Excuse the below essay I've just wrote , but it's my night off work & I've had too many black coffees. So some caffeine inspired words are about to speak out .
My one gripe with the PS500e is that it only extends to 14khz at the bottom end , yet the amount of bass this HP voices is incredible , it's thick & solid , but I'd say it's more quantity than quality.
That's not to say the PS500e does not have quality bass because it certainly is of premium quality , yet whether by intelligent design or not (which I suspect the former) , it leaves me thirsting for that extra bit more of that Grado extension.
Now as it is , I do have the top of the line Reference series , now the 12khz the RS1e drops low enough to really satisfies that thirst of bass depth I desire, yet the RS1e doesn't spit bass quantity like the 500e .
This is not an attempt at being a comparison between the two as they are two totally different beasts altogether , but I digress.
Now since I purchased the RS1e , things in my audio life took a strange unexpected twist , heck at first the RS1e bamboozled me , it is clearly a Grado yet an exotic flavour I neither embraced or rejected , but a bit of EQ & breaking the driver / brain in , It became the only HP I wore for a few months .
On return to my faithful trusting RS2e / Sr325e I was left once again bamboozled.
I was neither satisfied anymore by the 325e (lack of bass depth) hence the reason I sold it , also the RS2e had lost it's magic with me , it's voice sounding to thin , nice depth though , just not enough meat on the bone , it's fate was sealed like the 325e.
Enter 500e - Grado or not , I've never heard a HP (500e) voice bass this potent before , NOW if this HP extended to 12 khz like the RS1e it would be the best Grado I've ever heard , I'd even be tempted to rank it as my #1 flagship HP .
Let's not forget to mention the highs are resonated beautiful by the aluminium air chamber , yet smoothed & churned to a buttery perfection by the mahogany driver casing.
Off topic Grado for a moment - But the Hifiman Ananda which I've become accustomed to drops to 8khz and has the capability to wobble my teeth when I apply my EQ .
Yet I only use this HP for Progressive House & Prog / Atmospheric Breakbeat genres .
The Ananda doesn't satisfy me for Rock or Metal as I find it can sound - let's say -
less meat on the bone , like I'm mid crowd -concert , maybe due to the driver distancing from the ear , but for EDM it's magical . But for Rock & Metal only Grado satisfies for these genres , so close & intimate .
In a nutshell , the PS500e is so close to being the one & only Grado HP I would chose to take on a desert island to see the rest of my days out. Unfortunately I would have to take the RS1e instead as I know with EQ it ticks more boxes.
Mr. Grado & Sons - please widen the frequency response of the 500e , please !!!!!! ,
Why have you thwarted what could have been audio perfection ,
Interestingly the Hemp has my attention , as it has a 13 khz frequency response , now this I find odd yet rather revealing of the Hemps true identity .
Only at RS1e territory is when you start to get treated to the finer dynamics of wider frequency responses .
SR Plastics 20 -20 , SR325e 18-24 , RS2E / GH series 14 -28/29 (except GH3 ???)
My point is , only when you hit flagship models does Grado extend past the 14-29 frequency response range.
Based on that pattern I could be justified in speculating that the Hemp was actually designed to be the new middle headphone in the Reference series .
Some would call me a conspiracy theorist , that's fine , but on the UK official grado website the Hemp clearly features on the Reference series page.
Maybe due to the Hemps unexpected popularity in the HP world , Grado dropped the price , cashed in and decided to re-vamp their entire line up using the Hemp driver , cough cough X-Series technology .
Conspiracy theories aside , I'm getting tempted with the Hemp , If it delivers with authority like the 500e , well i'm all ears.
Can anyone give me a solid comparison between the Hemp & 500e ?? , I would be really interested & grateful .
My one gripe with the PS500e is that it only extends to 14khz at the bottom end , yet the amount of bass this HP voices is incredible , it's thick & solid , but I'd say it's more quantity than quality.
That's not to say the PS500e does not have quality bass because it certainly is of premium quality , yet whether by intelligent design or not (which I suspect the former) , it leaves me thirsting for that extra bit more of that Grado extension.
Now as it is , I do have the top of the line Reference series , now the 12khz the RS1e drops low enough to really satisfies that thirst of bass depth I desire, yet the RS1e doesn't spit bass quantity like the 500e .
This is not an attempt at being a comparison between the two as they are two totally different beasts altogether , but I digress.
Now since I purchased the RS1e , things in my audio life took a strange unexpected twist , heck at first the RS1e bamboozled me , it is clearly a Grado yet an exotic flavour I neither embraced or rejected , but a bit of EQ & breaking the driver / brain in , It became the only HP I wore for a few months .
On return to my faithful trusting RS2e / Sr325e I was left once again bamboozled.
I was neither satisfied anymore by the 325e (lack of bass depth) hence the reason I sold it , also the RS2e had lost it's magic with me , it's voice sounding to thin , nice depth though , just not enough meat on the bone , it's fate was sealed like the 325e.
Enter 500e - Grado or not , I've never heard a HP (500e) voice bass this potent before , NOW if this HP extended to 12 khz like the RS1e it would be the best Grado I've ever heard , I'd even be tempted to rank it as my #1 flagship HP .
Let's not forget to mention the highs are resonated beautiful by the aluminium air chamber , yet smoothed & churned to a buttery perfection by the mahogany driver casing.
Off topic Grado for a moment - But the Hifiman Ananda which I've become accustomed to drops to 8khz and has the capability to wobble my teeth when I apply my EQ .
Yet I only use this HP for Progressive House & Prog / Atmospheric Breakbeat genres .
The Ananda doesn't satisfy me for Rock or Metal as I find it can sound - let's say -
less meat on the bone , like I'm mid crowd -concert , maybe due to the driver distancing from the ear , but for EDM it's magical . But for Rock & Metal only Grado satisfies for these genres , so close & intimate .
In a nutshell , the PS500e is so close to being the one & only Grado HP I would chose to take on a desert island to see the rest of my days out. Unfortunately I would have to take the RS1e instead as I know with EQ it ticks more boxes.
Mr. Grado & Sons - please widen the frequency response of the 500e , please !!!!!! ,
Why have you thwarted what could have been audio perfection ,
Interestingly the Hemp has my attention , as it has a 13 khz frequency response , now this I find odd yet rather revealing of the Hemps true identity .
Only at RS1e territory is when you start to get treated to the finer dynamics of wider frequency responses .
SR Plastics 20 -20 , SR325e 18-24 , RS2E / GH series 14 -28/29 (except GH3 ???)
My point is , only when you hit flagship models does Grado extend past the 14-29 frequency response range.
Based on that pattern I could be justified in speculating that the Hemp was actually designed to be the new middle headphone in the Reference series .
Some would call me a conspiracy theorist , that's fine , but on the UK official grado website the Hemp clearly features on the Reference series page.
Maybe due to the Hemps unexpected popularity in the HP world , Grado dropped the price , cashed in and decided to re-vamp their entire line up using the Hemp driver , cough cough X-Series technology .
Conspiracy theories aside , I'm getting tempted with the Hemp , If it delivers with authority like the 500e , well i'm all ears.
Can anyone give me a solid comparison between the Hemp & 500e ?? , I would be really interested & grateful .
