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wallflower·

If you are interested in software-driven headphones, the Smyth Realiser series has always fascinated me.

https://smyth-research.com/

https://www.cnet.com/news/smyth-realiser-a8-perfect-surround...

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/smyth-research-realiser...

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These things are awesome! They used to ship the A8 with STAX Ear Speakers... which when I discovered it almost 10 years ago was the first time I had ever heard the term "ear speakers" or had ever heard of electrostatic headphones, or the brand STAX (from Japan). All in all, The Realiser and the STAX were unbelievable! I got bored of the A8 after awhile but I never got bored of the STAX... I wish electrostatic headphones were more widely available in general, they're a true gem. Everyone that hears them is in awe.

And they are "easy" to build yourself. I wrote a guide about doing so here [0] which is based on this enormous head-fi thread [1].

0: https://github.com/Azrael3000/headphone-guide 1: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/my-diy-electrostatic-headpho...

Wow, very impressive to DIY! It is one thing to do speakers DIY, quite another to make headphones, let alone e-stats.

For those who are interested in entry-level, non-DIY route

Drop (formerly Massdrop) has their variant of the classic Koss ESP/950 electrostatic headphones for around $500. They sold out earlier this year.

https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-koss-esp-95x-electrostatic-s...

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