Pendulumic Stance S1+
published: Jul-9-2017
NO SMOOTHING is applied to the shown plots. Most measurement sites have some smoothing applied which ‘irons flat’ sharp peaks and ‘wiggles’. I do not use smoothing because some info about sound quality is lost when plots are smoothed.
Aside from a small correction of the microphone itself also some correction in the lowest frequencies is applied to the plots to compensate for the perceived loss of bass when using headphones. This is described HERE in more detail.
A ‘horizontal‘ frequency response curve on the shown frequency response plots on this website thus indicates a perceived ‘flat’ tonal signature.
ALL measurements are made with a good SEAL on a flatbed measurement rig.
The shape of your head, bone structure, pad size, pad ‘softness, (compliance), hair or no hair and or wearing glasses may (drastically) change the frequency response of some headphones, so… your personal experience may differ substantially from these plots.
Frequency response (tonal balance) is the most sound-determining aspect of headphones. A horizontal line shows audible neutral response in the plots on this website. Deviations in different severities at different frequency bands have an effect on the sound character.
The bigger the deviation the stronger the effect.
Below an aid to help determining the sound character of headphones with relation to the frequency response.
Pendulumic Stance S1+
The Pendulumic Stance S1+ is a closed dynamic headphone with built-in amplifier and Bluetooth receiver. Pendulumic is one of those new brands marketing bluetooth headphones hoping to grab a piece of that booming market. This one has bluetooth 4.0 with aptX which can give a better sound quality, at least in case the transmitter (phone, tablet, laptop, DAP) can transmit using aptX.
What sets this one aside is that besides a rechargeable battery it also has 2x AAA batteries on board as a back-up !
It retails for around €210.- in Europe which is not cheap but also not terribly expensive for a BT headphone. It can play for about 30 hours on a full charge + AAA batteries . The pads are replaceable.
Another option that not many other BT headphones have is that this headphone can be set to passive mode. In that case it works as a passive headphone and can still be driven by any source. The only downside is that the frequency response (tonal balance) will differ. In active wired mode batteries are needed BUT you get some custom EQ applied.
The measurements made of this headphone are made in wired PASSIVE mode only (so the internal amp with EQ was not used).
Will try to measure it in active mode as well when I get the chance.
specifications:
Type: Over ear, closed, wireless
Usage: Portable, commuting, office, home and studio.
battery capacity: approx. 18 hrs on full charge, 12 hrs on 2x AAA battery
Driver type: dynamic
Pads: pleather (fake leather)
Foldable: No, but can tilt the earcups flat.
Headphone connector: 3.5mm TRS
Cable entry: single sided entry (+ sealing plug) or dual sided
Cable: 1short angled 3.5mm TRRS (+ screw-on 6.3mm adapter) to 3.5mm TRS plug with mic/remote
Driver size: 40mm
Max power rating: unknown
Max. S.P.L.: unknown
Impedance: 32 Ω
Efficiency: 106dB @ 1mW
Sensitivity: 121dB @ 1V
Weight: 310 g. (without AAA batteries)
Clamping force: unknown
Accessories: Headphone case with Carabiner hook, 6.3mm adapter, airline adapter, 1 cable with mic/remote, micro-USB cable (for charging), user manual
Sound description:
Will be added later on
Measurements:
note: All measurements are done wired in the passive mode (not EQ-amplified)
Below the frequency response of the Stance S1+ wireless (Left, Right)
It rolls of pretty fast below 80Hz. Another obvious issue is the substantial driver mismatch between 1kHz and 4kHz. The clarity will differ between L and R driver.
How audible this is I would have to check but did not because of lack of time.
Decent treble behavior and extends to about 16kHz.
Below the difference between the passive mode (switched off) and active mode (switched on, needs batteries) (Left channel only)
As can be seen it pays to have the batteries charged and the headphone switched ‘on’.
You get better mids in return and a fraction more extension.
Bluetooth functionality was not tested but assume the frequency response will be similar to the ‘on‘ position in this case.
Below the distortion plots of the Stance S1+ : (only Right channel shown)
The distortion products are shown in dB.
Note that this headphone was measured at 
where unavoidable background noises were present in the demo room. Distortion level performance may thus be better in reality than shown on the plots. Due to this headphone having a good ambient sound attenuation the measured values are most likely not affected very much.
The distortion profile is typical for a smaller sized dynamic driver. Substantial 2nd harmonic distortion in the bass. It increases as the frequency becomes lower. So when EQ is applied the level of these frequencies will increase but distortion products will also increase. Below the same distortion plot but in percentages.
Below 100Hz the distortion already is above 1.5%. Mids are better at around 0.1% 2nd harmonics. The numbers for the bass are mediocre.
Below the CSD of the Stance S1+ (Left and Right channel are superimposed)
The CSD is quite messy and shows considerable ringing around 3kHz. Fortunately the ear-canal itself also ‘rings’ at that frequency so the brain is likely to ignore this. Not a very big issue most likely. Above 5kHz the behavior is better.
Below the spectrum plot of the Stance S1+. (Left channel)
There are clearly some issues around 3 to 4kHz also around 8kHz. Otherwise it looks pretty decent. Bass response looks tight. Mids between 500Hz and 1kHz don’t appear to be well damped.
By lack of oscilloscope shots (not enough time to measure that) below a step response plot of the Stance 1+ . (Left channel)
The step response shows a reasonable impulse response with short ringing at a few frequencies. The dip from 1ms onwards shows the quite audible bass roll-off below 100Hz in passive mode. This is not representative for the sound in active or BT mode !
Below the Right channel.
summary
The Stance S1+ is not a headphone (in passive wired mode) that measures well. It does have some small issues as shown in the measurements but the audibility of those remains to be seen.
In the ‘on’ mode and playing wired it measures and sounds better.
Bluetooth functionality (which is its main selling point) is not tested (yet)
DIY-Audio-Heaven 