Jay Sullivan
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2016
- Posts
- 14
- Likes
- 25
Hi all,
I found the most bizarre stroke of luck the other day. I may be selling my hd600’s soon as a result… Hard to say that but it's true.
BACKROUND:
I have two other district flavors of headphones I like, for opposite reasons, with the neutrality of the 600’s sitting in-between them. I have $15 amazon basic’s on ears for the excellent bump and vibration of the bass, expected from such a consumer-oriented headset. I also have grade 60e’s, which are great critical, analysis headphones that plug into a phone. I also find the meh QC-15 bose I have to be, well, meh, but only on low power mode and when properly amped and with a slight driver grille mod.
Thats a big price range, $15-$400.
MOD:
The other day, I felt adventurous and, for no scientific reason, “modded” (strong word for a small -physical- change) my Grado headphones by removing the foamie ear cups with the amazon basic’s pleather ones. this included placing small dots of appliance bumpers, each less than a centimeter wide, around the periphery of the driver grille to keep the amazon basic’s cushions from “squeaking” (a problem I found before playing music, upon trying the fit) against the Grado chassis.
TEST:
Plugged into iPhone (Tidal). Turned on the brightest mix I knew of (Live for the Night by Krewella… boring/cheesy, I know, but the master on this album IMO sucks and is far to bright and sibilant, and one I found to be completely un-listenable and tinny on my un-modded Grados.) ((hence my curiosity as to if I had made the grado sibilance worse or better))
RESULT:
HOLY SAINT STAX, lord almighty. Long live Grado. The low end EXTENDED by powers of infinity. I could now HEAR every thwack and bump of the bass.
I changed music quickly to some Kimbra, My Chemical Romance, Dilated Peoples, Paramore, Vince Gaurald, dirty loops, Finnish Melodic Metal bands, Duke Ellington, etc. the usual test selection.
The Grado Clarity and “fun” signature was there, but gone was the sibilance, and in its place is a (possibly overly enthusiastic?) upper midrange where snare drums live, and suddenly there is this enormous, well extended and epic bass quantity. Treble is true grado and lively, but is a tad more warm/tame and as I said, no weird resonance and sibilance.
FUTURE?
These bizarre supra-aural frankensine's are Bugatti-ing past my Saab-Sennheisers. The Grados have me hooked, 100%, thus I have only reached to my Senn’s once in the last few days to A/B my Grados. Grado’s won, every spot along the EQ. Even my favorite parts of the “old” Grados seem to be far superior in the "new” cans. Imaging in particular with live stuff.
I now only want my 600’s for a reference for my occasional mixing applications, which will become rarer upon arriving at college/living with a roommate again and not having a music job. That is not worth the $300 I spent on them.
TRY IT!
The amazon basics and the grados (and the bumpers from the hardware store) add up to less than $100. This combo has slain my notion of needing expensive equipment for “that addictive sound” (HD800S is the last time I experienced that to this level) I encourage those who are in the mood for some surgical shenanigans and a new set of cans to see what this combo can do for you.
Peace,
Jay
I found the most bizarre stroke of luck the other day. I may be selling my hd600’s soon as a result… Hard to say that but it's true.
BACKROUND:
I have two other district flavors of headphones I like, for opposite reasons, with the neutrality of the 600’s sitting in-between them. I have $15 amazon basic’s on ears for the excellent bump and vibration of the bass, expected from such a consumer-oriented headset. I also have grade 60e’s, which are great critical, analysis headphones that plug into a phone. I also find the meh QC-15 bose I have to be, well, meh, but only on low power mode and when properly amped and with a slight driver grille mod.
Thats a big price range, $15-$400.
MOD:
The other day, I felt adventurous and, for no scientific reason, “modded” (strong word for a small -physical- change) my Grado headphones by removing the foamie ear cups with the amazon basic’s pleather ones. this included placing small dots of appliance bumpers, each less than a centimeter wide, around the periphery of the driver grille to keep the amazon basic’s cushions from “squeaking” (a problem I found before playing music, upon trying the fit) against the Grado chassis.
TEST:
Plugged into iPhone (Tidal). Turned on the brightest mix I knew of (Live for the Night by Krewella… boring/cheesy, I know, but the master on this album IMO sucks and is far to bright and sibilant, and one I found to be completely un-listenable and tinny on my un-modded Grados.) ((hence my curiosity as to if I had made the grado sibilance worse or better))
RESULT:
HOLY SAINT STAX, lord almighty. Long live Grado. The low end EXTENDED by powers of infinity. I could now HEAR every thwack and bump of the bass.
I changed music quickly to some Kimbra, My Chemical Romance, Dilated Peoples, Paramore, Vince Gaurald, dirty loops, Finnish Melodic Metal bands, Duke Ellington, etc. the usual test selection.
The Grado Clarity and “fun” signature was there, but gone was the sibilance, and in its place is a (possibly overly enthusiastic?) upper midrange where snare drums live, and suddenly there is this enormous, well extended and epic bass quantity. Treble is true grado and lively, but is a tad more warm/tame and as I said, no weird resonance and sibilance.
FUTURE?
These bizarre supra-aural frankensine's are Bugatti-ing past my Saab-Sennheisers. The Grados have me hooked, 100%, thus I have only reached to my Senn’s once in the last few days to A/B my Grados. Grado’s won, every spot along the EQ. Even my favorite parts of the “old” Grados seem to be far superior in the "new” cans. Imaging in particular with live stuff.
I now only want my 600’s for a reference for my occasional mixing applications, which will become rarer upon arriving at college/living with a roommate again and not having a music job. That is not worth the $300 I spent on them.
TRY IT!
The amazon basics and the grados (and the bumpers from the hardware store) add up to less than $100. This combo has slain my notion of needing expensive equipment for “that addictive sound” (HD800S is the last time I experienced that to this level) I encourage those who are in the mood for some surgical shenanigans and a new set of cans to see what this combo can do for you.
Peace,
Jay
