Grado RS-1x Loaner Program @ TTVJAudio.com

[Todd]

HI All,

We are pleased to announce another great loaner program - this one featuring the Grado RS-1x. This loaner RS-1x will come wire for balanced and include the 1/4" singles ended adapter. It will also have cups on it that will highlight the variety of colors that the wood come in.

Please read the rules and email me all of the required info. The headphones will ship out next week to the first one who signs up for the loaner tour.

Loaner Program Rules:

Our loaner programs are for those who would like to try the available demo item before purchasing from TTVJAudio. These products are purchased by us and belong to TTVJAudio.com. It is our hope that through hearing these products in your own environment, in your own system, you can make a decision on whether or not to add it to your system. And if you decide to purchase, TTVJAudio.com will be your destination for your acquisition.

How to sign up! Pay attention and make sure you supply all the info in your email

Send your name and address, telephone number and your Head-Fi user name to me (Todd) at todd@ttvjaudio.com. Do NOT PM me as you will not be included in the program without an email.

You will get the loaner for 1 week to use in your home with your system. After your one week is up, you must send it to the next loaner participant. Email me (todd@ttvjaudio.com) the tracking info so I can pass it on to the next recipient.

You MUST write a review and post it in this loaner thread. It must be posted in the same thread as this announcement for the loaner program. Please post the review here first and feel free to post it somewhere else if you like!

Once you have received the loaner, email me to let me know you have it and I will send the address for the next person soon thereafter.

Our loaner programs are USA only. We are restricted from shipping/selling outside the USA on most products.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Todd

 

[Jaytiss]

Interested. I just sent you an email.

 

[Menkau-ra]

That's amazing! Emailed.

 

[deathwish]

Will they be sold afterwards?

 

[Todd]

Hi deathwish,

We are a business so of course they will be available for sale afterwards. And of course loaner participants have first chance at them or a new pair.

So far we have 3 signed up for this loaner program. If you are interested we still have a few slots left for anyone willing to give them a listen and write a review.

Todd

 

[deathwish]

Too bad I'm in Canada.

 

[jim723]

I would like to participate. I just sent the email.

 

[Padellone]

Same here if there are still slots!

 

[Todd]

Slots are all filled - 7 participants! We will ship to the first on the list mid to late next week. I will post the list of those in the program on Friday.

Todd

 

[Todd]

HI All,

Here is the list of loaner participants. The RS-1x will ship out at the end of this week. Have fun - I look forward to your thoughts on the RS-1x in this thread!

Grado RS-1x Loaner Program

• Jaytiss
• elira
• Menkau-ra
• jim723
• Padellone
• lord_tris
• HeyWaj10
  

Todd

 

[Jaytiss]

“American Flavor”
4/5 Stars
Positives
Comfortable headband
Durable cable able to connect to most amps
Highly Technical headphone

Negatives
Earpads need replacement
Needs EQ to sound right for me

The infamous Grado, the on-ear giant of good old America. Brooklyn, New York. Do you know how you can tell if someone is from New York? They’ll tell you 3 times before they let you get out a word. I’m kidding! Or am I? Having worked in Los Angeles, California I got the pleasure to deal with a lot of New Yorkers there unhappily on business, and they’d like you to know how great New York is and where they are from if you couldn’t tell immediately from their accent and style.


Product Features:

I am going to share a larger list that I have of songs that I like in this review. 61+ songs Here
This list is my go to test songs for the first go.
Top 10 Tidal list here:
I listen to a wide variety of music. I pick the songs because of various reasons. But I picture myself locked away like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank blasting music and shut off from the world. It’s a blissful image.
The Marriage of Figaro -The opera song from Shawshank Redemption, terrible recording but fun and gets me in the mood to listen to music.
O mio Babino caro -This is a modern less operatic version but a song with great female vocals.
Video Rigoletto - “La donna e mobile” Sung by one of the three Tenors, great song for high-performing male vocals. Pavarotti is the greatest classic singer maybe ever. Fight me!
Iron man - The sound at the beginning is hard to make sound great, great drums, and cymbals, and if done right it feels like an old-school band.
I Will Survive (1981 recording, I like her voice, and the old vocals, the drums, and various natural instruments really make this a favorite for me.
There is a light That never goes out - Smiths ( A classic, I just love it. It’s mellow, and I can tell a lot of the tuning if this song is done right.)
Jump (I like how the sound effects are in this!)
Star Child Someone recommended this song to me, and I like how funky it sounds and has nice vocals and a mix of music and things going on.
Dicke Titten Ramstein The beginning is amazing and the bass hits hard. Great song. I love rock and metal. The German language fascinates me
Master of Puppets: Very fast song. Helps me determine if the driver can keep up.



Cable:
I am not a huge fan of the stock cable, but it is a work of art. It is well build. I got to use the XLR port on my headphone amp and that was a pleasure. It is a beautiful cable that holds memory well and is likely indestructible. It feels of the best quality, but I could see how it isn’t for everyone. There is also no easy way to replace this cable without severe modding. Which is a choice that I don't particularly agree with. For those who want a cable that appears more durable than the headphone, it’s fantastic and offers multiple options as well with a 3.5 mm, 6.3 mm, and XLR connector. I love it, but it's stiff and hard to swap, so I kinda don't love it, but I respect it for the build quality and ability to do pretty much anything that I need it to do.


Ear Pads:

I think If I owned Grados I would go with a more clinical fix of the Dekoni custom Velour pads. Seen here. The stock earpads just aren’t for me, they are what I call a must-fix and that doesn’t add value to the headphone as to me out of the box it is uncomfortable. But comfort is subjective, and while I struggle with the stock pads on long sessions they are passable. Just not my cup of tea. I prefer a leather or Suede, and they are very easily replaced.

Value:

I find solid Value in this headset as it is very beautiful and interesting looking. It would be a great piece to add as a collector of headphones as Grados are extremely iconic and beloved amongst audiophiles for their unique look and resolving headphones.

Graph:

Bass:

The Grado is well-tuned out of the box and requires little EQ. B It has a nice sound and a nice thump to the base. The base response is great. On Dickie Titten I feel it really hit the slam at the 0:13, which most headphones require EQ to hit.

Midrange:

The Midrange does feel a little off for me and that is the worst part of this headphone. Vocals seem a little distant and unresolved. I almost find it unbearable without EQ, but with eq, everything seems great for me, and this headset really shines as a wonderful experience.

Treble:

The treble is sparkly and airy, and delightful to listen to. This is the best part of this headset. Piano tracks sound delightful and perfect. The instruments sound great. But I find when I eq the base, sometimes I do miss out on some details and it’s difficult to get the right sound out of the gate for this headphone. But it’s magical Treble, and extremely enjoyable. Out of the box, this is the best part of this headset and things sound great here.

Comfort:
The comfort of this headset is harsh out of the gate for me on the earpads, but the headband feels great on my head. With some minor pad adjustments, it feels much better out of the box and is fairly good. I’d personally recommend a pad swap as I feel they need a change due to the texture of the pads just not being for me.

Recommended EQ:
I do recommend a bit of EQ for these headphones. I am boosting the 32Hz and 64 Hz by 4 Db, lowering the 3Khz by 10 db and the 8Khz by 8 db and I find this headset sings. It’s a big massive eq, but I do enjoy this headset a great deal more with eq.

Gifting/who is it for:

This is an expensive headset, but it’s a great headset for anyone who loves audio and wants to have an artistic headphone in their collection. The box is beautiful, the presentation has a great corner store presence with a picture of the staff. It’s a nice taste of New York with a unique beautiful presentation.


Pairing:
I only used my new e70 dac through an SMSL SH-8s AMP. I find this headset a dream to drive and had no major issues getting it loud at all. I recommend using this headphone at a desk because the cable is fairly thick, but no reason that you couldn't take the cable on the go.

Summary:
The Grado is an artistic audiophile headphone that is aesthetically pleasing. It is packaged extremely well and is iconic. Overall I am giving this a B+ for tuning and an A+ for technical abilities. With Eq, it’s just a fantastic headphone with great sonic characteristics. The Grado is a legend in its time, it’s distinctly American, Beautiful, and has a fantastic purposeful build quality that is amazing.

Thanks for reading. Any feedback is welcome.

 

[Menkau-ra]

“American Flavor”
4/5 Stars
Positives
Comfortable headband
Durable cable able to connect to most amps
Highly Technical headphone

Negatives
Earpads need replacement
Needs EQ to sound right for me

The infamous Grado, the on-ear giant of good old America. Brooklyn, New York. Do you know how you can tell if someone is from New York? They’ll tell you 3 times before they let you get out a word. I’m kidding! Or am I? Having worked in Los Angeles, California I got the pleasure to deal with a lot of New Yorkers there unhappily on business, and they’d like you to know how great New York is and where they are from if you couldn’t tell immediately from their accent and style.


Product Features:

I am going to share a larger list that I have of songs that I like in this review. 61+ songs Here
This list is my go to test songs for the first go.
Top 10 Tidal list here:
I listen to a wide variety of music. I pick the songs because of various reasons. But I picture myself locked away like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank blasting music and shut off from the world. It’s a blissful image.
The Marriage of Figaro -The opera song from Shawshank Redemption, terrible recording but fun and gets me in the mood to listen to music.
O mio Babino caro -This is a modern less operatic version but a song with great female vocals.
Video Rigoletto - “La donna e mobile” Sung by one of the three Tenors, great song for high-performing male vocals. Pavarotti is the greatest classic singer maybe ever. Fight me!
Iron man - The sound at the beginning is hard to make sound great, great drums, and cymbals, and if done right it feels like an old-school band.
I Will Survive (1981 recording, I like her voice, and the old vocals, the drums, and various natural instruments really make this a favorite for me.
There is a light That never goes out - Smiths ( A classic, I just love it. It’s mellow, and I can tell a lot of the tuning if this song is done right.)
Jump (I like how the sound effects are in this!)
Star Child Someone recommended this song to me, and I like how funky it sounds and has nice vocals and a mix of music and things going on.
Dicke Titten Ramstein The beginning is amazing and the bass hits hard. Great song. I love rock and metal. The German language fascinates me
Master of Puppets: Very fast song. Helps me determine if the driver can keep up.



Cable:
I am not a huge fan of the stock cable, but it is a work of art. It is well build. I got to use the XLR port on my headphone amp and that was a pleasure. It is a beautiful cable that holds memory well and is likely indestructible. It feels of the best quality, but I could see how it isn’t for everyone. There is also no easy way to replace this cable without severe modding. Which is a choice that I don't particularly agree with. For those who want a cable that appears more durable than the headphone, it’s fantastic and offers multiple options as well with a 3.5 mm, 6.3 mm, and XLR connector. I love it, but it's stiff and hard to swap, so I kinda don't love it, but I respect it for the build quality and ability to do pretty much anything that I need it to do.


Ear Pads:

I think If I owned Grados I would go with a more clinical fix of the Dekoni custom Velour pads. Seen here. The stock earpads just aren’t for me, they are what I call a must-fix and that doesn’t add value to the headphone as to me out of the box it is uncomfortable. But comfort is subjective, and while I struggle with the stock pads on long sessions they are passable. Just not my cup of tea. I prefer a leather or Suede, and they are very easily replaced.

Value:

I find solid Value in this headset as it is very beautiful and interesting looking. It would be a great piece to add as a collector of headphones as Grados are extremely iconic and beloved amongst audiophiles for their unique look and resolving headphones.

Graph:


Bass:

The Grado is well-tuned out of the box and requires little EQ. B It has a nice sound and a nice thump to the base. The base response is great. On Dickie Titten I feel it really hit the slam at the 0:13, which most headphones require EQ to hit.

Midrange:

The Midrange does feel a little off for me and that is the worst part of this headphone. Vocals seem a little distant and unresolved. I almost find it unbearable without EQ, but with eq, everything seems great for me, and this headset really shines as a wonderful experience.

Treble:

The treble is sparkly and airy, and delightful to listen to. This is the best part of this headset. Piano tracks sound delightful and perfect. The instruments sound great. But I find when I eq the base, sometimes I do miss out on some details and it’s difficult to get the right sound out of the gate for this headphone. But it’s magical Treble, and extremely enjoyable. Out of the box, this is the best part of this headset and things sound great here.

Comfort:
The comfort of this headset is harsh out of the gate for me on the earpads, but the headband feels great on my head. With some minor pad adjustments, it feels much better out of the box and is fairly good. I’d personally recommend a pad swap as I feel they need a change due to the texture of the pads just not being for me.

Recommended EQ:
I do recommend a bit of EQ for these headphones. I am boosting the 32Hz and 64 Hz by 4 Db, lowering the 3Khz by 10 db and the 8Khz by 8 db and I find this headset sings. It’s a big massive eq, but I do enjoy this headset a great deal more with eq.

Gifting/who is it for:

This is an expensive headset, but it’s a great headset for anyone who loves audio and wants to have an artistic headphone in their collection. The box is beautiful, the presentation has a great corner store presence with a picture of the staff. It’s a nice taste of New York with a unique beautiful presentation.


Pairing:
I only used my new e70 dac through an SMSL SH-8s AMP. I find this headset a dream to drive and had no major issues getting it loud at all. I recommend using this headphone at a desk because the cable is fairly thick, but no reason that you couldn't take the cable on the go.

Summary:
The Grado is an artistic audiophile headphone that is aesthetically pleasing. It is packaged extremely well and is iconic. Overall I am giving this a B+ for tuning and an A+ for technical abilities. With Eq, it’s just a fantastic headphone with great sonic characteristics. The Grado is a legend in its time, it’s distinctly American, Beautiful, and has a fantastic purposeful build quality that is amazing.

Thanks for reading. Any feedback is welcome.

Great review. I’m happy that I’m the third in the line because the RS-1x will have plenty of burn-in time

 

[Jaytiss]

Great review. I’m happy that I’m the third in the line because the RS-1x will have plenty of burn-in time

I definitely let it burn in. It’s a fun headset!

 

[Menkau-ra]

I definitely let it burn in. It’s a fun headset!

I think RS1x is the most beautiful Grado

 

[Menkau-ra]

My small review on the RS-1x.

I already owned 325x, Hemp and 3000x. To me the RS-1x was the most universal Grado and definitely the most beautiful!
RS-1x has more resolution and bigger sound stage my favorite Hemp. I was afraid that RS-1x would be bass-shy, but I was wrong. As a basshead I can tell that RS-1x played all my songs as I wanted. I never felt that I needed more bass especially because RS-1x has sub bass when Hemp only has mid bass.

As any other Grado the RS-1x loves tubes. Tested with Vali2++, TA-26 and Folkvangr.

I really didn't see any benefits of having XLR on RS-1x since they are easy to drive. I wish Grado will make RS-1x wireless someday

The RS-1x is 100% recommended to all Grado lovers.

Thanks to ttvjaudio.com for the opportunity to demo these headphones.