Jahn
Headphoneus Supremus Prolificus
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2004
- Posts
- 21,333
- Likes
- 40
my opinion is, bypass as much as possible. any of that eq, volume attenuation, etc - just get it out of the signal. then what you get is a nice pure dynamic signal ready for your amp to beef up before it gets to the headphone.
I realized that my SR200 was extremely neutral, so i needed a source and amp that would get out of the way so the Grado could do its thing. some folks might think the modded 0404/solo combo is too aggressive and would color the signal, but imho the term "boring" means something cottony, muddy, soporific, like a grandma's hand lotion. My source/amp cuts through that crap and gives the Grado something to work with. I feel that my final sound is very neutral, realistic, dynamic, transparent, and natural.
A kick drum was NOT meant to be polite. If a kick drum doesn't KICK my rig isn't doing its job in portraying that drum the way it should be. In the same way, if a delicate run through a classical guitar's frets just shows me rounded off notes, but ignores all that delicious close miked information like the fingers working that fretboard - i feel cheated. in the same way, if Karen Carpenter sounds syrupy sweet and boooring, i want to run home to my rig and hear her plaintive warble, with that spittle rattling in the back of her throat.
end result? my rig is fun. and it gives me plenty of info to chew on. a car stereo is nice to tune out to and have merge with road noise, but my home rig needs to bring it. if i go home and listen to something that analytically shows me all the frequencies available in a recording, i'm going to yawn myself to sleep unless that reproduction also brings that elusive Fun Factor.
i feel the RS-1 is plenty fun, but it seems a bit colored. i'm not sure if the cleanest most antiseptic signal ever can uncolor sound going to my ears if it ultimately goes through the RS-1. but the HP-1000 drivers in my SR200 just seem to get out of the way of the recording, and the source/amp power that point home.
wow what a ramble. 1212 may be a "boring" source, but matched with the right amp/can, it can result in the right sound for you. so can the 0404. but the SBLive is garbage in/out imho.
I realized that my SR200 was extremely neutral, so i needed a source and amp that would get out of the way so the Grado could do its thing. some folks might think the modded 0404/solo combo is too aggressive and would color the signal, but imho the term "boring" means something cottony, muddy, soporific, like a grandma's hand lotion. My source/amp cuts through that crap and gives the Grado something to work with. I feel that my final sound is very neutral, realistic, dynamic, transparent, and natural.
A kick drum was NOT meant to be polite. If a kick drum doesn't KICK my rig isn't doing its job in portraying that drum the way it should be. In the same way, if a delicate run through a classical guitar's frets just shows me rounded off notes, but ignores all that delicious close miked information like the fingers working that fretboard - i feel cheated. in the same way, if Karen Carpenter sounds syrupy sweet and boooring, i want to run home to my rig and hear her plaintive warble, with that spittle rattling in the back of her throat.
end result? my rig is fun. and it gives me plenty of info to chew on. a car stereo is nice to tune out to and have merge with road noise, but my home rig needs to bring it. if i go home and listen to something that analytically shows me all the frequencies available in a recording, i'm going to yawn myself to sleep unless that reproduction also brings that elusive Fun Factor.
i feel the RS-1 is plenty fun, but it seems a bit colored. i'm not sure if the cleanest most antiseptic signal ever can uncolor sound going to my ears if it ultimately goes through the RS-1. but the HP-1000 drivers in my SR200 just seem to get out of the way of the recording, and the source/amp power that point home.
wow what a ramble. 1212 may be a "boring" source, but matched with the right amp/can, it can result in the right sound for you. so can the 0404. but the SBLive is garbage in/out imho.
