Funny how ears and brains differ. "Rich" is one of the last words I would associate with the sound I'm hearing now from the 325x. I've owned Meze 99 Classics and Audeze LCD-2C, and those create FAR more of a sense of richness than these.
Without the burn in you are not hearing the phone as it will become. Possibly it will change your impressions. I would also suggest that you not go into playing the pad game until you do hear how it evolves.
Nah, man...why would anyone do that?
Try:Finally dove into the Grado sound with the purchase of 325x today. Early impressions based on my first Grado listen:
-- These things have more bass than I thought. Grado's have the reputation of being thin on the low end, but these things have surprising oomph with the stock pads.
-- I also tried the Geekria G pads recommended by DMS. Definitely increase the comfort and expand the soundstage to a surprising width. Impressive. But they also change the tuning to more a more V-shaped signature, which is taking a tuning that borders on too much treble for me and pushes it over the edge. You lose some of the bass punch from the stock F pads, too.
-- Everyone wasn't kidding about the discomfort of these. The stock F pads are very thin, with openings in the center. I have a decent-sized head, but my ears started to hurt after 30 minutes.
-- If this is the "warmer" Grado, damn, I'd hate to hear what the "normal" or "sharp" Grado sounds like. While there were no icepicks to the cochlea like a Beyer or the Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, I could see this sound signature being fatiguing very quickly for me. It's unrelenting in its brightness and detail. Neither the brightness or detail are mind-blowing separately, but it's grating and tiring as a blend.
-- Pad rolling is fun and easy with Grados. Everyone is right: The sound signature and soundstage change more dramatically with pad rolling with these than any other brand I've tried.
-- I expected imaging that punched above the $295 price. I was disappointed. Didn't find the imaging any better than my HD 6XX, which is $50 less new. Of course, the imaging couldn't compare to my LCD-X 2021, but I didn't expect that.
-- The cable is clumsy, but I do must of my listening at the desktop, so no big deal. I would rather have a thick fabric cable like this than the damn Christmas tree tinsel that HiFiMan sends with some of its cans as a stock cable. The Focal Elegia cable was just as stiff and clumsy as the Grado cable, too. I think the Grado cable gets crap upon unfairly. It's not great; it's not awful.
-- The leather headband, with almost no padding, doesn't bother me at all.
I'll give these more time, but it's unlikely I'll keep them. The signature is just too fatiguing. I tend to like a neutral-to-warmish signature, and I thought that this "warmer" Grado 325x might suit me.
But Grado is gonna Grado, even a warmer version. I know it works for a lot of people and I respect Grado's adherence to its "house sound," but it's just too tangy for my ears and brain. I thought maybe I could find a low-priced gem here, but I need something with a warmer, softer signature yet with detail.
Next target probably is a ZMF Aeolus after some months to save.
Thanks. The more I listened last night to the 325x with the G "bowl" pads, the more I liked these. Still not the most comfortable, but hopefully in time. Since I know the "bowls" probably will be the way to go for me, I may investigate some of the higher-end bowl replacement pads with real leather/velour, etc.
Interesting. Thanks. Maybe we have a clash of cultural terminology here: Is kitchen roll what we Yanks call "paper towels?" Sincere question.No one’s going to jump down your throat.
This is a friendly thread used by nice folks.
Just head over to the Sony Walkman threads and say you listened to another manufacturers product?
Or even worse own one.
Regarding your 325X I haven’t heard them.
As others have said run them and keep running them in.
If you have any type of device even a small radio would do.
Just play music though them and you can even cover them up with a blanket so the tiss tiss doesn’t get annoying.
Pad wise they make a difference as you have found out.
You could cut a small hole in the S pad.
That’s called a quarter mod.
You can try Sennheiser HD414 pads.
These are far cheaper than stock Grado pads.
Bright yellow so might put you off?
If you find the G pads fine but the treble still a bit much you can try the tape mod.
This is just 1 inch tape around the outer side of the pad to make them a bit firmer so taking the driver a bit further away from your ear.
Another thing to try is the kitchen ply mod.
This is just kitchen roll.
This usually comes in 3 ply thickness.
Just cut the driver shape out and use 1 ply sheet and see how you go?
Place the 1 ply sheet over the driver and put the pads back on.
Finally you say your happy with the dac/amp as it’s works well with your other headphones and it should as it’s a good unit and some fine headphones so it’s just a problem with the Grados.
I like you am getting less tolerant of hyper treble now.
Not every day but sometimes just want more of a chill type of sound.
When I do I just use a ddhifi dongle type dac/amp.
Nice slightly rolled off top end.
I think of it as a bit like a micro valve amp.
It runs Grados perfectly even though it’s not very powerful.
Pictures of the kitchen roll mod and the micro valve amp
Have fun.
You could try the ZMF Beyer perforated lambskin pads with their Grado adapter. I am really enjoying these on my RS-1X.
