[brisbane]

Hi,
 
A family member recently bought me a pair of Grado RS1i as a gift -- somewhat spoiling me given my previous pair of headphones were Bose (the difference in sound is immediately obvious). Anyways, I'm wondering how to get the most out of them without spending a ridiculous (re: $1000+) amount of money or having a cumbersome audio setup. I can listen out of either a laptop or iPod, but to be honest, listen to music more at home than on the go.
 
Advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[WorldsEndWombat]

Lucky you! Nobody even buy me an iGrado.
Lots of such threads in the forum. Search for "best amp for rs1", you would be immediately swamped.
 
Since you listen out directly from laptop or ipod, a dac/amp combo would do better job than amp alone.

 

[brisbane]

I should add I have a Pro-Ject HeadBox II amp but am not incredibly impresssed. It also seems underpowered (I need to turn my iPod up to nearly 100% to get decent volume with the amp turned up halfway). Also, i've heard the ipod headphone jack itself is a major source of degradation so how do i solve that?

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Hi,
 
A family member recently bought me a pair of Grado RS1i as a gift -- somewhat spoiling me given my previous pair of headphones were Bose (the difference in sound is immediately obvious). Anyways, I'm wondering how to get the most out of them without spending a ridiculous (re: $1000+) amount of money or having a cumbersome audio setup. I can listen out of either a laptop or iPod, but to be honest, listen to music more at home than on the go.
 
Advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

Heya,
 
Look into Fiio E17 for portable use and home use. Grados don't need juice. And the Fiio won't break your bank. Alternative, iBasso DZERO. And big time alternative, NFB-12.
 
Very best,
 

 

[brisbane]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not *that* budget constrained; I just don't want to spend $1000 on an amp/DAC.
 
My specific concerns:
 
1. iPod songs are high quality (256kpbs+ or AAC) but supposedly headphone jack sucks -- how to deal with this in a reasonable way?
 
2. Thoughts on my current amp? I bought it because the amp selection in the city is limited, it's light and has a small footprint, and it received good reviews online. But like I said, I either need to crank its volume knob up the whole way or have iPod volume up 75%+ to get decent volume.
 
3. Lastly -- how much more am I really going to get out of these headphones for a marginal $500?
 
Quote:

Heya,
 
Look into Fiio E17 for portable use and home use. Grados don't need juice. And the Fiio won't break your bank. Alternative, iBasso DZERO. And big time alternative, NFB-12.
 
Very best,
 

 

 

[Aizura]

FWIR the Little Dot I+ is a very good match with Grados as it pushes a lot of power into 32 ohm and the tube flavor always goes well with Grados.

 

[khaine1711]

1. Get a LoD -> amp; or you can get a desktop amp/dac combo
 
2. If it has trouble powering Grado of all things, get a new one =p. Also try using LoD -> amp.
 
3. They scale quite well imo. I did try Rs1i with a vintage receiver and thought they're not as good as the $100 grado. Then I tried Rs1i with the Nfb12 - more like it, much closer to the price tag. I could imagine they scale much better with high end dac/amp and stuff.
 
Quote:

Thanks for the advice. I'm not *that* budget constrained; I just don't want to spend $1000 on an amp/DAC.
 
My specific concerns:
 
1. iPod songs are high quality (256kpbs+ or AAC) but supposedly headphone jack sucks -- how to deal with this in a reasonable way?
 
2. Thoughts on my current amp? I bought it because the amp selection in the city is limited, it's light and has a small footprint, and it received good reviews online. But like I said, I either need to crank its volume knob up the whole way or have iPod volume up 75%+ to get decent volume.
 
3. Lastly -- how much more am I really going to get out of these headphones for a marginal $500?
 


 

 

 

[imademymark]

i had the rs-1s for 3-4 years and i used them with the headamp pico and the gilmore lite
 
i really liked the glite with the rs-1s but they're no longer for sale new iirc, although used ones pop up for 2-300 usd on the used section fairly often!
 
also i'm guessing given how nice the combination was - any amp based off the same dynalo design should work very well the rs-1s - and there are quite a few new ones available!
 

 

[EYEdROP]

Might want to check out this huge grado mod thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/508459/sr60-mod/1035

 

[imademymark]

i would be careful trying any of those mods on the rs-1s!