[music_man]

are some of you getting the original ps1k just because of a price deal? I am getting the e is like 10% better. so if you get a fantastic price it is absolutely worth it.  I often buy demo's/used. don't always have to get the latest thing. as it stands for my tastes the ps1k was the best headphone in the world. the e only does a little more but same sound overall. of course they could drastically change with some hours but I doubt it. keep in mind the old threads. do not blast them to burn in!

 

[colgatetotal]

Some people here have reported that the GS1000e is a substantial improvement over the GS1000i. Waiting for the GS1000e to hit stores in Canada to take a listen...

 

[joseph69]

  are some of you getting the original ps1k just because of a price deal? I am getting the e is like 10% better. so if you get a fantastic price it is absolutely worth it.  I often buy demo's/used. don't always have to get the latest thing. as it stands for my tastes the ps1k was the best headphone in the world. the e only does a little more but same sound overall. of course they could drastically change with some hours but I doubt it. keep in mind the old threads. do not blast them to burn in!

I just received a NOS/NIB PS1K for a total of $1210.00 U.S. 
Can't beat that!!!

 

[whirlwind]

 

  Jay, I promised that I would stop the tongue in cheak posts, but I never said I'd stop making straight humour posts, life's just too short.

 
 nothing wrong with the tongue in cheek , let it roll i say , someone once said something i wish i could remember exactly
music and laughter need no reason to exist other than bring us pleasure , i know thats not it, but i know i listen to a lot of music,
and i love to laugh !

+1000

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  I just received a NOS/NIB PS1K for a total of $1210.00 U.S. 
Can't beat that!!!

congrats, joseph! please post your musical impressions with rec albums for these HPs.
at least you can enjoy the music -- not like some of these clowns on the HE560 impressions

thread who would rather measure graphs it seems....

 

[joseph69]

 
congrats, joseph! please post your musical impressions with rec albums for these HPs.
at least you can enjoy the music -- not like some of these clowns on the HE560 impressions

thread who would rather measure graphs it seems....

Thank you!
I'll post impressions after burn-in.

 

[stacker45]

Thank Jay, and whirlwind, but like I've said you can only do so much tongue in cheek humour, simply because people get to know you. I'm all about respect so if I start bitching about a pair of headphones, you'll see right through me. But I'm glad to see that you, whirlwind and a few others, enjoy the bit of humour in some of my posts. I can't help it, if a subject lends itself to it, my mind starts to wander, and funny senarios just pop in my brain. I then have to decide if I want to write it down, or keep it to myself. I guess that as far as you and whirl go, I have the green light. 

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  Some people here have reported that the GS1000e is a substantial improvement over the GS1000i. Waiting for the GS1000e to hit stores in Canada to take a listen...

Absolutely. AUDITION and TRUST ONLY YOUR EARS.
But be sure to share your obs with us humble minions of The Dark Side (aka Gradophiles).
enjoy!

 

[ThePianoMan]

+10 

Good question. A while back, there was a post indicating a particular artist that Grado uses to tune drivers. Can't remember. But I wouldn't be surprised if John uses the Beatles tracks to help tune drivers -- he's a fan of them (who isn't?). But let me get back to you on this with a more def answer. My gut hunch is a lot of acoustic music and guitar tracks.

I recall that article - I believe it was some Ella Fitzgerald, old time Jazz, and some classic rock if memory serves me right!

 

[stacker45]

Ah! yes!, the graphs, I never understood the obsession with them, EVERY piece of equipement has it's own frequency response curve, and it's the sum of all these F.R. curves that we hear, so even if your headphones have a F.R. that's relatively flat, or at least, smooth, like the HP1000, it won't mean Jack shiet, if, say, your C.D player's frequency response looks like the E.C.G. of someone having a hearth attack.
 
This is as good a place as any to write about this. There are many variables that influence our sound preference and by the same token, our choice of equipement. Here's a few off the top of my head.
 
I don't want to start a war here, keep in mind that sound preference is purely subjective, so take into account that each of the following has some wiggle room.
 
1)- Hearing accuity,- Duh!, some of you might be thinking, as we get older, we lose the ability to hear the top frequencys, this might explain why some find the
                                  SR325i's treble a bit on the hot side, while some, maybe older people, like me, I'm 48, welcome their treble extension.
 
2)- The shape of our ears - and the size of our heads - Aside from the obvious, wich is to dictate if we'll find a pair of headphones comfortable, or not, I'm   
                                           sure that much like furniture in a room, or acoustic panels, it plays a role in the diffraction of the sound                                   
 
3) - Upstream equipement - This one is pretty much self explanetory, if the sum of your upstream equipement is light on bass, and generous on treble, the
                                             PS500 might be just what you need.  
 
4) - Passed experiences - If like me for exemple, I had Sennheiser HD600, wich have a big soundstage but are a bit veiled, so when I listened to a pair of well
                                          Broken in Grado RS1, I found them very detailed but I also found the soundstage to narrow for my tastes, so I bought my GS1000
                                          They had the big soundstage, and the forensic detail retrieving that Grado are known for.
 
5) - Personnal taste - Again 1..2..3 go!...Well Duh!, I have to say it, because this one criteria alone is responsable for many heated discussions (arguments)
                                   regardless of all of the above, if you like A LOT of bass and, or treble, it's your prerogative
 
The meds are kiking in now, so my ability to think is a bit impaired, so feel free to add to this list if you're so inclined I don't mind, on the contrary, I'm curious to see what you guys are thinking.
 
As I have said before, thesure day I start listening to music with my eyes, is the day I'll start paying attention to graphs, in the meantime I'll just keep trusting my ears.

 

[bpcans]

stacker, great post sir, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I can neither hear with my eyes nor see with my ears, but back in my college days I inadvertently ingested and inhaled enough psychotropic chemicals to believe that I was developing a "third eye", could see into the future, and fold space with my mind. Simply listening to music now insures peace, harmony, and the ability to
make it to work, most days.

 

[Loving[MAX]Sound]

  Ah! yes!, the graphs, I never understood the obsession with them, EVERY piece of equipement has it's own frequency response curve, and it's the sum of all these F.R. curves that we hear, so even if your headphones have a F.R. that's relatively flat, or at least, smooth, like the HP1000, it won't mean Jack shiet, if, say, your C.D player's frequency response looks like the E.C.G. of someone having a hearth attack.
 
This is as good a place as any to write about this. There are many variables that influence our sound preference and by the same token, our choice of equipement. Here's a few off the top of my head.
 
I don't want to start a war here, keep in mind that sound preference is purely subjective, so take into account that each of the following has some wiggle room.
 
1)- Hearing accuity,- Duh!, some of you might be thinking, as we get older, we lose the ability to hear the top frequencys, this might explain why some find the
                                  SR325i's treble a bit on the hot side, while some, maybe older people, like me, I'm 48, welcome their treble extension.
 
2)- The shape of our ears - and the size of our heads - Aside from the obvious, wich is to dictate if we'll find a pair of headphones comfortable, or not, I'm   
                                           sure that much like furniture in a room, or acoustic panels, it plays a role in the diffraction of the sound                                   
 
3) - Upstream equipement - This one is pretty much self explanetory, if the sum of your upstream equipement is light on bass, and generous on treble, the
                                             PS500 might be just what you need.  
 
4) - Passed experiences - If like me for exemple, I had Sennheiser HD600, wich have a big soundstage but are a bit veiled, so when I listened to a pair of well
                                          Broken in Grado RS1, I found them very detailed but I also found the soundstage to narrow for my tastes, so I bought my GS1000
                                          They had the big soundstage, and the forensic detail retrieving that Grado are known for.
 
5) - Personnal taste - Again 1..2..3 go!...Well Duh!, I have to say it, because this one criteria alone is responsable for many heated discussions (arguments)
                                   regardless of all of the above, if you like A LOT of bass and, or treble, it's your prerogative
 
The meds are kiking in now, so my ability to think is a bit impaired, so feel free to add to this list if you're so inclined I don't mind, on the contrary, I'm curious to see what you guys are thinking.
 
As I have said before, thesure day I start listening to music with my eyes, is the day I'll start paying attention to graphs, in the meantime I'll just keep trusting my ears.

 
 
Awesome! I concluded after speaking with a bunch of people that it all boils down to personal preference. People's ears are different from one to the other.

 

[LCfiner]

CD players don't have frequency responses that look insane. that's something we learn by... examining graphs. examining performance. DACs perform mostly the same. that's not to say they are all the same. but the differences attributable to DACs are tiny, tiny, tiny compared to speakers and headphones.
 
I like graphs. I like headphone measurements because they are a good way to quantify and compare headphone performance.
 
this is not the same as quantifying enjoyment. No one who takes measurements seriously (there are some with less experience who may exaggerate the importance of the graph) thinks that it's impossible to enjoy a piece of equipment that measures more poorly than some other item.
 
Just because some people in this forum can have a conversation about equipment performance via measurements does not mean that they do not enjoy their headphones; that they do not enjoy music; that they only listen to headphones that meet certain performance criteria and ignore what sound they actually like with music.
 
There are people in the Grado threads who seemingly abhor measurements and I don't get it. The existence of measurements is not about saying what someone can and can't enjoy. It's about understanding more about how technical products perform. How they operate. How they can, perhaps, be modified and iterated upon.
 
 
Side note:
 
We tend to say a lot around here that everyone hears different. I don't think we all hear so wildly different. we say it but it's not really all that true.  There may be differences in taste (not the same thing) and differences in high frequency hearing (frequencies where almost no musical information resides, btw) but we still say it just to avoid any hassle of trying to suss out why one person would think one one thing instead of another. I consider it one of those meaningless statements that don't really add anything. like "agree to disagree".  it's a conversational dead end. So feel free to call me out the next time you see me using it

 

[CanadianMaestro]

  CD players don't have frequency responses that look insane. that's something we learn by... examining graphs. examining performance. DACs perform mostly the same. that's not to say they are all the same. but the differences attributable to DACs are tiny, tiny, tiny compared to speakers and headphones.
 
I like graphs. I like headphone measurements because they are a good way to quantify and compare headphone performance.
 
this is not the same as quantifying enjoyment. No one who takes measurements seriously (there are some with less experience who may exaggerate the importance of the graph) thinks that it's impossible to enjoy a piece of equipment that measures more poorly than some other item.
 
Just because some people in this forum can have a conversation about equipment performance via measurements does not mean that they do not enjoy their headphones; that they do not enjoy music; that they only listen to headphones that meet certain performance criteria and ignore what sound they actually like with music.
 
There are people in the Grado threads who seemingly abhor measurements and I don't get it. The existence of measurements is not about saying what someone can and can't enjoy. It's about understanding more about how technical products perform. How they operate. How they can, perhaps, be modified and iterated upon.
 
 
Side note:
 
We tend to say a lot around here that everyone hears different. I don't think we all hear so wildly different. we say it but it's not really all that true.  There may be differences in taste (not the same thing) and differences in high frequency hearing (frequencies where almost no musical information resides, btw) but we still say it just to avoid any hassle of trying to suss out why one person would think one one thing instead of another. I consider it one of those meaningless statements that don't really add anything. like "agree to disagree".  it's a conversational dead end. So feel free to call me out the next time you see me using it

 
Thanks for the insights.
 
Graphs are useful, but as a consumer I find that hearing or reading other audiophiles' listening experiences with their selected tracks specified for me, is more helpful in assisting my choice of the next HP to add to my arsenal. Graphs and measurements should never be subordinated to the human auditory perceptual experience. Basically, I trust my ears, which is the ultimate measuring instrument, and the only one, that counts in the end. Having said that, I do agree that quantitative measurements are sometimes useful for HP designers and engineers to improve products. Absolutely. But in the end, for me at least, the pleasure of listening to music can never be measured, so I don't bother paying attention to graphs when shopping for HPs. Important qualifier there. As you hinted, there are some spectacular HP graphs out there, that sound like crap when you hook the cans up to your ears. I find it quite interesting that two audiophiles whom I respect very much, George Cardas and John Grado, don't use measurements to market their wares. They tune by ear. That speaks volumes. Bravo.
 
btw, everyone does hear differently. That's a concise statement that is accurate and can explain more than just personal taste. The neural wiring and synaptic plasticity thresholds underlying perception of sound in the brain differ between individuals. It's not an oxymoron to say that. Maybe a cliche for some.

 

[jaywillin]

some folks like graphs, find them useful, that's cool.
i don't have enough technical knowledge to understand and make much use of graphs, and i have no real desire to learn
 i find some reading, reviews here, the "pro reviews" read threads to make some sort of decision, to get an idea of what i want, and how a piece of gear may perform.
then, i do the most important , and the only real thing that's important to me, LISTEN WITH MY EARS.