Hi there.
I am about to buy my first Grado. It will be the SR325. There are some offers of a used 325e or new 325x. What should i buy? Whats different between e and x?
Loving the SR325X, absolutely loving it, is it 'better' than all my other headphones, no, definitely not, but it's a headphone where I just find myself enjoying the music without analyzing everything, and that's a breath of fresh air, takes me back to why I got into this hobby, music.
Well, I've owned the rs1x for over 4 months now and I gotta say it really is amazing how much these suckers have opened up. Pretty much everything sounds great on these headphones, with the exception of 2 very very overly shouty albums I listen to. Everything pops like crazy on these things. Super crisp and spacious. I can't remember who told me it takes 200 hours to burn these things in, but they were definitely right. These things really really love death metal tho. Cannibal Corpse and Entombed sound ridiculously good. And as always, Led Zepplin sounds godlike. I'm not even sure I'm interested in buying a better headphone at this point, unless it's the GS3000X tbh. That's a long way off tho ofc.
Well, I've owned the rs1x for over 4 months now and I gotta say it really is amazing how much these suckers have opened up. Pretty much everything sounds great on these headphones, with the exception of 2 very very overly shouty albums I listen to. Everything pops like crazy on these things. Super crisp and spacious. I can't remember who told me it takes 200 hours to burn these things in, but they were definitely right. These things really really love death metal tho. Cannibal Corpse and Entombed sound ridiculously good. And as always, Led Zepplin sounds godlike. I'm not even sure I'm interested in buying a better headphone at this point, unless it's the GS3000X tbh. That's a long way off tho ofc.
Welcome to Radical RS-1xers . That has become one of my favourite headphones because of the break-in, of the patience required .... the sonic rewards have been more than worth the while! I cannot say that I listen to death metal .... I will say that, regardless of music genre, my RS-1x sounds tremendous with well recorded, well produced material.
Well, I've owned the rs1x for over 4 months now and I gotta say it really is amazing how much these suckers have opened up. Pretty much everything sounds great on these headphones, with the exception of 2 very very overly shouty albums I listen to. Everything pops like crazy on these things. Super crisp and spacious. I can't remember who told me it takes 200 hours to burn these things in, but they were definitely right. These things really really love death metal tho. Cannibal Corpse and Entombed sound ridiculously good. And as always, Led Zepplin sounds godlike. I'm not even sure I'm interested in buying a better headphone at this point, unless it's the GS3000X tbh. That's a long way off tho ofc.
The RS-1x has been my goto headphone for many months, no matter what genre I'm listening to, probably to the annoyance of followers of the "what headphone are you listening to?" thread. I was a bit sceptical about burn/break in when I got my SR325x but was soon set straight, so I was fully expecting a burn in period for the RS-1x but I was astonished at just how long they took to settle down, even with me using them for several hours most nights but when they had finally settled the sound was glorious. Like you, I've come across a few "shouty" albums that are absolutely unlistenable but luckily they are few and far between. They are currently taking a well earned rest as my new HD800S are grabbing all my head time but they will be back on duty soon because they sound so amazingly good.
At the end of the day, both of these models deliver a highly detailed sound, and both Grado SR325x and Grado Hemp have their own distinct qualities that will appeal to different people depending on taste. If you like a harder-hitting and slightly metallic profile, the SR325x delivers that quality with flying colors. But if you’re looking for something softer and more musical, it’s hard to be the Hemp. Finally, if we’re reducing this comparison down to pure skill, it’s undeniable that the Hemp delivers a somewhat more nuanced and more controlled performance.
Grado The Hemp Headphone is very similar to the SR325x in sound and performance. The latter have a heavier lower range and are generally more emotional. The Hemp Headphone offers a more linear and comfortable sound.
I am not at home right now but I felt the Hemp is a little brighter then the SR325x. And I felt that the SR325x has a little more bass.
At the end of the day, both of these models deliver a highly detailed sound, and both Grado SR325x and Grado Hemp have their own distinct qualities that will appeal to different people depending on taste. If you like a harder-hitting and slightly metallic profile, the SR325x delivers that quality with flying colors. But if you’re looking for something softer and more musical, it’s hard to be the Hemp. Finally, if we’re reducing this comparison down to pure skill, it’s undeniable that the Hemp delivers a somewhat more nuanced and more controlled performance.
Grado The Hemp Headphone is very similar to the SR325x in sound and performance. The latter have a heavier lower range and are generally more emotional. The Hemp Headphone offers a more linear and comfortable sound.
I am not at home right now but I felt the Hemp is a little brighter then the SR325x. And I felt that the SR325x has a little more bass.
Btw, I have a Hemp without braided cable (it is still the E-version cable) but the headband has white stitchings. I can't remember if there were 8 conductor cables in total when I was connecting the beautifulaudio adapter.
Well this certainly matches up with my experience of the SR325x. I bought them, I think very cheaply, from Amazon in the UK for £245. Normally I don't buy from Amazon actually but if there is a good deal there then I will. To be honest I didn't know much about Grado cans, I had seen some interesting things said about them here and there and I'd seen DMS review the SR325x very positively also What Hi Fi in the UK had been extremely positive. However I was unaware of the subtle but important differences between the different models. So when I found that the SR325x is absolutely superb with electronica (one of the genres I listen to) I was quite surprised. For some reason I had associated Grado with probably being great with historic 60s jazz recordings, actually I have a lot of those as well and they are great with that, however I wasn't expecting them to absolutely kill it with electronica. So, now I see that the SR325x are probably particularly good with this genre. I'm looking forward to buying some more Grado cans in the not too distant future but I want to just spend a few months absolutely delighting in the SR325x cans.
I wonder if anyone has had any experiences with the SPL Phonitor XE?
I am preparing to buy one of these fairly soon. I am a total noob with Grado cans, I bought my wonderful SR325x cans just three weeks ago. However I have been using Sennheiser HD800s for three years now and I love them, a totally different thing from the Grados but a truly great thing. Currently I mainly use a Meridian Prime headphone amp which has its own dedicated power supply. I think it is an excellent DAC/amp actually, it is pretty neutral and perhaps could be described as having an old school electronics sound, which I rather like. The SPL Phonitor is often suggested as being very good with the HD800s cans, I like what I read about its sound and I love that it has a very customisable cross-feed, I am a big user of cross-feed I think probably 80 to 90 per cent of the time I listen with cross-feed on my Meridian Prime. So the SPL Phonitor was looking like a good choice with my HD800s cans, but I am wondering if it will also be good with my Grado cans. So, now I have SR325x cans but I am thinking that in six months I'll be buying something higher up the range, maybe the GS3000x for some cocobolo rock & rollo! So I'm wondering how the SPL Phonitor would be with something like those?
The Schiit Midgard's Halo really opens up the soundstage and brings a bit more bass into the music ! I compared both the unbalanced and balanced (Halo) by using the Hemp. I also tried the unbalanced Sr325x headphone and unfortunately it sounded brighter as usual (compared with other amps). It seems I will have to finish the Sr325x to a balanced one!
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