The Stax SR-001 Mk2, also known as the Baby Stax, is definitely a unique product. Along with the Stax SR-003, they are the only electrostatic earphones available in the market. While the SR-003 is designed to be driven from desktop amplifiers, the Stax SR-001 Mk2 comes with its own portable, pocket size, electrostatic amplifier. At the retail price of roughly $350, the Stax SR-001 Mk2 system competes with other top of the line IEMs.
As I have written on the $300 IEM shootout, the Stax definitely has some areas where its superior than the dynamics or balanced armature IEMs. Furthermore, as more and more people pair their IEMs with a portable amplifier, the Stax system comes out cheaper, as the $350 includes the amplifier.
The Baby Stax comes in a brown box with the Stax product description label on it. Somehow the spartan box gives an impression of an all-business device. The Baby Stax comes attached to the headband, and you can use it like a portable headphone, although the headband doesn’t fold. When you remove the driver units from the headband, it looks like an earbud with an oversized driver housing. A portion of the housing goes into your ear canal, which qualifies the Baby Stax to be an IEM device.
Being an electrostatic earphone have its own pros and cons. Since electrostatics require a much higher voltage than dynamics, they cannot be driven from a regular dynamic amplifier, an iPod, or a regular headphone jack. This means that the SR-001 Mk2 needs to always be paired with the SRM-001 portable amplifier. While the SRM-001 amplifier is quite compact and lightweight, people who uses their IEMs for jogging and going to the gym would not want to use the Baby Stax. Though the SRM-001 is bigger than a lot of portable amps, it is lighter than a lot of portable amplifiers, and carrying it in your pocket is not so much of a hassle due to the light weight. The shape is also a bit curved, another feature that makes it fit well in your pocket.
Another feature of the Baby Stax is that it’s an open design IEM, and like an open design headphone, it leaks sound from outside, though not so much the other way around. This gives the baby Stax a much more open and natural sound compared to traditional sealing IEMs. I know that for some people, a sealing IEM may not be needed, and can be a nuisance sometime, as you have to constantly remove them from your ears whenever someone approach you for a conversation. Despite being an open design, I find that the baby Stax works fairly well in outdoor applications, perhaps due to its in-the-canal design, thus you don’t have to blast the volume very high even when listening to it outdoors. The fit is comfortable to my ears, and definitely better than the Etymotics ER4P or the UE Triple.Fi 10.
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Hi,
How would you compare the UM Mage to these in terms of soundstage, treble extension and detail?
Hi Jose, the UM Mage is far superior in terms of soundstage, treble and bass extension, and detail when compared to the Baby Stax.
Thanks for the fast response Mike!
hi
plz can you compare baby stax with w3 and um3x?
and plz compare its soundstage to sennheiser ie8?
thx
sorry. my mistake. ignore w3 um3x
)
plz only compare soundstage between baby stax and senn ie8?
Hey stucker, I guess you figured out the review on the $300 IEMs that includes the W3, UM3X, IE8, and the Baby Stax?
Anyway, I’m talking from memory here, as I don’t have them anymore. The IE8 has a big soundstage, but it doesn’t feel open and natural. The Baby Stax, being the only open design IEM, feels more open and natural in the soundstage. I think the soundstage on the Baby Stax is one of its strongest points.