[tdockweiler]

Owned the SR-225i only 2-3 days now and like it so much that I already ordered the 325is to compare. Should get it next week sometime. There's a 50/50 chance I will not like it. I've gotten older so maybe I'm now less sensitive to treble. I think when I had my old SR-325i it was the gold version and I was much younger.
 
SR-225i sounds very bad straight out of a Fuze IMO. No surprise there. Somehow it's just amazing out of my old portable CD player. I think it's a warm and musical player with a little extra bass. It's an old Made in Japan Panasonic. Got it in 2001 or 2002 when they were still good. I bet the SR-225i would be quite good using the old PS1 (very warm sounding) as a source.
 
Connected it to my Headroom Micro Amp using an HRT Music Streamer II and was surprised at how much it improved. I actually thought this combo would make them painfully fatiguing, but it's really not. This SR-225i may actually be even MORE unforgiving than my Q701 and KRK!! Easy to pick out the really bad recordings.
 
The pads are now not so bad. It took a lot of tries to get the headband to make the pads comfortable. Without enough clamp the sound seems to be negatively effected a tiny bit.
 
I tried to get an RS1i today, but nobody seems to want to accept Amazon Payments on a used pair. Closed my paypal account years ago and it stinks not having Paypal. I'm kind of glad because I shouldn't be spending that much on a headphone at the moment.
 
This SR-225i is hard to take off lately. I was up until about 3am listening to it last night. Bass seemed to definitely improve when connected to my desktop amp/dac.
 
I'm really hoping the SR-325is is just as good Jpop/female vocals. Should be even better, but maybe not.
 
BTW is U2 music known to be very poorly mastered? I don't like U2 much at all, but their last CD sounds bad on the SR-225i (and on many other headphones). Very harsh and fatiguing.

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Owned the SR-225i only 2-3 days now and like it so much that I already ordered the 325is to compare. Should get it next week sometime. There's a 50/50 chance I will not like it. I've gotten older so maybe I'm now less sensitive to treble. I think when I had my old SR-325i it was the gold version and I was much younger.
 
SR-225i sounds very bad straight out of a Fuze IMO. No surprise there. Somehow it's just amazing out of my old portable CD player. I think it's a warm and musical player with a little extra bass. It's an old Made in Japan Panasonic. Got it in 2001 or 2002 when they were still good. I bet the SR-225i would be quite good using the old PS1 (very warm sounding) as a source.
 
Connected it to my Headroom Micro Amp using an HRT Music Streamer II and was surprised at how much it improved. I actually thought this combo would make them painfully fatiguing, but it's really not. This SR-225i may actually be even MORE unforgiving than my Q701 and KRK!! Easy to pick out the really bad recordings.
 
The pads are now not so bad. It took a lot of tries to get the headband to make the pads comfortable. Without enough clamp the sound seems to be negatively effected a tiny bit.
 
I tried to get an RS1i today, but nobody seems to want to accept Amazon Payments on a used pair. Closed my paypal account years ago and it stinks not having Paypal. I'm kind of glad because I shouldn't be spending that much on a headphone at the moment.
 
This SR-225i is hard to take off lately. I was up until about 3am listening to it last night. Bass seemed to definitely improve when connected to my desktop amp/dac.
 
I'm really hoping the SR-325is is just as good Jpop/female vocals. Should be even better, but maybe not.
 
BTW is U2 music known to be very poorly mastered? I don't like U2 much at all, but their last CD sounds bad on the SR-225i (and on many other headphones). Very harsh and fatiguing.

 Yep ~ U2 and Bono are not known for giving a hoot in the mastering studio - lots of compression and other audio tricks so that it sounds dynamic on cheap gear.
 
Any album in particular? I have most of them ranging from Joshua Tree to Zooropa - but I don't listen to them all that often.
 
Best work Bono ever did was with Brian Eno on their 1995 collaboration that produced the hit 'Miss Sarajevo' with
Pavarotti taking over a verse or two.

 

[tdockweiler]

 
Quote:

 Yep ~ U2 and Bono are not known for giving a hoot in the mastering studio - lots of compression and other audio tricks so that it sounds dynamic on cheap gear.
 
Any album in particular? I have most of them ranging from Joshua Tree to Zooropa - but I don't listen to them all that often.
 
Best work Bono ever did was with Brian Eno on their 1995 collaboration that produced the hit 'Miss Sarajevo' with
Pavarotti taking over a verse or two.

It was "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb". First U2 CD I ever bought and I'm not a huge fan of their music. What's funny is that I can probably recognize every single one of their songs from the radio. This CD has some tracks that are annoying ear piercing on many of my headphones with any amp/dac. I think the worst is probably from a Japanese singer named "Hitomi". I've weeded out most of her tracks because they're unlistenable on anything other than a Sennheiser. Never had to do that before! It's as if they cranked up the mids and treble to max in the studio

 
BTW Nine Inch Nails "The Fragile" sound really good on the SR-225i. Even on the Q701!

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

 


It was "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb". First U2 CD I ever bought and I'm not a huge fan of their music. What's funny is that I can probably recognize every single one of their songs from the radio. This CD has some tracks that are annoying ear piercing on many of my headphones with any amp/dac. I think the worst is probably from a Japanese singer named "Hitomi". I've weeded out most of her tracks because they're unlistenable on anything other than a Sennheiser. Never had to do that before! It's as if they cranked up the mids and treble to max in the studio

 
BTW Nine Inch Nails "The Fragile" sound really good on the SR-225i. Even on the Q701!

NiN ~ 'The Slip' is not bad either, a good Grado tune on that is 'Discipline' ~ a bit pop-bubble gum for Trent but
a decent tune nonetheless on that release.

 

[Mercuttio]

I'll be interested to see what you think of the 225i vs the 325i. I found the 225i mind-numbingly bright in comparison, but that doesn't seem to be the general consensus here. I think the 325i offers a really heightened clarity in comparison, I'd actually consider it the most analytical of the "classic" (non bagel pad) Grados. I certainly prefer the more mellow and warm RS1 to the 325, but I think they share a very similar if not identical level of clarity and texture.
 
That CD player sounds awesome; my first CD player was a Japan-Made yellow "tough" Panasonic and I loved it so much. It even had optical out. 
 
Quote:

Owned the SR-225i only 2-3 days now and like it so much that I already ordered the 325is to compare. Should get it next week sometime. There's a 50/50 chance I will not like it. I've gotten older so maybe I'm now less sensitive to treble. I think when I had my old SR-325i it was the gold version and I was much younger.
 
SR-225i sounds very bad straight out of a Fuze IMO. No surprise there. Somehow it's just amazing out of my old portable CD player. I think it's a warm and musical player with a little extra bass. It's an old Made in Japan Panasonic. Got it in 2001 or 2002 when they were still good. I bet the SR-225i would be quite good using the old PS1 (very warm sounding) as a source.
 
Connected it to my Headroom Micro Amp using an HRT Music Streamer II and was surprised at how much it improved. I actually thought this combo would make them painfully fatiguing, but it's really not. This SR-225i may actually be even MORE unforgiving than my Q701 and KRK!! Easy to pick out the really bad recordings.
 
The pads are now not so bad. It took a lot of tries to get the headband to make the pads comfortable. Without enough clamp the sound seems to be negatively effected a tiny bit.
 
I tried to get an RS1i today, but nobody seems to want to accept Amazon Payments on a used pair. Closed my paypal account years ago and it stinks not having Paypal. I'm kind of glad because I shouldn't be spending that much on a headphone at the moment.
 
This SR-225i is hard to take off lately. I was up until about 3am listening to it last night. Bass seemed to definitely improve when connected to my desktop amp/dac.
 
I'm really hoping the SR-325is is just as good Jpop/female vocals. Should be even better, but maybe not.
 
BTW is U2 music known to be very poorly mastered? I don't like U2 much at all, but their last CD sounds bad on the SR-225i (and on many other headphones). Very harsh and fatiguing.

 

 

[eclipes]

after owning both the Sr325i and RS1. I actually consider the sr325i as the most analytical grados as well. And the level of clarity and texture is definitely the same with the RS1 but its much more mellow and smooth.

 
Quote:

I'll be interested to see what you think of the 225i vs the 325i. I found the 225i mind-numbingly bright in comparison, but that doesn't seem to be the general consensus here. I think the 325i offers a really heightened clarity in comparison, I'd actually consider it the most analytical of the "classic" (non bagel pad) Grados. I certainly prefer the more mellow and warm RS1 to the 325, but I think they share a very similar if not identical level of clarity and texture.
 
That CD player sounds awesome; my first CD player was a Japan-Made yellow "tough" Panasonic and I loved it so much. It even had optical out. 
 


 

 
 

 

[Mercuttio]

It's interesting, I think I'd be able to consider the RS1 and 325i as equals in a great many ways. For me, texture is king, and the 325 aces every "lesser" Grado in that regard. 
 
I can't say that I like the MS2i better than the 325i though. I think the increased treble energy and texture of the 325 offer it a slight edge, but I can see someone liking the MS2i more due to the balanced signature. I found it slightly less alive in comparison, personally.
 
Quote:

after owning both the Sr325i and RS1. I actually consider the sr325i as the most analytical grados as well. And the level of clarity and texture is definitely the same with the RS1 but its much more mellow and smooth.

 


 
 

 

 

[eclipes]

agree with you once again mercuttio

 
Quote:

It's interesting, I think I'd be able to consider the RS1 and 325i as equals in a great many ways. For me, texture is king, and the 325 aces every "lesser" Grado in that regard. 
 
I can't say that I like the MS2i better than the 325i though. I think the increased treble energy and texture of the 325 offer it a slight edge, but I can see someone liking the MS2i more due to the balanced signature. I found it slightly less alive in comparison, personally.
 


 

 

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

after owning both the Sr325i and RS1. I actually consider the sr325i as the most analytical grados as well. And the level of clarity and texture is definitely the same with the RS1 but its much more mellow and smooth.
 
 
 

 
What exactly do you mean by more analytical re: RS-1, 325i? Increased detail resolution including micro detail, or simply a more forward high frequency presentation? 

 

[KneelJung]

Quote:

What exactly do you mean by more analytical re: RS-1, 325i? Increased detail resolution including micro detail, or simply a more forward high frequency presentation? 

I think what he's describing as analytical is probably relative to the tone and timbre of the Mahogany cups on the RS1. My experience has been that wood cups give the Grado's a more natural earthy sound. The 325, even though it has aliuminum cups has a plastic driver housing that completely lines the aluminum interior which probably provides for a tone and timbre that sounds more plasticky or "analytical" versus the all wood RS2, RS1, and MS Pro.

 

[pigmode]

^ Interesting. So neither the RS-1 or 325i is more resolving of HF details?

 

[imackler]

I don't know if I'm a Grado fan yet.
 
That being said, its probably a bad sign when you can't wait for your next chance to be downtown without the family so you can go to the only store within 250 miles where you can try the RS1i again. I may be one on in the making... Did not see that coming.

 

[bowei006]

I have the Shure SRH 440 and Ultrasone HFI 580. would an MS1 be something i should get in the future. Fostex T50RP's, Samson SR850 are also being considered

 

[knolly]

Sounds like my experience just under two years ago:
 
Long story short, I ended up with the 325is cans which I vastly preferred compared to the 225is (and I am in general a Grado sound fan).
 
My posts from a while ago:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/225954/the-official-grado-325i-owners-club/1635#post_6282939
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/486526/325s-with-flats#post_6627569
 
Now I see that there are PS500s out there - sure, they're twice the price of the 325is, but like 35% the price of the PS1000 - ack!!!  Will probably have to check those out at some point    But I do LOVE my 325is phones - really, really like them a lot and they just continued to get better and better over the first few months that I had them.
 
Have fun trying and deciding!
 
Quote:

Owned the SR-225i only 2-3 days now and like it so much that I already ordered the 325is to compare. Should get it next week sometime. There's a 50/50 chance I will not like it. I've gotten older so maybe I'm now less sensitive to treble. I think when I had my old SR-325i it was the gold version and I was much younger.
 
SR-225i sounds very bad straight out of a Fuze IMO. No surprise there. Somehow it's just amazing out of my old portable CD player. I think it's a warm and musical player with a little extra bass. It's an old Made in Japan Panasonic. Got it in 2001 or 2002 when they were still good. I bet the SR-225i would be quite good using the old PS1 (very warm sounding) as a source.
 
Connected it to my Headroom Micro Amp using an HRT Music Streamer II and was surprised at how much it improved. I actually thought this combo would make them painfully fatiguing, but it's really not. This SR-225i may actually be even MORE unforgiving than my Q701 and KRK!! Easy to pick out the really bad recordings.
 
The pads are now not so bad. It took a lot of tries to get the headband to make the pads comfortable. Without enough clamp the sound seems to be negatively effected a tiny bit.
 
I tried to get an RS1i today, but nobody seems to want to accept Amazon Payments on a used pair. Closed my paypal account years ago and it stinks not having Paypal. I'm kind of glad because I shouldn't be spending that much on a headphone at the moment.
 
This SR-225i is hard to take off lately. I was up until about 3am listening to it last night. Bass seemed to definitely improve when connected to my desktop amp/dac.
 
I'm really hoping the SR-325is is just as good Jpop/female vocals. Should be even better, but maybe not.
 
BTW is U2 music known to be very poorly mastered? I don't like U2 much at all, but their last CD sounds bad on the SR-225i (and on many other headphones). Very harsh and fatiguing.

 

 

[eclipes]

haha... another die hard grado fan soon. Hahaha
 
Quote:

I don't know if I'm a Grado fan yet.
 
That being said, its probably a bad sign when you can't wait for your next chance to be downtown without the family so you can go to the only store within 250 miles where you can try the RS1i again. I may be one on in the making... Did not see that coming.