r/Headphoneporn

Main priority was ANC hence went with these as these are the best in the market for that rn...and boiii they didn't disappoint! And the Cinema mode is such a good addition man...literally one of the best features, been watching movies and YT it makes the whole experience surreal NGL and the sound clarity is on next level the stock sound was so good that I didn't have to tweak the EQ and I've been using them for almost a week and the only downsides I noticed are:-

1. I sweat a lot so after an evening walk, the earcups tend to get all sweaty

2. The earcups definitely are not fingerprint friendly too much of fingerprint, smudge and sweat marks (need to clean them everyday, if you want them to look like new)

3. No official IPX rating

Focal utopia OG sounds excellent. Hope this will be my endgame set.

I love their industrial look 🤤

I feel like not many people talk about the hifiman trade up program, but I have used it a couple times now and it's been great. When my He6se v2 driver went out a 2nd time, they offered me Arya organic for about $450. Love those even more than my audeze lcd-x.

I was bored with my edition XS and hardly listened to them anymore, so I emailed and for about $200 was able to send them in for the XV. This was a no Brainer and nice upgrade without spending much. Hopefully can help someone else get a deal too!

Stax SR-007 Mk1 (1998) [left] and Stax SR-Omega (1993) [right].

I’ve restored both units to 100% mint condition with all-original parts. I’ve owned practically every major hi-fi headphone over the last two decades in this hobby, and with nothing else left to purchase, I’ve landed on these, time and time again, as what I consider the very best ever made.

For those wondering about the sound: the SR-Omega is, for the most part, the superior headphone. It has a bigger soundstage, more detail, and a more organic timbre. On certain songs, it makes voices sound skin-chillingly real, and even as a jaded audiophile, it lets me relive the magic in tracks I’ve heard hundreds of times. It deserves its place among the holy trinity alongside the Sony MDR-R10 and Sennheiser Orpheus, and in my opinion, it is #1.

However, when the SR-007 Mk1 is driven by a very powerful amplifier, and only then, it begins to exhibit a brighter, clearer signature that is not apparent on standard Stax amplifiers. On such systems, the 007 has better imaging, a much better low end, and greater overall heft to the music. While the stage is smaller, the layering feels less like a “wall” and more like a bubble, with objects “visibly” moving around within it, rather than a string of music stretching from left to right.

I suppose I would say the SR-Omega feels like a very hi-fi three-channel speaker setup: left, center, and right, with the center image occupying most of the stage. The 007 feels like dozens of speakers covering every inch of space within a much smaller field.

For those who want a holy-grail headphone system but are not looking for the ultra-rare, seek out the SR-007 Mk1. Avoid serial numbers that start with SZ-1, as those have revised drivers. Pair it with a Mjolnir Carbon. That combination can be found used for under $5k, and while different, it is among the best ever made.

For those who want everything and have unlimited resources, the SR-Omega is worth the effort. For amplification, I highly recommend a Kevin Gilmore Megatron first, followed by the Eksonic Aeras or HeadAmp BHSE.