New Headphone Technologies

[richardfinegold]

I was wondering if any one has bought some headphones with some of the more exotic new technologies, such as Electrostatic or Planar Magnetic.
I generally don't like listening with phones but have been driven by circumstances to do more phone listening as of late. I had a few sets of phones but I wasn't very happy with them and none of them mated well with the various headphone jacks of my audio components that had headphone settings.
I bought the Oppo PM-3 the lowest end of the Oppo Planar Magnetic phones and an inexpensive second hand Creek Headphone Amp.
I still don't prefer Headphones to a regular stereo at reasonable volume, but the PM-3 are the real deal. It helps that they are comfortable and can be worn for extended periods but I have never heard such a natural sound from cans before. The highs are truly extended without being shrill, the mid range is gorgeous, and the bass is realistic, unlike most phones that artificially inflate either the mid bass or the extreme low end.
If you have ever heard Magnepan speakers, which pioneered Planar Magnetic technology, you will know what to expect. I feel like I have a Maggie on each ear, but that's the rub--they don't solve what I view as the biggest weakness of headphones, namely that hole in the middle. Perhaps the fault is mine and I truly have a hole in my head.
I'd love to hear some of the real expensive planar magnetic phones to get a comparison, such as the Oppo PM1, the Audeze or HiFiMan lines, and I'd also like to compare them to electrostatic phones.
The PM phones are supposed to be hard to drive, which is why I bought the Creek Amp, but I can't tell a difference using the Amp or just running the PM3 from the headphone jack of my Oppo 105 Blu Ray player. Interestingly, however, my previously unloved phones, which always audibly distorted when plugged into the Blu Ray headphone jack, sound much improved with the Creek Headphone Amp, though still nowhere near as great as the Oppo phones. I am wondering if all of my previous phones had some type of high impedence mismatch.
The Creek cost me $100 used and goes for about 200 pounds new in the U.K. It is tiny and powered by a small wall wart. If you do a lot of phone listening and haven't been using a dedicated Headphone Amp you may be surprised at how much better they can sound.
There is a lot of snake oil in audiophilia, but I think that the Planar Magnetic Headphone technology is a major development

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Electrostatic? Exotic/new?

They've been made by Stax since 1959.

[richardfinegold]

I new they had been around, but I didn't know that long. They were new to me, as I've never seen them here. The pictures that I've seen make them look a bit impractical , like 2 bricks held together. So what came first--Stax phones or the Quad electrostatic speaker?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The speaker, by two years.

[Bryn]

Electrostatic? Exotic/new?

They've been made by Stax since 1959.

Well, new bu the standards of Nathaniel Baldwin's device of 1910.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I've got a pair of Stax, with their amp unit, complete with valves. Would probably not buy one today - things have moved on... The Stax are comfortable, and sound quality is fine.

Thinking back, I had a pair of UK manufactured headphones, reviewed in, I think "Gramophone" in the 1970's billed as electrostatic - Wharfedale Isodynamic (this link is to a museum collection!)

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1194711/wharfedale-isodynamic-headphones-headphones-rank-radio-industrial/

Quite modest cost, then, I think (otherwise I wouldn't have had them....)

The Quad speakers were unattainable high cost speakers, revered in the UK in the late 60's for sure, but I only became aware of Stax decades later.....

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Well, new bu the standards of Nathaniel Baldwin's device of 1910.

You mean these?

[umslopogaas]

I was forced to listen on headphones for over twenty years when I lived in a small flat, to avoid annoying the neighbours. I am convinced that playing music too loud through those Sennheisers was the cause of my tinnitus, and implore people who do use them to take care not to turn them up too loud. Now that I have a detached house and can play the speakers as loud as I like (which is not loud enough to further damage my hearing) I hope I never have to use headphones again.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I am convinced that playing music too loud through those Sennheisers was the cause of my tinnitus, and implore people who do use them to take care not to turn them up too loud.

Were they open or closed back headphones? The open back ones are much more comfortable over longer periods and, as the sound leaks out, there's no temptation to play them too loud.

[Ferretfancy]

I was forced to listen on headphones for over twenty years when I lived in a small flat, to avoid annoying the neighbours. I am convinced that playing music too loud through those Sennheisers was the cause of my tinnitus, and implore people who do use them to take care not to turn them up too loud. Now that I have a detached house and can play the speakers as loud as I like (which is not loud enough to further damage my hearing) I hope I never have to use headphones again.

Quite a number of young people who apply for jobs at the BBC get turned down since they are already suffering from incipient deafness.

Some years ago I was travelling on the tube one day and unfortunately sitting next to a young man with earphones buzzing like a berserk wasp. I asked him if he had ever heard of noise induced hearing loss--"WHAT? ' he said.

[Dave2002]

You mean these?

Are they for ECT?

[Stunsworth]

Thinking back, I had a pair of UK manufactured headphones, reviewed in, I think "Gramophone" in the 1970's billed as electrostatic - Wharfedale Isodynamic (this link is to a museum collection!)

The Wharfdales were planar, not electrostatic.

[Beef Oven!]

I was forced to listen on headphones for over twenty years when I lived in a small flat, to avoid annoying the neighbours. I am convinced that playing music too loud through those Sennheisers was the cause of my tinnitus, and implore people who do use them to take care not to turn them up too loud. Now that I have a detached house and can play the speakers as loud as I like (which is not loud enough to further damage my hearing) I hope I never have to use headphones again.

Good advice, umslopogaas

My appalling tinnitus, that I've had since the age of about 26 is 33.3% Going to Black Sabbath, The Who, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Ted Nugent, et al gigs all before the age of 17 and not wearing earplugs (did we have them, then?); 33.3% due to standing on stage ram-bang next to my amp; 33.3% cranking my headphones ups WAY too loud, at home as a teenager.

[gradus]

I used Stax electrostatic headphones (SR5) for many years and they were well worth the money albeit somewhat less then (70s/80s) than currently charged. I bought them as I wanted the best possible sound in that form and they duly delivered. Unequivocally recommeneded. As painfully described above try to keep the volume on headsets to sensible levels, although I recall that the Stax did not like to be over-driven and it would have been difficult to play extremely loud rock through them, everything else worked very well indeed including large-scale orchestral music.

[umslopogaas]

Ein Alp, the Sennheisers are closed and it is only too easy to play them too loud.