got the impression that yes, they were definitely more detailed than the 400i, but there was also a lack of depth to the soundstage, like their stage was a 2D version of the 400i stage: just as wide and tall but with no depth and no âbodyâ to the instruments, and hence no realism. What the hell? I didnât get these to trade 3D realism for some extra detail.
But as I kept listening the depth and body got more and more indistinguishable between the two, I started to hear the taller cups producing an umistakeably taller stage for the 95X, to the point that switching to the 400i was like trying to listen to music through that âhorizontal slotâ opening of a cashierâs booth, the ones where you have to bend down to talk to the cashier. The detail advantage also got way more obvious and even the bass impact got up to where it was effortlessly spanking the 400i. From memory I would say not even the Verum 1 mk1 with stock pads had this level of impact, though thereâs still more impact that Iâd like to add on some songs, maybe because Iâm used to what dynamics and subwoofers can do.
It seems Nottagorilla was right, and I count myself very lucky to have found his comments before getting these in my hands: it matters a lot how long you give these to energize properly (something about uniform distribution of charge across the stators and/or membrane?) and how long you play them to warm them up before judging. I mean itâs still possible that some of the changes I perceived while continuing to listen were from âbrain-inâ, but I was also A/B-ing, so⊠no, not likely that every transformation I heard was me adapting - it was transforming vs. a reference that I kept going back to compare to, a lot of it mustâve been real, and due to some warm-up effects.
So really satisfied with the sound so far: when these are taken care of and energized for hours and warmed up with some playback, they become just-better than the 400i: at least âtwo classesâ above in detail, better bass, taller and more enveloping soundstage, almost as dynamic/3D/full-bodied (this one I will have to re-check because Iâm still not convinced; might do several days of energizing and several hours of warm-up playback before listening).
As for defects, nothing I could spot so far - no hum, no buzz, no whine, no intermittent contact on either side. For a second-hand pair that came to me with a layer of dust deposited at the top of both earcups and even some little yellow dots that were probably insect droppings⊠I was lucky to find no functional problems whatsoever. Getting rid of these fast seems to have been the careless previous ownerâs best decision ever. 
As far as that âelectrostatic magicâ goes⊠because I heard what these do better in such a gradual way, I canât really say there is such a thing here, at least not once youâve heard at least entry-level planars. Maybe I couldâve been mildly shocked had I pre-energized and played them on their own for warm-up beforehand(?), but as my experience stands, I canât recommend them to anyone looking for some kind of eye-opening âfirst time listening to estatsâ experience. If such a thing even exists, itâs not in the ESP/95X and not if youâve already heard planars.
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Glad youâre enjoying them, great headphones 
Thatâs a pretty big deal with most all stats, you really want to make sure theyâre charged fully to get the most out of them, for some of my higher end stats Iâd literally leave them charging for days before I listened because theyâd have such radical changes lol. Thatâs honestly one of the aspects that started to put me off from estats in general since it became inconvenient but I think with the koss being a bit more robust and not as long of a wait/not as drastic of changes it didnât bother me as much as some other stats
It also makes tube based energizers that much worse knowing youâre wasting tube life for charging and not listening lol
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Ohh, no problems with that here. I only use my top-end cans for critical listening sessions where I do nothing else and my attention is 100% on the music. And of course these donât happen every day, not even every week actually, theyâre special occasions and I prefer them that way. A few hours of preparation or some set-up that has to be done the day before is perfectly acceptable in this context, hell it might even enhance the experience, like preparing a traditional tea ceremony or something. :smilingbuddha:
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Jesus, that sounds horrifying. Youâre lucky they have insulation coating, I think on both membrane and stators, or they would set you on fire when they do that. I would never want to find out if that insulation degrades over time by having the membrane routinely touch the stators during playback and at max excursion when the voltage difference between them is at its absolute highest. Them hundreds/thousands of volts ainât no joke. 
Your description just helped me eliminate thick fully-sealed pads from my options list real quick. I think Iâm just going to buy a pair thatâs similar to the ESP950 originals for like $13 and be done with it, just as a backup because Iâm seeing small cuts in the ones I got them with.
As for a more even distribution of pressure I think Iâm just gonna stick some extra material under them behind and below the ear where the largest gap is, but without creating a seal-seal all around. Should be good enough without pushing things into the âdanger zoneâ.
I could be wrong but the crinkle sound should be it touching, but maybe it is just the sealed pressure pushing the membrane one way until the pressure is released etc. Hopefully someone else can comment on the phenomenon since last I heard it was stator contact but it could be telephone game. Sorry if it disuaded you.
Iâve had my 950s running vespers for years without issue, although driver crinkle does happen with the pads (but not to the degree where Iâm personally super worried about it), but who knows it could be causing a small amount of damage each time that I donât know, but been fine for me. Donât think itâs that big of a cause for concern unless itâs extreme, but can likely be a bit annoying for some
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I wouldnât accept it either way: 1. I donât want crinkle sounds in my music, 2. I will never be sure itâs not stator-touch based, 3. it might be out-of-spec deformation of the membrane even if itâs not touching, and might degrade it faster.
If you mean Vespers, Iâm not considering those anyway, as theyâre way too expensive vs. the cost of the headphones. I was actually looking at some simple sheepskins with no hybrid materials and no perforations, for about $20. (Even more little cracks on my existing pads today, so I should really put in some order or another soon.)
Hmm, also good to know. I guess I could take the risk for $20 on the off-chance that mine donât generate any crinkling and just improve the comfort and sound (theyâre not angled so thereâs still a chance of that desirable imperfect seal that Zeos was also modding-in in one of his Stax reviews).
LE:
Oooh, you know what, I could get those, and mod them to create a permanent âchannelâ opening in them right where they would otherwise press against my eyeglassesâ arms. Crinkle-prevention, temple pressure relief, eyeglass compatibility, better bass - multiple benefits for the price of a single mod.
So I made a deal for these quite awhile back with a fellow member and when I received them I was not overly impressed. I used them sparingly over the next month or so but kind of convinced myself (albeit stupidly!) that they were not what I was looking for. I put them back in the OG packaging and put them in a cabinet and did not touch them until today. I happened to wake early and was looking for something and came across the 95x and decided I would give them a better shot at infiltrating my collection. Now as a sidenote my entire chain has evolved since then and my tastes have also refined as I have learned at each step. Running Roon Nucleus through my Iris DDC and then my Pontus 2 DAC. I made some various choices for music and these suddenly blew my mind with the imaging, stage, and clarity that they present. I am so glad I kept these all this time but even more happy that my system can better motivate these puppies! I have always heard what members have spoken of but never really heard its capabilities until now. Just have to say Thanks to @MrAyrit for the awesome deal way back then LOL!
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So, sheepskin pads, $25-ish shipped. Havenât used them fully mounted yet, only placed in front of the driver and held in place by wearing the headphones, to A-B them vs. the old vinyl ones, but Iâm not in any hurry to, not before I mod them, because they sound kinda like they look: like a room that got bigger but has un-treated empty walls:
- warm tilt overall
- stage has broken up into 3 lobes
- central lobe sounds are more recessed, possibly more depth-layered but Iâm not sure if this is just loss of detail that pushes some instruments even farther behind the others
- on some songs the low-treble seems a bit more pronounced, but others seem more muffled, thereâs an inconsistency that I think is just comb filtering from the pad wall reflections
- worst thing, thereâs a loss of air and top-end detail.
I will not be using these as they are, I have to âtreat those wallsâ. At minimum I will add some of that fuzzy âcable organizer tapeâ to the inside walls, but since theyâre real leather I might even perforate them with a heated iron awl or screwdriver before applying the tape.
To update on that, what Iâve found with continued use is that they need a good 24h to get clearly better than the HE-400i and justify the extra expense and inconvenience, but at that stage theyâre better in everything except dynamics; for dynamics theyâre about the same.
Not so once you go up to weeks of energizing. I canât say how long I had left them on because I wasnât keeping track, I just hooked them up and kept postponing the listening session, mustâve been 1-2 weeks total. New eye-widening experience this time: better dynamics and 3D-ness/body/realism to the instruments, at a level Iâd never heard before. And they didnât require warmup playback first, they were doing this right off the bat. Again Nottagorilla was right that we should keep these energized for as long as we can, and they just get better and better for many days after plug-in.
Nope, nope, nope. Further experimentation proved that I was mistaking playback (membrane movement) effects for simply keeping them powered up. Keeping them powered but inert does nothing for the sound, all of the improvement is from the cumulative playback time since last power-on, something along these lines:
- 1h - theyâre no better than the HE-400i
- 3h - much better dynamics and detail of mids and highs than the 400i, realistic/holographic presentation of the stage-central vocals/instruments, but none of the bass depth or punch Iâve come to expect
- 4.5h - bass is filling in now in terms of extension but still has no punch
- 7.5-8h - bass is extended and punchy now (punchy like an open-back not like a closed-back ofc).
So it looks like after every unplug, these require something like a âwarm-up dayâ of 8h playback before theyâre performing at their best, and then they donât seem to lose much of it by staying powered but not playing for a couple more days. Judge them earlier than 8h of warm-up and you might as well be listening to a different headphone.