[Benny99]

Hey guys

Just got my Alessandro MS-2 today and all i can say is wow..

Combined with the Corda Areitta these headphones sound really good.

The Sound is upfront bright and is very detailed.

The Mids are forward and the Highs are great , but can be a little too much at times but i toned them down slightly.

Bass wise for a open headphone they are great. Sure they dont produce the same amount of bass as say The DT770s but the DT770s bass is overwhelming and subwoofer like.

The bass in the Alessandro MS-2 is nice and tight and well defined.

Overall its a really great headphone the only thing i dont like is the Bowl Pads

 

[pataburd]

Glad you are enjoying the MS-2, Benny. They are a nice, balanced set of headphones--well, maybe tipped just a little bit in the "warm" direction, but that's a "good" thing with the Alessandros. : )

What are your musical tastes, your source(s), amp(s), etc.?

 

[Benny99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Glad you are enjoying the MS-2, Benny. They are a nice, balanced set of headphones--well, maybe tipped just a little bit in the "warm" direction, but that's a "good" thing with the Alessandros. : ) What are your musical tastes, your source(s), amp(s), etc.?

Source is Foobar (FLAC) > Auzentech Prelude > Corda Areitta > MS-2

I like warmth

My tastes are anything from Pop Rock Techno Dance Trance.

I also have the DT770pro and really this thing surpasses it by miles

The bass response from the MS-2 is really good.

 

[Henmyr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Glad you are enjoying the MS-2, Benny. They are a nice, balanced set of headphones--well, maybe tipped just a little bit in the "warm" direction, but that's a "good" thing with the Alessandros. : ) What are your musical tastes, your source(s), amp(s), etc.?

the WARM/COLD sound sure is hard to define. To me, the MS2i is neutral/cold rather than neutral/warm. To me, DT880 and HD650 are warm headphones. What is it about the MS2i sound that you find warm? To me, a cold sound have focus aroun 1,2-4 kHz, and a warm sound has got a focus on <880kHZ, is this something you can relate to?

On topic. I also like the MS2i very much. They are a good pair of rock headphones

I like the neutral/cold midrange a lot, and the clarity is excellent.

 

[moogoob]

How does the MS2 compare (sound signature-wise) to its cousin, the Grado 325i?

 

[ecclesand]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moogoob /img/forum/go_quote.gif How does the MS2 compare (sound signature-wise) to its cousin, the Grado 325i?

I found the highs on the 325i to be too harsh for my tastes. The highs on the MS2 are just right for me. I also find that the MS2 is every bit as refined as the 325i, but I'm sure there are others that disagree. The 325i actually steered me away from the Grado sound for more than a year and the MS2 has brought me back.

 

[filipelli]

I agree ^. I have always been a grado fan, but after comparing the two, the Ms2 won my favor. I think warmth and coldness are relative terms, because to me the Ms2 had more 'warmth' than the 325. The 325s highs were too bright for me.

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henmyr /img/forum/go_quote.gif the WARM/COLD sound sure is hard to define. To me, the MS2i is neutral/cold rather than neutral/warm. To me, DT880 and HD650 are warm headphones. What is it about the MS2i sound that you find warm? To me, a cold sound have focus aroun 1,2-4 kHz, and a warm sound has got a focus on <880kHZ, is this something you can relate to? On topic. I also like the MS2i very much. They are a good pair of rock headphones I like the neutral/cold midrange a lot, and the clarity is excellent.

My assessment was made relative to the 325i--the MS-2's Grado cousin. My apologies for not having qualified the statement earlier.

 

[Henmyr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif My assessment was made relative to the 325i--the MS-2's Grado cousin. My apologies for not having qualified the statement earlier.

It was in no way an attack of any sort. I'm rather trying to understand what in the sound people find warm/cold. I have my own definition, but it doesn't always match other peoples definition.

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecclesand /img/forum/go_quote.gif I found the highs on the 325i to be too harsh for my tastes. The highs on the MS2 are just right for me. I also find that the MS2 is every bit as refined as the 325i, but I'm sure there are others that disagree. The 325i actually steered me away from the Grado sound for more than a year and the MS2 has brought me back.

Properly amped, the 325i's high frequency speed, detail and resolution put them head and shoulders above the MS-2 (IMHE), although, strictly speaking, the MS-2 were definitely the more balanced, frequency- and tone-wise, of the two. However, the high frequency performance of the 325i was, I felt at the time, "extra-special" enough, giving the Grados a unique/trademark character.

(Funny what determines our local/proximate listening tastes at the time. I left the "all-American girl next door"--personified by the MS-2, for the head-turning, "girl-from-out-of-town"--the 325i. After a brief but intense courtship with the latter, I ended up proposing to neither. I wonder whether the way we pick and choose headphones is analogous to the way we pick/ed and choose/chose the girls we date/d. Gals, you can adapt the analogy to suit your gender.)

Consequently, I opted to keep the 325i over the MS-2, but eventually sold the 325i and toddled happily back to my RAL recabled K701 (who, meanwhile, had dutifully kept the home fires burning). Now I'm up to my ears and over my head with Austrian delight, next picking up the K501 (the second time around) and just recently the K340!

My several years of headphone searching has at long last led me to the land of the AKG. : )

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henmyr /img/forum/go_quote.gif It was in no way an attack of any sort. I'm rather trying to understand what in the sound people find warm/cold. I have my own definition, but it doesn't always match other peoples definition.

. . . and I was just getting suited up with my favorite chain mail, trying to decide between the mace and the morning star . . . : )

No offense taken: I've always been the "apologetic" sort anyway. : )

Anyway, my sense of warm/cold can be more qualitative: warmth conveys more of the vitality/humanness of the performance, while coldness conveys more of the analytic/technical aspects of the performance. Also, "warm" connotes intimacy and nearness; "cold" impersonability and remoteness.

Please note, however, that I do not mean to regard a "warm" sonic as necessarily and in all instances better than a "cold" sonic. As a "critical" listener, I tend to "err" on the side of wanting more detail, resolution, extension--often at the sacrifice of warmth. The trick is getting both in equitable and equally satisfying proportions (but without lapsing into luke-warmness).

Given that, the 325i were a savory sip of ice tea on a hot summer's noon, while the MS-2 were a satisfying swig of hot tea on a cold winter's night. : )

 

[moogoob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif . . . and I was just getting suited up with my favorite chain mail, trying to decide between the mace and the morning star . . . : ) I've always been the "apologetic" sort anyway. : )

Against unarmoured foes you'd be better off with a sword.

Wearing plate armour, though, a flanged mace will essentially lock them inside their own suit.

In other news, I actually like the crisp detailed highs of the 325i, but the promise of warmer bass is intriguing. Too bad it's so hard to find a place to audition the MS2s.

 

[mstorie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moogoob /img/forum/go_quote.gif How does the MS2 compare (sound signature-wise) to its cousin, the Grado 325i?

Lots of posts and debate on this topic around here... I've personally owned both and like the MS2i better, but didn't have a decent tube amp when I owned the 325i. The frequency response curves on Headrooms website tell the story for Grado's in general, and I found the 325i had a little too much on the high freq end for my tastes (on my old setup). The MS2 are more balanced for sure, and still have the Grado magic, so they are awesome phones in their price range. I'm listening to some RS-1's now, on my PPX3 SLAM, and while all Grado's sound similar, the RS-1 is probably closer to the 325i sound signature than the MS2i. With a good tube amp (i.e. Mapletree, Singlepower), all Grado phones just warm up nicely. The sound stage and "air" firm up better as well, just making them that much more fun. I was listening to a song on the RS-1 last night, and I could follow the bassline so clearly... more so then on any of my other phones. Grado's are very "engaging"... no doubt about it! You can run them off of almost any amp due to their low impedance, but they all (Grado/Alessandro) get better with an amp than can supply lots of current... i.e. driven with more authority!

 

[BigOakTopher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benny99 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Overall its a really great headphone the only thing i dont like is the Bowl Pads

Congratulations on your MS-2s!

I only have a pair of SR-80s so far, but I'm enjoying them.

I know exactly what you mean about the bowl pads, as I found them to be intolerable for anything beyond 30 minutes or so.

Per the mods I found on here, I bought the Senn 414 yellow pads & cut a quarter-sized hole out. Reversing them on the Grados made a nice bowl similar to the originals but 1,000,000 times more comfortable. Now I can wear them for hours.

 

[lmilhan]

Yep!

I have owned just about every model of Grado/Alessandro headphones, and IMO the MS-2s are the absolute sweet spot in the lineup when a price versus performance ratio is considered.