[quikgp]

So I took the plunge and bought my first 2 sets of high end headphones:

1) Grado SR80i
2) Denon AH-D1001

I liked the denon for use outside my house. The sealed design, the "smaller" size of the sealed headphones, they seemed to get good reviews and it was a great entry price.

I like the grado's for their open/airy feeling, and lively in your face style. Oddly enough, I demo'd the same pair I bought from EHR in hamilton, and they sounded so harsh and bright, even on low volumes (on listening to nirvana...never thought they could be considered bright...lol) anyway, I was going to purchase MS-1's instead, but after reading that the whole phone is slightly laid back (both treble and base) I though, to heck with it, and bought the grados. I got them home, and Ive never complained once about how bright they are. I love it!

so anyway, I have a bunch of questions regarding these phones, hopefully you guys can help me out:

1) I did some research and through various people's opinions, I picked my 2 sets of headphones because I want them to be able to be powered by a portable device occasionally. I assumed that this was probably the "highest" headphone I could buy without needing an amp. Is this true? (ie can I buy the denon D2000 and still power it with an Ipod?)

2)I know more about speakers than I do headphones. On a nice set of speakers/equipment, the sound stage is opened up and positioning of musical intsruments can be heard. Is this true about headphones too? I can head lots of clarity through both my phones (moreso through the grado then the denon), but in the higher end phones can you pick out where the guitarist is standing relative to the singer etc?

3) I've heard weird things regarding this next question and I dont understand: my grado's came with the "comfy" pads. Everyone seems to buy the sennhiesser pads and cut out the center of them (quarter mod I believe its called?) a) why are sennhiesser pads used over the grado pads? b) why doesn't anyone buy the bowls? I think I like the design of the bowls better and was thinking about picking them up. will this make sound quality worse? and how so?

 

[Scott_Tarlow]

1) Not sure

2) YES! That is what we call sound stage! Some phones have it others don't. Even some higher end IEMs have good sound stage.

3)dunno

 

[aristos_achaion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by quikgp /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1) I did some research and through various people's opinions, I picked my 2 sets of headphones because I want them to be able to be powered by a portable device occasionally. I assumed that this was probably the "highest" headphone I could buy without needing an amp. Is this true? (ie can I buy the denon D2000 and still power it with an Ipod?)

The D2000 looks like it'd have low enough impedance not to require an amp. Whether it's worth it to upgrade without an amp, I'm not sure...pretty all the Grado headphones can be run unamped, but people say that above maybe the sr80s or the sr125s you can't really get the most out of the 'phones sans an amp.
Quote:

2)I know more about speakers than I do headphones. On a nice set of speakers/equipment, the sound stage is opened up and positioning of musical intsruments can be heard. Is this true about headphones too? I can head lots of clarity through both my phones (moreso through the grado then the denon), but in the higher end phones can you pick out where the guitarist is standing relative to the singer etc?

Yep, that's soundstage. Neither set of cans you got has a particularly expansive one, IIRC, but that's definitely something people talk about here...searching the forums for "soundstage" will probably tell you more than I ever could.
Quote:

3) I've heard weird things regarding this next question and I dont understand: my grado's came with the "comfy" pads. Everyone seems to buy the sennhiesser pads and cut out the center of them (quarter mod I believe its called?) a) why are sennhiesser pads used over the grado pads? b) why doesn't anyone buy the bowls? I think I like the design of the bowls better and was thinking about picking them up. will this make sound quality worse? and how so?

People think the Senn pads are more comfortable than the Grado pads. You can "quarter mod" both Senn HD414 pads and comfies...most people think that Grado bowls or flats sound better, but most people also think they get uncomfortable after a while (it's a concern in long listening sessions). Try the bowls out...it gives you a bit better sound stage & changes the sound a little bit, probably for the better. And some people think they're more comfortable (like John Grado, incidentally).

EDIT: I almost forgot: for a while Grado flats were out of production (flats and comfies are different...comfies are soft foam, flats are hard foam), so people who liked the sound of flats had to make their own with Senn pads...that's how that got started.

 

[rodentdog]

Grados aren't known for soundstage. Buy a set of bowl pads. I have two grado cans. the senn pads didn't do anything for me. Didn't like the flat pads much $38 or so. Bowl pads are around $15 and are the stock pads on the majority of grado headphones. Folks say washing them in soap and water softens them up. Welcome to Head-Fi, "Sorry about your wallet"

 

[dweaver]

ATH AD700 and AD900 are two more great cans that don't require a high end amp to sound good.

 

[Ashkii21]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dweaver /img/forum/go_quote.gif ATH AD700 and AD900 are two more great cans that don't require a high end amp to sound good.

If you are looking for "soundstage," the headphones that dweaver mentioned have an expansive soundstage, FWIR. I recently ordered the AD700s, I'm just waiting for them to arrive. I bought them for around $90.