skullguise
Headphoneus Supremus
Yesterday, Head-Fi member Nabwong came up to my house to pick up some speakers and give a quick listen to some headphones.
We ended up focusing on Grado's; he had an RS-1 and HF-1, I had the GS-1000. This cannot be seen as any kind of review, as we only had about 1.5 hours with them. But I found some interesting things:
- The sound of the GS-1000 in my main system (see system below) was smoother in the treble than some have reported. Bass is indeed too heavy at times, and this actually extended into the midbass/very low midrange. This showed less with the "Bagel pads," but when Nabwong put on some older Bowl pads, the overstated bass became evident. I still liked the bowls quite a bit otherwise, though!
- The RS-1 sounded great, first time I've heard it. Oddly enough, it was a little harsher in the highs than the GS-1000 (with either set of pads). Cymbal crashes on a Patricia Barber CD sounded smoother and more shimmering on the GS-1000's. But bass was clearly tighter and faster with the RS-1's. Vocals were about even to my ears, though the heaviness of the bass with the GS-1000 made the vocals a bit "wooly" (more evident with the bowls).
- The GS-1000 has better soundstaging, even with the bowls versus the bagels. I listened only a tiny bit to the RS-1's with bagels, so details of the sound elude my memory (Nabwong?). But I believe it kept much of he good sound, and added a bit of soundstage. I don't seem to recall as much variance between bowls and bagels with the RS-1 as there was with the GS-1000.
- The HF-1 was clearly outclassed by the other phones IMO, though it was pretty even sounding top to bottom. A little lighter in the bass than either of the other two, and maybe SLIGHTLY anemic sounding (maybe a fairly neutral midrange, compared to some kind of peak in upper mids to lower highs; couldn't quite place it). It was fun to listen to these briefly with the bagel pads, though, and it sure looked funny.
Nabwong also brought up his A-T AH-D2000's. THis was a very nice sounding phone, MUCH better sound than I remember from my old AH900. Dynamic, lively, SUPERB bass. But there was some definite congestion or sharpness, not quite sibilance, in the upper mids to highs. I still might look into this phone, though, it was good fun to listen to.
We listened briefly to my Senn 650's w/Grace 5-2 cable. My smaller head hasn't stretched these out yet, they were clamping tight; the sound was good, but I prefer them with a different amp (tube amp Ihave). The Grado's were more fun in this setup, so nary a listen on this.
I also had my AKG K701's to listen to. I have liked these phones from day 1, they do midrange so cleanly IMO. Nabwong couldn't listen to them due to comfort issues (there IS something about the way the pads feel, but I am not bothered by it). If the A-T's had the AKG's midrange and highs, I'd snap them up in a second! Of course, if the AKG's had the A-T's bass, I'd be in heaven as well
Nabwong mentioned about trying the 501 pads on these (and that may improve the bass).
One last note: I also had just thrown the Citypule DAC into the system. I was pretty good, but not up to the standard of the my Rega Apollo analog outs. May have been lesser cables as well, but we focused our listening via the Rega.
So overall a brief bit of fun and some neat Grado discoveries. I think I will get some bowls for the GS-1000 and try them with the Zhaolu 2X w/discrete amp. The Zhaolu, with the slight dropoff in deep bass, seem to mate well with the GS-1000. The bowls might be a great combo for this.
Nabwong may also look into the bagels for the RS-1's. I think both of these phones are great. Classic Grado sound fans will likely enjoy the RS-1's more. I still prefer the GS-1000, as long as I can tame the bass.
Some nice music too; thanks Nabwong for bringing up the guitar trio CD, I will look for that.
My system:
- Rega Apollo --> Oritek X-2 --> Audio Analog Prima integrated --> Oritek X-1's (via tape out) --> PS Audio GCHA
Lastly, a few quick pics:
The HF-Bagels
We ended up focusing on Grado's; he had an RS-1 and HF-1, I had the GS-1000. This cannot be seen as any kind of review, as we only had about 1.5 hours with them. But I found some interesting things:
- The sound of the GS-1000 in my main system (see system below) was smoother in the treble than some have reported. Bass is indeed too heavy at times, and this actually extended into the midbass/very low midrange. This showed less with the "Bagel pads," but when Nabwong put on some older Bowl pads, the overstated bass became evident. I still liked the bowls quite a bit otherwise, though!
- The RS-1 sounded great, first time I've heard it. Oddly enough, it was a little harsher in the highs than the GS-1000 (with either set of pads). Cymbal crashes on a Patricia Barber CD sounded smoother and more shimmering on the GS-1000's. But bass was clearly tighter and faster with the RS-1's. Vocals were about even to my ears, though the heaviness of the bass with the GS-1000 made the vocals a bit "wooly" (more evident with the bowls).
- The GS-1000 has better soundstaging, even with the bowls versus the bagels. I listened only a tiny bit to the RS-1's with bagels, so details of the sound elude my memory (Nabwong?). But I believe it kept much of he good sound, and added a bit of soundstage. I don't seem to recall as much variance between bowls and bagels with the RS-1 as there was with the GS-1000.
- The HF-1 was clearly outclassed by the other phones IMO, though it was pretty even sounding top to bottom. A little lighter in the bass than either of the other two, and maybe SLIGHTLY anemic sounding (maybe a fairly neutral midrange, compared to some kind of peak in upper mids to lower highs; couldn't quite place it). It was fun to listen to these briefly with the bagel pads, though, and it sure looked funny.
Nabwong also brought up his A-T AH-D2000's. THis was a very nice sounding phone, MUCH better sound than I remember from my old AH900. Dynamic, lively, SUPERB bass. But there was some definite congestion or sharpness, not quite sibilance, in the upper mids to highs. I still might look into this phone, though, it was good fun to listen to.
We listened briefly to my Senn 650's w/Grace 5-2 cable. My smaller head hasn't stretched these out yet, they were clamping tight; the sound was good, but I prefer them with a different amp (tube amp Ihave). The Grado's were more fun in this setup, so nary a listen on this.
I also had my AKG K701's to listen to. I have liked these phones from day 1, they do midrange so cleanly IMO. Nabwong couldn't listen to them due to comfort issues (there IS something about the way the pads feel, but I am not bothered by it). If the A-T's had the AKG's midrange and highs, I'd snap them up in a second! Of course, if the AKG's had the A-T's bass, I'd be in heaven as well
One last note: I also had just thrown the Citypule DAC into the system. I was pretty good, but not up to the standard of the my Rega Apollo analog outs. May have been lesser cables as well, but we focused our listening via the Rega.
So overall a brief bit of fun and some neat Grado discoveries. I think I will get some bowls for the GS-1000 and try them with the Zhaolu 2X w/discrete amp. The Zhaolu, with the slight dropoff in deep bass, seem to mate well with the GS-1000. The bowls might be a great combo for this.
Nabwong may also look into the bagels for the RS-1's. I think both of these phones are great. Classic Grado sound fans will likely enjoy the RS-1's more. I still prefer the GS-1000, as long as I can tame the bass.
Some nice music too; thanks Nabwong for bringing up the guitar trio CD, I will look for that.
My system:
- Rega Apollo --> Oritek X-2 --> Audio Analog Prima integrated --> Oritek X-1's (via tape out) --> PS Audio GCHA
Lastly, a few quick pics:
The HF-Bagels
