[cheechoz]

I beleive that if John Grado was to start his company today, he would not condone the flat pads. They were really made for older, and discontinued cans! I like the flats, don't get me wrong, but I find that with the right amp combination, that the bowls are superior.

 

[Donnyhifi]

I like the 414's better after trying out the Flats, bowls, and reverse bowls. I'm using the older Grado 325s which are considered bright by some. Forgot to add, these are modded 414 pads, they have a hole cut out about the size of the inside mesh of the phone speaker and reversed.

I find the bowls and reverse bowls are too bright for me. Reverse bowls added abit of bass but didn't seem to affect the brightness, and not enough bass and too bright for my taste.

Then I tried the flats, too much bass and a smaller soundstage which I didn't like, highs were tamed, but a tad too much for my liking. Seems like bass was almost to the point of boominess but not quite there, definately hard hitting, abit too much for my taste.

I then tried the 414's and found sound heaven

I know I'm in sound heaven when I start moving my head to the music

The harshness of the highs tamed to the right amount, bass is punchy but not boomy. Bass isn't as heavy as the flats but noticably more weighty than the reverse bowls. Midrange not sounding as dark as the flats, and a soundstage as wide as the bowls. Vocals retained the detailed and airy sound it had with the bowls.

I got these phones off of Justin and I believe he prefers the flats and reverse bowls so everyones ears and tastes are different. I think my ears changed in the last month or so too

After listening to the Grado 325's with the 414's I can't stand listening to my sr-80s anymore, and 2 months ago you'd have to kill me to pry the SR80s off my hands

Forgot to add the senn 414s are cut and reversed.

Cheers,

Donny

 

[m_memmory]

What size hole do you have to cut into the 414 pads? And is it this new hole that you cut that wraps around the drivers? I've got a pair of MS1 and I ordered a pair of 414 pads off of eBay which should be delivered in the next week or so and so I'm just wondering what I'll have to do to get them to fit.

I know that people talk about the "quarter mod" a lot - I'm assuming this means cutting a hole about the size of a quarter into the foam? What size would this be (being in the UK I don't know how big a quarter is)

 

[kdaq]

Take a look at the size of the hole on stock bowl and flat pads. It's the same diameter as the driver itself. The intent is to get close to this. A quarter just happens to be convenient to use as a stencil of sorts

 

[Sugano-san]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sum Now I only wish they had the level of detail the HD650s offer.

Thanks very much for this clarification!

 

[Drag0n]

Ok,so i wonder how this would work out? Maybe when i have the guts and know-how to open my SR80,ill try it.
I read in one thread on here that someone lined the inside of their RS-1 with felt and it tamed the highs and balanced them out.
So,.....how about a more open rear screen,and felt on the inside for the balance,and keep the bowls for the soundstage and openness(of course at the sacrifice of comfort)? Then maybe youll have balance and soundstage too? grasping at straws here,but thats what the hobby is all bout,,,isnt it? :RS80 with 414 pads and quarter hole mod smiley:

 

[nspindel]

I was finding the hype about the flats kind of hard to believe. I mean, after all, how much difference could the pads on headphones really make???

Good god was I wrong. I just got the flats today from TTVJ for my RS-1's. It is literally like a different pair of cans. Night and day.

The brightness is GONE. The bass is kickin'. So much better. I can put those bowls in the box where I keep the stock Senn cord and the Senn grills that I just replaced with woodies.....

 

[ferraro]

I really like reversing the bowls. With the bowls reversed, the SR-225s are the closest I have heard to my "ideal" sound. It looks like the flats would make the sound more like my HD595s, but with much more bass. I find the HD595s to be very muffled-sounding (dunno if I am using the right word, but anyway, that is what they sound like, at least with my current setup), so no go there.

 

[Kram Sacul]

The flat pads make my 225s sound like a muffled bassy piece of garbage. No pinpoint soundstage, no clarity. Just bad. I rather use unmodded comfy pads.

 

[bangraman]

I preferred the RS-1 with the flat pads. Crapton (and many others) was indeed better with better timing and increased dynamics. Generally more 'alive'. I think I said at the time that the bowl pads try to twist the RS-1 into what they're not...a hi-fi phone

 

[milkpowder]

I just took delivery of my SR325i and the flat pads do make a massive difference. I find the bowls overly bright. In fact piercingly and overwhelmingly bright compared to ANYTHING I've heard before (my first Grados

). Putting on the pads and everything is fixed. Man isn't there so much more bass with the flats? For some music, there is actually too much bass, for others it is perfect. My SR325i are used, so they should be burned in already. I used to not believe in the difference between the flats and bowls, but now I do!

 

[Patu]

I just ordered flat pads yesterday and I have a couple of questions.

What I like most in RS-1 is it's lively and energitic sound. Does this quality stay there with flat pads or does the bass overrule highs? Still I'd like the highs to be little more tamed and little extra bass would also be nice.

What I DO NOT want is that they become too similar with HD650/Grace52 combo which is definitely on the dark side. RS-1 is almost purely for rock/metal music in my use and 650 handles almost everything else so do you think I'll be happy with them? Oh and I still haven't decided what to do with SA5000. I might keep'em all.

 

[Zorander]

You can find out the answer for yourself when the pads arrive.

To partly answer your question anyway, I use the flats with the MS-2 and find this a perfect pairing. The bowls give an irritatingly metallic/bright sound and the overall sound is drenched with treble. The flats completely tame the piercing highs and bass amount is just nice to my ears, i.e. not too much, not too little. Surprisingly, there is respectable soundstage too (the flats are renowned for 'killing' soundstage), so I can happily say the flats will be the main pads for the MS-2.

Regards.

 

[cmanc]

Double post.

 

[cmanc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu ..Oh and I still haven't decided what to do with SA5000. I might keep'em all.

How does the RS-1 compare to the SA5000 to you? Some have said the SA5000 has more bass impact + extension, more speed, resolution, controlled treble and a more precise soundstage (doesn't seem like there's many areas where the RS-1 wins out

). So you prefer the RS-1 for rock/metal and other aggressive music genres? Between the 3 phones which gets the least use? I'm considering getting either the RS-1 or the SA5000.. I'm thinking maybe the SA5000 is too much of an audiophile's headphone for me hah.. I need some colour for added fun.

Zorander, hmm I didn't like the flats with the MS-2 at all, they turned what is already a pretty dark headphone (by grado standards) into something very dull sounding. The MS-2 loses any semblence to dynamics with flats, and sounds monotone.