[dougmwpsu]

Yikes! Simmer down now!
Maybe I don't want new headphones if they'll make me cRazy.
But seriously folks... er... that's all i had to say, let the thread continue.

 

[h3nG]

maybe dont upgrade yet?

$300 is a lot of money...but if you want to upgrade and achieve a huge jump in performance, you'll need to ditch your current headphones, amp, and source. this feat requires a lot more money than $300 dollars...

i was at where you were not too long ago. and i still dont have an amp. but i've heard quite a few variety of hifi stuff at hirsch's house. and unless you have a good match for your equipment, you're not going to get much improvement.

i first ditched my sr60 for the etys 4p. the result? even on my crappy sb live, i could hear slight increase in detail and what i felt 'fuller' sound. but then i asked myself, is this worth it at the expense of less (and i mean a lot less) bass? my answer is no, atleast not at its price. after a month of time with it though, i eventually decided i prefered and enjoyed the etys more.

so then i went to the hd580 with cardas and even upgraded my source to an audiophile usb. the result? pretty good. problem is though, without an amp...i can hear no difference between the cardas and stock cable. but i went for the cardas with the mind for upgrades. my roommmate and i had a chance to compare it with the sr80. and our opinions differed. i felt the hd580 even without an amp was an improvement over the sr80. he felt that the sr80 had greater detail. the conclusion? if you enjoy the grados sound, you'll probably be more happy or equally happy with the sr80 if you dont upgrade your source or amp.

then i jumped to the hd600 because of a great deal (which didn't turn out so great because of bank overdraft charges). without an amp, i heard no decernible differences between the hd580 and hd600. but decided to sell the hd580 because of the better built quality of the hd600. now I am very happy with the hd600 w/ cardas. and i plan on upgrading my source and getting a good amp. my decisions will be made after the june 5 md meet.

what did i learn from all of this? upper model headphones are good, but not that much better than the lower end models (sr80, etc..) if you dont properly match it.

but if you're still itching for an upgrade, here's what i have to say:

at a900 and av710: a900, which most people say doesn't require an amp to sound great. so it may be worth your while to get that and a new source, that cheap sound card. and all this will be well below your budget.

etys er4p and portable amp (pimeta?): this will fall in your budget if you get used. this is a great path because you have the karma. so you'll be able to enjoy great sound on the go.

grado sr225 unamped w/ av710: i hear people say this doesn't require an amp. and since you like the grado sound, this might be a good choice. and you can save that extra hundred and fund for a future amp and source. but i am not sure how much better it will sound than the sr80.

 

[dougmwpsu]

h3nG,
So when it comes right down to it, was it worth spending all the money on upgrades? Are you significantly more satisfied with your current setup than you were with the grados? Also, what can you tell me about how the ety’s compared to the senns and grados? Did you like the sound of the senns enough to ditch the etys?

I’m currently considering getting either the ety’s or senn hd580’s. If I were to get the 580’s I think I’d probably grab the headsave home vibe, but I’ll have to wait till there’s a few more impressions of it. If I really can’t make up my mind between these 2 choices, I’ll probably just end up ditching my 80’s, then get 225’s and a decent amp with the left over money and call it a day.
Doug

 

[Textual Intercou]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougmwpsu Quickfacts: 300$ budget, open to suggestions for upgrading any component, currently very happy with Grado sr-80, likes cheese. I’m in the midst of a big decision regarding how I should upgrade my audio setup. I currently have a Rio Karma, Audigy 1 pro, Rolls ha-43 headphone amp, a pair of Koss kcs-50’s, and a pair of stock Grado sr-80’s. I listen to all genres of music with a slight emphasis on indie rock and classical. My typical listening environment is either my bedroom or dorm room with low level background noise. (computer, roommate’s headphones, mother bitching ect.) My hearing is fair, but I find it nigh impossible to tell difference between a 192 aps-lame mp3 and redbook or to tell the difference between the sound of the grado’s coming out of any of the source combo’s I just mentioned.(not sure if that’s biological or equipment related, but I guess it’s a good reference point to note) I’ve had my grado’s a few years and feel it’s time to move on to bigger and better things. Though I love them to death, I find them a bit wanting on certain musical styles. Classical seems to have particular room for improvement and the occasional indie album can be painfully strident. I've partitioned myself $300USD or LESS (after taxes, shipping included) to achieve as much improvement in sound as I can. With a $300 max budget how much improvement can I expect to achieve? Where should the money go towards (source, amp, cans, other)? What can you guys suggest as far as bang for the buck goes with what I have? What’s the capital of South Korea? So far I’ve been considering either the senn hd-580’s or ety er4-p&s. however, I feel that there may be options that I’m not considering. I might upgrade my soundcard with that cheap chaintech AV710, and though I’m not sure how much a step up it’ll be, for $20 it’s not too much of a punch in the checkbook. There were interesting looking amps at headsave but they are new and haven’t yet been properly reviewed. I haven’t thrown midlevel grados into the mix. Since I already have a pair, I figure I should diversify. I haven’t considered closed cans (akg, beyer) because of all the cheap headphones I’ve had the displeasure of using, closed were always by far the worst. Any and all help you can all give me in emptying my wallet pronto would be greatly appreciated I won’t apologize for the long post, clear expression needs room to stretch. (but I will apologize for the thread title )

puget sound university, by any chance? another seattle headfier, it seems
my mother went there...when I was around 10 I spent plenty of nights playing gameboy in the computer science building's lonuge waiting for her classes to get out.

 

[dougmwpsu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Textual Intercou puget sound university, by any chance? another seattle headfier, it seems my mother went there...when I was around 10 I spent plenty of nights playing gameboy in the computer science building's lonuge waiting for her classes to get out.

Penn State University actually. I can't say i'm a big Pensylvania fan, but it's a great school.

 

[h3nG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougmwpsu h3nG, So when it comes right down to it, was it worth spending all the money on upgrades? Are you significantly more satisfied with your current setup than you were with the grados? Also, what can you tell me about how the ety’s compared to the senns and grados? Did you like the sound of the senns enough to ditch the etys? I’m currently considering getting either the ety’s or senn hd580’s. If I were to get the 580’s I think I’d probably grab the headsave home vibe, but I’ll have to wait till there’s a few more impressions of it. If I really can’t make up my mind between these 2 choices, I’ll probably just end up ditching my 80’s, then get 225’s and a decent amp with the left over money and call it a day. Doug

hey, the thing about headphones is that they have different sound signatures. so it's a little tricky. and the three you are considering can sound different at times, but good at the same time.

as for your first question: since i dont have a properly matched amp right now i would have to say, no the price does no justify the sound difference. and i dont think i am that satisfied and could have probably been more satisfied spending that money on something else. i've heard the senn through the ppx3 and i think that's when they really shine. but that's like what, another $500? for the money i spent on the grados sr60, i was damn satisfied when i had first got it. and i now believe that no headphones in the higher end can give you a better bargain and greater satisfaction. if you do decide to make the upgrade, dont expect to be blown away if the money is tight.

if the etys had more bass, i would say it would be my favorite of the bunch. when you get it, you'll notice the decrease in bass more than the increase in detail or anything else. and i am not kidding. they lack the slam you are normally use to. i eventually got use to that factor, and the canal nature of the phones and liked it.

as for the sennheisers, you will notice the soundstage when you listen to it. so they sound more like speakers than the grados and its upfront nature. but sometimes the question is: is that what you want? my roommate actually didn't care for soundstage and liked the headphones sound. for me, they are both good and you can learn to like both of them once you get use to the differences. i am not sure if i like the senns or etys more. i mean the etys would be one of my favorites if it just had more bass.

overall the headphones sound more similar than different. and you should really keep that in mind when you read the comments on this forum. people here tend to exagerate, or maybe the better word is emphasize, the slight differences.

and since you cant till the difference between a 192bit mp3 and redbook, your opinions are closer to mine than some of these folks who spend thousands on their audio equipment.

i like the etys option because i had pretty loud roommates last year. and you cant hear anything once the music is on, even at low volumes. this might also be good if you study at the library.

the choice is going to be tough. but when making your decision, you may also want to decide if you will find the upgrades worth while. my roommate is no audiophile, but he does care for good sound. and for him, the grados sr80 out of his soundcard is more than good. he has heard all of my setup, but is still happy with his sr80. dont expect to notice the same improvement as you did when you went from crappy headphones to the sr80s.

also, stick with used if you can. you can save a lot of money for the exact same sound. just visit the for sale section every now and then.

 

[Paragon]

If you can, find an audio hi-fi store with some other Grados that are broken in and go test them.

I use the sr325s with my computer. They work fine through just the soundcard but when I am with my speakers, I plug them in through there [Klipsch Promedia which does have amplification to the headphone output]

But the best thing you can do for yourself when you are spending that much money is to demo some that you are interested in and what is in your pricerange. [I demo's a new out of the box 225 cause they didn't have any 325 in yet and liked them.. I didn't dare try on any of the RS cans cause I didn't have the money to spend]