Hifiman HE-500 or Grado PS500 - Page 3

As i have stated in other posts,i've had the PS-500 and the RS1i for two weeks,thanks again to my very understanding dealer,and i agree with the statement that the 500 bring you very close to the 1000 for, A LOT, less money,the main differences are,a slightly wider soundstage and a little more percievable high frequency extension,with the 1000.

And Focker is right,our hobby is subjective,so many things will affect our opinions regarding components,we all have different sound systems,wich may, or may not ''marry'' well with headphones of certain brands,or models,the kind of music we listen to,the type of sound we like,some will like more treble some more bass etc...and last but not least,our hearing,wich changes with age,so,that's why i think,a little diplomacy in our comments,goes a long way in keeping the forums clean and objective.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stacker45 

As i have stated in other posts,i've had the PS-500 and the RS1i for two weeks,thanks again to my very understanding dealer,and i agree with the statement that the 500 bring you very close to the 1000 for, A LOT, less money,the main differences are,a slightly wider soundstage and a little more percievable high frequency extension,with the 1000.

 

And Focker is right,our hobby is subjective,so many things will affect our opinions regarding components,we all have different sound systems,wich may, or may not ''marry'' well with headphones of certain brands,or models,the kind of music we listen to,the type of sound we like,some will like more treble some more bass etc...and last but not least,our hearing,wich changes with age,so,that's why i think,a little diplomacy in our comments,goes a long way in keeping the forums clean and objective.

I'm going to have such a hard time deciding between the PS500 and the RS1s when the time comes....I'm glad I love the 325s as much as I do so that I don't have to worry about making that decision now :) 

I'm actually leaning away from going toward HifiMan or Audez'e phones, mainly because I own some of the best planar speakers on earth and I kind of prefer having headphones with dynamic drivers instead. I do want to audition offerings from both companies, but I'm happy as a pig in poop with the Grado/Beyerdynamic combo.

Two week ago i had the chance to listen to both HifiMan and Audez at the annual Montréal 'Son et Image Festival',and i really liked the Audez LCD-3,i'm not sure if that is the exact model number,as far as HifiMan goes,the one that surprised me most by it's price/performance ratio,was the HE-400,i also got a chance to audition Beyerdynamics T1 ,wich to be honnest didn't impress me,some AKG-701 wich i tought were very well built and not only sounded good but looked more expensive than they really are,and finally,i heard a great version of Hallelujah on some Stax 007,wich ended up beeing my favorite among all the headphones on display.

As you can see,even if i own,and love Grados,i'm not a fanboy,there are a lot of great sounding headphones out there,and i say,the more choice we have,the better,in the end tough,we have to make a decision,and in my opinion you can't go wrong with either the RS1i or the PS-500,

Oh!,i almost forgot,with the RS1i you get the 15' extension,and the 1/8 adaptor.

If you heard the audeze at the SSI, it was probably the lcd2. I didn't see and lcd3's anywhere unfortunately.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dleblanc343 

If you heard the audeze at the SSI, it was probably the lcd2. I didn't see and lcd3's anywhere unfortunately.

No,it was definately the lcd3 and they were right next to the lcd2

Oh snap! How did I miss that. It's the only headphone I haven't tried yet 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by stacker45 

No,it was definately the lcd3 and they were right next to the lcd2

 

 

Honestly, I would look at the he400 for the kind of music that you mention. Better price and a more fun to listen to IMO.  You can read my impressions here...

http://www.head-fi.org/t/604583/hifiman-he-400-review#post_8289305

I agree the HE-400 are very impressive,for the price

Quote:

Originally Posted by stacker45 

 

 

As you can see,even if i own,and love Grados,i'm not a fanboy,there are a lot of great sounding headphones out there,and i say,the more choice we have,the better,in the end tough,we have to make a decision,and in my opinion you can't go wrong with either the RS1i or the PS-500,

 

Oh!,i almost forgot,with the RS1i you get the 15' extension,and the 1/8 adaptor.

Amen. I love that this hobby often affords the option of having more than one headphone. I love Grados first and foremost, but I love my T1s, too. I don't think I'll ever have *just* Grados in house...I like having at least one other option.

HE 500 is very good!!!! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Head Injury 

Grados are for the most part antiques. The design hasn't really changed in decades, disregarding the GS1000 and PS1000 which both receive equal parts adoration and hate. They're still around because people buy them, often as a first headphone, and get sucked into the hype of the "Grado" sound. They measure pretty embarrassingly for high-end products. In fact, their low and high end products measure almost identically with the same pads, as far as distortion and frequency response go.

 

The last thing I would call a Grado is ergonomic and durable. You have to be joking. Heavy as they are, my LCD-2 are far more comfortable than Grados, either bowl or comfy pads.

 

Audeze and Hifiman have been around for a couple years now, their products measure well and have subjective praise behind them as well. Plus, they actually do real research and development, rather than pump the same drivers out in different material enclosures now and then.

Agree with this completely. Boggle's me how Grado can charge so much.

I don't usually waste time anwering stupid posts from fanboys like these,but yours if so full of sh&t,i guess i'll make an exeption.

Grados antiques? in what way,i mean unless i'm mistaking,human ears aven't change form for a while,so what do you want them to do,change the color every year,so that peoples will be motivated to buy the latest color craze?,i mean,are you buying hearings or headphones,by the way,antique seems to work for Mcintosh,why not Grado?

Now,you say that peoples often buy the GS-1000,PS-1000 as their first phones,ARE YOU FOR REAL,peoples don't usually buy $1000 to $1800,maybe were you live,but not in my part of the world.

You also talk about peoples getting sucked into the hype of the Grado sound,i believe you either like what you hear or you don't,give peoples some credits,and about the fact that ''they measure pretty embarrassingly'',i don't listen to mesurements,i listen to music.

Alright what else did you complain about,ah yes! the weight,''heavy as they are'' aside from the PS-1000,name me one model that's heavy,what are you,a little girl?.

Oh i almost forgot,you also talk about reliability,that may be the case,but from what i've read,you're precious Audez and HifiMan,have had their share of problems too.

I'd like to end this on a positive note,even tough i own 4 pairs of Grados,i'm not a ''Grado fanboy'',i like other brands as well,the Senns HD-700/800,Audez LCD-2/3,HIfiMan HE-400/500,Stax 007/009,but like i've said before,in the end,we all have to make choices,and as long as we are happy,with the choices we make,it's all that matters,some of you might not agree with my choice,and that's ok,sometimes we have to ''agree to disagree'',but as long as we just give our opinion,and don't try to force it on peoples,i think we'll be alright.

In the end,we're all in this for the same reaso,the love of music.Ahhh!...i feel better now.

IMO the truth behind all this fuss is that GradosLab designed a driver and then a line of drivers with one of the most praised-for set of colourations (if anyone argues that Grado's have no distinctive colourations then they are being ignorant), that worked wonderfully for music they are aimed at, and they simply built upon that.

A quite different approach from what most other headphone developers do, but it has worked all these decades of Grado's history and there is no reason (it would in fact be detrimental) to suddenly call for upheaval.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg 

IMO the truth behind all this fuss is that GradosLab designed a driver and then a line of drivers with one of the most praised-for set of colourations (if anyone argues that Grado's have no distinctive colourations then they are being ignorant), that worked wonderfully for music they are aimed at, and they simply built upon that.

 

A quite different approach from what most other headphone developers do, but it has worked all these decades of Grado's history and there is no reason (it would in fact be detrimental) to suddenly call for upheaval.

I agree,altough they have departed from the ''Grado house sound'' with the GS-1000 the PS-500/1000.

By the way,i see you have the HE-400,i had a chance to listen to them at,the Montréal Son et Image festival,and i was very impressed by them,especially at the price they go for.

 Way I see it - 2012 is the year of the magnetic planar - but not for the reasons you might imagine.

 As everybody knows HiFi-Man and Audeze have had their gear on the market for a few years now, what interests me is that up until

 now the big Hi-Fi boys have yet to really award any adulation - The What Hi Fi, Stereo Choice, <Add your favorite International

 Publication Here> seems to have remained tight lipped.

 I spent a bit of time trying to find any respectable magazine or long standing audio-gear review body that has heaped praise on

 the new of magnetic planars and without trying to get a rise out of the planar fan boys - I found nothing - squat, nada, zero.

 This presents with an interesting scenario now for 2012 - Will this be the year that these magazines and their critics finally

 sign in with all the Head-Fi praise, have the Hi-Fi guys just been bottling it up waiting to unleash a tidal wave of awards?

 Given this HUGE disparity of acclaim between the Head-Fi world and the land of Hi-Fi and assuming that this year is

 not the year of the magnetic planar, then we're faced with only two logical possibilities :-

 1) It's all a conspiracy - The Hi-Fi mags refuse to acknowledge the superiority from HiFiMan and Audeze's efforts, through a secret

 intricate underbelly of collusion - the likes of AKG, Sennheiser and Grado will continue to collect awards and the worthy

 new contenders will again be shunned - forever damned to live in the shadows as mere curious artefacts of audio technology.

 This cover up is so large and ingrained - it puts the 9/11 conspirators to shame.

 or

 2) How about getting off the Head-Fi hype train and actually thinking about why this is so? Maybe, just maybe - guys who

 earn a living listening to $30,000 speakers all day - don't actually think much of these magnetic planars and actually prefer

 other current dynamic offerings.

 Let's see what happens towards the end of 2012.