Darksyde
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2009
- Posts
- 419
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- 24
So now that I've decided to keep my RS1i's, I gave them a listen. I was absolutely lost in the music, when I opened my eyes to see my dad's SR325i's sitting there on the desk in front of me.
"Hey there, guys. Whatchya up to?" I asked the inanimate object, casually (like all normal people do, of course).
Not to my surprise, they didn't reply. So, like anybody who wants to see if the can justify their purchase, I slip the 325i's onto my head, and plug them into my dad's Sansa Fuze. Immediately, I could tell that the RS1i's were noticeably superior. For the difference in price? For me, probably not, but then, I am trying to get the most out of life with my $10 weekly allowance. For someone who's in to audio, and has exorbitant amounts of money, it would probably be worth it to them.
Anyways, I take the SR325i's off, and admire their golden beauty. I turn them around, and look at their pads to see that they look a bit different. So, I slip them off, and I take the pads off my RS1i's, and I look at the two pairs of bowls. It seemed like the bowls from my dad's older 325i's were noticeably deeper than those that came with my RS1i's. Curious, I take one bowl pad from each pair, and compare their horizontal height, side-by-side. It indeed appear that my dad's bowls were a good 3 or 4 mm longer. I put the pads from the 325i's on my RS1i's to find that they are more comfortable. Too lazy to A/B the two pads, I don't really try to determine if one pair sounds better than the other. I did, however, get an idea...
Inspired by the MS1000/MS Ultimate mod, I put the stock RS1i bowls onto my RS1i's... but I place them on reversed. Then, I add the bowls from my dad's 325i's, and place their backs against those of the reversed-bowls already on my RS1i's. I do that to both cups, and then I proceed to place the headphones on my head, being sure to keep both pairs of bowls in place. I turn on the Sansa...
"WOAH!!!" I involuntarily let out. Now, just to properly preface this, I am a firm believer in bowls. Stock HD414 pads? To muffled. Quarter-modded? Wanna-be comfies. Reversed? Too bright, cramped soundstage, and aggressive. Comfies? Lacking in detail, bassy, and veiled. Quarter-modded? Wanna-be bowls. Bagels? Recessed mids, sibilance, anemic bass, and no more intimate Grado sound. Back-to-back bowls? Godly.
So what difference in sound did I discover? First of all, the soundstage became cavernous. Huge. Completely-unGrado. Yet, somehow, even impossibly so, they sounded very intimate, just... MUCH bigger.
Detail, separation, and "airiness" all improved dramatically. The soundstage was MUCH wider, and considerably deeper. The real sense of depth that had been lacking before was there.
The bass actually improved considerably, too. It was a lot deeper, and I found that the loss of impact was actually very minimal. Much tighter, and more "audiophilish". It perfectly complimented the music, instead of obscuring the lower-mids/mid-bass as it had before.
The mids still stayed forward, and sounded a lot richer- the tone was even more realistic.
The highs weren't as peaky, but just as extended. I never considered the RS1i's to be too bright, but now, they sounded perfect.
Everything was perfect, cohesive, and refined. Spacious, realistic, and magical. These headphones are still bright, and far from neutral, but very Grado, and that's why I love them
For the heck of it, I put my stock bowls back on, and gave it half an hour to let my ears adjust. The bass sounded thumpy, and obscured a lot of the detail in the sound. The mids sounded thin, and the highs reminded me of a pubescent child (like myself). I put reversed the bowls, and put bowls properly on top of that again, and it immediately sounded better. It sounded right.
Now, for those of you who are curious, I took these to Bay Bloor Radio, and compared them to the GS1000i's from my same system. I strongly felt that the double-bowled RS1i's bested them in every way. They're perfect.
Anyways, your mileage will very, of course, but I hope that others get to share the euphoria that I now have experienced.
All the best!
Mark
"Hey there, guys. Whatchya up to?" I asked the inanimate object, casually (like all normal people do, of course).
Not to my surprise, they didn't reply. So, like anybody who wants to see if the can justify their purchase, I slip the 325i's onto my head, and plug them into my dad's Sansa Fuze. Immediately, I could tell that the RS1i's were noticeably superior. For the difference in price? For me, probably not, but then, I am trying to get the most out of life with my $10 weekly allowance. For someone who's in to audio, and has exorbitant amounts of money, it would probably be worth it to them.
Anyways, I take the SR325i's off, and admire their golden beauty. I turn them around, and look at their pads to see that they look a bit different. So, I slip them off, and I take the pads off my RS1i's, and I look at the two pairs of bowls. It seemed like the bowls from my dad's older 325i's were noticeably deeper than those that came with my RS1i's. Curious, I take one bowl pad from each pair, and compare their horizontal height, side-by-side. It indeed appear that my dad's bowls were a good 3 or 4 mm longer. I put the pads from the 325i's on my RS1i's to find that they are more comfortable. Too lazy to A/B the two pads, I don't really try to determine if one pair sounds better than the other. I did, however, get an idea...
Inspired by the MS1000/MS Ultimate mod, I put the stock RS1i bowls onto my RS1i's... but I place them on reversed. Then, I add the bowls from my dad's 325i's, and place their backs against those of the reversed-bowls already on my RS1i's. I do that to both cups, and then I proceed to place the headphones on my head, being sure to keep both pairs of bowls in place. I turn on the Sansa...
"WOAH!!!" I involuntarily let out. Now, just to properly preface this, I am a firm believer in bowls. Stock HD414 pads? To muffled. Quarter-modded? Wanna-be comfies. Reversed? Too bright, cramped soundstage, and aggressive. Comfies? Lacking in detail, bassy, and veiled. Quarter-modded? Wanna-be bowls. Bagels? Recessed mids, sibilance, anemic bass, and no more intimate Grado sound. Back-to-back bowls? Godly.
So what difference in sound did I discover? First of all, the soundstage became cavernous. Huge. Completely-unGrado. Yet, somehow, even impossibly so, they sounded very intimate, just... MUCH bigger.
Detail, separation, and "airiness" all improved dramatically. The soundstage was MUCH wider, and considerably deeper. The real sense of depth that had been lacking before was there.
The bass actually improved considerably, too. It was a lot deeper, and I found that the loss of impact was actually very minimal. Much tighter, and more "audiophilish". It perfectly complimented the music, instead of obscuring the lower-mids/mid-bass as it had before.
The mids still stayed forward, and sounded a lot richer- the tone was even more realistic.
The highs weren't as peaky, but just as extended. I never considered the RS1i's to be too bright, but now, they sounded perfect.
Everything was perfect, cohesive, and refined. Spacious, realistic, and magical. These headphones are still bright, and far from neutral, but very Grado, and that's why I love them
For the heck of it, I put my stock bowls back on, and gave it half an hour to let my ears adjust. The bass sounded thumpy, and obscured a lot of the detail in the sound. The mids sounded thin, and the highs reminded me of a pubescent child (like myself). I put reversed the bowls, and put bowls properly on top of that again, and it immediately sounded better. It sounded right.
Now, for those of you who are curious, I took these to Bay Bloor Radio, and compared them to the GS1000i's from my same system. I strongly felt that the double-bowled RS1i's bested them in every way. They're perfect.
Anyways, your mileage will very, of course, but I hope that others get to share the euphoria that I now have experienced.
All the best!
Mark
