[rovopio]

  Closer to the black line means a more "neutral" and flat sound signature +/-db. For instance look at the ER4-S.
 
$^&#^%**** --- Stupid new "e" line. While I'm excited, I can no longer say that I own/have owned every single current Grado model. Is the, say, GS1000i really that different from the GS1000 or GS1000e? Or is it just a bunch of marketing BS that Grado had to/wanted to "refresh" their lineup after 5 years (the "i" came out in 2009 I believe).
 
MAIN QUESTION WITHOUT READING THROUGH 36 PAGES OF THREADS: ARE THERE MAJOR DIFFERENCES SONICALLY (between the "i" and the "e)/BUILD QUALITY WISE? IS THERE REALLY NEW TECHNOLOGY?

 
Can anyone with multiple models of both sets (e.g. GS1000i vs GS1000e and/or even a SR225i vs SR225e) confirm the differences? The "i" and the non-"i" didn't post much difference to me imo. I kinda don't want to upgrade all my Grado's right now ugh...
 
Thanks in advance!
 
-GradoFan1

 
i post this in my post above, but im still curious about this, my grado sr60 broke. and i dont live in the us. im thinking is there a way to fix it myself and how often does this happen in a grado...
 
 
so what happen is, all of a sudden, i noticed the left channel has intermittent sound today. sometimes it sounds normal and sometimes there's just no sound. i tried to check out the cables and connector a bit, and i found out that the cable leading up to the left driver, caused this.
 
when i hold the left-side cable backwards to the direction my shoulder it sounds perfectly fine, but when the left cable is position forwards, then the sound disappear.
 
is it normal for this to happen...? is it just the connector between the driver and the cable inside the left channel that got loose or is it smthn else...? is it possible for me to solder it myself?
 
 
cheersss

 

[gradofan1]

Buy a new SR80e. It's only $99. Grados are usually of high quality and I've never had one break, ever. 
 
It's normal for headphone cable to become loose to their solder over time. If your a DIY expert, go for it, but likely it will have to be recabled, as the strands sound like they've come loose. And recabling a SR60 just ain't worth it. 

 

[rovopio]

  Buy a new SR80e. It's only $99. Grados are usually of high quality and I've never had one break, ever. 
 
It's normal for headphone cable to become loose to their solder over time. If your a DIY expert, go for it, but likely it will have to be recabled, as the strands sound like they've come loose. And recabling a SR60 just ain't worth it. 

 
greattt. okay im set on buying a new one then. goodbye my old grado.
 
yeah basically if i hold the end of the left-side cable backwards to my shoulder direction than it sounds totally fine. even just hanging there the sound is totally fine (e.g. sitting in an office chair and the cable goes to the floor).
 
but when the left cable is positioned outwards / forwards, say from sitting leisurely in a sofa or something and the cable goes from the table to the sofa, then the sound is gone...
 
i hv no exp. with DIY. i dont even know how to solder...

 

[donunus]

The "i" and the non-"i" didn't post much difference to me imo.

What I was referring to (in case anyone misunderstood me) was that the stock pads of the sr80 was the bowl pads and the sr80i came with comfy pads. The reason why the sr60 looks more extended than the 80 is that the bowl pads make the headphones brighter/tighter yet less extended in the bass region.

 

[rovopio]

  What I was referring to (in case anyone misunderstood me) was that the stock pads of the sr80 was the bowl pads and the sr80i came with comfy pads. The reason why the sr60 looks more extended than the 80 is that the bowl pads make the headphones brighter/tighter yet less extended in the bass region.

 
which one do you think will be more of a fit to me...?
sr60 or sr80...
 
considering i own and perfectly fine with sr60 until it suddenly broke in the left channel today...

 

[joe50000]

The packaging is definitely different, although I can't really tell much of a sonic difference. I A/B tested the rs1i and the rs1e blind, and I thought the rs1e is more or less the same. There's really nothing new here, just a marketing ploy to get people who have never bought a grado or were on the fence to take the leap. The same deal happened with the "i" models. Blind A/B testing showed little to no difference, even at the top of the range models.

People just want what's new and automatically assume its better. Car companies do it all the time.

 

[joe50000]

greattt. okay im set on buying a new one then. goodbye my old grado.

yeah basically if i hold the end of the left-side cable backwards to my shoulder direction than it sounds totally fine. even just hanging there the sound is totally fine (e.g. sitting in an office chair and the cable goes to the floor).

but when the left cable is positioned outwards / forwards, say from sitting leisurely in a sofa or something and the cable goes from the table to the sofa, then the sound is gone...

i hv no exp. with DIY. i dont even know how to solder...

Soldering is easier than you think, although it is definitely not worth it to buy a soldering gun, solder, and then bother to work on it. Just buy a new pair.

 

[Aizura]

The packaging is definitely different, although I can't really tell much of a sonic difference. I A/B tested the rs1i and the rs1e blind, and I thought the rs1e is more or less the same. There's really nothing new here, just a marketing ploy to get people who have never bought a grado or were on the fence to take the leap. The same deal happened with the "i" models. Blind A/B testing showed little to no difference, even at the top of the range models.

People just want what's new and automatically assume its better. Car companies do it all the time.

x10000
 
Audio technology already reached it's top ages ago.
There is a reason for the high demand for certain vintage audio gear. The only reason for new products is because consumers assume a product isn't good anymore when it's more then 5 years in production, so the manufacturers keep releasing "new" products that in reality offer nothing new and are just fooling the consumers to buy more gear.

 

[elmoe]

--nevermind, read past posts.
 
A note however: if the driver enclosure has a plastic ring added, does that make the wooden cups larger on the RS1e? Would appreciate someone measuring both RS1i/e directly.

 

[JES]

greattt. okay im set on buying a new one then. goodbye my old grado.

yeah basically if i hold the end of the left-side cable backwards to my shoulder direction than it sounds totally fine. even just hanging there the sound is totally fine (e.g. sitting in an office chair and the cable goes to the floor).

but when the left cable is positioned outwards / forwards, say from sitting leisurely in a sofa or something and the cable goes from the table to the sofa, then the sound is gone...

i hv no exp. with DIY. i dont even know how to solder...

Live a little and go for the 80e!

 

[donunus]

   
which one do you think will be more of a fit to me...?
sr60 or sr80...
 
considering i own and perfectly fine with sr60 until it suddenly broke in the left channel today...

If you don't plan to change the pads to bowls, I suggest stick with the sr60e (based on my experience with the sr60i vs sr80i comparison using comfy pads.

 

[Aizura]

With the RS1e, it appears Grado is trying to imitate the sound of flat pads with the L-cushions just by raising the driver out from the cup and keeping the same pads.
It seems like a very cheap and greedy move from Grado. Why not just ship the RS1e with flats instead of bowls? This way you can just leave the driver fully in their cup, so it can benefit from the wood acoustics. With the driver sticking out, people also do not have the choice between the flat sound and the bowl sound, because the driver will always be close to the ears.
 
Also the thing with the driver sizes makes me think Grado is full of ****, sorry to be this negative. But why would they state different driver sizes for the different models if their diaphragms are all exactly the same size? Probably to make it seem the higher prices models actually have different drivers (but ofcourse they don't. It's all snake oil.)
 
We have seen by the pictures of the RS1e that the whole driver unit measures 50mm, but only because they made the black plastic larger, which obviously makes no difference at all (actually, it could be worse since the wood is now thinner to accommodate the bigger plastic). 
So it's not like Grado is lying, it's just a different opinion of what is defined by driver if one talks about driver sizes. But really, it is deception.
 
If they really knew what they were doing, they would have the HP1000 in production again, or improved on it. But they don't. Because the manufacturer of the HP1000 drivers went down and thus Grado lost acces to them. Probably the manufacturer of the i-drivers went down so they had to resort to the red colored drivers. No improvement, just a different OEM driver.

 

[elmoe]

  With the RS1e, it appears Grado is trying to imitate the sound of flat pads with the L-cushions just by raising the driver out from the cup and keeping the same pads.
It seems like a very cheap and greedy move from Grado. Why not just ship the RS1e with flats instead of bowls? This way you can just leave the driver fully in their cup, so it can benefit from the wood acoustics. With the driver sticking out, people also do not have the choice between the flat sound and the bowl sound, because the driver will always be close to the ears.
 
Also the thing with the driver sizes makes me think Grado is full of ****, sorry to be this negative. But why would they state different driver sizes for the different models if their diaphragms are all exactly the same size? Probably to make it seem the higher prices models actually have different drivers (but ofcourse they don't. It's all snake oil.)
 
We have seen by the pictures of the RS1e that the whole driver unit measures 50mm, but only because they made the black plastic larger, which obviously makes no difference at all (actually, it could be worse since the wood is now thinner to accommodate the bigger plastic). 
So it's not like Grado is lying, it's just a different opinion of what is defined by driver if one talks about driver sizes. But really, it is deception.
 
If they really knew what they were doing, they would have the HP1000 in production again, or improved on it. But they don't. Because the manufacturer of the HP1000 drivers went down and thus Grado lost acces to them. Probably the manufacturer of the i-drivers went down so they had to resort to the red colored drivers. No improvement, just a different OEM driver.

 
Is the wood actually thinner due to that plastic ring? Looks like I will be keeping my SR325i a long time...

 

[Theogenes]

Not sure about the provenance of the change, nor the differences it could potentially make. However, personally, I'm holding out for comparisons of i-vs-e on some of the higher-end models (GS1k and PS1k in particular), with the thought that any actual differences between the older and newer runs would be more apparent on more resolving gear. Whether or not this is a reasonable approach remains to be seen, but it makes sense to me. 
 
Also, I just really like the GS1k anyway, and would love to know if and how the sound changes with the e-series. It would definitely be a bit easier on everyone if Grado would drop the whole Iron Curtain act and be a bit more forthcoming about these things, particularly as loyal as their customer base has been over the years... But I suppose that's asking the leopard to change its spots. Sigh. 

 

[Mortalcoil]

   
which one do you think will be more of a fit to me...?
sr60 or sr80...
 
considering i own and perfectly fine with sr60 until it suddenly broke in the left channel today...

 
I say splurge a little, treat yourself to the 80.