[wormsdriver]

 

[jaywillin]

y'all know me better than i know myself

 

[stacker45]

  Damn the PS1000 were sold for 1000$ when they were being discontinued , and if they are better than the PS1000e , then they were an amazing deal.
But ,i don't understand how is it possible for the PS1000e to be worst then the PS1000, why would a company replace a good product with a newer and worst version, especially considering the new and bigger drivers, that should sound much better

 
Grado did not ''replace a good product with a newer and worst version''. They've replaced a good product, with another good, but different product.

  some think the ps1000e is better, some don't, just a matter of taste

 
Ah!, the voice of reason.

   
As a person who spent many a tormented hour comparing the PS1000 and PS1000e (really, I lost sleep and nearly got fired from my job because of it), I can tell you that they are obviously from the same Grado pedigree ... but at the same time, rather different in what they focus on.
 
The original PS1000 has a quite noticeably colored, affected quality, almost like a "built in" EQ setting with the bands set to a "U shape" ... a definite emphasis on the highs and also a spike in bass; the midrange on both are about the same if you ask me, typical rich and forward Grado midrange (unlike the more recessed GS1000 midrange).
 
The newer PS1000e takes that above mentioned "U shaped" eq setting and flattens it out. The PS1000e is far more neutral and "flat" sounding than the more colored, more affected PS1000. Certain folks will prefer one over the other. Myself? I ended up preferring the more lively, energetic PS1000 over the PS1000e.
 
I've read many times here and other places that the PS1000e, supposedly has better sub bass but I didn't hear it with my particular pair of PS1000e's .. in fact, I found the bass to be almost "sucked out" with the "e" version; I've very near ordered another pair of the PS1000e's, on more than one occasion, just to see if perhaps I had a weird pair cause the bass was almost anemic compared to the PS1000's ...
 
Fans of neutrality will definitely prefer the PS1000e as they really are rather clinically "flat" to my ear (or were) ...
 
I may still order a new pair of PS1000e's ... just to put to rest some questions I still have about comparing the two ... and I'll post some thoughts here if I should ...

 
Wow!, I have compared the PS1000, and the PS1000e side by side, and after 3 days, I decided to keep my old PS1000, and I've never looked back. I liked the deeper bass and the more forgiving nature of the e, but I ended up preferring the PS1000's more exiting sound, and they were also more comfortable than the e who's drivers were pressing on my ears.

  Don't worry, the PS1000e are the better headphones. If you want a more "U" presentation with bass that isn't as deep (and with a tad more distortion) and treble that's a bit more sizzly, then I guess you need to search out a used pair of PS1000s. 

 
Don't worry, the PS1000 are the better headphones. If you want to pay a lot more for headphones that have bass that's more bloated, and a treble that has a bit less extension, and are less comfortable, then I guess you need to buy a pair of PS1000e.

 
That is what I could've written, instead I decided to write the following.
 
In my opinion, the PS1000 and the PS1000e are both very good, but slightly different sounding headphones. they're a lot more similar then they are different. I think that when you get to a certain price point, say $500-$600, the law of diminishing returns is such, that one could prefer $800 headphones, to a pair costing $1600. Case in point, some people prefer the RS1, and RS1i to the GS and PS1000.
 
The way I see it, newer means different, but not necessarilly better, case in point the RS1e. I think that most people would agree that the RS1, and RS1i, were Grado's most popular models, while the new RS1e is now their least popular model.
 
In the end, I think that it's almost never a question of right or wron, or good or bad, I think that it's mostly a question of budget, system synergy, and personal taste.

 

[Chris Ihao]

Grado did not ''replace a good product with a newer and worst version''. They've replaced a good product, with another good, but different product.
...
In the end, I think that it's almost never a question of right or wron, or good or bad, I think that it's mostly a question of budget, system synergy, and personal taste.

Clap clap clap! Exactly.

Although I bought a 3-400 usd HD650 set today, I wouldn't say that the PS1000's are SOOOO much better. If I had to choose between one of the sets, yes; I would take the PS1000's, but I sure am glad I dont have to. The point is that the misc headphones I own fills different specific roles, or work as allrounders, and some have similar functions but perform them differently. Admittedly, I have divorced some of my older sets, as I have grown to appreciate more finesse, but those are in the price region of 50 bucks and down. I surely wouldnt call a flattened out version of the PS1000's, or the HD650's (HD600), "bad" or "worse", but I rather take pleasure in knowing that others find what they want (or need), by having different models available. God knows the PS1000i's will be in circulation for a few years still, before fading out of existence.

Btw: A principal when mixing music, or audio in general, is to listen to music from lots of different sources. This can be ultra-expensive monitors or headsets, good everyday living room speakers, cheap commuter headphones like the included iphone buds, laptop and tv speakers or old radios from the 70's. Every source will play music differently, and many times I have realized how messed up a mix I have been working on actually is, as the mono Tivoli radio in the bathroom makes my music sound like I have made a distasteful soup with badly measured ingredients overshadowing each others tastes, and floating around purposelessly. I would go as far as to say that listening to lo-fi sources now and then is healthy, just to appreciate how fantastic music actually is in itself, and reminding ourselves how ridiculously lucky we are to be in a position where we can seriously consider owning a ps1000, no matter what vocal it ends in.

 

[cute]

Well, I did it, even though I thought the PS1000 was very good stock.  I have 5 aftermarket cables here that are very good, with mini xlr's.  I cut the stock cable 4" from the cups and installed male mini xlr's so I could use all of my cables, just to see what differences I hear.  Interesting results, I preferred each of the aftermarket cables better than the stock cables, each one having slight changes.  I did find one that to my ears was a perfect match for my setup.  It offers tighter bass, less mid bass, more sub bass, smoother treble, slightly less extended, but still all the details are there.  Mids are fantastic expecially vocals, female vocals.  I must admit I wasn't expecting much of a difference in sound, but I believe the PS1000 has scaled up a bit to suit my sound signature.  Must say the LCD-X has gone to the FS forum, PS1000 over the top in this shoot out!

 

[ksb643]

How hard was it to do the mod? Do you have pics? And how does it compare to the 560's. Sorry for all the questions!!

 

[cute]

  How hard was it to do the mod? Do you have pics? And how does it compare to the 560's. Sorry for all the questions!!

I'm a seasoned cable builder for the last three years. I wouldn't attempt to do the mod unless you have experience and the tools needed.  Also, you would want to make sure you have a good aftermarket cable, and the rest of your gears are up to the task.  Stock cable is pretty good, you may need to make a considerable investment to squeeze that last bit of quality sound, best to do DAC/Amp upgrades, as if you haven't your money would be best spent there!

 

[ksb643]

 
I'm a seasoned cable builder for the last three years. I wouldn't attempt to do the mod unless you have experience and the tools needed.  Also, you would want to make sure you have a good aftermarket cable, and the rest of your gears are up to the task.  Stock cable is pretty good, you may need to make a considerable investment to squeeze that last bit of quality sound, best to do DAC/Amp upgrades, as if you haven't your money would be best spent there!

Yes that makes sense. I got in on the Cavalli Liquid Carbon pre sale, and I definitely need to upgrade my dac.
Thanks

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Anybody have any experience with the Little Dot Mark III or Earmax Standard and the PS1000?

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
Grado did not ''replace a good product with a newer and worst version''. They've replaced a good product, with another good, but different product.
 
Ah!, the voice of reason.

 
Wow!, I have compared the PS1000, and the PS1000e side by side, and after 3 days, I decided to keep my old PS1000, and I've never looked back. I liked the deeper bass and the more forgiving nature of the e, but I ended up preferring the PS1000's more exiting sound, and they were also more comfortable than the e who's drivers were pressing on my ears.
 
Don't worry, the PS1000 are the better headphones. If you want to pay a lot more for headphones that have bass that's more bloated, and a treble that has a bit less extension, and are less comfortable, then I guess you need to buy a pair of PS1000e.

 

 
It is hard to justify the price difference for the "e"...I however am happy that I did the "upgrade". With regards to the bass...you really should hear the PS1000/PS1000e through the GS-X Mk2...the "e"'s go a tad lower and have less "bloat" that leaks into the mids.  In terms of extension, both are about the same, but the older PS1000 has it a bit louder (and the mids sounded a bit pushed back in comparison). So if one prefers a more fun "U" like presentation, the originals are the way to go. If however one prefers a more "flat" or "natural" sound, then the "e". That said, if you only buy new, your kinda stuck with the latter. However, BOTH are still Grado's and sound as such and are great headphones to "rock out with".
 
In terms of comfort, with my ears and noggin', they were interchangeable. 

 

[stacker45]

   
It is hard to justify the price difference for the "e"...I however am happy that I did the "upgrade". With regards to the bass...you really should hear the PS1000/PS1000e through the GS-X Mk2...the "e"'s go a tad lower and have less "bloat" that leaks into the mids.  In terms of extension, both are about the same, but the older PS1000 has it a bit louder (and the mids sounded a bit pushed back in comparison). So if one prefers a more fun "U" like presentation, the originals are the way to go. If however one prefers a more "flat" or "natural" sound, then the "e". That said, if you only buy new, your kinda stuck with the latter. However, BOTH are still Grado's and sound as such and are great headphones to "rock out with".
 
In terms of comfort, with my ears and noggin', they were interchangeable. 

 
I don't always agree with you, but this time I do. One advantage that the e has over the PS1000, that I forgot to mention, is that the e will play louder, at the same volume setting. I have always thought that the PS1000 has an effortless way about them, and I think that it's even more so, with the e.
 
As far as comfort goes, I'm sure that you've seen the pictrue that I took at my dealer's, where my salseman is showing us the inside of the earpads. The PS1ke that I've tried had drivers that stuck out about 3/16'' from the earcups. This combined with my Grado size, (smallish), ears, had for effect that the drivers were pressing against my ears.
 
I understand that not everyone will have comfort issues, however, I felt that it's important enough, that's why I wrote about it in my PS1000e impressions post.
 
In the end, I see the PS1000e as a sidestep from the PS1000, wich is usually what happends when manufacturers come out with new models at this level. When I write a post, I try choose my words carefully, in order to be as accurate as I can be, and also, not to offend anyone. Having said that, I think that, on some on aspects, the PS1000e are better than the old PS1000, while on other aspecs, (that just happend to be more important to me), the PS1000 gets the nod, and are therefore, my favorite of the two.
 
Oh! and if I had to give a general rating of the all the SR, RS, and PS models of both the e, vs i serie, I'd give a rating of 70% vs 30% in favor of the e serie. This goes to show you, that I'm not biased.

 

[ElMarcado]

   
I was mentioning to another Head-fi member the other day that the PS1000's are among the only headphones that I've ever been able to very clearly visualize a true and defined 3D image of the players of any given recording, out *in front* of me ... much like a good speaker system will allow.
 
All other headphones I've tried, including Stax, fail at this ... with the "image" always being (strangely) behind me or above me or "in the head" ... but the PS1000's put the players out in front of me as though I were watching a performance (unless of course the recording is done with strange and odd pannings and isolated instruments in either ear like lots of Beatles recordings).  
 
This remarkably speaker like effect is super nice with certain orchestral bits ... 
 
I have a Vivaldi recording (Concertos & Symphonies for Strings) which is just *ludicrously* well recorded and I swear, I was just listening earlier and it's as though I were front row, looking down over a "pit orchestra" ... with the myriad players all easily imagined from left to right and with a clear sense of being in front of me ... so cool.
 
Haven't heard another headphone that can do that (maybe the HD800 but still not as fleshy and organic to me as the PS1000).

I feel'd the same about my SR325is when i had them. They where (and still is) the only headphone that sounded like first-row real-life. I do not like Sennheisers, i find them dry and unnatural, and i suspect that i'll feel the same about Stax. Well, Grado is the way to go.  

 

[Chris Ihao]

I feel'd the same about my SR325is when i had them. They where (and still is) the only headphone that sounded like first-row real-life. I do not like Sennheisers, i find them dry and unnatural, and i suspect that i'll feel the same about Stax. Well, Grado is the way to go.  

Well, this may seem weird, but the PS1000's are actually TOO good for causual listening, imho. This means that I prefer my HD650's or M50's during "everyday activities". The PS1000's, on the other hand, begs for my full attention, and I usually just close my eyes and drift into the music whenever I listen to them. I agreed 100% in your statements regarding the soundstage though. It is quite unique in that aspect.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Well, this may seem weird, but the PS1000's are actually TOO good for causual listening, imho. This means that I prefer my HD650's or M50's during "everyday activities". The PS1000's, on the other hand, begs for my full attention, and I usually just close my eyes and drift into the music whenever I listen to them. I agreed 100% in your statements regarding the soundstage though. It is quite unique in that aspect.

This is true, if I am writing with the PS1k on I have to listen to boring music!

 

[stacker45]

This is true, if I am writing with the PS1k on I have to listen to boring music!

 
I mainly use my PS1k for critical listening, I don't see the point of subjecting myself to their substantial weight, if I can't tell you the title of the song that just ended, because I'm captivated by something else, internet, for instance.