[wes008]

Quote:

So last night for the first time I listened to my 325is's directly out of my MBP to Cd's that I had imported to my iTunes library. If anyone recalls, I usually listen through an Adcom GFP-710 pre-amp and a Meridian DAC and a Sony Cd player, and I found my 80i's to have tighter bass and much more micro detail and a more realistic sound to them coming from my Adcom and my Meridian and Sony than my 325's do. Strangely enough while listening to the 325's out of the MBP I heard much tighter bass and more micro details and they were much clearer and the instruments also had more air around them, just like my 80's sound like out of the Adcom and Meridian, but the 325's are obviously smoother. Can anyone comment on why this may be? Also I've noticed that most headphone amps have about 1 watt into 32 ohm's, and I don't know what the output from the headphone jack is from the Adcom, but I do know it is a dedicated amplifier section for the headphone on the Adcom. I have the manual and it doesn't give that info, and I can't find it anywhere on the web. Can this just be a bad combo for the 325is even though both headphones are 32ohm, but yet the 80's sound better out of this combo, where as the 325's sound better straight out of the MBP.
So being that I liked what I was hearing from the 325's and the MBP, I am going to pull the trigger on purchasing the Schiit Magni/Modi or the Asguard2/Modi combo for the 325's tonight, but before I do this I would appreciate if anyone has some comments on my questions to as why this is. Thank you. 

My Beyer DT 770 250Ohm sounded better out of my MBA's headphone out and my crappy CD player's headphone out than my Fiio E10! However, in that case, I know that's because the Beyers were pretty high impedance headphones, and the high impedance on the MBA jack and the CD player jack matched the headphone impedance better, meaning no power clip. Your SR325is, however, are low impedance, so they should sound better out of a dedicated amp with a low output impedance. My only guess would be that your Macbook's headphone jack has a lower output impedance than your amp. Yet, you said the SR80i sounded better out of the amp... not sure man :/ not sure.
 
As for the Schiit gear, I would go for it man. The Magni/Modi stack made my Grados sing. However, the Magni has a fixed 5x gain, and with the Grados being kinda sensitive, I had virtually no volume play (that's WITH attenuators plugged in the back). If you have the scratch, i'd go with the Asgard 2/Modi rather than both baby Schiits. The Asgard 2 has a switch on the back that lets you toggle between a low gain and a high gain. The low gain would be perfect for your SR325is.

 

[joseph69]

Yeah I don't understand why the 80's sound better than the 325's out of my main listening setup! I was just reading about the Asguard 2 and the Modi and I read that the Asguard 2 has quite of a hum to it, or was this the Asguard (not the 2) that they are saying this about? Is this the reason for the Asguard (2)?
Also I was looking at photos of different angles of both the Asguard 2/Modi and I don't see a port for the USB connection at all!!! These are connected through USB connectors correct?
Thanks for the reply.
 
Do I need a special cable comning out of the Schiit with a standard USB on the other end, that I have to purchase from Schiit? I would like to know because I'm ready to purchase either from Schiit or Amazon tonight.

 

[wes008]

Quote:

Yeah I don't understand why the 80's sound better than the 325's out of my main listening setup! I was just reading about the Asguard 2 and the Modi and I read that the Asguard 2 has quite of a hum to it, or was this the Asguard (not the 2) that they are saying this about? Is this the reason for the Asguard (2)?
Also I was looking at photos of different angles of both the Asguard 2/Modi and I don't see a port for the USB connection at all!!! These are connected through USB connectors correct?
Thanks for the reply.
 
Do I need a special cable comning out of the Schiit with a standard USB on the other end, that I have to purchase from Schiit? I would like to know because I'm ready to purchase either from Schiit or Amazon tonight.

I've never heard of any humming, but they improved the amp stage on the Asgard 2 with tech from the Mjolnir, so I guess the humming would be on the Asgard 1. The Modi has a USB input on the back, it's a printer-style connector. Then, it's just a normal red-and-white RCA cable connecting the Modi to the Asgard 2! Schiit has a good return policy, so I would recommend getting what you want, and trying it out at home. The Modi and Asgard 2 are only sold on Schiit's website, so you'll have to go there, but you get the return policy, the warranty, and checkout through their secure system or PayPal. 

 

[CheeseWithWorms]

Is there any grado authorized seller in europe?

 

[joseph69]

Thanks for the reply. So the Magni doesn't come with a USB input?
So if I just purchased the Magni/Asguard2 by itself and wanted to use my MBP, I would have to purchase a male mini to come out of the MBP headphone out with L/R RCA males on the other end to connect to the input on the Asguard2/Magni, correct?
The amplifiers do not come with USB ports to plug directly into the MBP, you must use a mini to RCA, but the Modi comes with a USB to USB? 

 

[parbaked]

Quote:

Is there any grado authorized seller in europe?

Yes: http://www.gradolabs.com/page_dealers.php
If the mark-up/price is too high, I understand that Alessandro will ship their Grado made headphones to the EU.
http://www.alessandro-products.com/main.php?p=headphones

 

[jimbob54]

So last night for the first time I listened to my 325is's directly out of my MBP to Cd's that I had imported to my iTunes library. If anyone recalls, I usually listen through an Adcom GFP-710 pre-amp and a Meridian DAC and a Sony Cd player, and I found my 80i's to have tighter bass and much more micro detail and a more realistic sound to them coming from my Adcom and my Meridian and Sony than my 325's do. Strangely enough while listening to the 325's out of the MBP I heard much tighter bass and more micro details and they were much clearer and the instruments also had more air around them, just like my 80's sound like out of the Adcom and Meridian, but the 325's are obviously smoother. Can anyone comment on why this may be? Also I've noticed that most headphone amps have about 1 watt into 32 ohm's, and I don't know what the output from the headphone jack is from the Adcom, but I do know it is a dedicated amplifier section for the headphone on the Adcom. I have the manual and it doesn't give that info, and I can't find it anywhere on the web. Can this just be a bad combo for the 325is even though both headphones are 32ohm, but yet the 80's sound better out of this combo, where as the 325's sound better straight out of the MBP.
So being that I liked what I was hearing from the 325's and the MBP, I am going to pull the trigger on purchasing the Schiit Magni/Modi or the Asguard2/Modi combo for the 325's tonight, but before I do this I would appreciate if anyone has some comments on my questions to as why this is. Thank you. 

Joseph, can't remember in yr previous posts about this if you ever mentioned the kind of volumes you listen at. I have SR60s and 325s and do know that, from a good source and amp, the 325s only really shine at quite high volume levels, whereas the 60s give the impression of greater clarity at lower levels from the same source. The 60s had a more immediate sound straight out of my iPod too. If your ears can take it, try the 325s on your good kit t a higher level and then go back to the 80s at the same level after a few tracks. You might be surprised. Or even better, the other way round.

 

[Amrahs]

I recently bought a pair of sr80i's. I was impressed when I first got them out of the box but now that they've had quite a few hours to settle in, I love them even more! Completely different listening experience to my Sennheisers. I've decided to reserve the sr80i's for home use with my Fiio e-10 while my Sennheiser hd25-1 ii's will be my portable/work/dj headphones. 

 

[wes008]

Quote:

Thanks for the reply. So the Magni doesn't come with a USB input?
So if I just purchased the Magni/Asguard2 by itself and wanted to use my MBP, I would have to purchase a male mini to come out of the MBP headphone out with L/R RCA males on the other end to connect to the input on the Asguard2/Magni, correct?
The amplifiers do not come with USB ports to plug directly into the MBP, you must use a mini to RCA, but the Modi comes with a USB to USB? 

Yeah. The Magni and Asgard 2 are purely amps, not amp/dac combos (Schiit has said they don't want to make an all-in-one). I used a Magni out of my Macbook's headphone port (using a 3.5mm to RCS cable) for a while, and it was fine, but a DAC makes a world of difference. 
\

 

[joseph69]

Quote:

Joseph, can't remember in yr previous posts about this if you ever mentioned the kind of volumes you listen at. I have SR60s and 325s and do know that, from a good source and amp, the 325s only really shine at quite high volume levels, whereas the 60s give the impression of greater clarity at lower levels from the same source. The 60s had a more immediate sound straight out of my iPod too. If your ears can take it, try the 325s on your good kit t a higher level and then go back to the 80s at the same level after a few tracks. You might be surprised. Or even better, the other way round.

Yes I have done that before with the 325's, but I really don't listen to music at such high volumes, but they where awesome, and don't get me wrong they where always awesome sounding, its just that when I got my 80's they where much clearer and more detailed through my main setup than the 325's. I think that part of it has to do with that listening out of my Adcom I am very limited with the volume control, anything after the 9 o'clock position is just to loud is with the 325's, but with the 80's I have a much wider range of volume control where as the volume starts to peak at just before 1 o'clock which is the way it should be. Also my 325's out of the MBP have a wider range of volume control, and less of an overall presence of bass than the Adcom, which I think is killing the clarity and detail on the 325's as compared to the 80's. Last night I listened to the 325's directly out of   my Sony CDP-ES, and of course the sound wasn't as rich and full, but I must say the overall presence of bass was gone, and there was more clarity and detail once again, so Im thinking that the Adcom is just not a good match for the 325's (and this is listening to then with the tone off on the pre-amp, flat), but with the 80's the Adcom is fine. I'm starting to think the Adcoms gain is too much for the 325's, but don't understand why it is fine for the 80's. So I think I'm gong to purchase the Schiit Asguard or Modi and see how my 325's sound out of one of these.   

 

[bassboysam]

I tried my 325i's with some comfies and was impressed by the sound. I heard more depth in the lows and low-mids and the very highest frequencies were rounded off a litte more. I did notice some loss of detail and I am thinking that the TTVJ Flats might be the happy medium for them.

 

[parbaked]

This eBay listing features some interesting mods.
The product description includes some interesting views on Grados.
Go Navy!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Grado-Prestige-SR60i-Custom-Enhanced-Great-Condition-/281123861650?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item417449b492

 

[bassboysam]

This eBay listing features some interesting mods.
The product description includes some interesting views on Grados.
Go Navy!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Grado-Prestige-SR60i-Custom-Enhanced-Great-Condition-/281123861650?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item417449b492

 
that's awesome Plus Italian designer silk ties are known for their superior tonal qualities

 

[jmoore914]

Here's another member of the fan club! I got the 60is cuz they're cheap and super mod-able but I haven't even been super inclined to mod them since they sound great already.
I listen to a lot of rock and these sound FANTASTIC for it. The drums and guitar and pronounced and amazing. The only thing I find lacking at all is the bass so I may add the sock mod to try to boost it. 

 

[jaywillin]

well, i missed them so much, i have another pair of ms1's coming in, can't wait to hear them again
i saw that ad on ebay too, the modified 60, i still haven't gotten around to taking a grado apart
and messing with it, i got a feeling i will soon !