Stax ear phone pad

Hi Mark,

No, there are several issues which would make that approach a non-starter.

First, the in-1 and out-1 connections on the Stax are not like a tape loop. They are hard-wired directly together, and as I indicated in your other recent thread out-1 is provided simply as a convenient means of routing the signals provided to in-1 to an additional destination.

So if you were to connect one of the tape decks to in-1 and out-1 on the Stax, you would be connecting the record input and the playback output of that deck directly together, which of course won't work. And most likely the input select function of the Stax is designed such that in-1 and in-2 cannot be connected together regardless of how the input select buttons are pushed, so the input and output of that deck, while connected together, would not receive any signals.

Also, driving the Stax with an output of the preamp would introduce a lot of unnecessary preamp circuitry, including its volume control, into the signal path for headphone listening. And you would be forced to turn your power amp off (or into standby, if it has that mode) when listening via headphones, as opposed to being able to leave it on while muting its inputs with the preamp's mute button (if it has one) or its volume control.

With the possibly substantial downside of introducing that unnecessary preamp circuitry into the signal path for headphone listening, however, it might be somewhat within reason to connect a preamp output to in-1 on the Stax, and to connect out-1 to the record input on one of the tape decks. But in addition to probably compromising the quality of the sound you would hear with the headphones, you would also lose the ability to play back from that deck (via speakers, that is; you could listen to it via headphones by connecting its output to in-2 on the Stax).

Best regards,
-- Al

Al,
or anyone else that might know more than I do about tape deck connections.
Just had a crazy thought, not sure this will work.
The Stax has connections for input & output- 1. And also has a 2nd set of inputs labeled input 2
My pre amp has one tape loop (both in & out connections). Plus a 2nd output labeled output 2, currently unused.

For reasons of eliminating the Niles switch box, can I connect the 2nd output on my pre amp to input 2 on the stax, then connect one tape deck to the in & out on the stax. And connect the other tape deck to the in & out tape loop on the pre amp?

I do not record from one tape deck to the other if this is the only repercussion.

Will I be able to record from any of my sources to the tape deck connected to the Stax?

Tonykay, thanks for bringing that to my attention. The headphones are the SR-404's. I see I messed up the heading too, should have said foam, not pad.
Looking forward to setting this up and listening.

Almarg is right, that foam piece is unnecessary and you can easily remove it without any problem. I'm sure you realize that the SRM-006T is the driver unit, not the phones. Don't let that loose foam bother you, just plug in the phones and congratulate yourself on your purchase. I predict that they will be with you for a very long time.

I doubt that is an issue, Mark. The foam is just there to protect the electrostatic element, and looks to be sonically transparent (at least on my older Lambda Pros). Also, a few years ago the foam on my Lambda Pros partially disintegrated (after about two decades), and I didn't notice any sonic difference as that occurred.

Eventually I replaced the pads and the foam together, with a replacement kit purchased from Audio Cubes II. In case it becomes relevant in the future, I believe (although I'm not totally certain) that the replacement pads they offer for your newly acquired SR-404 come with replacements for the foam as well, and both are installed simultaneously.

Best regards,
-- Al