[Nerrel]

   
I had the version with inset drivers, flush with the cups. I could replicate the problems people were having with it by wearing it without earpads though. And improvement isn't really the right word... I think the i vs the e is much more of ta personal preference. The i is more treble focused and able to reveal timbre better than the e, which has a more balanced output (akin to the MSPro in some ways) but lacks treble sparkle and vocal sweetness. 

I have to disagree with your assessment of the i vs the e; in my opinion, the RS1e was the more technically advanced headphone (bigger soundtage, better separation, better bass response) while the RS1i was far more enjoyable to listen to.  I also don't think the RS1e is balanced in any way at all.  It has less treble, but it still has the same high upper midrange peak.  The result for me was that it actually sounded very awkward and unbalanced due to the muffled treble paired with piercing mids.  Headphones with comparable treble levels, like AKGs and Sennheisers, don't have that upper mid exaggeration.  In order for the RS1e sound to work, Grado would have had to eliminate that peak.  They would have been duller and sounded even less like a Grado, but they at least would have had a smooth, coherent sound signature that could have been considered authentically neutral. 
 
I should clarify that I'm not fundamentally opposed to a treble reduction.  I actually was looking forward to a slightly less fatiguing sound when buying the RS1e.  The problem is that the e goes way overboard and mutes the treble to the point of sounding muffled and unclear.  The RS2e is a little more in line with what I was looking for; slightly tamer treble, but still bright and clear. 

 

[stacker45]

   
I had the version with inset drivers, flush with the cups. I could replicate the problems people were having with it by wearing it without earpads though. And improvement isn't really the right word... I think the i vs the e is much more of ta personal preference. The i is more treble focused and able to reveal timbre better than the e, which has a more balanced output (akin to the MSPro in some ways) but lacks treble sparkle and vocal sweetness. 

 
The RS1i vs RS1e isn't different than the RS1 vs RS1i. It's always a question of personal préférences, it's just that some models are more popular than others.
 
It's like the SR325, many people think that they sound too bright, but if your sound system's highs are rolled off, then the SR325 might make it sound more balanced.  
 
The same is true for the RS1e, wich will tame a bright sounding system.
 
That being said, this is Grado that we're talking about, so it's possible that there are a few pairs of RS1e, out there, that have out of spec drivers, wich makes them sound unusually dull.

 

[XLR8]

So I eventually did sell my RS1e, and I have some final thoughts on it.

I think the sound as an RS1, is still better than the RS1i. It can't reproduce the treble texture that the RS1i can, but it's a little better balanced overall. The soundstage is also a little wider, but the imaging isn't quite as good. It's very much one of those "This is more enjoyable to listen to, but not necessarily as technically good" situations. Bass on the RS1e is absolutely better than the RS1i to the best of my recollection. 

That said, it IS a different direction for the RS1 and I'm not exactly sure where it fits in the lineup. I think in retrospect it should have offered more clarity; it takes a while to sink into the sound and pick out the parts you really want to listen to. This wasn't an issue in previous RS1 models. The RS1 excelled at texture and clarity as I remember it, and this RS1 doesn't really do either. It is now sort of an "ultimate SR60" and refines that sound to its zenith... the RS1 of olde was a departure from the SR sound, be it brighter and more treble focused (RS1i) or clear and balanced (RS1 of previous generations). I dunno. It sits at a funny spot and I'm sure one day we'll wake up and they'll have changed it again. I question whether Grado knows what to do with it; it's no longer the "high end" in their lineup (and hasn't been for ages) but it doesn't seem to offer anything truly unique to the equation. 

As for pricing, I think its value rests comfortably somewhere between $400 and $500, depending on the materials used and personal taste.

So why exactly did I get rid of it? I did like it, but my office is jam packed with folks right now (we're working on several movies at once) and it just leaked way too much sound. I don't think it was necessarily intrusive to the people around me, but if I wanted to listen to the same song on repeat a few times I felt like I was pushing it on others. Plus I watch some pretty dumb movies and documentaries while I work. As I wear headphones 8 hours a day at the office, it seemed like a waste. I traded them for the Audio Technica W5000, a headphone that I remember getting a great fit on almost a decade ago, and searching through my old messages and comments reminded me very much of the RS1 of olde. And it still does: I don't have any fit issues so the bass is actually quite good... I don't actually think I could listen all day to a headphone with MORE bass than the W5000. Excellent female vocals too, something the RS1e didn't do as well as its predecessors.  

Mecuttio thnx for your honest comments. Regarding the audio technica you mention, would you rate it above rs1 in midrange and transparency?
Tia.

 

[Mercuttio]

  I have to disagree with your assessment of the i vs the e; in my opinion, the RS1e was the more technically advanced headphone (bigger soundtage, better separation, better bass response) while the RS1i was far more enjoyable to listen to.  I also don't think the RS1e is balanced in any way at all.  It has less treble, but it still has the same high upper midrange peak.  The result for me was that it actually sounded very awkward and unbalanced due to the muffled treble paired with piercing mids.  Headphones with comparable treble levels, like AKGs and Sennheisers, don't have that upper mid exaggeration.  In order for the RS1e sound to work, Grado would have had to eliminate that peak.  They would have been duller and sounded even less like a Grado, but they at least would have had a smooth, coherent sound signature that could have been considered authentically neutral. 
 
I should clarify that I'm not fundamentally opposed to a treble reduction.  I actually was looking forward to a slightly less fatiguing sound when buying the RS1e.  The problem is that the e goes way overboard and mutes the treble to the point of sounding muffled and unclear.  The RS2e is a little more in line with what I was looking for; slightly tamer treble, but still bright and clear. 

 
Hmm, I could agree with that assessment too. It's a very peculiar headphone. I simply thought it had fewer peaks in the treble and it felt more balanced overall, but I do think that the upper midrange can be very "shouty" at times. Random things pop out and smack you in the face, though I didn't find it to be horribly unpleasant. It's sort of a pick your battles kind of thing: the RS1i could be unpleasant with treble spikes, and the RS1e can be unpleasant with that upper midrange push. Neither enter the unlistenable territory that the original GS1000 was in for me though... that headphone had some severe imbalances and I really didn't like it, despite VERY much wanting to like it. 
 
Maybe my assessment of "balanced" is incorrect... but I do think it has a better low to high balance than the RS1i. *shrug* I should probably hear another RS1i at some point... it has been a while and my memory may have fogged things.
 

 Mecuttio thnx for your honest comments. Regarding the audio technica you mention, would you rate it above rs1 in midrange and transparency?
Tia. 

 
The W5000? Absolutely. Driven properly, the W5000 beats any RS1 I've heard except possibly the older pink driver models. Even out of a player without amplification I find it to be superior... though it scales far more with amplification than any Grado I've used. The caveat though is that if the W5000 is either an amazing headphone if you get a good fit, or a bass-light headphone with some weird oddities if you don't. I'm fortunate in that it seems nearly made for my head: I can wear it 8 hours a day and it not only seals but simply vanishes. Despite having far more metal and wood in the construction than the RS1, it FEELS much lighter. I use a Sony UDA-1 at home, and a FiiO e17 at work... both seem to do quite well with the W5000.

 

[sling5s]

There's a newer RS1e version that is not protruding but flush with the cup? Didn't Grado say they were no going to change the RS1e?

 

[god-bluff]

There's a newer RS1e version that is not protruding but flush with the cup? Didn't Grado say they were no going to change the RS1e?

If that's the case shouldn't Grado offer to replace all the original RS1e that they got so badly wrong?

 

[Mercuttio]

  There's a newer RS1e version that is not protruding but flush with the cup? Didn't Grado say they were no going to change the RS1e?

Well, they definitely did. You can see pictures earlier of my pair vs earlier pairs... the driver is very clearly in a completely different position. 
 
They'll just use the line of "There is nothing wrong with X product you have, however we do periodically make adjustments" thing though. They'd never admit that the first thing was defective. 

 

[sling5s]

  Well, they definitely did. You can see pictures earlier of my pair vs earlier pairs... the driver is very clearly in a completely different position. 
 
They'll just use the line of "There is nothing wrong with X product you have, however we do periodically make adjustments" thing though. They'd never admit that the first thing was defective. 

Wow! I would love to hear how the new RS1e (I guess non protruding now), compares with the GH1. 

 

[joseph69]

  There's a newer RS1e version that is not protruding but flush with the cup? Didn't Grado say they were no going to change the RS1e?

Correct, there is no *NEW* version of the RS1e.
 

  Well, they definitely did. You can see pictures earlier of my pair vs earlier pairs... the driver is very clearly in a completely different position. 
They'll just use the line of "There is nothing wrong with X product you have, however we do periodically make adjustments" thing though. They'd never admit that the first thing was defective. 

Its not a new version, they just starting flush mounting the driver with the air chamber.
Have you/anybody heard both…is there a difference in sound? I don't think so, otherwise they would be flying off the shelf. 

 

[ruthieandjohn]

Correct, there is no *NEW* version of the RS1e.

Its not a new version, they just starting flush mounting the driver with the air chamber.
Have you/anybody heard both…is there a difference in sound? I don't think so, otherwise they would be flying off the shelf. 

Actually, some folks HAVE reported hearing a difference between protruding and non protruding RS1e drivers. I'd have to look who, but I think one may be either Mercuttio or MacedonianHero. Also I recall a (dis)comfort factor also being reported.

If I ever get an RS1e, (Grado #22), it will have flush drivers as do the most recent ones.

 

[Mercuttio]

Actually, some folks HAVE reported hearing a difference between protruding and non protruding RS1e drivers. I'd have to look who, but I think one may be either Mercuttio or MacedonianHero.

 
I haven't heard the one that protrudes. Only the one that is inset flush. I didn't hear the issues that people talked about as being present in the protruding version though. I'd love to compare, but I don't own any pairs anymore to do so. 
 
I believe that someone had noticed the difference before me, and mentioned a difference in sound quality.

 

[joseph69]

Also I recall a (dis) comfort factor also being reported.

Right, this is why they most probably recessed the driver, but it isn't a *NEW* version.
Grado said there isn't going to be a *NEW* version of the RS1e at all, it is what it is.

 

[sling5s]

  Is there anyone on the thread with both the GH-1/RS2e?
Thanks!

I had the RS2e and now have GH-1. Never had them side by side so I can't compare them now but the GH-1 is slightly more fuller in the mids and has more rounded bass with more extended treble and detail but at the same time it's less shrill and shouty. 
 
Never mind about the RS2e and GH-1. I think this was an old question that has been already addressed.
I'm just catching up on the tread because of the news of the non protruding RS1e.
 
As for the new RS1e, this my guess (I had the older RS1e and not the new one), while the new RS1e seems to address the recessed treble problem, it seems the driver is still voiced in a way that might be still problematic ( at least to me). The older RS1e had really forward mids (comparably more than what is normal for Grados). While the mids of the new RS1e might be somewhat diminished because the driver is no longer protruding, from an impression from several post, the RS1e still sounds like its voiced in way that is too mid and upper mid forward (more so than other "e" Grados and GH-1) forcing the listener to turn the volume down at the cost of the bass and treble. Hence, it may still be somewhat unbalanced (by Grado standards) and thus the feeling of mid congestion where the soundstage and sense of instrument placement suffers. Just my speculation though. The GH-1 may still be the better. 

 

[Mercuttio]

 
I had the RS2e and now have GH-1. Never had them side by side so I can't compare them now but the GH-1 is slightly more fuller in the mids and has more rounded bass with more extended treble and detail but at the same time it's less shrill and shouty. 

 
Can you take a picture of the GH-1's drivers? I'm curious about how they set in their wood frame. 

 

[sling5s]

   
Can you take a picture of the GH-1's drivers? I'm curious about how they set in their wood frame. 

It's completely flush. I had two pairs actually. One was slightly recessed so I returned it and the second was completely flush.