[544322]

Marketing called!

We can only keep two of the current SR models!
Which ones should we keep?

 

[Joaquin Dinero]

He's obviously really enthusiastic and passionate about the hobby but he's an absolutely F-tier "reviewer". Videos are way too goddam long, he spends most of it rambling, barely says anything terribly informative, most of it is just kinda going on about his opinion, and I don't believe he's any good at giving an effective assessment of how something sounds.

Being a good reviewer isn't about having "the right opinion." Some of the best critics have had the worst takes. It's about being able to incisively recognize what you're experiencing from the product and relate it to your audience. A good reviewer will have you 100% disagreeing with them and going "yeah but that thing you talked about there is what I like about it." A bad reviewer has you going "what that's not what it's like at all." A good reviewer might give a headphone a bad review because it's really bassy or the soundstage is small or the clamp is too tight and someone goes "that's exactly what I'm looking for." A bad reviewer really likes that headphone so they say "it sounds really neutral and natural, the soundstage is plenty big, and it's secure without being tight" and someone who likes the product goes "wow okay I love these headphones but that's not what they're like at all."

That's why Z and so many like him annoy me. Not because their opinions are right or wrong, but because they're completely unreliable when it comes to having a clue what it's gonna sound like. Tyll was amazing at that. Even if you disagreed with him, you knew what you were getting from a headphone from his reviews.

PREACH!!!!!!

A good reviewer shouldn't show their hand too much about their tastes. They should reveal facts about the thing they're reviewing.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Marketing called!

We can only keep two of the current SR models!
Which ones should we keep?

80e and 325e.

 

[kmhaynes]

I’ve owned the Utopia in the past and prefer these two Grado models. [GS100oi & GS3000e]

Caught this line at the bottom of your post. Wow, that says a lot! There's no way I could ever afford the Utopia, but the Clear is a "maybe" affordable for me.

Does anyone have any experience with a higher line Grado (I have the RS2e) compared to the Focal Clear?

With the new "MG" magnesium driver Clear, I'm thinking we might start seeing the older Clear on some significant discounts, maybe?

 

[kmhaynes]

Interesting new video by Steve Guttenberg

Steve's comments have everything to do with current "cancel culture." 'Nuf said. Back to Grado Headphones!

 

[elvergun]

Marketing called!

We can only keep two of the current SR models!
Which ones should we keep?

This one...

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I agree.

They have a specific impedance and (critically) capacitance. Changing those parameters, however slightly, will change the sound.

In general I think cables don't have sound unless they're defective.

But one good example of where cable changes the sound is the HD 25 because the stock cable is (or was until 2021) steel.

Yeah, steel. I measured the capacitance and resistance on a pair as I was reterminating. And both sides of the cable weren't even the same. The cables are meant for DJ use and tensile strength is more important than sound quality although that little pair of cans can scale to amazing heights.

Using normal copper cable is likely to result in an audible difference for the better. But it goes back to what I said, it is only better because the stock steel cables are defective

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I think we should stop these discussions about the cables. It's always ending in a blood bath..

I'm selling all my snake oil futures

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Ordered some DT 1770
Many says theyr are forward like Grado

They're not. They're a pretty nice all around pair of headphones without any glaring imbalance in the signature.

 

[Bernard23]

That's just not true. Different cables can (and often do) sound different. If you don't want to "believe" in that then fine. Maybe you are blessed enough to no hear those differences. It's probably a reason to be happy, saves you a lot of time and money

Especially if you have to solder the new cables i would be very careful with that as you can't just switch them afterwards. If at all solder a socket into the headphones so you can try different cables.

I don't wish to stir, only to be a pedant! disclosure: I work for a national metrology lab, and we worry about stuff like this a lot. Logically, if you can hear it, you *should* be able to measure it. Fundamentally, measurement differences have to be consistent and repeatable by independent testers for the data to be valid and true. Measurement involves the use of both hardware devices and physcho-acoustics.

If we cannot measure any differences, then there are two possibilities: it's not "real" (though we can try to measure physcho-acoustics - you would be very surprised who our clients have been over the years, but it's typically a much higher uncertainty compared to lab physical measurements), or that the measurement device is not sensitive enough. In my experience, it's never been a sufficiently critical social problem that ever warranted much research beyond the phsychological elements, and again in my experience, the latter are massively unreliable compared to hardware. As a bit of context, whether you coil your analogue cables or keep them straight are testing the EM limits of detection of commercial labs. Now pad rolling....

Happy listening!

 

[Bernard23]

Continuing the theme of brain induced euphoria... anyone else notice that when you crank the 325e and the Hemp (maybe others too) that the treble gets smoother? maybe we're adjusted to high frequency high SPL to sound harsh? Either way, no other phones I've heard behave this way. Maybe it's my age.....

 

[Gippy]

Steve's comments have everything to do with current "cancel culture." 'Nuf said. Back to Grado Headphones!

The snarky comment that relates to Grado that's most annoying is "anyone who likes Grado must have hearing damage", and this is is said in a demeaning manner, as though people with normal hearing can't enjoy them.

 

[BobG55]

Caught this line at the bottom of your post. Wow, that says a lot! There's no way I could ever afford the Utopia, but the Clear is a "maybe" affordable for me.

Does anyone have any experience with a higher line Grado (I have the RS2e) compared to the Focal Clear?

With the new "MG" magnesium driver Clear, I'm thinking we might start seeing the older Clear on some significant discounts, maybe?

I can’t afford the more expensive audid items eithe. I would sell a few headphones along with my amp, sometimes and then put the balance on credit which usually worked to about half the sales price of the expensive item. I would then pay it off as quickly as possible w/ monthly payments. I

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Steve's comments have everything to do with current "cancel culture." 'Nuf said. Back to Grado Headphones!

I had to watch the video twice to see if I was missing something, because no the **** it does not LMAO. This is about toxicity in comments and social media, something YouTube has had a hard time with for ages. He's talking about ignorant know-it-alls who pick fights on the internet and who act like experts because they read some stuff online versus people with hands-on experience. There is absolutely nothing about "cancel culture" in this, and the only kind of person who would bring that up is someone with a political axe to grind, which does not have a place in a thread about headphones. So let's move on.

 

[Heyyoudvd]

Neat, ZayaReviews just added a whole bunch of Grados to their database.

https://www.zayareviews.com/

I recommend the Grado crowd here add some reviews/ratings over there. That site is looking promising for the headphone world.


(Note: I have no association to that website. I just really like the design and the fact that it was built to be like the RottenTomatoes for headphones. And their database had virtually no Grados since the site is brand new, so I messaged the guy and he just added about half the Grado lineup. This is looking like it could end up being a great headphone resource.)