Circumaural Grados!

[dano1122]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dano1122 lets see...

:|

 

[Enverxis]

=D I believe ill have some of those shipped over with my SR-225 Woodies just for kicks.

EDIT: Well ok no, not just for kicks -

More Soundstage = OMG YES!!! Maybe then I will be totally satisfied while listening to 6-piece Iron Maiden

 

[holeinmywallet]

I must say this is a brilliant idea, Larry. The decrease in bass response due to the larger distance gap between the drivers and ears will be perfectly balanced by the increase in low frequency sound reflections trapped inside the pads. I wonder how the soundstage is going to turn out. It would be either smaller due to the reflections that creates less open feel, or bigger due to more high frequencies from more distance between the driver as in the case of bowls. which do you think they sound closer to, bowls or flats?

There is one problem I see with this mod.. Because of the added weight from the pads, this means more pressure from the headband squeezing down on the top of the head. My discomfort from the grados mainly come from the the hard head-splitting headband.

Is there a way to impliment the grado drivers into a readily available entirely custom made frames, such as.. taken from your K3000? The fact that I don't like the whole stock skeleton design grado frame. I am sure you are able to come up with. If such thing becomes available, I would bid on it in a heart beat to use with my grado.

 

[bhd812]

lol Larry you have some crazy panache!

dude your like the tuner king of headfi....

lol
nuts I wanna meet you one day soon, come out to chicago please..lol


I am really laughing at this stuff, its crazy and your off the wall with it.
good headfi needs this

 

[cmanc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by holeinmywallet There is one problem I see with this mod.. Because of the added weight from the pads, this means more pressure from the headband squeezing down on the top of the head. My discomfort from the grados mainly come from the the hard head-splitting headband.

The headband pressure is a non-issue with my MS-1, so do the metal cups actually make that much of a difference? Looks like the circumaural pads aren't an option anymore, they're a neccessity. Need the side pressure to balance the top if ya know what I mean, might have to steal someone elses idea and pad the headband.

Quote:

Originally Posted by holeinmywallet Is there a way to impliment the grado drivers into a readily available entirely custom made frames, such as.. taken from your K3000? The fact that I don't like the whole stock skeleton design grado frame. I am sure you are able to come up with. If such thing becomes available, I would bid on it in a heart beat to use with my grado.

Oh, if you could get the old HP-1000 full globe metal frames happening that'd be great. I love that look!

 

[Nak Man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emon I've heard the Grados are very comfortable after a few weaks of breaking in.

I think the proper statement should be: "after a few weeks of your ears breaking out".

[size=xx-small]Anyway this thread won't exist if the original pads are comfortable ... =)[/size]

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nierika If Larry can make circumaural Grados, why can't Grado Labs make them?

Not meaning to offend anyone, but... to me, it seems a little trivial in fact.

Grados were conceived as supra-aural phones, and have likely brought that structure to its sublimation

...hmmm, sceptical as I am, I'd really like to give a listen to these hybrids.

 

[acs236]

I wonder how the driver-to-ear distance compares to the bowls.

 

[taymat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nierika LTUCCI1924: If you do end up with circumaural Grados and keep them for more than a month I will be completely shocked. If Larry can make circumaural Grados, why can't Grado Labs make them?

Because they're lazy.

Seriously they're a small company that is reluctant to to take a risk by making more than minute changes. I mean 90% of their line up is the same as it has been for years and years and it took them ages to change the 325s, despite no one liking them with the standard bowls. Also circumaural grados are bulkier than standard ones and ipoders (who buy sr-60s and so on, 60% of grados sales I read somewhere) would not be interested in them IMO.

 

[Andrea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taymat Because they're lazy. Seriously they're a small company that is reluctant to to take a risk by making more than minute changes. I mean 90% of their line up is the same as it has been for years and years and it took them ages to change the 325s, despite no one liking them with the standard bowls. Also circumaural grados are bulkier than standard ones and ipoders (who buy sr-60s and so on, 60% of grados sales I read somewhere) would not be interested in them IMO.

Maybe they are aware that they don't have the resources to make improvements to their products that are fully worthy and significant ?

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BRBJackson Larry you are amazing... can't wait to hear reports on this mod. Any idea when pricing will be available? "So what kind of 'phones are those?" "They're modded Grados" "No really, what are they??" "OK, they USED to be Grados, then I let headphile have 'em for a couple of days..."

I am such a doof- I was wondering why the inside of the pad looked black, and after reading the below on his website I realized the beyer pad was just the icing on the cake - the real mods are that Larry hooked up a wood and lambskin speakerboard and interior driver cover, all before we even get to the beyer pad being slipped on.

"I'm getting close to releasing my circumaural pad mod, which blow away bowls in both comfort and sound. The first size will fit all Grado's (except RS1&2, MS Pro, PS1 and HP1&2) simply by slipping the driver face into the fitted area of the lambskin covered wood soundboard. The inside is lined with black speaker cloth to further protect the driver from stray hairs. They're set up to use the comfy Beyer circumaural velour pads, which will be included in the price. Since the pads alone cost over $30 before I even begin building anything, the total modded package will lighten your wallet as per tradition.

After listening to these for a few hours on the new 325i's, I'm pretty blown away with the new soundstage, huge for Grado's, and the projection of the mahogany soundboard that the drivers easily insert into. To top it off, nothing like the smell of lambskin and the comfort factor has improved dramatically. I think they've earned the title of Darth Grado's. Since I only have two pairs in stock, (one is mine), I'll have to order some more pads in before I can begin offering these but, the other pair will be available with a new 325i on the headphone deals page."

This tells me that he already took the spacing issue in consideration so the bass would be just right after inclusion of the pad. Interesting.

 

[mattigol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Permonic Not at all. Circumaural earpads make Grado sounds differently, especially soundstage. You can feel fullness of the presented soundstage The sound is less airy, which is an obvious difference between circum and supra aural sound. There is not big impact on Grado typical forwardness. Hence the design of inner part of the circumaural pads is tricky. You need to experiment a lot to find a synergy between bass, midrange and highs. Circumaural pads with materials of less porosity/more reflection make bass of Grado more bloated and tame highs a lot. A combination of foam layers and material leads to the superior sound than bowls and flats could provide.

You are right on with your assessment. I have experimented with circumaural pads i covered in leather. The airyness and tonal balance of the MS-2s was totally lost! When designing a circumaural design one needs to find the most open porous foam available and a very open mesh to cover it with.

M.

 

[Nomad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taymat Also circumaural grados are bulkier than standard ones and ipoders (who buy sr-60s and so on, 60% of grados sales I read somewhere) would not be interested in them IMO.

Good Point. Actually, I use the grados on the go quite often and I prefer that mide-size form factor. However, some flat pads made of lambskin instead of that "sandpaper Grado" wouldn't hurt (the Grados ones really hurt me. I use to have my ears red after 1 hour or so). I wonder if I'm allergic or something.

That's too bad. I should invent some velour/lambskin flat pads for Grados and become rich by selling them (apart from some pairs for me, of course). I'm pretty sure there is a huge demand for something like that.

 

[bg4533]

Quote:

Originally Posted by holeinmywallet There is one problem I see with this mod.. Because of the added weight from the pads, this means more pressure from the headband squeezing down on the top of the head. My discomfort from the grados mainly come from the the hard head-splitting headband. Is there a way to impliment the grado drivers into a readily available entirely custom made frames, such as.. taken from your K3000? The fact that I don't like the whole stock skeleton design grado frame. I am sure you are able to come up with. If such thing becomes available, I would bid on it in a heart beat to use with my grado.

I have MS2s and SR60s and I have never had this problem. I never even feel the headband. Maybe you should try bending yours to a better position. If not, buy a Senn HD580 headband and stick it in there.

I believe Larry has stuck Grado drivers in other things, but I am not sure. IIRC someone has HP1000 drivers in a CD3000.

 

[Jahn]

Yep i dont have that headband prob either, but folks who do and stick on that HD580 headband pad mentioned above seem to have no issues after that.