Grado Ps500 vs more popular headphones?
Jul 29, 2013 at 4:50 PM Post #31 of 45
I want a pair of PS500 so bad that I can't stand it....I keep checking the Buy\Sell\Trade forums here, but it is very rare for them to show up......eventually I will get them.
 
Jan 12, 2014 at 9:24 AM Post #32 of 45
The PS500 was the headphone I used while testing out new DAC/Amp combos as that was the direction I planned to go when I upgrade shortly after 10 years of MS1 use.  I had never heard of it before auditioning it, and was blown away.  Then again I also haven't heard all that many truly high end phones in that $600 range.  I just stuck to Grado in my testing and liked it more than the RS1.  
 
But after bumming around Head-Fi I have noticed there is a lot of other competitors in the same "short of TOTL" price range that get a lot more love on here.  I mean there's almost 100 pages of discussion related to the Beyer T90!  Am I being obtuse by just sticking to the Grado sound, or should I be expanding my search to attempt to listen to some other makes (I live in a small town, but travel frequently to a much larger one)?  Has anyone had a chance to compare the PS500 and T90 directly?
 
Jan 12, 2014 at 10:55 AM Post #33 of 45
dmos said:
  The PS500 was the headphone I used while testing out new DAC/Amp combos as that was the direction I planned to go when I upgrade shortly after 10 years of MS1 use.  I had never heard of it before auditioning it, and was blown away.  Then again I also haven't heard all that many truly high end phones in that $600 range.  I just stuck to Grado in my testing and liked it more than the RS1.  
 
But after bumming around Head-Fi I have noticed there is a lot of other competitors in the same "short of TOTL" price range that get a lot more love on here.  I mean there's almost 100 pages of discussion related to the Beyer T90!  Am I being obtuse by just sticking to the Grado sound, or should I be expanding my search to attempt to listen to some other makes (I live in a small town, but travel frequently to a much larger one)?  Has anyone had a chance to compare the PS500 and T90 directly?
Click to expand...

I've not heard the T90 yet but have heard and owned my fair share and for the money the PS500 is easily the most fun and energetic open phone for the price while also being incredibly easy to pair with other gear. I've spent thousands building rigs around high-priced phones to get the most of my investment and bring out the best traits of a particular headphone or compensate for things I didn't care for about it. Even after the LCD3 and HD800 the PS500 is the only one I really miss and will re-purchase once I've taken care of some other pending issues. I will say that I don't really care for them for classical and the small soundstage is limiting for other music genres where the sense of space is important. That said, the front row seat to the music and vocalist in arms reach is a hair-raising experience and make the music just plain exciting. I would not call them neutral or even balanced but they are damn fun and very reminiscent of the PS-1 (previously my favorite phone). 
 
Now if I could have the PS500 sound in a closed back design with the comfort of the HD800 I'd probably never visit this forum again /game.
 
Jun 27, 2014 at 10:17 AM Post #34 of 45
wakeride74 said:
  I've not heard the T90 yet but have heard and owned my fair share and for the money the PS500 is easily the most fun and energetic open phone for the price while also being incredibly easy to pair with other gear. I've spent thousands building rigs around high-priced phones to get the most of my investment and bring out the best traits of a particular headphone or compensate for things I didn't care for about it. Even after the LCD3 and HD800 the PS500 is the only one I really miss and will re-purchase once I've taken care of some other pending issues. I will say that I don't really care for them for classical and the small soundstage is limiting for other music genres where the sense of space is important. That said, the front row seat to the music and vocalist in arms reach is a hair-raising experience and make the music just plain exciting. I would not call them neutral or even balanced but they are damn fun and very reminiscent of the PS-1 (previously my favorite phone). 
 
Now if I could have the PS500 sound in a closed back design with the comfort of the HD800 I'd probably never visit this forum again /game.
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What headphones do you recommend (within the same price range) for classical?
 
Aug 7, 2014 at 11:14 PM Post #35 of 45
potkettleblack said:
 
What headphones do you recommend (within the same price range) for classical?
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Old thread, but in case others happen upon it for a very affordable price the DT 440 is supposed to be excellent for classical listening.
 
Aug 10, 2014 at 9:39 PM Post #37 of 45
Dec 16, 2014 at 1:25 PM Post #38 of 45
Know the OP was asking the same, since then anyone have the opportunity to have listened to PS500 and HD700 back to back? Any glaring or major differences?
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 5:45 PM Post #39 of 45
I have. Twice recently.
 
I own the ps500e's and consider them a lot better than the ps500's (sorry if you wanted a comparison with the 500's - but this still might mean a lot as many consider the e's better - that and you can't really get them new now)
 
The ps500e doesn't suffer from any sibilance (despite being a Grado) where as the hd700 will make you jump out of your seat with it every other minute of a song.
 
The hd700's soundstage is far bigger than the ps500e's.
 
Far far bigger.
 
The bass is a lot more extended on the hd700 where as the ps500e is predominately mid bass and lacks a lot of sub bass. That being said I think the hd700's bass can be a bit overwhelming and bleed into the mids a bit.
 
The mids are more withdrawn on the ps500e's than the hd700's
 
Detail for me they are on par, with the ps500e's being a little more enjoyable as oppose to analytical like the hd700's.
 
The hd700's are far more comfy than the ps500e's. The comfiest headphone i have ever used.
 
Build quality goes to hd700's hands down.
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 7:05 PM Post #40 of 45
potkettleblack said:
  I have. Twice recently.
 
I own the ps500e's and consider them a lot better than the ps500's (sorry if you wanted a comparison with the 500's - but this still might mean a lot as many consider the e's better - that and you can't really get them new now)
 
The ps500e doesn't suffer from any sibilance (despite being a Grado) where as the hd700 will make you jump out of your seat with it every other minute of a song.
 
The hd700's soundstage is far bigger than the ps500e's.
 
Far far bigger.
 
The bass is a lot more extended on the hd700 where as the ps500e is predominately mid bass and lacks a lot of sub bass. That being said I think the hd700's bass can be a bit overwhelming and bleed into the mids a bit.
 
The mids are more withdrawn on the ps500e's than the hd700's
 
Detail for me they are on par, with the ps500e's being a little more enjoyable as oppose to analytical like the hd700's.
 
The hd700's are far more comfy than the ps500e's. The comfiest headphone i have ever used.
 
Build quality goes to hd700's hands down.
Click to expand...

 
Great thanks! I have read impressions on both but nothing really vs one another respectively. This really helps...
 
Dec 16, 2014 at 7:27 PM Post #41 of 45

You're welcome.
 
For what it's worth I recently purchased the 650's and preferred them to 700's by quite a lot.
 
The biggest downfall is the treble hotness on the 700's. You almost resent Sennheiser for making such a great headphone with such a huge flaw. 
 
Good luck mate.
 
Apr 11, 2015 at 10:04 AM Post #42 of 45
I read somewhere that swapping out the Grado cushions for the one of the Sennheiser cushions Item#019545 from their online store is a good idea They are yellow, and they fit perfect on the PS 1000 but will they fit on the ps 500?? They bring the sound closer to the ear??
 
Jul 6, 2016 at 8:20 PM Post #44 of 45
tunes said:
I read somewhere that swapping out the Grado cushions for the one of the Sennheiser cushions Item#019545 from their online store is a good idea They are yellow, and they fit perfect on the PS 1000 but will they fit on the ps 500?? They bring the sound closer to the ear??
Click to expand...


I have them and they fit fine, both my old 325 and new ps500e. I think they sound absolutely ridiculously good this way. Even the ps500e sound bright to me just a touch with the stock pads. I think they sound amazing both ways but find the soundstage extra wide with the 414 yellow pads. It's the first headphone I ever really bobbed my head hard to on the first listen with some music I've heard a thousand times. A song like MJs "beat it" suddenly became way better. It was a combination of many characteristics but they just sounded way more more spacious, sweet sounding, extremely detailed with punchy accurate bass. I'm in total love to the point my oppo pm3, momentums, and sr325 get no attention at all anymore.

Mind you, the s Cush is the somewhat similar pad to the 414 in looks, but the sound is very different with the s Cush and I don't like it.

I have tried these with s, g, flats, 414, and ear zonk, and two immediate favorited are 414, then flats, then G, then I don't favor the rest. Depends on the music but the yellow pads are by far the best for my tastes. You can't go wrong. They are ugly but get the job done and I don't care about looks when I'm in that special place with whatever I'm listening to. I know many love the bigger over ear pads but they don't do it for me. We all have different ears. 414 yellows are cheap. Just get some for general purpose.
 
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