[Blackmore]

[size=10pt]Just a little thing I would like to say at first. I was doubting whatever to post this or not, but decided to do so, because if you are the part of the community, it's very important to share, so, take it like it is and come with your own conclusions / impressions, cos I am interested in them to, however not in the hype or bashing way, please no, just keep it civilized possible, so, for those "who knows better", keep it to the subject please. I chose do not write anything like an review, simply because I am done with it, so, my short summarizing may not give many of you anything special, but for those who see some interesting in it, come and share please.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]To me, PS1000 still have issues that are very critical. First of all, treble, especially with rock music its simply  there, unless you tame it with EQ or tube rolling, but then again, it's there. Bass is another problem, which to me can't get the right damping inside the cups, its resonating with some stuff really badly. Third is their shortcoming by growing with music, if the record ask for, made me really mad at some point. Yes, they are spacey, but nothing to be really amazed about it and like I wrote, they don't grow with the music. Another thing, is the fact that I don't found them to be truly balanced and the complex classical music do not sound right through them. They just can't handle complex records. On the other hand, they were amazing with some piano + cello music, simply very hard to beat. Also some live records, such as Eva Cassidy "live at blues alley" were very good, but then again, why such limit with music you can listen with? Why not make them more flexible, refined and balanced, all this, is beyond me. For example, I love trance such as Above and Beyond or Daniel Kandi kind or Buddha Bar music, but up here to, while they are not bad, but certainly behind the level of Stax or K1000. [/size]
 
[size=10pt]Some other things, such their cable, draw me crazy, cos is to short and dramatically bothered me all the time when I was listen to PS1000. Their comfort is not bad, but they are heavy and this can be a huge problem for some folks, headband pushing on the top of the head and after a while you are done, so, some modification are really need it, if you are long time listener.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]My pair was from one of the latest April batch, was burned for 300 hours and paired with Cary CAD 300B SEI integrated and Unison CD player on front. I tried them on other man system and found them even worse, amp was SPL Phonitor and HA5000 from Audio Technica. [/size]
 
[size=10pt]I guess, as the man says, for each his own, but I am really at the end of the road here. My disappointment is pretty huge and while I don’t necessary hate them, no, it's just the fact that my feelings are totally mixed up and my mind is blocking when I am trying to figure out which next model Grado will produce.[/size]
 
[size=medium]THX[/size]

 

[shimmer n roar]

i saw this thread moments after posting in the grado fan club thread where some ps1000 owners were comparing it favourably with the hp1000. thanks for being so candid and sharing your obvious disappointment. at least you won't die wondering.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

ps1000s are awesome though! when i first heard them, i even preferred them over the HD 800

 

[pcf]

Quote:

[size=10pt]Just a little thing I would like to say at first. I was doubting whatever to post this or not, but decided to do so, because if you are the part of the community, it's very important to share, so, take it like it is and come with your own conclusions / impressions, cos I am interested in them to, however not in the hype or bashing way, please no, just keep it civilized possible, so, for those "who knows better", keep it to the subject please. I chose do not write anything like an review, simply because I am done with it, so, my short summarizing may not give many of you anything special, but for those who see some interesting in it, come and share please.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]To me, PS1000 still have issues that are very critical. First of all, treble, especially with rock music its simply  there, unless you tame it with EQ or tube rolling, but then again, it's there. Bass is another problem, which to me can't get the right damping inside the cups, its resonating with some stuff really badly. Third is their shortcoming by growing with music, if the record ask for, made me really mad at some point. Yes, they are spacey, but nothing to be really amazed about it and like I wrote, they don't grow with the music. Another thing, is the fact that I don't found them to be truly balanced and the complex classical music do not sound right through them. They just can't handle complex records. On the other hand, they were amazing with some piano + cello music, simply very hard to beat. Also some live records, such as Eva Cassidy "live at blues alley" were very good, but then again, why such limit with music you can listen with? Why not make them more flexible, refined and balanced, all this, is beyond me. For example, I love trance such as Above and Beyond or Daniel Kandi kind or Buddha Bar music, but up here to, while they are not bad, but certainly behind the level of Stax or K1000. [/size]
 
[size=10pt]Some other things, such their cable, draw me crazy, cos is to short and dramatically bothered me all the time when I was listen to PS1000. Their comfort is not bad, but they are heavy and this can be a huge problem for some folks, headband pushing on the top of the head and after a while you are done, so, some modification are really need it, if you are long time listener.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]My pair was from one of the latest April batch, was burned for 300 hours and paired with Cary CAD 300B SEI integrated and Unison CD player on front. I tried them on other man system and found them even worse, amp was SPL Phonitor and HA5000 from Audio Technica. [/size]
 
[size=10pt]I guess, as the man says, for each his own, but I am really at the end of the road here. My disappointment is pretty huge and while I don’t necessary hate them, no, it's just the fact that my feelings are totally mixed up and my mind is blocking when I am trying to figure out which next model Grado will produce.[/size]
 
[size=medium]THX[/size]

I don't have any treble problems on mine but I have heard other pairs that didn't sound right in that department. When it comes to the bass, every single PS1000 I heard have this slightly boomy and soft bass, Especially when I compare them to my HP1000i- which has much tighter bass in my opinion. 
The same bloated bass can be found on HF-2 and PS-1 too. Maybe the particular aspect of these phones borders me more than others, or maybe my usual Grado amplification- Milos and HPA1/2 aren't ideal for John phones, Who knows.
 
* Not going to spend money on amps to "tweak" those phones. They ain't that bad after all. 

 

[Focker]

[size=10pt] my feelings are totally mixed up and my mind is blocking when I am trying to figure out which next model Grado will produce.[/size]
 
 

 
 
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that maybe Grados just aren't for you. I would probably steer clear of whatever model Grado next comes out with and go with another brand entirely...there are headphones out there for everyone, so maybe forget about Grado and look into what other brands and models look interesting to you. 

 

[Mortalcoil]

Sorry to hear you havent enjoyed them Blackmore,  I myself have never heard them.  I know you have always been a strong supporter of the GS-1k, Im surprised you didnt fall in love with these.
 
I will say however that I do respect your opinion, food for thought indeed.

 

[LCfiner]

I had a PS1000 last year - sold it to try other high end cans - and then just required a PS1000 yesterday. I agree with some of the issues that Blackmore brings up but I still find myself enjoying them a great deal.
 
The treble is still an issue. I find that a mild 3dB EQ down around 8 kHz is enough for me to not have any harsh sibilance. but i would like it if I didn’t have to EQ anything. But I suppose there are people who are annoyed by the more mild HD800 treble lift and those didn’t require any mods or EQ on my end to be enjoyable.
 
The comfort can be an issue, too. luckily, I had a headphone lounge cushioned headband and it makes all the difference. seriously, anyone considering owning a PS1000 needs one of these (or an old J$ band) as the default headband does not have enough padding to balance the weight of the cups.
 
But I don’t find the bass to be uncontrolled and have major resonances. I’m listening to some albums from Brown Bird and almost all their songs are dominated by a strong, driving upright bass that needs to be rendered with good detail and texture so that the rest of the song doesn’t get drowned out. the PS1000 are handling this very well.
 
I think it goes to show that multiple people can listen to the same phones and come away with a different set of impressions. I think the treble is the biggest issue with these headphones - sibilance can be a problem without EQ. that shouldn’t be an issue with something this expensive, imo. Still, I think they do so much right that it’s hard for me to disregard their positives in light of this negative.

 

[stacker45]

It just goes to show how we have to take opinions lightly,i personnaly don't hear the sibilance some are talking about,i believe that,the sound system,the type of music,personnal taste,and maybe even possibly a sensitivity or lack there of,to certain frequencys,are all factors that will ultimately determine if we like or not,a pair of headphones.

 

[Blackmore]

[size=10pt]First of all, thanks to everyone who took their time to read and replay.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]I never said that sibilance they produce were there all the time, no, it's just the fact that sibilance is there and that's bothers me a lot.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Low end, while its not perfect, I enjoyed it very much with some music and that's been mentioned by me, but not with all music I know very well they were sounding like I expected them to sound, so, there is clearly misbalance in them, which bothers me even more.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]I am not sure what causes such thing: their design, their drivers, their whatever or my amp/system, don't know, so, I leave it there, not because their sound not my sound, no, because they are not at the level they are promoted, at least to my understanding of high end. [/size]
 
[size=10pt]For now, I left Grado planet and going be back to K1000 very soon.[/size]
 
THX

 

[maddin]

I have not heard the PS1000 but I have a similar experience with my PS500. It sounds very nice with certain music but with other music I find the bass to bloated and dominant. This also depends on me. I heard the same album one day with the PS500 and found it great but few days later I could not stand the bass and switched to my Alessandro MS-pro. For me the PS500 is highly enjoyable on certain music, which narrows the listening time it gets. All my other grados are to my ears there less selective.
 
I know comparisons from the audio mememory are difficult but could you, blackmore describe how the PS1000 are for you compared to the GS1000 that you had before and I think you liked? Thanks...

 

[Blackmore]

[size=medium]Well, at the last mini meet we had both, my PS1000 and Black Dragon re-cabled GS1000. To me, both are  different, so, this is the matter of preference for sure, cos PS1000 are simply meatier with great dynamics, clearly because of the low end and  closer mids, where GS1000 are lighter, having more distant mids and seems to have more air and extention. I simply couldn't stand the fact that PS1000 can't grow with the sound or would I say, just open up when need it. Like I wrote, I don't know where the problem is, in PS1000, in my system or in both, but somehow I feel that PS1000 aren't that flexible and show their limits pretty fast, like say some closed back headphones.  On the other hand, PS1000 have such brilliant coloration when they reproduce cello and drums, it's trilling, however there are other things in music than just that and like you said, some music is great and some just not, while both records aren't badly made.[/size]
[size=medium]I believe folks may don't understand my point correctly , I am not saying that one is better or worse, they are differ enough and have their own good and bad qualities, besides when Grado say: THIS IS THE BEST WE EVER MADE, well, let's go and show, but at the end, unfortunately , they didn’t do it for me.[/size]
 
[size=medium]I would say, if possible, listen before you buy them, unless you get a great deal that when you may have to re-sell them, you don't lose much.[/size]
 
[size=medium]THX[/size]

 

[tamahome77]

Thanks for the write up.  I agree with your issues about the PS1000.  I was one of the early adopters and very disappointed with the PS1000's performance.  They're not all-around friendly and only sounded satisfying with a small range of music.  The weight and especially the sibilance really bothered me.  If my memory serves me correctly, the one thing that I really liked about the PS1000 was how the bass was produced -- it was tight, fairly deep, enveloping, and powerful.  Now if only Grado would take the smooth mid and smooth high characteristics of the PS500 and combined them with the bass qualities of the PS1000.  That would be something great.
 

 

[LCfiner]

I guess this goes back to how we perceive sounds because I find the PS1000 have much, much smoother mids than the PS500. In my listening this past week, I have found that the PS1000 mids have less shout and glare than even the HP1000, let alone the PS500!
 
It's really only in the 6 to 8kHz treble that the PS1000 has sibilance issues.
 
I think if someone were looking for the same wide, airy soundstage as on a GS1000 or HD800, the PS1000 would seem more closed in. But I find that soundstage works better for a larger variety of my music. And the GS1000 treble is even more tipped up in comparison to the mids than the PS1000. that's part of what gives it that airy sound. the PS1000 is more grounded in the mids.

 

[stacker45]

I'm assuming that we're talking about the first generation GS1000,i mean the non ''i'' model,my GS1000 are the older model,and when i compared them to the improved version,i remember that the soundstage of the old model was wider,but the new model had better bass extension,more presence in the mids and a slightly less aggressive treble.
 
As for the PS1000,aside from the weight,there's realy nothing i don't like about them,they ''gel'' very well with my sound system,my Yamaha DVD-S2700 an my Musical Fidelity X-CAN V2 are both fairly smooth sounding,so that might be the reason,i might end up selling my GS1000 tough,since they don't get much use anymore,
 
I can't remember who here has both,the SR325i and PS500,and i can't help but thinking that this is a good way to go,these two sound completely different from one another,they represent,as far as i'm concerned,the two extremes among Grados,so depending on what you feel like listening,you pick the one that best suited to do the job.

 

[maddin]

Currently I have the SR325i, the PS500, the HF-1 and a modified MS-pro, which of course does not make sense to have so many Gradessandros but it covers for me a lot of the Grado sound that I like. The modified MS-pro sounds very relaxed and equilibrated. The SR325i is excellent for singer songwriter stuff. Voices are great with this headphone. And the HF-1 fall a bit in the same corner as the MS-pro, less soundstage, bit rolled off in the highs, more bass compared to the alessandro. A more fun version of the MS-pro... but I still have difficulties with the PS 500. It is technical a good headphone and is excellent with some music but with others... anyway all to say that I think I don't need to buy another headphone anymore since I found what I like...