[Vikingatheart]

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I put my Grados up on the sale forums and so far, no success. But it's given me some time to think about why I love Grados, and its really the clarity that gets to me. The separation of instruments for Rock and Metal is just awesome, and the forwardness really puts me right there with the band. What about Grados makes you all gravitate towards them? And also, should I just keep these little buggers? I could really use the money, but no one seems to want to buy these right now anyway. What do you all think?

 

[musiclover666]

Quote:

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I put my Grados up on the sale forums and so far, no success. But it's given me some time to think about why I love Grados, and its really the clarity that gets to me. The separation of instruments for Rock and Metal is just awesome, and the forwardness really puts me right there with the band. What about Grados makes you all gravitate towards them? And also, should I just keep these little buggers? I could really use the money, but no one seems to want to buy these right now anyway. What do you all think?

Why are you selling your 225i? Since buying my 80i none of my other headphones have gotten any head time, save for my JVC portables. The Grados just seem to do everything I like. Up front presentation, separation of instruments, exciting to listen to, bass qaulity not quantity, not fatiguing at all, sonically. I have finally found the right pads for comfort and SQ. Having auditioned Beyer, Senn, AKG, Shure, I have found my ideal mate in Grados for the rock, jazz and metal that I listen to. They are by no means a perfect hp, there is no such thing, for me they are the best hp I have and the ones I don't tire of listening to, and continue to hear new things in my music collection.
 
Cheers,
Dan

 

[Vikingatheart]

Quote:

Why are you selling your 225i? Since buying my 80i none of my other headphones have gotten any head time, save for my JVC portables. The Grados just seem to do everything I like. Up front presentation, separation of instruments, exciting to listen to, bass qaulity not quantity, not fatiguing at all, sonically. I have finally found the right pads for comfort and SQ. Having auditioned Beyer, Senn, AKG, Shure, I have found my ideal mate in Grados for the rock, jazz and metal that I listen to. They are by no means a perfect hp, there is no such thing, for me they are the best hp I have and the ones I don't tire of listening to, and continue to hear new things in my music collection.
 
Cheers,
Dan

I am selling them to fund purchases of other kinds. I am taking a trip very soon and some extra cash would be nice. Also, I really want a subwoofer for my Audioengine A2s. Hehe. I do agree with everything you said though, and thats why I love Grados. There just hasn't been a set of cans that make my rock and metal sound so damn good. 

 

[desertblues]

Quote:

Don't forget to get some G cushions, they really add an extra dimension to the PS500s.

 
You were right MM, with further listening I am really liking the G cush! They definitely add soundstage and sound great with the right material. Glad I got 'em...

 

[raziel980]

Thought I'd update on my SR80i's.

My ears are really warming up to the bass on these 80's. Whether it's the drivers or my ears breaking in, I'm hearing more low end everyday. I love how tight it is. There's just enough boom to make Muse's Uprising sound amazing. The balance it shows in the first 60 seconds of that track is amazing.
 
Despite all this, I'm still ever so tempted to start (carefully) poking holes in that white mesh  to see how much bottom end it gives them. I think I'll give them another week and take if from there. 

As for an amp, It'll be at least another month til then as the partner's birthday is coming up.

 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

I'm officially selling my LCD-2 for high tier Grados. Thats how you know my Gradophilia is getting out of control. I swear it's almost sexual sometimes... I know my RS-2's catch me looking at them in a weird way sometimes at night.
 
I'm going to miss detachable cables, but honestly I'm pretty guilty of drinking the kool-aid when it comes to gear. I've spent like the last couple months reading LCD-2 reviews and somehow convincing myself I'm wrong.. I went to a local Grado dealer, popped on 'dem RS-1's which I haven't honestly heard since like 2008, and I knew I was making the right choice.

 
 Wow - whirlwind times - thought you were still in HiFiMan HE-500 country?
 
 Sorry mate, looks like I've missed some of your updates in other threads, did not know you were giving
 the Audeze a go.
 
 I sat there the other day giving the LCD2's and LCD3's a rip through a pretty tasty setup consisting of the
 Esoteric D07x DAC balanced out to a Ray Samuels Dark Star and for me personally, if the
 material was rap or anything electronic then they really did make a lot of sense - the way they conveyed
 pounding PraT and exuded 'the beats' on the track was in my opinion exemplary. The problem was when
 I reverted to more organic material like slow female vocals (particularly in a live setting) or jazz.
 
 I found them to be too subdued and missing a lot of atmosphere compared to the PS1000 or even
 the HD800, for the lack of better word - they were missing a 'natural sounding component'.
 
 The other issue is that the Audeze do change considerably from amp to amp - it is amazing
 to hear the same track on a LCD2/3 on let's say a warm, tubey Woo Audio WA2 and then
 quickly switch out to a Ray Samuels - the chase for big power on these cans is to ensure
 they sound clean with lots of pace and perfect timing - I believe it's their swan song - not
 the sound stage, nor the treble extension.

 

[musiclover666]

Quote:

Thought I'd update on my SR80i's.

My ears are really warming up to the bass on these 80's. Whether it's the drivers or my ears breaking in, I'm hearing more low end everyday. I love how tight it is. There's just enough boom to make Muse's Uprising sound amazing. The balance it shows in the first 60 seconds of that track is amazing.
 
Despite all this, I'm still ever so tempted to start (carefully) poking holes in that white mesh  to see how much bottom end it gives them. I think I'll give them another week and take if from there. 

As for an amp, It'll be at least another month til then as the partner's birthday is coming up.

 

The white cloth covering the front of the cups is there just to protect anything from getting into the cups and causing a grattle. Some say that removing the white cloth gives a little more extension in the highs, I doubt it however. I kept mine there as I have two cats and a dog and I don't need any little flying fur getting in there and causing me grief. However, the holes that you speak of are actually on the inside of the cups, around the backs of the drivers. There are ten holes, covered by a very thin black fabric. If you get brave enough to open up your cans I would start with a couple of holes and poke them out with a ball point pen, less risk of puncturing the back of the driver. I tried it and went all the way up to ten holes. The effect is subtle in my opinion, even with all 10 holes punch, there is a bit more impact in the bass, more impact with kick drums and that sort of thing, nothing bloated or overblown.
 
Have fun, and let us know how it sounds to you.
 
Cheers,
Dan

 

[Focker]

Quote:

I am selling them to fund purchases of other kinds. I am taking a trip very soon and some extra cash would be nice. Also, I really want a subwoofer for my Audioengine A2s. Hehe. I do agree with everything you said though, and thats why I love Grados. There just hasn't been a set of cans that make my rock and metal sound so damn good. 

My A2s just died  I love these little speakers....they are about 2 years old, so I'm hoping AudioEngine can hook me up with some warranty coverage. These are the first powered speakers I've ever owned and I have used them in so many different applications. 

 

[Vikingatheart]

Quote:

My A2s just died  I love these little speakers....they are about 2 years old, so I'm hoping AudioEngine can hook me up with some warranty coverage. These are the first powered speakers I've ever owned and I have used them in so many different applications. 

I am hoping they can hook you up as well! These little guys are seriously awesome. 

 

[Focker]

Quote:

I am hoping they can hook you up as well! These little guys are seriously awesome. 

Thanks  I usually keep them in my home office, and a few months ago I picked up the PURE i-20 iPod dock. This PURE gadget has a built in DAC and pulls the bit perfect signal right off the iPod (thus bypassing the lower quality analog output of the iPod), so I was able to hear my apple lossless files in their full glory. Just this very simple system was so enjoyable, and that was due to the A2s more than anything else. If I want to have some good music or watch a movie with better sound at my lady friend's place, it's very easy to take the A2s with me and just run the analog outs of the blu-ray player into them. The audio is fantastic compared to just her tv audio (she doesn't want a full audio rig at her place). I can't really consider them underrated cause they seem to be very popular, so I'll just say that they easily compete with speakers costing just as much, but you have the added benefit of the amp section as well, which puts the value over the top. But I don't have to tell you that since you know just as well as I do how awesome they are  

 

[CrystalT]

Circumaural modded my grados. They're extremely dark now. Any suggestions on how to achieve circumaural comfort without darkening the sound?

Also, I modded the comfys, but something seems wrong about them. Overall sound just seems... wrong. Did I expose too much of the driver?

I'm going to buy new comfys this weekend. The stock sound was wonderful as is unmodded.


Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[musiclover666]

Quote:

Circumaural modded my grados. They're extremely dark now. Any suggestions on how to achieve circumaural comfort without darkening the sound?

Also, I modded the comfys, but something seems wrong about them. Overall sound just seems... wrong. Did I expose too much of the driver?

I'm going to buy new comfys this weekend. The stock sound was wonderful as is unmodded.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk 2

You poked holes in the wrong place. You have to open up the cans and there are 10 holes around the back of the driver, those are the holes you want to punch out. The white fabric on the front is just there to keep hair and other nasties out of the cups. Grados are really picky about pads. Some people have had luck with the C-pad mod, but I head it is expensive. If you want circumaural you could try G-cush pads, but there again, they are designed for higher end Grados and tend to suck out all the bass and make the high end rather diffuse and tizzy from what I have heard. They are also expensive.
 
I would say try some Senn 414 pads, they are pretty much as comfy as comfys, and they tend to open up the sound a bit and can be quarter modded with excellent results.
 
Cheers,
Dan

 

[Posam]

If you want curcumaural pads DO not, AT ALL, use pleather. You get the most bloated bass ever from that. I put xb500s pads on my RS1i once and...bass...

 

[CrystalT]

I punched holes there not to improve bass response, but because I read that liberating the grill tooth increases clarity. Out of curiosity, I cut out small holes just to test that theory, but no change.

Thanks for the info on pleather. What about velour? The problem with foam pads is that they really, really itch versus p/leather and Velour.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Brooko]

Try washing the pads in a mild detergent with a bit of fabric softener.  Rinse well and dry completely.
 
If the comfies are still itchy - try the reverse quarter modded Senn 414 pads.