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There is a fundamental difference between headphone listening and any other listening experience. With headphones, whether of the on-the-ear or around-the-ear type (that's what the "circumaural" in the specs means), the auditory canal is more or less on the axis of the headphone's diaphragm. In all other listening, much of the sound enters the ear only after reflecting off the pinna (ear lobe) and head. This factor alone drastically affects the frequency response perceived by the ear/brain.

John R. Sank, in a paper in the April 1980 Journal…

For this comparative review, I borrowed a pair of the Stax Lambda Pro "Ear Speakers," as well as a Stax ED-1 diffuse-field equalizer. The Lambdas were driven by their SRM-1/Mk.II direct-drive, class-A, solid-state amplifier, using a Meridian 208 CD player as source. As well as using each pair of headphones for my daily music supply, I did some paired comparisons, matching levels by ear using the 1kHz warble tone on the Stereophile Test CD.

I've used the electrostatic Stax Lambdas ($1200) on most of the recording…

Measuring headphones is fraught with practical problems, mainly due to the fact that the target response for a drive-unit that fires straight into the ear canal is anything but flat, given the frequency-response–modifying natures of the pinnae and inner ear canal which, as mentioned earlier, are unique for each person. A graph in an excellent 1980 AES paper from Audio Contributing Editor Jon Sank (footnote 1; see Dick Olsher's sidebar on headphone frequency response), shows the envelope of responses he found desirable for conventional headphones to sound flat.

Description: Circumaural electrostatic headphones with included stepup transformer and class-A solid-state amplifier. Frequency range: 8Hz–35kHz.
Weight: 15 oz.
Price: $780 (1984); $1200 (1991); no longer vailable (2016).
Manufacturer: Stax Limited, 3798-1 Shimonanbata, Fujimi-shi, Saitama-Ken, Japan 354-0004. Tel: 81-49-293-1891. Fax: 81-49-293-1892. Web: www.stax.co.jp/index-E.html. US distributor: Stax Kogyo, Inc., Carson, CA 90746 (1984); Yama's Enterprises, Inc., 16617 S. Normandie Ave., Suite C, Gardena, CA 90247 (2016). Tel: (310) 327-3913. Fax…

Resistance is futile. From the moment she dropped out of high school in Oakland, California and headed for New York, nothing was going to stop Karen Borg, the daughter of a church organist, from evolving into one of the most influential jazz composers of her generation in her new identity as Carla Bley. While working as a hat-check girl at Birdland, she met the brilliant avant-garde pianist Paul Bley (1932–…

Before I visited the Bob's Devices…

The Hanson event will feature flagship products from Dynaudio (Evidence Platinum loudspeakers), Octave (Jubilee mono amplifiers and preamp), and Nordost cables. Dynaudio's Mick Tillman, Octave's Thomas Brieger, and Nordost's Michael Taylor will be on hand. For more information, please contact Hanson Audio Video at (937) 293-6200 or visit Hanson's website.…

Because I love Garrard 301 and 401 turntables, I photograph every one that I can find. And at CAF2016—notwithstanding the fact that VPI was the predominant brand of turntables, by a huge margin—I found three of them. The first was this beautiful hammertone, grease-bearing, ca-1955 301, owned by Vu Hoang of Deja Vu Audio. Aldo D'Urso, who…

In fact, I think the "embracing" nature of the Odyssey sound may cause its less obvious accuracy and neutrality to…

The live recording, made in Seattle's Taper Auditorium in Benaroya Hall…