[b0dhi]

The dilemma I had with my GS1k was that I loved the presentation of the bagels, but I also loved the extra bass the flats gave it. The problem was that the flats really suck out the mids and highs with the GS. So they sat in my drawer for a few months, biding their time. Until yesterday.

I decided to try them again, and after some hours of EQing, I came up with the following EQ filter. It restores the sound to being quite close to that of the bagels. No mids or treble suckout. But with the bass of the flats

It is also slightly less sibilant than the bagels.

The three filters are:

Peak filter: 4400Hz, +2.0dB, 0.4 bandwidth
Peak filter: 6800Hz, +3.0dB, 0.4 BW
High shelf: 6900Hz, +7.0dB, 1.8 BW

I use Electri-Q for the EQ, but any flexible high quality EQ software will do. The peak filters should ideally be Orfanidis or better.

I'm quite happy with the results. The soundstage is about 85% of what it was with the bagels, and the slightly less sibilant upper mids are nice. Oh and

Any thoughts or improvements would be appreciated.

 

[blessingx]

b0dhi, I know this is an old thread, but did you (or anyone else) really find the flats sucked out the mids more than the bagels? I've struggled with this since selling a dedicated system just for the GS1Ks that was very midrange forward to compensate that strange signature the phones (with bagels) had. They are no longer my primary (or secondary) phones so I can't justify a rig just for it. I reversed the bagels and was more impressed with the sound (though losing soundstage) and was thinking of picking up some flats when I saw this thread which made think the flats could actually be worse for the midrange problem. I would have suspected you'd have to EQ less compared to the bagels. Any comments anyone?

 

[b0dhi]

Wow, this takes me back

With the bagels I found that the mids were a bit further back but not so far as I would call them "recessed". With the flats, the low mids really came forward but the mid mids and upper mids became quite recessed, as did the highs. I'm normally EQ-averse but as you can see, the recession was to the point that I had to EQ them back to realism. I hope that helps.

That said, I should point out that I was on completely the wrong track here with the flats because the GS1000's strength is in low volume listening. A lot of amp-matching with the GS1000, I suspect, is to make them sound more like a "regular" headphone at "regular" volume levels. They are not designed to be used in that way (it even says so in the user manual).

At low volume, the slight dip in the mids, the peak in the upper mids and the accentuated bass sound very balanced (in accordance with Fletcher-Munson curves). I've since sold the GS due to (believe it or not) comfort issues, so I have no vested interest in saying this, but until the GS1000, I simply had no idea how magical low volume could be. IMO, nothing comes close to the GS in providing aural pleasure at low volume.

 

[Cankin]

I tried flats and bowls with GS1000, and I didn't find them to suck out more mid than bagels. With flats, I though there were too much bass and it didn't extend as low as bagels. With bowls, I found that it was quite enjoyable but soundstage was smaller than bagels.

 

[blessingx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b0dhi /img/forum/go_quote.gif IMO, nothing comes close to the GS in providing aural pleasure at low volume.

I agree, if we ignore electrostatics.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Sounds like flats are not going to be my solution and when I have at least four headphones I prefer, I may have to give up trying. Hmmmm.

 

[Blackmore]

I think I will buy extra GS1k pads and mod them for use with some ROCK records. The thing is, bowls are just not right for them, but when you push the orig. pads bit closer to your ears the sound become punchier, but still having the good balance...

 

[nc8000]

Yes I LOVE my (previously b0dhi's) GS-1000 but have to say that with classical at least they also to me work very well at higher volume.

 

[Gu Sensei]

I have played with the pads a bit and really like the results when the I push in just the front part of the pads so the drivers are at an angle. A lot of the Sonys are like that (R10, SA5000, etc.). I have been trying to figure out a way to permanently mod a pair of bagels that way.