[SuperDuke]

  Has anyone tried TTVJ Flat Pads on the 325e?  Wondering if is worth the $35 investment.

I turned the pads on my PS500e around and they can fit pretty flush w/ the driver since the back of the pads are flat.  I thought the mids sounded really good this way.  I  don't have the flat pads but this might be something for you to try.

 

[GreenBow]

  I turned the pads on my PS500e around and they can fit pretty flush w/ the driver since the back of the pads are flat.  I thought the mids sounded really good this way.  I  don't have the flat pads but this might be something for you to try.

I would love to hear a run in pair of 500e. You make my eyes water thinking about it.

 

[chailee80]

  Well, the egrado is a major upgrade in comfort over the igrado. The igrado's sounded even better but the comfort level was unacceptable.

Both models i found just pinched my ears too much to be enjoyable and it got worse the longer i wore them unfortunately.

 

[danmlr]

 
Both models i found just pinched my ears too much to be enjoyable and it got worse the longer i wore them unfortunately.

 
Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all, as I owned both models and returned both. 
 
I do wish grado made a better effort at designing more comfortable headphones, but they seem to be doing pretty well as it is. 
 
Grado seems to be very averse to change. They seem satisfied to cater to a small but loyal niche market rather than perfecting their craft. 

 

[zazex]

 
I would love to hear a run in pair of 500e. You make my eyes water thinking about it.

how many hours do you consider 'run in'?
I listen to my 500e's regularly, and bought
them about a month ago.

 

[zazex]

   
Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all, as I owned both models and returned both. 
 
I do wish grado made a better effort at designing more comfortable headphones, but they seem to be doing pretty well as it is. 
 
Grado seems to be very averse to change. They seem satisfied to cater to a small but loyal niche market rather than perfecting their craft. 

 
It's a smaller niche than the big Asian electronics companies (and similar), but they are selling all over the world.
Successfully.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

  Well, the egrado is a major upgrade in comfort over the igrado. The igrado's sounded even better but the comfort level was unacceptable.

How? I had (sorta still having) the iGrado, and when it was not in used it's stretched by a beer can... Then the dog tore it into pieces.
 
Anyway looking at the eGrado I really wonder how the comfort could be improved. It's the same form factor, the same material.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

   
Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all, as I owned both models and returned both. 
 
I do wish grado made a better effort at designing more comfortable headphones, but they seem to be doing pretty well as it is. 
 
Grado seems to be very averse to change. They seem satisfied to cater to a small but loyal niche market rather than perfecting their craft. 

There're alot of unusual things about this company. They don't do marketing. They assemble their products by hand, they even tell people that if they don't like open sounds they can go look for another brand. THeir emails are not as 'professional' as other headphone makers too. And yes I do hate the Grado comfort a lot. But with time I think I've come to accept that I will not find the Grado sound in any other brand, and that the on-ear design is a must for those killer guitar riffs. To be honest I have never worn any on-ear Grados for more than 2 hours. I can't.

 

[joseph69]

  There're alot of unusual things about this company. They don't do marketing. They assemble their products by hand, they even tell people that if they don't like open sounds they can go look for another brand. THeir emails are not as 'professional' as other headphone makers too. And yes I do hate the Grado comfort a lot. But with time I think I've come to accept that I will not find the Grado sound in any other brand, and that the on-ear design is a must for those killer guitar riffs. To be honest I have never worn any on-ear Grados for more than 2 hours. I can't.

I don't think Grado needs too do any marketing, its word of mouth, which is a good thing IMO. I also would agree that if someone doesn't like them, then they should buy another brand. And I'm definitely not denying that some may have experienced bad e-mail responses from Grado, but I myself have never, and couldn't be happier with their responses too any of my e-mails. Also I can, and I do listen too any of my Grados for 3-5hrs at least 5 times a week with absolutely no issues. By all means I'm not in any way trying to debate your experience/opinions and please don't take this the wrong way...but it does sound like your not happy at all with Grados HP's? 

 

 

[danmlr]

  How? I had (sorta still having) the iGrado, and when it was not in used it's stretched by a beer can... Then the dog tore it into pieces.
 
Anyway looking at the eGrado I really wonder how the comfort could be improved. It's the same form factor, the same material.

 
I tried stretching out the igrado as well. The stretching wouldn't hold. 
 
I didn't compare igrado and egrado back to back (igrado is discontinued) obviously, but from what I recall, the igrado was far less comfortable. 
 
My impression is that the egrado plastic headband is a little more flexible. It was definitely less uncomfortable, lol. I could easily wear it for half an hour or longer. The igrado's came off after a song, two max. 
 
I emailed grado about the igrado headband. They were aware of the problem and may have made some minor design changes allowing for a bit more comfort. 

 

[danmlr]

  There're alot of unusual things about this company. They don't do marketing. They assemble their products by hand, they even tell people that if they don't like open sounds they can go look for another brand. THeir emails are not as 'professional' as other headphone makers too. And yes I do hate the Grado comfort a lot. But with time I think I've come to accept that I will not find the Grado sound in any other brand, and that the on-ear design is a must for those killer guitar riffs. To be honest I have never worn any on-ear Grados for more than 2 hours. I can't.

yeah, I definitely agree with your observations. 
 
My impression is that they are as successful as they want to be. They're a family owned business and don't care about maximizing profits or market share.
 
What riles me however is that they don't listen to their customers who have legitimate complaints. Their headbands are not comfortable. They COULD experiment with different designs, perhaps by adding a very small amount of foam padding under the headband. How much could that cost? How much "r&d" would be involved?
 
There are lots of modders here on head fi, and they can do it, but grado can't?
 
I'm frustrated because the igrado is one of my favorite pair of headphones of all time, but the headband was the most poorly designed I have ever used, by a very wide margin. it is literally, epic fail. 

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

  I don't think Grado needs too do any marketing, its word of mouth, which is a good thing IMO. I also would agree that if someone doesn't like them, then they should buy another brand. And I'm definitely not denying that some may have experienced bad e-mail responses from Grado, but I myself have never, and couldn't be happier with their responses too any of my e-mails. Also I can, and I do listen too any of my Grados for 3-5hrs at least 5 times a week with absolutely no issues. By all means I'm not in any way trying to debate your experience/opinions and please don't take this the wrong way...but it does sound like your not happy at all with Grados HP's? 

 

With 4 pairs still left in my inventory (just had to let the 325is go for financial reasons and looking to buy the iGi again), you could say that I'm very happy with Grado It's just that I've come to live with the fact that they're not perfect. The sound signature is addictive, though, and that explains why I have so many Grados at the moment. As a matter of fact right now I don't own any headphones of other brands. However I'm keeping my cousin's K612. 
And of course there's a lot to defend on Grado comfort, as I myself have always said, the MS1 and the RS1e are among the lightest cans I've ever used. I've tried bending the headbands too and I've always tried to wear them on ear, but there's only so much I can take. Anyway, 1 - 2 hours is enough for a (healthy) listening session, I believe. So that's not as much a problem as it sounds. I use my PS500 with Gs when I need better comfort (for example when I'm writing stuffs or watching movies), but just like those fullsize cans, they can make me sweat.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

  yeah, I definitely agree with your observations. 
 
My impression is that they are as successful as they want to be. They're a family owned business and don't care about maximizing profits or market share.
 
What riles me however is that they don't listen to their customers who have legitimate complaints. Their headbands are not comfortable. They COULD experiment with different designs, perhaps by adding a very small amount of foam padding under the headband. How much could that cost? How much "r&d" would be involved?
 
There are lots of modders here on head fi, and they can do it, but grado can't?
 
I'm frustrated because the igrado is one of my favorite pair of headphones of all time, but the headband was the most poorly designed I have ever used, by a very wide margin. it is literally, epic fail. 

In term of comfort I think the iGrado is their most "epic" fail. I can use these for quite some time, but it's understandable that the iGrados leave headaches on some people. 
 
The fact that they don't improve their headband design is the most baffling thing IMHO. I can easily buy some padded band on the Amazon, some people I know go so far as to take the drivers out to put into Beyer's cups (and band). I've never tried those modded cans, but they say the sound remains the same. Which means that the Grado sound signature can be retained on other designs, some as minimal as, like you said, putting a bit of foam under the band. 

 

[chailee80]

   
Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all, as I owned both models and returned both. 
 
I do wish grado made a better effort at designing more comfortable headphones, but they seem to be doing pretty well as it is. 
 
Grado seems to be very averse to change. They seem satisfied to cater to a small but loyal niche market rather than perfecting their craft. 

If they could put the egrado cups in a simple headband like the koss portapro i'd be sold.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

But that would raise the cost, at least for Grado Labs. The i/eGrado retails for 1/2 the price of the SR60 and the sound is not that far off.