Decided to order the 225x last night as my first Grado, thanks for all the help everyone! The 325x seemed like a really great choice but after reading some more I thought the 225x might have just a slightly more preferred tonality for me with some additional weight and cost savings.
Coming from my Verite and Atticus, it'll probably take me a little bit to acclimate to the Grado sound once they get here, but I'm excited to see if I end up loving that sound or if its crispness will scare me away haha. Hopefully it'll be the former and I'll join the ZMF + Grado fan camp along with several other people here
The SR225x's were my first Grado's. I liked them enough to move up the ladder to RS2x's. They aren't bright if that's a concern. On the 225x's the mids are forward and the bass is good. Enjoy.
The Grado PS500 I bought on eBay showed up today with some strange pads (listing showed them so not a problem in that respect, though) — they sound muffled frankly with these, and I wondered if anyone knew what these were
I had PS500 sent to where I’m at this week but I will be back at home next week where I will definitely try these with proper L-pads.
Coming from my Verite and Atticus, it'll probably take me a little bit to acclimate to the Grado sound once they get here, but I'm excited to see if I end up loving that sound or if its crispness will scare me away haha. Hopefully it'll be the former and I'll join the ZMF + Grado fan camp along with several other people here
Put on my Grados on Sunday after a steady diet of ZMF. The first few minutes it was like "What the hell?" Then after 15 minutes or so, I was acclimated. So different, but isn't that all part of the fun? If everything sounded the same, we wouldn't need these forums or 1,000 headphones to choose from.
Sadly i cant get any grados used or any of the older grados beucase its hard for me to find any locally and on ebay its mostly just from the US. Shipping is way too expensive to get to me*** and im not even going to talk about VAT. ):
Decided to order the 225x last night as my first Grado, thanks for all the help everyone! The 325x seemed like a really great choice but after reading some more I thought the 225x might have just a slightly more preferred tonality for me with some additional weight and cost savings.
Coming from my Verite and Atticus, it'll probably take me a little bit to acclimate to the Grado sound once they get here, but I'm excited to see if I end up loving that sound or if its crispness will scare me away haha. Hopefully it'll be the former and I'll join the ZMF + Grado fan camp along with several other people here
Put on my Grados on Sunday after a steady diet of ZMF. The first few minutes it was like "What the hell?" Then after 15 minutes or so, I was acclimated. So different, but isn't that all part of the fun? If everything sounded the same, we wouldn't need these forums or 1,000 headphones to choose from.
Put on my Grados on Sunday after a steady diet of ZMF. The first few minutes it was like "What the hell?" Then after 15 minutes or so, I was acclimated. So different, but isn't that all part of the fun? If everything sounded the same, we wouldn't need these forums or 1,000 headphones to choose from.
Here I am listening to the RS1X for the first time since september and I already know that this will be a two week long session with them.
Just like the last time when I had to force put them off and force listen to others...
To my old, slightly damaged ears (although my audiologist says the hearing in my right ear is still excellent), moving from the ZMF (Atrium and Verite) to the Grado PS500e, via the Icon Audio HP8 Sig. (with a 3-way impedance switch to adjust for Grado's low impedance), my initial reaction is that I have switched from my tube amp to a transistor radio. Hence my "What the hell?" reaction.
The ZMFs are mid-forward and warm, but provide a full-spectrum rainbow of sound. The Atrium, especially is like a cozy blanket, so moving directly to the Grado is like swapping soft cotton for steel wool. HOWEVER, that sensation quickly goes away as my ears and brain acclimate to the new sound signature.
After just a few minutes, I still feel the Grado is more treble-forward, and the quantity of bass is diminished, but the sound is no longer being perceived as harsh.
After 10 minutes, I am once again appreciating the liveliness that Grado brings to table. Drumsticks hitting cymbals have that energetic ting and zing (like in real life). Electric guitars (and saxophones, for that matter) have a nice bite.
After 20 minutes, I feel adjusted to the sound and am ready to fiddle with the EQ (Schiitt Lokius) - and to you EQ-deniers, I say you do what you like and I'll do it my way. For my tastes with these headphones, treble gets dialed down a bit and bass boosted a bit. Still sounds like a Grado, but I have moved from "What the hell?" all the way to, "Aah, this is why I keep these in the headphone collection. Let's rock."
Different flavor headphones for different genres of music or mood. Good times! I don't think anything can top my Verite for instrumental jazz with its meaty dense sound, but I like the Atrium and PS500e both for rock, just in very different ways. Atrium has a magic with vocals and a natural timbre while Grados have that jump & boogie and "you are there" liveliness.
Photo of the PS500e (with my Sennheiser 414-Beautiful Audio-Frankenstein pads - I told you I do things my way!) and Icon Audio HP8 Sig (although I have since swapped the stock tubes in this photo with 1959 NU (National Union) 6SN7GT Black Beauties and 1960's RCA 12AX7A
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