[movinIron]

Could you maybe share the link?

Quick glance on the liability exclusion… a link is no content… joking.
https://musicalhead.de/2017/12/03/test-grado-gh2/
End of 3rd passage under ‘Verarbeitung & Tragekomfort‘ (workmanship & wearing comfort).
But it‘s all in german. I‘m sorry.

I recommend and love it:
‘Die Schrecken der deutschen Sprache‘ a speech delivered in german by Mark Twain. October 31, 1897 in Vienna, Austria.

 

[movinIron]

Enjoying my LZ-A7 iem so much I was wondering a headphone would serve me well... I read the A7 is a analithic iem and got impressed it could handle fast songs remarkably well.
I am wondering could a Hemp or SR325X cope with a song like Bring Me The Horizon: "Kingslayer" or would a Planar serve me better?

thx in advance, Erik

Speed is kind of a home match for each Grado.
I don‘t own an x-series driver, but had fun the last few minutes to hear the song with the 325e.
Easy cake. But no other one can hear music like you do. And more important, no one can love music the way you do. One likes coffee strong and black, one enjoys the crema of his latte macchiato.
Put that song in highest available resolution to your DAP and visit your local dealer.

P.S. Looking at the graphs of the LZ… watch the long time hearing comfort. Grados are straighter in the highs.

 

[Erikdebrabander]

"One likes coffee strong and black, one enjoys the crema of his latte macchiato."
Yep, a Darko quote ;-D. I'm pleased to read you like this song. The more you get familiar, the more details appear.

Went for a search for a Grado dealer and turned out to be a 30 min drive and went for a trip this morning.
It was a real carnage session: Hemp, Ananda, Ibasso rs2 and the Ibasso IT07 iem all have exellent reviews but a warm sound signature. The dealer confirmed many headphones will struggle to play "Kingslayer" and Grado may not be what I am looking for...The Hemp does not have the resolution and clarity to play this song IMO. Even with a Dragon Fly Cobalt or Ikko ITM03 I was not content. Unfortunately, These DAC's failed terrible paired with my Samsung A42 5G: Cobalt seized and ITM03 cracks like an old vinyl record. Then I opted for a colder sound signature for clarity and resolution the cheaper Sundara+IFI hipdac seems to be right on bass not to hammer my brains and even the macklemore"Downtown" ,Faith no More"Midlife crisis" and Marilyn Manson"Cry little Sister" cover brought a great open experience. Only the Hipdac was at full gain and my A42 at 80%. The Dealer agreed on the "Downtow" to have a very balanced and wide signature on the Sundara.

I have to make an appointment to test a powered, neutral DAC. I do have the Ibasso CF01 which has a cold signature which might be a good pair with the IT07 as well.
I was suprised the KEF LS50W2 was in demo and could play these songs as well but they felt to be lacking in clarity in the midrange and the bass was not as low as headphones. These speakers need a subwoofer IMO. "Downtown" bass is chopped off pretty bad.

Unfortunately, The 325X was not in store and It did not occur to me to ask for a colder Grado.
Now that I am leaning to a planar I need to do more research in the Shozy Black hole Single berillium DD open iem which could be what I am looking for as wearable...

The IT07 is pretty close to my LZ-A7 but too warm. Reviews give the IT07 a 1200usd value and the A7 700-800euro but the IT07 sounds very similar to the 270euro I paid for my iem...

Just too much food for thoughts but I had a great experience today, concluding a higher price range does not make me content to their value. I didn't expect the Sundara to give the clarity I like.

grtz!
Erik

 

[Riversalt]

Friends.
I'm trying to buy a pair of rodblocks.
My Rs1e broke, but I'm not finding a replacement, does anyone know where to buy?

 

[sling5s]

Friends.
I'm trying to buy a pair of rodblocks.
My Rs1e broke, but I'm not finding a replacement, does anyone know where to buy?

Email grado labs. They will ship it to you free.

 

[Gippy]

I am wondering could a Hemp or SR325X cope with a song like Bring Me The Horizon: "Kingslayer" or would a Planar serve me better?

That song sounds brickwalled. No wonder a Grado can't handle it too well. ...and yup, loaded it up on Audition:

I got it to sound authoritative and visceral only by turning up the XBass boost on my Pro iCAN. The drums otherwise sound wimpy, and that's because it's mastered that way.

 

[Erikdebrabander]

The link was from youtube just as quick reference for you guys, hence the poor quality...
Sorry for the inconvenience... thx for your effort!

 

[movinIron]

The link was from youtube just as quick reference for you guys, hence the poor quality...
Sorry for the inconvenience... thx for your effort!

Took it from: https://www.qobuz.com/de-de/album/post-human-survival-horror-bring-me-the-horizon/y81od2l7ruwdc … sadly just 44,1/16.
No inconvenience caused.
But… I have to explain ‘having fun with‘ - I didn‘t enjoy the song, never really found a way into metal.
Being more of a classic rock or blues guy. That‘s just personal taste. I enjoyed the experience changing the DACs/Amps and trying to find out the best combination with the SR325e … for that sound. To me ‘Kingslayer‘ is thrashmetal. A (slightly) younger colleague explained: ‘It‘s metalcore!‘
uh, yes… so you see: I‘m a bloody greenhorn with this. The song is fast, energetic, wild, (over?-)stuffed and definitely brutal. Brickwalled is not the worst description, it‘s hard to make out details.
and what I‘ve learned or think I’ve learned is: that‘s the way you like this music - to dig out details In fast and energetic sounds. No basshead, there‘s not much in it, no soundstage-fanatic, like me on a Sennheiser- or Beyer-day, just focus on what is to find in there.
I guess these guys are real live-musicians, not sound studio people. They don‘t want to rock but rage the stage.
Got the best result with AQ Carbon - LH Geek Out V2+ - AQ Sidney - Lehmann Linear.
Normally in LPCM I always -always- prefer the Mojo, but here it adds a touch of warmth, which is of no use for this kind of song. Same with the Questyle CMA600. Adding the Jitterbug revealed a little wider sound stage and very slightly more detail in the highs but if every ear can hear this minuteness…?
If you can get your hands on it, try the Abacus Cuffino, by working principle the fastest amp existing.
XLR4, 1/4 but not powerful enough to drive a HE6 or Susvara to higher volumes. A T1 2nd (600 Ohm) in unbalanced is great with it. As of course every Grado is and also the Sundara or LCD-2.
I am grateful for the experience, this is why I love this hobby.
Today Cappucino, tomorrow maybe Cortado.
(I actually have a barista ‘of (my) trust‘, others may have a preferred barkeeper)

Ok, now the risky stuff: Don’t lapidate - Who is Darko?

 

[Gippy]

Not trying to judge your music taste, but Grado uses these three specific pieces to tune their headphones:

• Duke Ellington - Malletoba Spank
• Ella Fitzgerald - A Night in Tunisia
• Eric Clapton - Signe (Unplugged) incl. introductory applause

It's all acoustic stuff with a wide dynamic range. Some people like Grado for metal, but they're not tuned for it, and I feel a more bass-heavy headphone is more suitable for that genre. But any genre could work as long as it's mastered well.

 

[sjbrook]

Not trying to judge your music taste, but Grado uses these three specific pieces to tune their headphones:

• Duke Ellington - Malletoba Spank
• Ella Fitzgerald - A Night in Tunisia
• Eric Clapton - Signe (Unplugged) incl. introductory applause

It's all acoustic stuff with a wide dynamic range. Some people like Grado for metal, but they're not tuned for it, and I feel a more bass-heavy headphone is more suitable for that genre. But any genre could work as long as it's mastered well.

I've got a track list of songs I have used for years to eval speakers, headphones, other equipment changes. It's gone through some additions and subtractions over the past 20 years. That cut of "A Night in Tunsia" has always been on it and always will.

 

[iFi audio]

Who is Darko?

John Darko, the man behind www.darko.audio.

He's a very entertaining reviewer

 

[Erikdebrabander]

Yep that's him! He likes to show you how to make expresso!
Fortunately, he is able to bring sanity to the speaker hobby. Joshua valour is the headphone guy on this and he seems to be quite right on the punch and close soundstage of the Sundara vs Ananda.

@ Gippy,
Those are nice tracks indeed and I realise these could use some warm apple pie/oak flavour for a coasy session. The only song I keep in this aera is Isley Brothers "Behind a painted smile" which is more their fast shifting vocal skills which I'm impressed with.

 

[iFi audio]

Yep that's him! He likes to show you how to make expresso!
Fortunately, he is able to bring sanity to the speaker hobby. Joshua valour

Both John and Josh are very good at what they do, and their materials are sane indeed

 

[Erikdebrabander]

Took it from: https://www.qobuz.com/de-de/album/post-human-survival-horror-bring-me-the-horizon/y81od2l7ruwdc … sadly just 44,1/16.
No inconvenience caused.
But… I have to explain ‘having fun with‘ - I didn‘t enjoy the song, never really found a way into metal.
Being more of a classic rock or blues guy. That‘s just personal taste. I enjoyed the experience changing the DACs/Amps and trying to find out the best combination with the SR325e … for that sound. To me ‘Kingslayer‘ is thrashmetal. A (slightly) younger colleague explained: ‘It‘s metalcore!‘
uh, yes… so you see: I‘m a bloody greenhorn with this. The song is fast, energetic, wild, (over?-)stuffed and definitely brutal. Brickwalled is not the worst description, it‘s hard to make out details.
and what I‘ve learned or think I’ve learned is: that‘s the way you like this music - to dig out details In fast and energetic sounds. No basshead, there‘s not much in it, no soundstage-fanatic, like me on a Sennheiser- or Beyer-day, just focus on what is to find in there.
I guess these guys are real live-musicians, not sound studio people. They don‘t want to rock but rage the stage.
Got the best result with AQ Carbon - LH Geek Out V2+ - AQ Sidney - Lehmann Linear.
Normally in LPCM I always -always- prefer the Mojo, but here it adds a touch of warmth, which is of no use for this kind of song. Same with the Questyle CMA600. Adding the Jitterbug revealed a little wider sound stage and very slightly more detail in the highs but if every ear can hear this minuteness…?
If you can get your hands on it, try the Abacus Cuffino, by working principle the fastest amp existing.
XLR4, 1/4 but not powerful enough to drive a HE6 or Susvara to higher volumes. A T1 2nd (600 Ohm) in unbalanced is great with it. As of course every Grado is and also the Sundara or LCD-2.
I am grateful for the experience, this is why I love this hobby.
Today Cappucino, tomorrow maybe Cortado.
(I actually have a barista ‘of (my) trust‘, others may have a preferred barkeeper)

Ok, now the risky stuff: Don’t lapidate - Who is Darko?

Being an early Bon Jovi listener I found it too sweet eventually and got interested in the Nirvana "Smells like teen Spirit" album. Later on Yngwie malmsteen ("Dreaming" could be a nice one for you as well) got me more analythic with his guitar. Rockband Helloween use 4 guitars ("lay all your love on me" ABBA cover shows them simultanius playing where it gets analythical). Eddy Vedder of Pearl Jam showed high fluctuations in intens feelings is my magnet but I seem to be very comfortable with performer/songwriter Marilyn Manson which demands to read between his lines to understand his lyrics and emotional input and his personal feelings. To me he is a great performer shifting in intensity within a sentence from sad/sorrow/hurt/pain/rage which is classified as industrial rock similar like Bring Me The Horizon. "Kingslayer" is their fastest song I like as reference for my hardware choice but "True Friends" vdo is the dark puzzle which caught my attention. Yeah their live footage is impressive to say at least!

The female alternative is rockband In This Moment which I'm into lately Maria's voice like a kitty converting to a monster and back is the intensity I'm keen on:

They have their place in the music industry but their performance is not layed back and very raw and distorted.
Because of this I found my old stereo set made a lot of white noise with the Nirvana album where my LZ-A7 iem does not which makes me enjoy my cd's again!
I do realise distortion may require a Planar to show the distortion as designed and avoid a wall of noise and I'm happy to see you follow this line as well.

I do have to build my audio hobby from scratch up again. The old stereo is dead and currently use my Samsung A42(big battery and 1TB SD card option)/LZ-A7/spotify to get my first dips and I am open to step up. The Ikea Box is good enough for in my appartment at this moment no hurry on speakers. The Sundara needs more power to be driven well and I need to get my mind open how to deal with this getting to HiRes.
I eyeballed to the Hifiman slimline supermini which is advised to drive this headphone by Hifiman and have to sort how to get music on this and and upgrade to HiRes.

I guess this is the safer dip for a starter into HiRes before chosing a DAC/Amp (if needed at all).

I'm getting my homework done with your input this evening thank you for your effort!
Yeah I recon putting as many details as in "Kingslayer" would brick anyway. How much details can be put in a track?

Joshua Valour stated the Sundara brings the voice in your head and a narrower soundstage. I think this is the best place for my genre for goosebumps.

 

[Erikdebrabander]

Both John and Josh are very good at what they do, and their materials are sane indeed

Too bad the A42 and HipDac maxed out on the Sundara...