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325i or RS-2?

post #1 of 43
10/2/07 at 1:12pm
Thread Starter 
Can someone compare the sound signatures of these please?
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post #2 of 43
10/2/07 at 1:20pm
My RS2s will be here at the end of the week. I have owned the MS2is and SR325is previously. Hopefully I can help then.
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post #3 of 43
10/3/07 at 5:26pm
Thread Starter 
Bump!
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post #4 of 43
10/3/07 at 5:38pm
Owned them both. The RS-2 sounds polite in contrast to the rather brash and aggressive SR-325i. The SR-325i is brighter and IMO a bit more detailed. Its bass is harder hitting. Electric guitars sound more metallic and IMO more enjoyable. The RS-2 has a relatively more balanced, less fatiguing sound. It's very refined and perhaps more suitable for listening to Norah Jones or Jack Johnson than Guns 'N Roses. It doesn't feel as high energy as the SR325i, but certainly a very good pair of headphones for the more mellow stuff. The RS-2 is perhaps the more accurate, faithful-sounding of the two. Two rather different cans for slightly different sorts of music and mood.

I must say I found the SR-325i incredibly fatiguing when I first got them. I got headaches after the fifteen minutes. It took quite some time until my ears got used to the aggressive sound and from that point on, it was pure bliss. Dire Straits never sounded better. Also note that the SR325i have rather heavy enclosures. It strikes me as mad to put such a thin, underpadded headband on such a heavy pair of headphones. The Stax Lambda series feel much lighter, yet they've gone for the overkill-super-wide-headband.
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post #5 of 43
10/3/07 at 5:44pm
I am new at this, but hope this will help a little:
First time I listen to the 325i, wow, so clear, sharp and crisp. But after listen for an hour, my ears felt tired.
When put on the RS2, my head start rocking to the music, and I can listen for it much longer than the 325i.
Both have plenty of bass for me. There are number of reversible mods out there to increase bass.
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post #6 of 43
10/3/07 at 5:49pm
bunbut, I completely agree with you.

Regarding mods to increase bass: Yes, there are numerous. I for one hated the sound of bowls on the SR-325i. It sounded so congested and poorly balanced. No longer does one have the same "clear, sharp and crisp" sound that you speak of.
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post #7 of 43
10/3/07 at 5:54pm
The current issue of aluminum and wooden Grados and Alessandros all have the same wider headband width, starting about last September or a little earlier.

...gads! I've had my MS2i for over a year already!!
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post #8 of 43
10/3/07 at 5:54pm
I agree with milk except that I feel the detail of the RS-2 is just as good as the SR-325i. IMO, the bumped up treble accentuates details that normally in the background. The RS-2's still have all those details, but they just aren't as in-your-face as the 325i's.

I was trying to decide the same thing a while ago. After auditioning them at a store in a very nice listening room all to myself, there was no question that the RS-2 was a more enjoyable/superior headphone. My girlfriend was with me at the time and she agreed. (She has almost no hi-fi experience)
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post #9 of 43
10/3/07 at 6:01pm
don't have the sr325i, but i have the ms2i

the ms2i is a more rockin' can. it is way more upfront and aggressive. it is the clear cut winner when it comes to electricity of guitars, presentation of drums and bass hits.'

the rs2, on the other hand, is a warmer can

i think my ms2i is and will always be my favorite can
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post #10 of 43
10/3/07 at 6:37pm
rb67, I think the SR325i's more pronounced upper midrange give the illusion of increased resolution.
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post #11 of 43
10/3/07 at 6:45pm
I guess that was it

I definitely found the 325i's fatiguing even as a Grado lover It was just too 'harsh' for me and the housing is heavy.
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post #12 of 43
10/4/07 at 10:42am
Alessandro/Grado owned:
RS1 (new stock)
RS2 (vintage, no serial #, dark wook, old style lettering)
SR325i
MS2i
SR225
SR125
SR80
SR60

I spent all last nite with the RS2s being feed lossless via my D1 and usb. When I owned the RS1s and MS2is, I was using the MAD Ear with NOS tubes. People have stated that the vintage Grados have a different sound. The difference between the SR225 and RS2s was more pronounced than I had originally thought it would be. The RS2 is the darkest of the current lineup. It has a rich warm sound that makes listening easy. The lack of a percieved treble spike (like the SR325i) makes it seem not as detailed. I will say that all the details are there. There is also more weight and texture behind the bass when compared directly to the SR225. The MS2i with flats was a little bass monster. It did not feel like one note. If I where to rank the Grados I owned it would go like this:

RS2s (vintage)
RS1s (new stock)
MS2is (with flats)
SR325
SR80
SR125
SR60

This RS2 has a different feel than the RS1 and I for one rather enjoy it.

2 cents.
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post #13 of 43
10/4/07 at 7:00pm
Hi Dash,

I've spent time with all the models you own except for the MS-2i, and I'd agree with your ranking almost exactly (I'd probably take a 125 over and 80, but I'm not too keen on either). I think that within the Grado line, the RS-2 is underrated: every bit as good as an RS-1 (but in a different way, more agreeable and less analytical) and for my ears far superior to an SR-325i. But to be fair, in terms of Milkpowder's assessment, I'm more likely to be listening to something sonically more along the lines of Norah Jones or Jack Johnson than Guns 'N Roses.

Either way, though, I3eyond, I'd say your Audigy 2ZS is about to become a big bottleneck.
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post #14 of 43
10/4/07 at 7:16pm
I almost exclusively use RS-2s. My former roommate had the 325s and he later sold them for the RS-2s. We found them have a similar level of SQ overall, with the 325 more aggressive, possibly more accurate in the highs and the RS-2s more relaxed and warm while retaining accurate reproduction. (i.e. not warm in the cheap burr-brown signal blurring way.) The RS-2s won out for me as I prefer more classical music and strings which had a tendency to have too "bright" of highs. While my roommate prefered rock and music more favorable with the 325s, his final reason for selling the 325s was that they were too heavy for an already uncomfortable style of headphones.
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post #15 of 43
10/4/07 at 7:26pm
The RS-2 can do small chamber music and solo violin, depending on the brightness of the recording itself. For classical music, the RS-2 would definitely be the winner for reasons M_Bipartitus pointed out. Overall timbre may still be on the thin/bright side, but certainly acceptable. That said, I would probably pick some other headphone if one listened to mainly classical (eg HD580/600, K701, HD650, SR-404, etc).

Regarding the heaviness of the SR325(i), the use of the Beyerdynamic snap-on headband really helps alleviate the weighty feeling.
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