[Colin0317]

Originally Posted by HiWire

The MS-1 sounds excellent on an absolute level, whereas the the 7506 sounds good compared to stock car audio, etc. Bass is reasonably deep on the MS-1, and deeper with a good amp. You'll find that the MS-1 hits harder, and doesn't have that diffuse, woolly bass that is the hallmark of lesser headphones and speakers. Also, you'll notice that you're hearing more details and more musical flow from vocalists and instrumentalists - sounds are more authentic.

Many people are immediately disappointed by the MS-1 bass quantity when they are new, but they definitely improve over a prolonged listening period. It actually takes quite a while for them to settle into an optimal state, so be patient. This advice applies to most headphones, in general. The main weakness of the MS-1 is that the soundstage is much closer than in other headphones -I think of the soundstage as being in the first few rows of the audience rather than farther back.

Against much more expensive headphones, the MS-1 misses some of the detail and ambience in audiophile recordings, but you have to go a lot higher in the audio chain for this to start happening. It's the classic case of diminishing returns, and why the MS-1 is called the "gateway drug" at $100.

I find the MS-1 to be much more forgiving than the HP-2 for rock and pop music, which is why I mainly listen to the HP-2 with classical and jazz music. The MS-1 will have some trouble portraying the depth, placement and acoustics of something like a full orchestra using a portable's headphone output (e.g. my portable CD player or an MP3 player), which is why an amp is recommended. In general, I run my MS-1 directly out of my PCDP, and save the amp for the HP-2.

There have been recent comparisons of the MS-1 against the Grado SR-60 and up. In general, the MS-1 is considered slightly less bright and a bit less upfront in presentation. You probably won't go wrong either way, but I prefer the more neutral sound of the Alessandro headphones.

Thank you so much HiWire and others. You guys are great help! I'll order the MS-1 tonight hehe.