[Trav]

About 2 months ago i purchased a set of Grado SR 60's and initially liked them but after the burn in i absolutely couldn't listen to them because they are just too bright and harsh. I in turn bought a set of Denon AH-D1001 and was initially thrilled with them; it seems after the burn in with them they are now somewhat bright although not as bad as the Grado's. The kicker here is I find myself being able to listen to my old and cheap Sennheiser PC-150's that i've had forever without that type of complaint. Unfortunately there is no where one can go and sample ALL cans in person. Is what I'm experiencing common for Senns? Or am i just learning my own sound preferences? I travel frequently and prefer closed over IEM. I took the Grado's on a flight and the person next to me had me stop using them as to the design. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Cool_Torpedo]

What kind of player and music format are you using?
Not implying that Grado SR 60 aren't bright, they're to my ears, but it could be that any resolving enough phones you use are just showing the format quality limitations.

 

[TopPop]

Are/were you using the stock comfies with the SR-60s? If not, try to get some, and see if that helps. IME, bowls, 414 pads, and any sort of modded comfies are going to be brighter than stock comfies... although I personally like them more....

 

[Tiemen]

I guess you don't like bright headphones.
Me neither, so I stay away from them.
For a closed can, I ended up with the Beyer Dynamic DT150.
And yes, Sennheisers can have a warm sound sig.

 

[jonathanjong]

D1001s bright...that's odd. EQ? Fiio E3?

 

[Tiemen]

If the Denon 1001 has more or less the same sound sig as the D2000, it wouldn't surprise me that OP finds them somewhat bright.
It's maybe not exactly an overall bright headphone, but I found the treble of the D2000 sometimes harsh and sibilant. Depending on the recording.

 

[JamesL]

The d1000 are very treble oriented when driven off my PC for some reason, but does a complete 180 degrees in sound-signature when I drive them out of a ipod or a amplifier.
On the other hand, my hd650's sound signature doesn't change as drastically.

 

[Trav]

I just swapped the 1001's from my PC to my ipod and WOW, there are the cans i fell in love with! It seems i'm having the same problem. On my pc they are indeed kinda bright but on the ipod they are absolutely 10/10 Pebble Beach Perfect! Amazing. Perhaps an amp with USB and DAC for the PC? Thanks again James.

 

[jonathanjong]

Or a better soundcard, maybe?

 

[paaj]

guessing you're using onboard? definitely try a better soundcard/amp, and maybe some better music-ripping with higher bitrate or lossless like flac/alac?

 

[Cool_Torpedo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trav /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just swapped the 1001's from my PC to my ipod and WOW, there are the cans i fell in love with! It seems i'm having the same problem. On my pc they are indeed kinda bright but on the ipod they are absolutely 10/10 Pebble Beach Perfect! Amazing. Perhaps an amp with USB and DAC for the PC? Thanks again James.

Which comes down to what I firstly asked you

The problem wasn't that much the cans being bright, as they were showing you the flaws on your source or the amp driving them.
Glad you can now be happy with your D1001. Welcome to Head-fi hehehe

 

[Trav]

TY Torp, wise folk here! Next question, wouldn't a portable USB compatible amp function as a "soundcard" on my PC? BTW again ty all for the excellent advice!

 

[DocHamm]

Bowls on the SR60 are a tad brigher (imho) than comfies. I prefer a very clean sound, thus prefer bowls. A cheap way to alter Grado sound is change the pads.

There are a few relatively inexpensive combo amps/dacs with USB that you might like. Search the forum and you'll find a number of reviews to dig into for options. I myself will be doing the same soon!

 

[Vitor Machado]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trav /img/forum/go_quote.gif TY Torp, wise folk here! Next question, wouldn't a portable USB compatible amp function as a "soundcard" on my PC? BTW again ty all for the excellent advice!

Affirmative, USB DAC/amps will work just like an external soundcard (in fact they should really be called an external soundcard, there's no real difference... only when you say "USB DAC/amp", it's supposed to sound better than your average "external soundcard" I guess

).

And check this thread.

 

[mow_the_hawk]

hmm... How much money would you want to spend on a USB Dac/ Amp? I used to have the Headroom Total Bithead and liked it a lot for the price. It is about $150. Here is the link:HeadRoom Total BitHead @ HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears