[hatefulsandwich]

I know it's not exactly considered "kosher" to use non-Grado pads on Grados, but I really enjoy the sound HM5 pads give me. I originally bought them for my JVC S500s, but never really enjoyed them on those 'phones. I sewed up a small bit of the pads so that they could fit on the smaller S500s.

Now with my Ms-1s, I've slipped the sewn HM5 pads over the original flats (the HM5s are too floppy otherwise) and I think it sounds great. An even better sound seems to come fom using the L-Cush pads with the HM5 pads over them. Perhaps quarter-modded comfies would give a similar effect. The bass is much bigger, soundstage seems bigger and I can't say I personally find anything lacking or unpleasant about the sound like this, but YMMV. Oh, they're also incredibly comfortable .

 

[liquidzoo]

Quote:

Any preferred position for the four holes?

I've never done it, but my thought would be:
 
Start at one of the holes closest to the wires and punch that one, skip 2 and punch the third (so there's 2 non-punched in-between) and repeat.  You will end up at the hole closest to the wires on the other side and they'll be spaced equally, which I think is the goal.

 

[swspiers]

Hi all!
 
Has anyone ever noticed that Grado's, in my case the iGrado and the 225i, sound better at low volume?  I've been thinking about the frequency curve, the complaints about lack of bass-impact and shrill highs, and other negative aspects of these cans.  Excuse me if I'm discovering the obvious, but I just noticed that when I have the volume set to give me about 80 to 85 dB, both sets REALLY open up nicely.  Everything balances out- bass is clear and present, highs don't shriek and the mids truly shine.  Go up above approx. 95 dB, and everything starts to fall apart: soundstage and imaging suffer, bass becomes bloated, and highs pierce.
 
Is this discovery as stupid as discovering that "beer tastes good"?  am I stating the obvious?
 
In any case, I am beginning to suspect that a few of the Grado's, not just the GS1000, are voiced with the Fletcher-Munson curve in mind.  They are simply designed to save our hearing by sounding the best at moderate volume.  I also think that Grado is pretty savvy when it comes to bass, and don't bother with the bottom octave because they understand both psychoacoustics and how real, live bass guitars are EQ'd, which is with an emphasis on mids between about 80 and 250 Hz and below 40 Hz dialed way back.  A lot of bass cabinets have a steep roll-off below 50 Hz, by the way.
 
Thoughts?

 

[ferday]

Hi all!



Is this discovery as stupid as discovering that "beer tastes good"?  am I stating the obvious?

In any case, I am beginning to suspect that a few of the Grado's, not just the GS1000, are voiced with the Fletcher-Munson curve in mind.  They are simply designed to save our hearing by sounding the best at moderate volume.  I also think that Grado is pretty savvy when it comes to bass, and don't bother with the bottom octave because they understand both psychoacoustics and how real, live bass guitars are EQ'd, which is with an emphasis on mids between about 80 and 250 Hz and below 40 Hz dialed way back.  A lot of bass cabinets have a steep roll-off below 50 Hz, by the way.

Thoughts?

Well my new 80's arrived this morning and since I only have a couple hours on them I won't speak from experience, but there was a 'letter' from grado in the box stating they were designed for lower volumes, so I suspect you're onto something there

I will say that the 'grado house sound' is very much my thing...although I can say they are "technically" inferior to my he400's (makes sense considering the price point) I am absolutely loving what I am hearing so far.

 

[swspiers]

Quote:

Well my new 80's arrived this morning and since I only have a couple hours on them I won't speak from experience, but there was a 'letter' from grado in the box stating they were designed for lower volumes, so I suspect you're onto something there

I will say that the 'grado house sound' is very much my thing...although I can say they are "technically" inferior to my he400's (makes sense considering the price point) I am absolutely loving what I am hearing so far.

Yeah, but who pays attention to instructions!
 
I have the HE-5LE's.  And while they are indeed superior to the 225i's, it is not as clear cut for me anymore.  Again, it's a matter of volume.  The 5LE's need significant power and volume to shine, and when they do they are truly an amazing experience.  I like flagship-level gear, and I also pre-ordered the Alpha from Mr. Speakers.
 
However, when it comes to moderate volume, moderate power needs, and high expectations regarding detail, depth, timbre, dynamics and all that stuff, the Grado may not be so inferior.  Volume-matching in testing gear is way over-rated, especially if the gear being tested is designed for different volume levels.
 
Thanks for the response, and yes, I had the same instructions with my set, which I promptly ignored.

 

[markm1]

Quote:

Well my new 80's arrived this morning and since I only have a couple hours on them I won't speak from experience, but there was a 'letter' from grado in the box stating they were designed for lower volumes, so I suspect you're onto something there

I will say that the 'grado house sound' is very much my thing...although I can say they are "technically" inferior to my he400's (makes sense considering the price point) I am absolutely loving what I am hearing so far.

I had a similar experience when auditioning the HE400 and 500. I wasn't listening to my own music. But,  was able to listen to Nora Jones and Led Zeppelin and Linda Sterling. The Hes had an edge IMO, in the pop/jazz of Nora Jones and the classical crossover of Linda Sterling. But, when it came to listen to the harder hitting Zeppelin, my Grados just hit it.
 
I could see the HE's were technically a better or at least more refined, but something about my 225i, most of which I chalked up to familiarity, just felt great particularly when listening to more aggressive sounds. I have read that some people describe the SR series as being aggressive, foreword and in "in your face" similar to being on stage at a show, vs being more laid back or sitting in the middle of an audience in a larger space....I don't know...but I do think they have a rawer, less refined sound perhaps like being at a rock concert.

 

[ferday]

Quote:

I had a similar experience when auditioning the HE400 and 500. I wasn't listening to my own music. But,  was able to listen to Nora Jones and Led Zeppelin and Linda Sterling. The Hes had an edge IMO, in the pop/jazz of Nora Jones and the classical crossover of Linda Sterling. But, when it came to listen to the harder hitting Zeppelin, my Grados just hit it.
 
I could see the HE's were technically a better or at least more refined, but something about my 225i, most of which I chalked up to familiarity, just felt great particularly when listening to more aggressive sounds. I have read that some people describe the SR series as being aggressive, foreword and in "in your face" similar to being on stage at a show, vs being more laid back or sitting in the middle of an audience in a larger space....I don't know...but I do think they have a rawer, less refined sound perhaps like being at a rock concert.

 
the HE's are more far more detailed and airy sounding...refined is probably good term...but i expect that detail and smoothness would scale up with the higher grado models as well.  also there are few cans in existence that can even touch the bass quality of the 400's, IMO not even the HE500's or HE-6...only the LCD-2 exceeds it from the high end junk i've demoed
 
but....there's something about the guitar timbre and attitude of these lowly grado cans that i'm already loving.  immediately at home with some of my favorite guitar oriented recordings (Master of Puppets just smashes on these things).  i expect to have a lot of fun with these, and i can't wait to start modding LOL...it's early to say but i could see some higher end grado's in my future, especially since a huge part of my listening is metal 
 
FWIW i'm listening through my M/M stack right now, i have a few other sources to play with when i have some free time so i'm curious to see how they scale with source!

 

[gefski]

Hi all!

Has anyone ever noticed that Grado's, in my case the iGrado and the 225i, sound better at low volume?

Is this discovery as stupid as discovering that "beer tastes good"? 

Absolutely. When I sold my Senn HD650s a year or so ago, I had been hearing incredibly natural detail and texture from top to bottom on them. But after listening sessions, I realized I had been listening significantly loud to achieve this. My SR60s seemed to give me all of that at a lower volume. Call it Row A versus Row J presentation. So I upgraded in the Grado line. (Don't get me wrong, I think Senn has true high fidelity cans)

I also admit the Grado forward presentation can be "shouty" in the midrange (vocals) at higher volumes.

So no perfect cans I guess. The closest I've owned are Stax Lambda series--big soundstage, relaxed and laid back yet gobs of detail, true instrumental timbre, never in my face.

...and SOME beers taste really good.

 

[swspiers]

Quote:

 
 
 
but....there's something about the guitar timbre and attitude of these lowly grado cans that i'm already loving.  immediately at home with some of my favorite guitar oriented recordings (Master of Puppets just smashes on these things).  i expect to have a lot of fun with these, and i can't wait to start modding LOL...it's early to say but i could see some higher end grado's in my future, especially since a huge part of my listening is metal 
 
 

Once again, the guitar shines from another perspective. 
 
This is getting very interesting to me.  A lot of what I read on Headfi relates to the science of physics and engineering.  Both are very respectable disciplines.  However, those two disciplines end as soon as the headphones touch the ears, which is when neurobiology and the psychology of perception take over.  I'm not so sure that Grado truly ignores objective science, as I have seen written many times in posts on Headfi, and reviews from pro's.  It would be interesting to see an fMRI of the tonotopic map, which is part of the audio cortex in the brain, and compare the internal frequency response of Grado's compared to the 'technically superior' headphones out there. 
 
I am starting to understand why I prefer the 225's to the 5LE's in some cases.

 

[kvtaco17]

Wrong thread lol

 

[bassboysam]

Hi all!

Has anyone ever noticed that Grado's, in my case the iGrado and the 225i, sound better at low volume?  I've been thinking about the frequency curve, the complaints about lack of bass-impact and shrill highs, and other negative aspects of these cans.  Excuse me if I'm discovering the obvious, but I just noticed that when I have the volume set to give me about 80 to 85 dB, both sets REALLY open up nicely.  Everything balances out- bass is clear and present, highs don't shriek and the mids truly shine.  Go up above approx. 95 dB, and everything starts to fall apart: soundstage and imaging suffer, bass becomes bloated, and highs pierce.

Is this discovery as stupid as discovering that "beer tastes good"?  am I stating the obvious?

In any case, I am beginning to suspect that a few of the Grado's, not just the GS1000, are voiced with the Fletcher-Munson curve in mind.  They are simply designed to save our hearing by sounding the best at moderate volume.  I also think that Grado is pretty savvy when it comes to bass, and don't bother with the bottom octave because they understand both psychoacoustics and how real, live bass guitars are EQ'd, which is with an emphasis on mids between about 80 and 250 Hz and below 40 Hz dialed way back.  A lot of bass cabinets have a steep roll-off below 50 Hz, by the way.

Thoughts?

how loud is 85db exactly? I'm always curious to how loud people listen to music at, especially when readings reviews. volume can make a huge difference.

 

[bearFNF]

Quote:

how loud is 85db exactly? I'm always curious to how loud people listen to music at, especially when readings reviews. volume can make a huge difference.

take a look at this:

 

[bassboysam]

thanks.

 

[pixelsphotopro]

Quote:

Yup, when I used PA2V2 with my sr80, sounded really good. Most noticeable SQ difference was the bass.
 


 

Will using PAV2 with SR225i help?

 

[bearFNF]

Quote:

Will using PAV2 with SR225i help?

Holy old posts batman, went way back for that one didn't you?

 
But, anyway, I have the PA2V2, the E11, and cMoybb, oh and the Deware Zenhead I just built and all of them add their own goodness to the SR325is and PS500's, so I woul dthink they would work just fine with the SR225i's, also.