[zachd]

 
Hi all, I have read head-fi off and on for quite a while often coming here from google searches for various headphones.
 
I'm just recently starting to get more serious about headphones.  Not sure why it took so long, I have a home theater system and a 2.1 channel stereo system with turntable/cd/pc and I love headphones because for less money I can get more in to the music for less money rather than spending $$$ on new speakers, amps, pre-amps tt carts, etc.
 
I now have some hd600s, grado 325i's, some sony eggos, and for my iphone I use nuforce ne6's.
 
My first thought is I love the HD600's and the nuforce ne6s.  I'm pretty dissapointed by the 325i's.  I love the eggos also but they don't get as much use since I have the nuforce for portable use. 
 
For amps I have a bithead pro with DAC and I have a creek obh11 as well. 
 
My main q is why do the 325i's not sound better??  My thought in buying them after then hd600s was I have always been curious about the sound of higher end headphones, mainly sen, grado, and AKG.  I thought the 325's would be "equal but with different characteristics' than the 600's.  They really didn't hold a candle to them though in any way shape or form.
 
I wonder if they are not broken in? (I bought them second hand on ebay, the owner said they weren't used much).  Or maybe they are under-amped?  Or maybe I should not even expect them to sound as good as the HD600s?  I noticed I do have to turn the creek amp up all the way with them and with the senns a good listening level is about 4 clicks under turned up all the way.
 
Next question is if the 325i's are no match for the HD600, what can I get for $250 (used) that is?  An AKG model?  Or is there no such thing and perhaps I should just get another pair of HD600's (reason for two is my wife will listen sometimes also).  It would be nice to have two different pairs that worked well with most music but perhaps one had an edge over the other with different kind of music since we listen to basically every genre except country I would say.  I have been watching AKG 701s they seem to go for $250 or less sometimes.  If there is another brand in that price range I would entertain looking at them as well.
 
I have amp and IEM questions also, but I suppose I should save those for the other forums.
 
Thanks for any suggestions and thoughts!

 

[Head Injury]

You're going to have to describe what is inferior about the 325i before anyone can hope to explain why it's like that. Grados are polar opposites of Sennheisers, so you probably just don't like it.
 
The same goes for a new recommendation. No one can make a good one until we know what you like about the HD600 and what you don't about the 325i.

 

[tdockweiler]

I didn't like the Grado 325i either. AT ALL. It was my least favorite headphone mainly due to how the upper treble just hurt my ears so badly. I couldn't stand them for more then a half an hour. I'd like to try out more Grado headphones later on.
The AKG 701 are what I would suggest, especially if you want to get a second pair of headphones.
 
I would do what I did and get both and compare them side by side. I myself found that the AKG 702/701 had more forward sounding detail, but the HD-600 had more positives and sounded better with more music. I must have spent at least four hours comparing them side by side with every music I could throw at them. It all comes down to what type of sound YOU want to hear and prefer. To my ears, I preferred the sound from the HD-600. I didn't start to dislike anything about the AKG 702 until I compared them side by side to the HD-600. If I didn't do this, I probably could find no fault with the AKG 701/702, other then the fit of course (I have a small head). Of course, the 702 does a few things better the the HD-600.
 
BTW you can get a new pair of the 702's for $250. I'd get the AKG 701 over the 702, unless you don't like the white color. I've found that for some reason the 701 fits better and I don't know how this is.

 

[chrisjackson]

Was wondering if the following is something you guys would have predicted?
Quote:

...325i's ...  I noticed I do have to turn the creek amp up all the way with them and with the senns a good listening level is about 4 clicks under turned up all the way.
 
 

 

[hazardous]

yeah...that doesn't really make sense. Grado's are notoriously easy to drive, and most of the prestige series don't even need an amp (though it helps). Sennheisers should be much more difficult to drive across the board...I wonder if something is wrong with your 325s? There is no reason you should have to crank the amp all the way up to listen to the 325s. Granted, they may or may not suit your listening style, but something is suspicious here.

 

[Mr Joboto]

Yeah nah, that's right, Grados are ridiculously easy to drive, something's up

 

[eucariote]

Is it the painful highs that you don't like about your Grados?  My Grado SR225 can also be painfully bright, and they're supposed to have much less treble than SR325.  It wasn't until I finally got HF-1, which have even tamer highs and more powerful bass than the SR225 that I found the spectrum pleasing and well-balanced.