Alright, initial impressions after an hour or two of listening (I just put the 950s on):
PRaT. That should be their name. No Grado, No Reference Series 1, just PRaT PRaT-1 by PRaT Labs. Nothing I threw at them seemed to trip them up, but anything that has an emotional component is instantly brought to the surface. They're bright, but not harsh, sibilant, trashy, etc - they walk a very thin line there. They don't fall off into the land of the PRO2900, T70, and SR-325 and get harsh and papery with sibilant/clashy sounding material, but they don't go the route of the MDR-SA5000 and end up sounding ice cold either.
Fit is actually really a lot better than I expected; the pads are fairly soft (and I think the heat had something to do with this; devouringone, or anyone else who knows - if I throw the pads in my dryer for a while will it loosen them up?), and they fit snugly. They clamp quite a bit, I tried bending the headband some, and it seemed to relieve it some, but I'm paranoid about breaking them apart in my hands (I've seen too many people do this with glasses
h34r
; I'm assuming it will loosen with time though (just like the HD 580s' steel band did). It isn't really obtrusive, but it's a huge departure from the ESP/950s (which are as clampy as a wet noodle); they certainly stay on your head. I'm thinking 7-10 hour sessions are probably not feasible at this point, but it's not due to the sound.
Build quality on my pair is the best Grado I've actually yet seen (no idea how I rolled a 20 on that one) - the CJC, jack, extension bits, ear-cup joints, etc all look correct and there's no random crimps, solder burns, melted bits, etc that I'm kind of used to seeing on Grados (has their QC generally gone up in recent years?). The headband/gimbals are suitable for what they need to do, and despite the cable being thicker than a CAT6 patch cable it's incredibly flexible. The extension cable feels softer and more flexible though (I don't get why - according to the specs they're the same thing).
More into the sound, they really seem to hit the "more emotional and musical with details and speed" sweet-spot compared to the 950. Both are technically excellent, the 950s are more of the teacher's pet, the RS-1 more the class clown. Both attract a lot of attention and probably end up with good marks at the end of the day, but for opposite reasons. The RS-1 seem to be able to move relatively fast, but not quite with the effortless panache of the 950. The bass is boosted up a bit, and impacts relatively hard, but it decays quickly and is fairly tight - sort of what I imagine the PRO2900 is attempting to be. The treble is boosted up quite a lot, and still manages to be enjoyable. It's not "twangy" or "clashy" to the ears, it's just BRIGHT. But it's not a nuclear explosion bright (like the MDR-SA5000), it's more of a basking-in-the-summer-sun kind of radiance. The mids seem to be hit or miss, a lot like the 950 and F1 actually - tracks that I highly regard with those two are rendered beautiful, but tracks that lack a great string/vocal/etc presence are somewhat hum-drum. So they can do it, but it's really on the material being played. They don't seem as brutally unforgiving of compression as the F1s are (the F1s are honestly the pickiest headphones, speakers, etc that I've ever heard when it comes to compression artefacts - even the PRO2900 were more forgiving :eek
, probably more on-par with the ESP or K701 - if it's crap they'll let you know about it, but they won't ruin the entire experience if it can be helped.
Compared to the 950, they have a smaller stage, less effortless sound, and more involved overall presentation. The 950s, by contrast, seem "aloof" or "spaced out" running through the same material - sort of "yeah, I can do this, and do it right, but do I really NEED to; haven't I played this song once already? wasn't that time good enough?" Thus far they really do seem to complement each other - neither is really "wrong" but they're certainly not the same. Clamping aside I'm seeing these as definite keepers (and I wish I could remember if the 225s were clampy out of the box or not; I don't remember the pads being this soft).
Oh, and I STILL do not get the "Grados are the be-all end-all for rock" mantra. I don't feel like they do anything particularly world-changing compared to the family ESP or a few Ultrasone models; they're good, but c'mon...it's not live. I think it's just a disservice to them (and Grado cans in general) that they've been so completely type-cast as "rock cans" over the years; and I remember feeling similarly about the GS-1000 and SR-225 years ago. They do a lot more than Eddie Van Halen and Cheap Trick.
EDIT
So I put the RS-1s back on for a "quick moment" to test one track before turning in for the night. That was an hour ago. These have a new name, instead of PRaT - frome henceforth they shall be known as the Succubus. Literally, trivial concerns like time, work, eating, sleeping, personal hygiene, etc all seem immaterial compared to listening to these cans.
