Reviews by Blue Boat
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Blue Boat

Blue Boat

Banned member koolkat.
Little Dot II+

Little Dot II+

Blue Boat
Pros: bang for buck, very warm tube sound
Cons: plastic volume knob but the enclosure is mostly metal.
Posting some pics on later.
 
Review moved to a further date. 
 
 
 
DSC01783.jpg
 
Acer laptop, Little Dot II+ and Grado SR60 on a really old platform
that was formerly used to hold the cassette playing part of the stereo system.
Not sure what it's called. The system was scrapped recently.
 
Acer 4740G > Little Dot II+ (3.5 to RCA) > SR60 
SR60 is in the process of a makeover. 
 
Will post better pics when I have the time. 
 
/workinprogress.
GotNoRice
GotNoRice
The Little-Dot I+ actually came out years after the Little-Dot II+. The Little-Dot II+ was the successor to the Little-Dot II.
Also, while the II++ solved the tube arcing issue (unplugging your headphones when you turn it on also "solves" this), it uses a completely different type of tubes. The II+ uses Directly Heated Triodes (actually Pentodes acting as Triodes) while the II++ uses Indirectly Heated Triodes. Most agree the II+ is more true to the classical tube sound for this reason.
Blue Boat
Blue Boat
Hey man, thanks for the comment. I really dig the warm sound the LD2+ has but I'm still trying to figure out what tubes I've got on... The seller tells me he's replace the smaller tubes with some old Mullard tubes. The lettering has kinda worn off, lol. Anyhow, I'm really new to this whole tube scene so I'll probably be documenting my thoughts on the SQ for the most part. I won't be continuing with this review as it might be a little misleading (me being new to tubes and all) for the rest so I'll just post some pics up here and continue my post in the Amps subforum.
Blue Boat

Blue Boat

Banned member koolkat.
Grado SR60i Headphones

Grado SR60i Headphones

Deleted member
Pros: rock and metal sounds great, quite affordable, can be modified easily
Cons: comfort - may not be for everyone
My set-up consists of my laptop running Windows 7, Fiio E7 and my SR60s. 
 
Sound quality
 
I never thought I'd ever get an eargasm. That changed when I got my Grado SR60. Out of the box, they sounded slightly too cold for my taste. I played some of my favourite tracks through them and I realised that the SR60's strengths lie in it's ability to reproduce electric guitar solos. The intro of Throes of Perdition by Trivium really brings out the monster in these cans. The Pixies' Where Is My Mind is also very well reproduced by these cans. 
 
Crazy as this may sound, I felt that the SR60 lacks sparkle in the higher frequencies. They respond well to equalisation, so I decided to sparkle up the highs by pushing the 4-10kHz bands up a few decibels. This also makes the headphones sound brighter at lower volume. The SR60 is also quite detailed, but it is not analytical. I would describe the whole sound signature as one that would make you headbang/toe-tap a lot.
 
Straight out of the box, the bass was slightly disappointing. The Grados definitely thump in bassier songs but the bass didn't linger around, making them unsuitable for genres like dubstep where you want to experience that cavernous drop. The musical presentation of the SR60 is very upfront and personal. They don't do 3D imaging very well, even with the Dolby headphone plugin. Not necessarily a bad thing, as I prefer an in-your-face presentation with most songs.
 
In a rather short side by side comparison with the SR225, the SR60 loses in terms of detail presentation. The SR225 has a slightly more airy sound to me, while the SR60 is a little more congested. The details are quite apparently if you focus on the music, otherwise they both sound really similar. Replacing my quarter modded yellow ear pads with L-Cush bowls made the SR60 sound a lot more like the SR225. With the bowls, I'd say the SR60s are 90% of the way there. 
 
Comfort
 
Out of the box, the comfort was... not there. The standard comfies Grado supplies you with are made of a really rough foam material and that was the main reason I got the yellow ear pads from Sennheiser. Clamping force hasn't changed much over 2 months but the metal piece under the vinyl head band can be easily shaped to make it less clampy. The SR60 is rather light, so weight is not an issue. The supra-aural design also prevents the heaty sensation you get from wearing closed circumaural headphones for too long.
 
Design
 
The design of the lower end Grados on the Prestige line is quite similar, apart from the circular button on the mesh and the cable. I like the retro/vintage-hip look of the Grados. I think the older non-i cups are better looking though. 
 
On the SR60 and other lower end Grados, the head band is made of vinyl. This isn't a big problem as the weight of these headphones are still relatively low. If I ever shaved my head, I would get a leather head band from jmoney or jinteddy. But vinyl's fine at the moment.
 
Driving them with Clip+
 
Not advisable. The SR60 is quite sensitive and can reach very high volume on a small portable mp3 player like the Clip+ but the audio quality is not as good as plugging it into a PC. The SR60 also does well when paired with an amplifier or a better DAC - less hiss, cleaner presentation.
 
 
For those looking for a good headphone within a $100 budget, I would definitely recommend the SR60. You can even upgrade your Grados bit by bit, part by part as you go along. Wood shells, alu-shells, Magnum drivers, custom head bands, etc. 
 
 
 
 
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