[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wae5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi F107plus5: Were you embarrassed by something I said or the way I said it? A chagrined fellow traveller would like to know. All the Best WAE

Uh, Hi; WAE. I'm uh, embarrassed cause I was weak and couldn't resist and actually broke down and bought a set of MS2i even though I already had MS-1.

Seriously; I agree, the MS-1 are a great set of phones, but the lure of the aluminum housings and padded full-size woody headband held a strange attraction to me, and I broke down and was drawn in.

For the bigger classical pieces the MS2i does have a larger soundstage with a bit more instrument separation and all that and does expand on everything that the MS-1 does so well, but it sure doesn't take anything away from what the MS-1 truly is!

It's kinda funny though. When I first got the MS-1 I pretty well went along with the conventional wisdom here at Head-Fi and listened to rock-based tunes and avoided the classical pieces. Eventually I got curious enough to give Classical a try and found it to be quite pleasant to listen to with MS-1. I figured that it was just lack of knowledge that lead me to believe that the MS-1 only sounded good because I didn't know any better. I eventually got MS2i cause I wanted to try to beat out my speaker system; just for fun!

Then; continuing to follow conventional wisdom at Head-Fi I wanted to follow the lead on going with a set of phones that were considered excellent for Classical, so I researched and found that HD600 sounded best for my particular listening habits. To my ears they are a great complement to MS-1/MS2i, but they don't sound any "better" as far as SQ, only different. What's lots of fun to me is listening to Classical on Alessandros and Rock on the Senns! Just because there are stereotypes doesn't mean they are entirely accurate! It's jolly fun to listen to different things from different angles!

And Classical on MS-1 is part of the Jolly Fun indeed!
Rich.

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpeezy /img/forum/go_quote.gif @F107plus5 - Did you really like MS-1's with classical? I really DIDN'T like them with classical but I loved them with everything else.

Yeah; actually I did! I was surprised at first just how much. It may have been just because I didn't know any better, but to my ears with nothing else to compare them to at the time, they worked quite well. The MS2i expands on that particular theme by opening up the soundstage even more.

Another thing that may have helped me too is my age. I'm in my mid-sixties now and my upper regesters of hearing may be beginning to fall off, so I may not be hearing exactly what most folks are.

The only area that I feel that the MS-1/MS2i may be lagging for big Classical is in the area of bass response and the more forward presentation. The Alessandros gives me the impression of being right up there next to the conductor at the podium rather than back a few rows with the paying patrons. Where the bass of the HD600 sounds as though it's farther away and has more time and space to develop, the tighter more near-field bass of the Alessandros keeps the listener up close.

Being as I spent a lot of time in choirs and even turning pages for the harpsichordist during Baroque pieces, I'm used to being there in the middle of things so it didn't seem all that unnatural to me.

So, for me anyway; the MS-1 did a pretty darned good job!

 

[VolkswagenFox]

My dad really enjoys listening to classic music with the MS-1s as well. He said that he likes the up close presentation of them. I must say, I do too. MS-1s are pretty good for all types of music it seems.

 

[kpeezy]

Good to hear

The bass and soundstage is what killed it for me. When compared to the RP-21's I had at the time, I vastly preferred the RP-21's. I kind of prefer a semi-bassy headphone for classical though. Also, the soundstage was larger and I also like that for classical. However, the separation wasn't as good, but all pros and cons taken into consideration, I preferred the RP-21's. It's all what you're looking to hear I guess

 

[saboteur1]

Received mine today!

They sound so much better than any other 'phones I've tried...

But this is just the beginning of my head-fi journey...

 

[Chickenman]

Well I just got them! I can't be any happier. My heart started to beat twice as fast as I heard somebody open the gate. No, it wasn't a robber, but it was the godly mailman!. He left me a package and now here I am, trying to get these phones off me so i can burn them in!

 

[F107plus5]

Congrats on the new phones, guys!

I couldn't get mine off my head for break-in either; so I just left them there!

I think I averaged 8-12 hours a day for the first few weeks! I really re-discovered my CD collection that month!

 

[Chickenman]

Hmm.. This is the response to all the complaints about the comfort.. I dont know if its just me, but the MS1's are very comfortable to me. Oh and F107plus5, I just convinced myself to start the burn in process. No more

till wednsday after school!

 

[saboteur1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chickenman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm.. This is the response to all the complaints about the comfort.. I dont know if its just me, but the MS1's are very comfortable to me. Oh and F107plus5, I just convinced myself to start the burn in process. No more till wednsday after school!

I thought the same thing a couple hours ago, but after this listening session, my ears have started to ache a little.

Though, it has been over 4 hours.

 

[Chickenman]

Haha.. Maybe I'll try going for 4 hours.. My ears get a little warm due to the california heat though..

 

[F107plus5]

Other than a fourteen hour listening marathon right after I got my MS2i a few months later; I would guess with the MS-1 in the first couple of weeks, that I suspect I averaged one or two CDs in a row, a bunch of times a day. I don't imagine I went over maybe three hours at any one single session. But the hours sure did pile up by the end of the day!

I was also doing lots of pad rolling and pad surgery those first couple weeks too. Went from Comfies to 414s to a whole range of hole sizes in the 414s to finally reversed 414s. It was lots of fun!

....went through tons of batteries in my PCDP! Tons of batteries! For sheer FUN; those MS-1 really did the trick!

 

[saboteur1]

Sort-of first impressions:

MS1's are very energetic, and maybe slightly too bright; I can't imagine what would've happened if I had gone with "true" Grado HPs. Mids in particular are very detailed and precise, it feels like I'm listening to my CD collection for the first time. As far as the bass goes, it's a tad under my expectations (just barely). It is deep, and you can hear bass lines very well, but kick drums don't really have that much of an impact (I guess that's where MS-2's come in). The comfies are also a little scratchy, so I'm going to order some 414's or possibly flats off of TTVJ. No soundstage is right, very upfront, but there is still fairly good instrument placement.

Still, this is only after maybe 10 hours of burn in. I'm very happy with my purchase, and the little shortcomings that the MS-1's have right now can probably be alleviated with burn-in and/or different pads.

 

[Nuks]

Hey all,

My current set-up is a 3rd gen ipod and Super.fi 5 pro's.

I've wanted Alessandro's for a while, but I just have a few questions before I go any further.

How much of a difference is there between the MS-1 and the MS-2? Is the MS-2 worth the extra 100 dollars or so? And can both of these be run from an un-amped ipod? If I need an amp, I'd probably be more likely to get the MS-1's (for cost reasons..).

Also, how different are they than my super.fi's? I listen to a load of different types of music, but i guess I need a "rock" can above all else.


Thanks,
Andrew

 

[F107plus5]

Yup; I found with my MS-1 and MS2i that the bass is the last thing to finally settle in.

....I haven't heard of too many others saying this, but that"s what I seem to have noticed, at least with my ears with my system.

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nuks /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey all, How much of a difference is there between the MS-1 and the MS-2? Is the MS-2 worth the extra 100 dollars or so? And can both of these be run from an un-amped ipod? If I need an amp, I'd probably be more likely to get the MS-1's (for cost reasons..). Thanks, Andrew

Hi Andrew.

The main difference as I see it between the two is that the MS2i is just a bigger(in size and weight, too!)MS-1. Every thing the MS-1 does, the MS-2i does better. Lower and tighter bass, more detailed mids, a bit of extension to the top end over the MS-1, bigger airer soundstage. That sort of thing.

The SQ puts it a little bit above the SR-225 and that gobbles up a lot of the two hundred bucks. The rest is more than made up with the better workmanship and materials. You even get the same headband used on the Grado/Alessandro woodies! Generally speaking; the alumigrados are very well built and the MS2i is almost a "Work of art"!

.....Ok; I'm half Italian AND a retired Engineer, so I gotta be excused for thinking that way!

But anyway; lots of folks think the Grado/Alessandro "Sweet Spot" is occupied by the Aluminum Grados; and I sure gotta agree with that!

EDIT: Oh yeah; the iPod question. I dunno; don't have an adapter, but I do know that on my amp system I run the MS2i at a lower volume level than I do my MS-1, so I suspect the MS2i will run just fine unamped. The MS-1 sounds a bit better with an amp, but the MS2i sounds quite a bit better.
Rich.