The HiveX
(For TechPowerUp measurements of the HiveX please check their site)
These headphones are the product of thousands of hours of optimism, passion, frustration, joy, failure, discovery, success, engagement and elation.
Each diaphragm is carefully tensioned by hand onto a circular spacer ring with the tension beginning from the center radiating outwards (as opposed to being tensioned by a machine or jig unnaturally-laterally). This as well as the tightly controlled and measured tension and driver resonance, is what makes them beat like a drum for fast metal music, sound angelic for female vocals and delivering mind melting crunchy guitar riffs. I have listened to my customers comment on the excellent imaging, soundstage, and forward projection, and I can’t disagree.
The dipole nature of estats means they excel as an open backed headphones. This gives them an open, natural, warm and airy tone about them. As opposed to a reflective, overly bright, more uncomfortable or sibilant tonality. At the same time, the detail is present, and the sharper tones such as the rub of a violin forms a sharp, delightful, memorable impression in the mind.
The headphones are designed and assembled only by me and many aspects of the design are influenced by customer feedback over the years. The manufacturing employs several techniques I developed myself in my garage with a combination of 3D printing, carving, sanding, painting and protecting. At the same time it requires a lot of delicate, ‘hold your breath’ type of meditative craftsmanship in a purposeful environment. The end result is both industrial and elegant. The all black exterior with the Nectar interior gives it that smooth, dark appearance and a black acoustically absorbent pad acts as an outside dust guard. If removed you will have something to delight at by exposing forbidden polished, honeycomb, Nectar gold plated electrostatic drivers.
Both the Pollinator and the Hive are made with the same amount of attention and care. The Pollinator came first and is an old favorite and the Hive has taken over as the most coveted choice. The Hive has the same effortlessly fast electrostatic tonality as the Pollinator but with a more luxurious feel, build and durability with a wider stance.
Below is a very typical RAW measurement for either the Pollinator or the Hive. Since any difference in individual measurements between the Hive or the Pollinator are within the tolerance of variation of the measurement equipment, separate waveforms are not given for each. Rather, the subtle differences in sound experience are mostly observed from listening and not measuring. The overall tonality is quite similar and the differences are typically attributed to the wider stance of the Hive giving way to a wider sound-stage. The largest differences between the Pollinator and the Hive is with the tactile fit feel and finish. For both, the bass response is quite present especially with a good seal and extends all the way down to 20Hz. The natural tone and presence of the headphones are reflected in the flat response when measured over an octave. In the highs my headphones don’t tend to go ‘out of control’ and stay within their lane. Beyond 10kHz there are peaks and valleys here and there which are hard for me to discern personally through listening, and the technical aspects of measurement come into play in the 10kHz and above range, yet this is an important range.
A significant boost in this range above 10kHz was observed by my Lambda Pro’s which I no longer own but the sibiliance of this set was also confirmed through listening. Now I own a Stax SR-407 which measures similarly with the Nectar headphones but with an opposing dip and valley centered at 4.5kHz shown below.
A competitors bespoke electrostatic headphone at a similar price point as mine shows that at least for my set the bass response rolls off too early. The measurement was done using some clamping force and the listening test using 40Hz sine waves reveals a similar result. This is typically caused by a diaphragm tensioning that is too high. The response is compared below.
In the measurements shown above, only a single channel is shown for clarity but in reality two channels (L and R) will be measured. Both measurements track very closely especially within the 20Hz to 7kHz range where measurement artifacts and positioning have less of an impact. Both channels are matched to ensure they are within 1dB of each-other or better at most (referenced at 300Hz to 1kHz). Note that the measurements are also superimposed on top of each other for ease of comparison but typically a Stax headphone plot will sit higher than the Nectars since they can be about 2-6dB more sensitive. For the most part though the sensitivity hasn’t been an issue with most Stax amplifiers as the sound can still get to dangerously ear splitting levels with enough intension (don’t do that, be cautious, cognizant, and protect your hearing!).
Finally, what are the quirks? After all electrostatic technology is well known for being more fragile than their robust yet slow dynamic driver counterparts. Environmental factors such as wet hair, humidity, dust and so on can sometimes impact driver stability usually experienced with some kind of lite squealing noise that may go away on its own. For the most part with my headphones I suppose I have been lucky. Very rarely do I have customers experience any issues with my headphones, and I will know within the first week of them owning the set. If any issues persist I make sure the issue gets resolved very quickly. I make sure that whenever there is some kind of observed anomaly that I learn something from it and refine and improve my process.
If you check my FAQ section on my website you will see me discuss something called “the sticking phenomenon”. This is an intended design compromise. Once you take one minute to know what it is, what to look for, how it happens, how to avoid it or how to resolve it, it is not an issue. The phenomenon has to do with many factors, the main factors are the tensioning and spacing of the diaphragm as well as the electrostatic coating that energizes the diaphragm that provides it with a gradient of electrons. In short the phenomenon can be described as a “sticking” of the diaphragm (the extremely thin mylar that produces the sound) to the stator (the external energized drivers) when sudden pressure or pushing is applied to the headphones in a way as to create just the right amount of suction. The end result is a crackling/swirling noise and some loss of bass. This does not happen during normal listening and does not damage the diaphragm. It is resolved easily by unplugging the connector and shorting the pins with the thumb (at the headphones connector) together. This discharges the diaphragm and so it springs back into place, usually very quickly which can be heard. If I wanted to eliminate this totally, I could easily tension the diaphragm tighter such that the tension force on the diaphragm overcomes the Coulomb force + the surface tension that is keeping the diaphragm stuck to the stator, but at the sacrifice of bass, which I will not do. I could greatly reduce the electrostatic coating to reduce the Coulomb force but that also comes with other potential quirks such as reduced driver force, longer charging time, loss of energization over time, or channel imbalance which I sometimes see on Stax forums. I have had many customers prefer the Hive over the 009 and so I try not to make to many changes that can impact the sound.
Ambrosia
I spent a couple of months to the obsessively trying to tune this headphone. I initially wanted to build a much larger ear cup headphone that would work with 110mm ear cups, and after weeks of work it was clear that I needed to stay with my usual 100mm size with the driver I wanted to use to maintain the highs. After going back to the traditional 100mm earcups the challenge of tuning started over and I went through hundreds of iterations trying different waveguide shapes, materials, positioning and pad types to control the air flow.
There were moments where I would spend a week targeting a certain frequency response that I thought could be attainable, but after listening, it just wasn’t right. Bloated mids, not enough bass, too sibilent, good for some songs but not others etc.. So I went through a couple of those. With the EARS a good sounding headphone tended to measure quite flat, and typically when you put the same headphones on a GRAS rig, they tend to curv upwards in the 2-5kHz range and follow the Harman shape.
The shape of the response is somewhat hamstrung by the driver and up to the designer to nudge it in the right direction. I started with a 40mm driver but then moved to a, what is becoming, popular and proven traditional 50mm driver. The challenge though is the tuning. Below is an example of the various shapes the responses were following during development with the final tuning highlighted. The end result is a headphone that I am very very excited about. Something that reproduces the recording in a very neutral way, a headphone that after a while you forget you have it on, because as the music changes genre you don’t think “well this headphone is not great for this kind of music”.
Since the headphone has not been on many heads yet, that is all I will say for now. I’m hoping to get more real world feedback after some hopefully very long listening sessions from customers, and update accordingly. For now I am trying to be restrained about my excitement. Happy listening!
The Bee
“Holy Bass” were the first words from a trusted listener whom I frequently use to test my creations. Then an appreciation for the timbre and “heft” to the sound. That’s exactly what I was going for with The Bee. The Bee is a naturally darker, yet non-fatiguing, and open planar magnetic headphone with a robust 12um, 11 Ohm, single side magnetic array driver that can push the air I need it to for the desired tuning.
For the final generation prior to public release the impedance has been changed from 52 Ohms to 11 Ohms so they don’t need as large of a voltage swing to create the same amount of force while keeping the same sound and tension. The minimum recommended amplifier wattage is 1.3W ($100 Monoprice LiquidSpark for example). The Bee scales very well and is driven optimally with more powerful amps in the 3W-7W range. I use the Topping A-90 balanced XLR output. I have also driven them on high gain directly with a Fiio M11 single ended output, but for best results, I do recommend a high power desktop amplifier. Make sure to check if the wattage rating of your amp is listed for its single ended or balanced output. If you want to use a balanced cable, please see the FAQ for recommendations.
Personally, I love these headphones. They compliment the HiveX very well. The Bee really shines with more bassy music, and as mentioned is non-fatiguing and open. They are comfortable, and great for long listening sessions. Finally, as a boutique HP maker, I did not want to create another Hifiman like headphone. My customers have come to expect something unique and different. These are tensioned in such a way to give them that depth and layering to the sound, therefore there is split second driver flex that can be heard when adjusting the HPs or aggressive side to side head banging (not much with up and down head banging). This momentary flex is normal and hasn’t been more than curiosity so far. I could change the signature and completely prevent the flex, but for now I want to keep it the way it is, take advantage of that driver thickness and strength, and give it that unique sound signature.
Below I have included a DSP EARS measurement of the HiveX (pink) against the Bee (blue) with the F response showing from 5Hz-20kHz. This is to show the extreme bass extension of the Bee.
Hello again!
Forgive how long it took me to gather my thoughts on these headphones because it was quite the rollercoaster for me.
Let me start on the initial impressions of the headphones when I just received them:
The first thing that struck me when I listened to the bees for the first time after I just received them was the odd sound that came out of them. Like another one of your customers described, the mids were lacking and didn’t sound quite right to my ear. It made the vocals especially sound off/wrong. Thankfully, it was only temporary since even after just an hour or two the mids started clearing up and sounding more natural. Considering how new these headphones are (I could still smell the fresh coat of paint), I did fully expect some break in to be necessary, even thought I don’t believe in the practice of breaking headphones in. But, once the Bee started loosening up a bit, so did the bass. I listened to some songs that I know that go deep in the sub bass and my god… I don’t think I’ve ever heard a pair of headphones be able to go that low, so cleanly before.
The highs on initial impression are most definitely veiled to some extent. But it’s not something that ended up bothering me for reasons that I’ll get into a bit later. It’s also worth mentioning that the Bee scales extraordinarily well with volume.
Those were my initial day 1 impressions; I kept it brief and short mostly because I needed to listen to the headphones longer to properly get to know them. So, the best way I can describe the bass on these headphones is the following:
You know when you get your first pair of truly neutral headphones and relisten to everything to discover details and sounds that you’ve never heard before? The same thing is happening with the Bee but instead of microdetails in the highs, I’m rediscovering details in the bass that other headphones were simply not able to produce.
The Bee has the ability to play sub bass levels that I’ve bever heard with any other pair of headphones; to be fair though, there are headphones that can get really deep, but none match the cleanliness of what the Bee can do.
The darker timbre of the headphones is something that you need to get used to if you’re someone like me who came from years of listening to reference, neutral headphones. I am starting to personally disagree with the “lacking microdetails” feedback that some other bee owners have given, especially after giving them the time to break in. The headphones are plenty detailed, and the microdetails in music are effectively reproduced, they just sound less “clear” because of the darker timbre of the sound. I believe it also to be because of the powerful bass that these headphones produce. Especially when comparing to a reference headphone, the highs are slightly less in volume, giving it a warmer tone. However, the bass on the bees is significantly more powerful, which, in my opinion, gives the illusion of a more “veiled” experience. The darker timbre of the sound also affects the way the highs sound. They are not “crisp” like with reference sounding headphones, or even come close to the sound signature of a Beyerdynamic headphone. Even knowing that however, they don’t sound wrong or bad like some cheaper or badly tuned headphones, they just sound different.
I think some of the feedback that some might have in regard to how the highs are reproduced on these headphones come from having the wrong expectations for the headphones. I believe that some will purchase these headphones with the expectation of them being more reference sounding because of the price tag. I have met many who believe that the more expensive the headphone, the more and more reference or neutral they become. The highs on these headphones are present and well represented, but not as stand out as with reference tuned headphones.
The bees are by no means reference, and I don’t think they’re supposed to either. These headphone to me sound like they were created purely for the enjoyment of music. These headphones are extremely fun sounding and are an absolute blast to jam out to. Even with the bassy nature of these headphones, they still have fantastic separation. They still retain the ability to separate instruments clearly to where you can focus on a specific sound in the music, yes, even with the “veiled” highs that some describe.
My ABSOLUTELY favourite part of the Bee is the soundstage and imaging. They are easily up there with some of the best I’ve heard. This might be because of how the earcups were designed alongside the choice of earpads, but they have more than just the ability to make the left and right sides sound natural and wide. They also excel at representing up and down sound and even front and back sounds. The bee made me hear a particular song like I’ve never heard it before even on reference headphones where the song sounded like it was tilted diagonally. It was surreal and I tested it with my Hifiman Sundara and they could not reproduce the same kind of up/down directionality. With echoes for example, the bees can make them sound like they disperse so… so very far away. Because of the excellent soundstage of the Bee, they also ended up being great for gaming. Another interesting effect that the Bee was able to produce to my ears was “bass directionality”. In the majority of headphones that I’ve listened to, the bass is always an omnipresent entity that envelops you. It’s not the case with the Bee and was unsettling the first time I heard it because I thought there was a L – R imbalance happening, but no it was just the nature of the song itself. I think this effect plays into making the soundstage as amazing as it is.
These headphones excel with electronic music as well as other bassier genres of music. However, it is also interesting to play other genres of songs that wouldn’t normally pair very well with the bee’s sound signature. While they don’t excel with rock, metal, jazz and the sorts. It does accentuate the drums and bass (instrument) so very well. The kick drums and toms sound very accurate to how they would sound like if you were standing next to a drummer. A funky bass also sounds amazing on these headphones.
I don’t subscribe to the “headphones need breaking in idea” since I’ve never been able to hear a significant difference between new headphones and “broken in” ones. The Bee might have been the only exception since the sound of them significantly improved over the week and a half that I’ve owned them. But they might also be the only pair of headphones that I’ve ever owned that were brought into the world when I ordered them. The pretty radical change in sound is what made me almost have buyer’s remorse in the first day or two of owning them, but now that they’ve had time to loosen up, I am more than happy with how the Bee sounds. They are probably my favourite headphones to wear because of how FUN they sound.
In terms of comfort, they’re definitely a heavier headphone. But the headband and very deep ear pads provide sufficient comfort to last hours at a time. I had a bit of a problem with the comfort because the clamping force would apply a bit too much pressure in front of my ears and I would feel a bit of pain and fatigue. This problem will surely solve itself over time, but readjusting the headphones so that there’s more pressure at the back of my ears also solves this problem. Also, the sound that the Bee was making when they were fresh was a bit fatiguing, but the “broken in” sound is not.
There is problem I have with the Bee that caught me off guard in some instances. This isn’t related to sound or comfort, but rather with looser tension in the planar driver that makes the driver flex sometimes with head movement and slight adjustments of the headphones. On some rare occasions, the driver on one side will flex in a position where its sound output is lower than the other side. It’s not really a big deal because it goes away by just readjusting the headphone and letting the driver pop back into its normal place. I did think it was worth mentioning though. It could also be a unique thing to my pair considering the hand-built nature of the Bee.
Overall, I do think that the Bee provide a unique listening experience that I haven’t heard before. I have listened to the Bee with and without EQ, and honestly, it’s more of a situationally dependent thing for me. There are certain genres of songs that to my ears require a bit more highs (a +2db high shelf filter is sufficient). The rest however sounds perfectly fine with how the Bee is tuned by itself; I don’t think EQ to be a need for these headphones.
I will be sending you more feedback as I get friends and other people to take a listen to the Bee!
Sir, you’ve created a magnificent headphone with an immensely powerful sound that quickly became on of my favourites, thank you once again for building a pair for me!