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Regarding details and speed, I put them up there with my memory of the HD800, GS1000, PS1000 and Stax. I don’t have a trained ear to notice tiny differences in detail retrieval from one headphone to another. Once we get up to this level of technical refinement, detail retrieval all sound about the same to me.
HD800. The HD800 have the widest, tallest, most out-of-head soundstage of any headphone I’ve used and that sounds awesome on about 1/3 of my music collection. But on the other 2/3 of my music, the distant soundstage makes the songs seem less involving unless the volume is cranked way up. The HP-1 achieves a better balanced soundstage for the majority of my music. It’s good enough for the classical and some jazz (mainly because of that forward nature that pushes the image out a bit in front of the ears) but I don’t need to reach for another headphone when I want to listen to something more immediate. In addition, the HP-1 doesn’t have that 6kHz treble peak. that treble peak wasn’t a big problem for me but it’s nice to not have to worry about any treble peaks now when increasing volume on songs.
Grado PS-500. I like these a good bit but the HP-1 are just more realistic in tonality and have no nasty glare on any higher frequencies. The PS500 have GS1000 like massive bass that doesn’t bloat into the midrange (which is nice - the D5000 are brought down by this tendency) but I know that this comes from artificially boosting the mid bass. Still, the PS500 is very good and shares more in common with the HP-1 than the RS1, SR325, etc.
I prefer the HP-1 to all of these.
So there you have it. The best dynamic headphone I’ve used and my favourite headphone that I’ve yet tried also happens to be around 20 years old and is almost impossible to get serviced if anything happens to it. lucky me
Its charms kind of creep up on you. It’s not an immediate “whoa” sensation like when you hear classical on an HD800 for the first time, or some bass heavy electronica on an LCD2 but it strikes a more perfect balance for my tastes than these other headphones.
Which is why I ordered an LCD3 and will be comparing these two head to head in around a week or two. Should be fun.
To me the HP-1000 are excruciatingly detailed. I take a fully silent amp, crank up the volume moderately and on every music that isn't electronic or synthesis I find background noise, hisses, errors, and many artifacts of the mixing and production that the engineers missed because their audio set-up maybe isn't as resolving as my headphones. None of my other headphones are resolving all of those either.
Not many will notice, but on most of James LaBrie singing on "The Answer Lies Within", Octavarium album, Dream Theater band, there is some kind of flying bug stuck in the microphone (metaphorically), and it gets excited when James is singing. You need to crank the volume moderately, but it's very audible. Although I think that it has a lot to do with the HD414-bowls I'm using, they reduce bass prominence and unveil a lot of micro-details.
I also love having the transducers closer to your ears, to make up for a more intimate experience. Sound Stage is "closer". Grado gives me that. I like how you bring that point when comparing the HP1 to the HD800. I have felt exactly the same when I reverted to bowls from my HD414-bowl sandwich pads on my HP1. HD414-bowl sandwich pads gives the HP-1000 a big soundstage but you need to crank the volume more, and you loose the intimacy (but gain air).
HP-1000's treble is SO GENTLE, I agree with you on that one too. It's fully there but it never grows out of proportion when leveling up the volume.
The vintage Grados are also considered to have more in common, in terms of sound signature, with the HP 1000 than the nowadays Grado.
Am I the only one to dislike the HP-1000 with flats? I like bowls, but I use my own "custom pads" (they're not a big deal) most of the time.
You can still get it serviced... it's 600$ for a replacement of the drivers by Joseph Grado... otherwise you hunt down the SR1-2-300-25 with HP-1000 drivers in them for 800 - 1000. These are no MDR-R10.
Personally I don't even think the HP-1000 drivers are close to dying from age. And the enclosure for them is indestructible, so as long as you care for them a least, it's a non-issue.
I'm very happy you found yourself a new favorite headphone! thanks for talking to us about it and your experience. You're helping to keep the HP-1000 alive on Head-Fi
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MuppetFace thought the same of the Fostex TH900, you should try it
: "Charms that creep up on you" "not an immediate whoa" but does everything finely and no contrasting faults. She has put that headphone and the HP-1000 in her list of current favorites.