[liufegi]

Hello,
I treated myself for this holiday with Stax L700MkII with Stax D50. I am sure I am missing something, but currently my setup sounds worst than my pixel buds. Complete lack of detail, highly muffled sound. And even though it is sounds not good, I can feel speakers are good, but something is just not working correctly in whole chain.
Do You have any suggestions what to check, or what to do change in settings on windows laptop, to try to solve the issue.
I have connected D50 with my laptop via usb cable.

Thanks!

 

[MisterMoJo]

forgive my question but did you load the drivers for the dac?
They are here:
https://staxheadphones.com/collections/amplifiers/products/driver-for-earspeaker
and select the correct output in windows?
what player are you using? do you have the stax selected there as well? I am hoping you are using windows 10 or 11.

 

[liufegi]

Yes, I have these drivers installed. Windows is also set on that output.
I am using MusicBee, output- ASIO, Sound device XMOS (stax driver).
And I am using windows 11.
Somehow I think it is software issue. I tried using mediamonkey and it sounds way worst than on MusicBee. So I think it is software issue. Or maybe faulty units.
Also, I was wondering - what volume on computer and what volume on D50 should be set for best quality? Should i set windows volume on 100 and control volume on D50? Or opposite, set d50 on highest volume and control volume on windows? or somwhere in middle?

 

[chesebert]

You should budget $5k-12k for the amp

 

[liufegi]

But isn't the point that d50 is like all in one option, that was also praised by many?

 

[new entry]

There could be a lot of reasons why you don't like the Stax. Did you ever heard before a Stax headphone? Never checked the D50 by myself, but there are many people who reported that this is not the best amp option.

Just my personal experience: I didn't liked the L700MKII but I love the old Lambdas. Maybe it is simply the wrong Stax model for your personal preference?

 

[ufospls2]

The D50 isn't as good as the higher end amps especially from the DIY side, but the L700mk2 on a D50 should not sound "bad." Lack of detail and highly muffled isn't what I would associate with the L700mk2 even from the portable D10.

@liufegi if it genuinely sounds worse than your pixel buds could you go to a local store by any chance to try a different pair? The D50 is totally fine for the Lambda series especially as a starter point. If it is genuinely as bad as your original post describes it as, it would be worth making sure both the headphones, and amp, are performing as they should be.

 

[ufospls2]

You should budget $5k-12k for the amp

This just isn't true in any way shape of form, especially for someone beginning stats and trying out a lambda series headphone for the first time. Are the $5-12k KG (and some others) designs better? Yes. Are they necessary to recommend to someone struggling with the sound from their first pair of e-stats who has already bought a D50? No.

This is the sort of stuff that turns people off the whole idea of electrostatic headphones in general.

 

[oneguy]

I had really hoped that 5-12k was a joke when I read it. Still hoping it was sarcasm.

An older stax amp will work just fine. My favorite Stax amp L700 pairing was the 007ta aka 007tII.

There are plenty for good pairings to be had in the used Stax amp category for 500-1000. Sometimes even cheaper than that. Personally, I’d recommend sticking to something with tubes for the L700.

 

[arielext]

Did you disable all sound effects in windows?

 

[MisterMoJo]

Yes, I have these drivers installed. Windows is also set on that output.
I am using MusicBee, output- ASIO, Sound device XMOS (stax driver).
And I am using windows 11.
Somehow I think it is software issue. I tried using mediamonkey and it sounds way worst than on MusicBee. So I think it is software issue. Or maybe faulty units.
Also, I was wondering - what volume on computer and what volume on D50 should be set for best quality? Should i set windows volume on 100 and control volume on D50? Or opposite, set d50 on highest volume and control volume on windows? or somwhere in middle?

Try foobar. It's free. And set the volume in windows to 100 and change the volume with the amp. Also ASIO sucks try WASAPI (Exclusive).
https://www.foobar2000.org/

 

[chesebert]

This just isn't true in any way shape of form, especially for someone beginning stats and trying out a lambda series headphone for the first time. Are the $5-12k KG (and some others) designs better? Yes. Are they necessary to recommend to someone struggling with the sound from their first pair of e-stats who has already bought a D50? No.

This is the sort of stuff that turns people off the whole idea of electrostatic headphones in general.

Listening to bad estat sound will also turn people off and they may decide estat is not for them, period. KG amps are a min when it comes to energizers and you may want to go directly to Blue Hawaii for stax. But it wasn’t until I heard T2 I finally understood what makes estat great.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Listening to bad estat sound will also turn people off and they may decide estat is not for them, period. KG amps are a min when it comes to energizers and you may want to go directly to Blue Hawaii for stax. But it wasn’t until I heard T2 I finally understood what makes estat great.

it's like you said people need to start from cfa3 amp to enjoy a planar magnetic headphone. A ridiculous statement. Yes they are better, but come with much more expensive price compared to entry level stuff.

---

Hello,
I treated myself for this holiday with Stax L700MkII with Stax D50. I am sure I am missing something, but currently my setup sounds worst than my pixel buds. Complete lack of detail, highly muffled sound. And even though it is sounds not good, I can feel speakers are good, but something is just not working correctly in whole chain.
Do You have any suggestions what to check, or what to do change in settings on windows laptop, to try to solve the issue.
I have connected D50 with my laptop via usb cable.

Thanks!

D10 is fine to drive L700ii for the price. I haven't tried D50, but I bet it sound better than D10 (it's supposed to). It surprised me that you can make L700 sound muffled actually.

 

[Daiyama]

Listening to bad estat sound will also turn people off and they may decide estat is not for them, period. KG amps are a min when it comes to energizers and you may want to go directly to Blue Hawaii for stax. But it wasn’t until I heard T2 I finally understood what makes estat great.

BS.
I know a lot of people who like estats without having a KG amp or a Blue Hawai.
If this is so for you, that is very sad for you, but please stop from generalising here.

 

[chesebert]

it's like you said people need to start from cfa3 amp to enjoy a planar magnetic headphone. A ridiculous statement. Yes they are better, but come with much more expensive price compared to entry level stuff.

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D10 is fine to drive L700ii for the price. I haven't tried D50, but I bet it sound better than D10 (it's supposed to). It surprised me that you can make L700 sound muffled actually.

Apples and oranges, you can't compare energizer with amplifiers, as estat is based on very different physics. I personally think estat all sound bad until you can step up your amp game, but YMMV I suppose if you only listen to a certain kind of music or like your music soft, mellow, definition less, no dynamics, no weight, low resolution, low PRaT, small soundstage, no sub bass. The only area that sounded good to me on estat with even cheap amps is the mid range naturalness and timbre...but music is so much more than that.

@Daiyama I think it's sad that people are forced into listening to a certain kind of music (often the kind they don't often listen to or don't care for much) because of their gear choice.