Grado e Series
Mar 18, 2015 at 6:43 PM Post #4,249 of 6,729
   
Sweet comparison!  Love hearing headphones impressions with context.  Thanks for sharing.

 
Short post, but very good point. In my opinion, if you go to the trouble of writing an exhaustive review about a pair of headphone(s) to help people, you should also tell the people what upstream gear was used in the comparison.
 
As I have said before, I feel very lucky to have a Grado dealer within walking distance from my home, but I realize that not everyone has that chance, so when I write my impressions, I try to give as many pertinent details as possible.
  I am surprised to read that. I thought the 2e would have more bass than the 325e.
 
Do you have any views on the level of detail that the 2e has compared with the 325e please? How about it's timing and attack?
 
That was a cool effort to try help confused customers.
 
@ZuqiI read on an Amazon customer review that the best way to use the PS500/e is with the G-cush. Since then I read that the G-cush reduces bass and increases sound stage. As the PS500/e is based to the PS1000/e it's probably right. It's all confusing to me though, as why not sell them with G-cush and get rid of the question.

 
It's the same with the S pads, most people replace them with the L pads, so why does Grado even bother with the S pads on the lower end SRs.
 
I'm no Genius, but if 75% of my customers preferred the L, to the S, I'd make the switch, and would probably sell more headphones.
 
Mar 18, 2015 at 6:46 PM Post #4,250 of 6,729
by lower-bass, you mean the sub-bass on the 20hz-60hz region right?
but the rs2e has more mid-bass on the 60hz-200hz region?
Talking about bass is about the most populair item on Head-fi, to me however it us not always clear what kind of bass we talk about, because it depends on which music you like and if bass involved how it is presented, with other words, how is the recording quality of the bass ? Talking fir myself I like prog and avant-prog,most will know Yes and on albums like Fragile and Close to the Edge, the bass of Chris Squire is very prominent, another example is Primus, so it is obvious I want to hear this bass as it was meant to be, and my Philips Fidelio L2 does the job exellent, with in ears is much more difficult to hear a clear tight 3-dimensional bass, and you have to make compromises, as my Grado GR 10 have not the greatest bass but due to the other qualities it remains my favorite in ear, at home I would love to try the 325e if it presents the Rickenbacker bass in a great way:blush:
 
Mar 18, 2015 at 7:19 PM Post #4,251 of 6,729
   
Short post, but very good point. In my opinion, if you go to the trouble of writing an exhaustive review about a pair of headphone(s) to help people, you should also tell the people what upstream gear was used in the comparison.
 
 

I guess I assume people will look at my signature: Lyr 2 and Uber Bifrost.  Pretty much it. I also didn't want to use the word review but impressions because that was my intention. I didn't want to right a formal review in the comprehensive and exhaustive way. Wanted to give a more subjective impression rather than objective review. 
wink.gif
 
 
Mar 18, 2015 at 8:02 PM Post #4,252 of 6,729
  I guess I assume that people will look at my signature: Lyr 2 and Uber Bifrost.  Pretty much it. I always didn't want to use the word review but impressions because that's was my intention. I didn't want to right a formal review in the comprehensive and exhaustive way. Wanted to give a more subjective impression rather than objective review. 
wink.gif

 
You're right, sorry, my bad. In my case, I have four modest sound systems, so I have to specify wich one was used for the listening.
 
Mar 18, 2015 at 8:07 PM Post #4,253 of 6,729
   
You're right, sorry, my bad. In my case, I have four modest sound systems, so I have to specify wich one was used for the listening.


No problem.  I did use iPhone and Vali also to just check what I was hearing.  The Lyr 2 with '75 Reflector tube are pretty transparent and revealing as tube goes. 
 
Mar 18, 2015 at 8:14 PM Post #4,254 of 6,729
 
No problem.  I did use iPhone and Vali also to just check what I was hearing.  The Lyr 2 with '75 Reflector tube are pretty transparent and revealing as tube goes. 

 
I'm pretty ignorant when it come to hi resolution music on hard drives, so tell me, can you get the same resolution as SACD from this?
 
One of these days, I'll have to ask one of my computer savvy friends to come over, and help me sort this out.
 
Mar 18, 2015 at 8:20 PM Post #4,255 of 6,729
   
I'm pretty ignorant when it come to hi resolution music on hard drives, so tell me, can you get the same resolution as SACD from this?
 
One of these days, I'll have to ask one of my computer savvy friends to come over, and help me sort this out.


Actually I have a low fi SACD Marantz player and compared it to HD Music (from HD Tracks) and I thought the HD Music sounded better.  Some of them are so life like it's scary. 
One my friends thought I sounded more real than live.  If that's possible. 
 
Mar 19, 2015 at 1:51 AM Post #4,256 of 6,729
So, I need to retract some of my initial findings and impressions!
 
First and foremost, the RS2e's sound definitely better out of the Duet.  The first day I got them, I started out with the Duet and spent a good while listening out of it, then switched to the iPhone 5S.  This did, I felt at the time, tighten up the bass a bit.  However, over the last few days, I have definitely not been enjoying the RS2e / iPhone 5S pairing!  It becomes fatiguing after a while, more or less, depending on the music and the state of your ears and mind.  The RS2e's have really shown me that the audio codec of the 5S is pretty harsh and "digital" in the treble.  The Sennheiser HD-595's pair well with it precisely because the treble isn't forward and is even recessed in a few places.  I'm more susceptible to getting this listening fatigue at some times than others, and recently is definitely one of those times!
 
Today I was trying to track down this issue, and was again listening to all my headphones with a set of test tracks, and finally decided that the problem wasn't that the RS2e was emphasizing treble regions, but that either the DAC or the amp or some combination of both in the iPhone 5S was harsh and the RS2e's were just revealing it.  So, to test that I switched back to the Duet which I hadn't listened to since that first day, and immediately the harshness was a non-issue, and everything was so much better--except the bass, which was maybe not quite as tight.  I don't know why I felt the iPhone was "definitely better" that first day.  Probably I was caught up in the excitement and thrill and joy of these headphones at the point that I switched over, and my ears were "warmed up" so to speak, so that when I switched over, I was just noticing the slightly better bass and didn't notice the more fatiguing nature of the sound.
 
But I have certainly noticed it lately!
 
Clearly, my downward spiral has started in earnest.  :frowning2:  I am now definitely going to get a dedicated desktop / full-sized headphone amp so I can use my Duet as just a DAC and send it's line level speaker outs to the amp.
 
On the upside, I can also now say that the comments I made about Adele not sounding as good as other artists did on the RS2e's was an artifact and consequence of the 2e / 5S pairing.  Out of the Duet, Adele sounds freaking amazing on these RS2e's.
 
So I've decided to get one of the Schiit amps.  I love their topologies, the all discrete components, the made-in-USA, the look, the reviews, and their refreshing irreverence.  I have an Asgard 2 on order (it's backordered at the moment), but I'm wondering if I shouldn't switch to the Lyr 2.
 
A couple of the reviews I've read had positive things to say about the Asgard / Grado combo, with one reviewer (6 moons, IIRC) going so far to say that he would package the Asgard with Grados!  LOL!  Plus, from everything I've read, I think it's quite likely that I'm a solid state guy, so starting with the Asgard 2 seems to make more sense than jumping right to the Lyr 2, which would kind of be overkill for the Grados, power-wise, not to mention being $200 more expensive.  But perhaps that's where I'll end up.  We shall see.
 
However, if anyone feels strongly that the Lyr 2 is the much better pairing, please chime in!  I'd love to hear what you have to say.  Thanks everyone.
 
Mar 19, 2015 at 5:46 AM Post #4,257 of 6,729
  So, I need to retract some of my initial findings and impressions!
 
First and foremost, the RS2e's sound definitely better out of the Duet.  The first day I got them, I started out with the Duet and spent a good while listening out of it, then switched to the iPhone 5S.  This did, I felt at the time, tighten up the bass a bit.  However, over the last few days, I have definitely not been enjoying the RS2e / iPhone 5S pairing!  It becomes fatiguing after a while, more or less, depending on the music and the state of your ears and mind.  The RS2e's have really shown me that the audio codec of the 5S is pretty harsh and "digital" in the treble.  The Sennheiser HD-595's pair well with it precisely because the treble isn't forward and is even recessed in a few places.  I'm more susceptible to getting this listening fatigue at some times than others, and recently is definitely one of those times!
 
Today I was trying to track down this issue, and was again listening to all my headphones with a set of test tracks, and finally decided that the problem wasn't that the RS2e was emphasizing treble regions, but that either the DAC or the amp or some combination of both in the iPhone 5S was harsh and the RS2e's were just revealing it.  So, to test that I switched back to the Duet which I hadn't listened to since that first day, and immediately the harshness was a non-issue, and everything was so much better--except the bass, which was maybe not quite as tight.  I don't know why I felt the iPhone was "definitely better" that first day.  Probably I was caught up in the excitement and thrill and joy of these headphones at the point that I switched over, and my ears were "warmed up" so to speak, so that when I switched over, I was just noticing the slightly better bass and didn't notice the more fatiguing nature of the sound.
 
But I have certainly noticed it lately!
 
Clearly, my downward spiral has started in earnest.  :frowning2:  I am now definitely going to get a dedicated desktop / full-sized headphone amp so I can use my Duet as just a DAC and send it's line level speaker outs to the amp.
 
On the upside, I can also now say that the comments I made about Adele not sounding as good as other artists did on the RS2e's was an artifact and consequence of the 2e / 5S pairing.  Out of the Duet, Adele sounds freaking amazing on these RS2e's.
 
So I've decided to get one of the Schiit amps.  I love their topologies, the all discrete components, the made-in-USA, the look, the reviews, and their refreshing irreverence.  I have an Asgard 2 on order (it's backordered at the moment), but I'm wondering if I shouldn't switch to the Lyr 2.
 
A couple of the reviews I've read had positive things to say about the Asgard / Grado combo, with one reviewer (6 moons, IIRC) going so far to say that he would package the Asgard with Grados!  LOL!  Plus, from everything I've read, I think it's quite likely that I'm a solid state guy, so starting with the Asgard 2 seems to make more sense than jumping right to the Lyr 2, which would kind of be overkill for the Grados, power-wise, not to mention being $200 more expensive.  But perhaps that's where I'll end up.  We shall see.
 
However, if anyone feels strongly that the Lyr 2 is the much better pairing, please chime in!  I'd love to hear what you have to say.  Thanks everyone.

i haven't heard the lyr 2, but i had the lyr 1 as my main amp for quite a while, and used the rs1i amped by the lyr, i liked much better than the asgard 2, yes, the lyr is powerful(the asgard 2 has more power than grado's need too) but the tubes add a little warmth to sound which i like
i am just a huge fan of the lyr, just a great sounding highly versatile amp
 
Mar 19, 2015 at 5:52 AM Post #4,258 of 6,729
 
  So, I need to retract some of my initial findings and impressions!
 
First and foremost, the RS2e's sound definitely better out of the Duet.  The first day I got them, I started out with the Duet and spent a good while listening out of it, then switched to the iPhone 5S.  This did, I felt at the time, tighten up the bass a bit.  However, over the last few days, I have definitely not been enjoying the RS2e / iPhone 5S pairing!  It becomes fatiguing after a while, more or less, depending on the music and the state of your ears and mind.  The RS2e's have really shown me that the audio codec of the 5S is pretty harsh and "digital" in the treble.  The Sennheiser HD-595's pair well with it precisely because the treble isn't forward and is even recessed in a few places.  I'm more susceptible to getting this listening fatigue at some times than others, and recently is definitely one of those times!
 
Today I was trying to track down this issue, and was again listening to all my headphones with a set of test tracks, and finally decided that the problem wasn't that the RS2e was emphasizing treble regions, but that either the DAC or the amp or some combination of both in the iPhone 5S was harsh and the RS2e's were just revealing it.  So, to test that I switched back to the Duet which I hadn't listened to since that first day, and immediately the harshness was a non-issue, and everything was so much better--except the bass, which was maybe not quite as tight.  I don't know why I felt the iPhone was "definitely better" that first day.  Probably I was caught up in the excitement and thrill and joy of these headphones at the point that I switched over, and my ears were "warmed up" so to speak, so that when I switched over, I was just noticing the slightly better bass and didn't notice the more fatiguing nature of the sound.
 
But I have certainly noticed it lately!
 
Clearly, my downward spiral has started in earnest.  :frowning2:  I am now definitely going to get a dedicated desktop / full-sized headphone amp so I can use my Duet as just a DAC and send it's line level speaker outs to the amp.
 
On the upside, I can also now say that the comments I made about Adele not sounding as good as other artists did on the RS2e's was an artifact and consequence of the 2e / 5S pairing.  Out of the Duet, Adele sounds freaking amazing on these RS2e's.
 
So I've decided to get one of the Schiit amps.  I love their topologies, the all discrete components, the made-in-USA, the look, the reviews, and their refreshing irreverence.  I have an Asgard 2 on order (it's backordered at the moment), but I'm wondering if I shouldn't switch to the Lyr 2.
 
A couple of the reviews I've read had positive things to say about the Asgard / Grado combo, with one reviewer (6 moons, IIRC) going so far to say that he would package the Asgard with Grados!  LOL!  Plus, from everything I've read, I think it's quite likely that I'm a solid state guy, so starting with the Asgard 2 seems to make more sense than jumping right to the Lyr 2, which would kind of be overkill for the Grados, power-wise, not to mention being $200 more expensive.  But perhaps that's where I'll end up.  We shall see.
 
However, if anyone feels strongly that the Lyr 2 is the much better pairing, please chime in!  I'd love to hear what you have to say.  Thanks everyone.

i haven't heard the lyr 2, but i had the lyr 1 as my main amp for quite a while, and used the rs1i amped by the lyr, i liked much better than the asgard 2, yes, the lyr is powerful(the asgard 2 has more power than grado's need too) but the tubes add a little warmth to sound which i like
i am just a huge fan of the lyr, just a great sounding highly versatile amp


Thanks for your thoughts, jaywillin!  Is this statement regarding the Lyr (1 or 2) with the stock tubes?  Or with something like the Telefunken E88CC?  I mean, spending $450 on an amp is serious, but then having to drop another $50 to $250 for tubes is all that much more serious!  I've heard great things about the various tube rolling options available with the Lyr, but most people are spending $100+.  I love the idea of tube rolling, but my wallet certainly does not love it very much at all.  LOL!
 
Mar 19, 2015 at 6:06 AM Post #4,259 of 6,729
 
Thanks for your thoughts, jaywillin!  Is this statement regarding the Lyr (1 or 2) with the stock tubes?  Or with something like the Telefunken E88CC?  I mean, spending $450 on an amp is serious, but then having to drop another $50 to $250 for tubes is all that much more serious!  I've heard great things about the various tube rolling options available with the Lyr, but most people are spending $100+.  I love the idea of tube rolling, but my wallet certainly does not love it very much at all.  LOL!

the stock tubes are ok, and i do feel the lyr with the stock tubes is better than the a2, NOS tubes just improve on the sound
yeah, you can spend a ton of money on tubes, but you don't have to 
 
Mar 19, 2015 at 6:11 AM Post #4,260 of 6,729
I love the look of the Asgard and the Lyr both, but the Lyr with those glow-y vacuum tubes is beyond awesome!  I especially love it with the tube extenders added so the vacuum tubes stick up a little bit more and you can see more of them.  If money were simply no issue whatsoever, I'd likely just go for the Lyr so I could have fun rolling tubes and looking at them, and because the Lyr 2 would handle pretty much any headphones I get in the future, whereas the Asgard 2, maybe not so much, depending.
 
As for tubes, I read about some $40 tubes that work well in the Lyr 2 and are a significant step up from stock, but not as good as the Tele's or the holy grail russian tubes.
 
Anyway, thanks again!
 

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