Ever since Ive been back into Grados around 2004 from having them on and off for ten years, it was really the first time I paid attention to how each pad affected performance on them. I have been satisfied by sr80s before that came stock with flat pads in 1994 and sr60s which came with comfies already in the late 90s but never really thought about why I felt the 80s were so much better than the sr60s to me at the time.
Then headfi came into my life in 2004... sorry about my wallet. Since reading the endless posts about different pads having different sound characteristics Ive always been wondering how each pad would make the sr60s sound and whether the sr60s with preferred pads could sound better to me than even the higher grados using the wrong pads. Well, sure enough that was the case. I found that I prefer even the less refined sr60s using flats to 325s using bowls just because the bowls add an unnatural effect to the upper mids that I really detest. Flats have their flaws too. Flats make the grados fart cannons with their bloated bass that makes the headphones also sound dark as an effect of having more bass. The stock comfies are okay in that they give a decent balance from lows to highs but lack the slightly bigger soundstage and detail of the bowls... Hmmm Now I was wondering how I could get a good middle ground. I tried quarter modded comfies(added a hole in the comfies) to get more treble... ehh it didnt quite work. It added clarity but also gave a less damped and more raucous sound. So I flipped the comfies with a hole in the center backwards... This type making the hole larger so that it could be done... I ended up with a better soundstage wow... I guess this mod makes the comfies equivalent to the yellow senn pad mod for the grados but in the end still found that the grados had a plasticky tone that was enhanced with those pads. Ok so now I was thinking what is this reversed bowls they were talking about... I flipped over the bowls to get the flat side to touch the ears and the concave part fixed to the frame. Now were talking... back to a more balanced sound like the comfies but with more detail than comfies and no more annoying upper mids that the standard fitted bowls sound. Ok I was satisfied for a few days then got the itch for other cans. THE END
Nope hehehe Joke only. Not the end yet. After some time has passed and having better cans around, going back to sr60s with whatever pad configuration I knew was not a satisfying experience and would make me always return the cans in the closet within five minutes of listening. I just couldnt stand the colorations typical of grados anymore. Then I was thinking well, I need to hear Kens rs1 during the EB in Manila to see if I am really done with Grados or not. Then came the day the meet came... RS1 on my head... less than 20 seconds I take it off because I hear the sound of the bowls that I instantly recognize. So before even getting used to the signature and appreciating the rs1s for the headphone that they are, I instantly gave up because I knew the sound of the bowls would always bother me in the end. So now I'm really thinking... Either my ears just dont match with grado/bowl combination or Grado just hasnt really put much thought into always redesigning his pads. I am not a headphone designer and might not qualify to say that grado needs to do more research about the pads but I know coloration when I hear it. It doesnt matter what grado it is, put bowl pads you get bowl sound, period.
So last night, I was just reminiscing about the meet in Manila and was thinking hey what was that sock pad I saw on a grado woody?! It was the MSpro. I didnt even think to try it at the time but keep seeing it on the meet pics. So I made myself some sock pads like those and fit them on my sr60. oohh wow bass! tight and lots of it! maybe too much hehehe and the details are too smoothed out. Maybe different material socks will matter but maybe also it is just the density of a whole length of rolled socks that keep the bass in there. Ok then I moved on and thought oh yeah... Density of pads=more bass/dynamics with the grados from remembering that the flats(more dense material) were more bassy than modded comfies(softer material) even though they had the same hole in the middle. Then I also remember people in headfi saying taped bowls add more bass. I'm guessing the tape makes it leak less bass out making the pads act like its denser. I said to myself theres one more pad configuration I havent tried (except for beyer C-pads). What about bowls inside out? instead of flipped over??? I did just that. So now the inside part of the pads are what shows out and not the back which was the reversed bowls I used to call. I wasnt really sure what they meant by reversed bowls in headfi but was thinking it was that backwards bowl with the square side pointing out.
Anyway, now with the inside of the bowls out instead of backward bowls(sort of like comparing a tshirt with the inside seams showing out vs just using it backward where the print goes to your back instead of the front) The sound is magnifico!!!! hehehe a little hyperbole there but now my sr60s are actually quite the performer. I havent listened to music this long from them for a long time. They have the bowls detail without the upper mids/lower treble nuisance. They have the flats punch without the overly bloated bass and the balance is better than the comfies with a little better soundstage to boot WOW, I'm impressed!!!
I really feel that listening to them this way is a step towards the right direction. I only wonder what this pad configuration will do to the higher end grados!!! :P
here is my sr60 with the bowls inside out...
Then headfi came into my life in 2004... sorry about my wallet. Since reading the endless posts about different pads having different sound characteristics Ive always been wondering how each pad would make the sr60s sound and whether the sr60s with preferred pads could sound better to me than even the higher grados using the wrong pads. Well, sure enough that was the case. I found that I prefer even the less refined sr60s using flats to 325s using bowls just because the bowls add an unnatural effect to the upper mids that I really detest. Flats have their flaws too. Flats make the grados fart cannons with their bloated bass that makes the headphones also sound dark as an effect of having more bass. The stock comfies are okay in that they give a decent balance from lows to highs but lack the slightly bigger soundstage and detail of the bowls... Hmmm Now I was wondering how I could get a good middle ground. I tried quarter modded comfies(added a hole in the comfies) to get more treble... ehh it didnt quite work. It added clarity but also gave a less damped and more raucous sound. So I flipped the comfies with a hole in the center backwards... This type making the hole larger so that it could be done... I ended up with a better soundstage wow... I guess this mod makes the comfies equivalent to the yellow senn pad mod for the grados but in the end still found that the grados had a plasticky tone that was enhanced with those pads. Ok so now I was thinking what is this reversed bowls they were talking about... I flipped over the bowls to get the flat side to touch the ears and the concave part fixed to the frame. Now were talking... back to a more balanced sound like the comfies but with more detail than comfies and no more annoying upper mids that the standard fitted bowls sound. Ok I was satisfied for a few days then got the itch for other cans. THE END
Nope hehehe Joke only. Not the end yet. After some time has passed and having better cans around, going back to sr60s with whatever pad configuration I knew was not a satisfying experience and would make me always return the cans in the closet within five minutes of listening. I just couldnt stand the colorations typical of grados anymore. Then I was thinking well, I need to hear Kens rs1 during the EB in Manila to see if I am really done with Grados or not. Then came the day the meet came... RS1 on my head... less than 20 seconds I take it off because I hear the sound of the bowls that I instantly recognize. So before even getting used to the signature and appreciating the rs1s for the headphone that they are, I instantly gave up because I knew the sound of the bowls would always bother me in the end. So now I'm really thinking... Either my ears just dont match with grado/bowl combination or Grado just hasnt really put much thought into always redesigning his pads. I am not a headphone designer and might not qualify to say that grado needs to do more research about the pads but I know coloration when I hear it. It doesnt matter what grado it is, put bowl pads you get bowl sound, period.
So last night, I was just reminiscing about the meet in Manila and was thinking hey what was that sock pad I saw on a grado woody?! It was the MSpro. I didnt even think to try it at the time but keep seeing it on the meet pics. So I made myself some sock pads like those and fit them on my sr60. oohh wow bass! tight and lots of it! maybe too much hehehe and the details are too smoothed out. Maybe different material socks will matter but maybe also it is just the density of a whole length of rolled socks that keep the bass in there. Ok then I moved on and thought oh yeah... Density of pads=more bass/dynamics with the grados from remembering that the flats(more dense material) were more bassy than modded comfies(softer material) even though they had the same hole in the middle. Then I also remember people in headfi saying taped bowls add more bass. I'm guessing the tape makes it leak less bass out making the pads act like its denser. I said to myself theres one more pad configuration I havent tried (except for beyer C-pads). What about bowls inside out? instead of flipped over??? I did just that. So now the inside part of the pads are what shows out and not the back which was the reversed bowls I used to call. I wasnt really sure what they meant by reversed bowls in headfi but was thinking it was that backwards bowl with the square side pointing out.
Anyway, now with the inside of the bowls out instead of backward bowls(sort of like comparing a tshirt with the inside seams showing out vs just using it backward where the print goes to your back instead of the front) The sound is magnifico!!!! hehehe a little hyperbole there but now my sr60s are actually quite the performer. I havent listened to music this long from them for a long time. They have the bowls detail without the upper mids/lower treble nuisance. They have the flats punch without the overly bloated bass and the balance is better than the comfies with a little better soundstage to boot WOW, I'm impressed!!!
I really feel that listening to them this way is a step towards the right direction. I only wonder what this pad configuration will do to the higher end grados!!! :P
here is my sr60 with the bowls inside out...
