[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by cello kwkarth, so you were saying that the sr-225s are that much better? Perhaps I should take a look at those. I really do love the grado sound, it just simply hurts my ears. edit - kuma, your puppy (is that yours?) is adorable

I don't have the 225's but their predecessor, the 200. I gather from the comments that there is some similarity. I love my 200s. The midrange is some of the most neutral (accurate) in headfidom.

Overall, I prefer my AKG-K501s for neutrality and accuracy. Their mids are pretty much as accurate and they are better in the extremes (highs and lows) than the SR-200's. The problem with the 501s is that they need the best in amplifiers to bring out their best, otherwise they may tend to underwhelm you.

 

[cello]

is it possible that i'm doing serious damage to my ears by listening to the grado? cuz my ears are in pain afterwards...

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by cello is it possible that i'm doing serious damage to my ears by listening to the grado? cuz my ears are in pain afterwards...

My dear man... get those ears checked. If you're listening at reasonable volumes, no headphone on earth will emphasize treble so much that your hearing will be damaged. There's no amp or graphic equalizer inside those earcups -- with more or less emphasis in certain frequencies, any pair of headphones ever made are reproducing only what is coming from your source and amplifier.

Seriously... something may be wrong with your ears, or perhaps your Meta42 is oscillating at high frequencies and producing some kind of inaudible tone that affects the eardrum.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Lol Fewtch why don't you just bud out of this thread. Cello there is no reason to keep fatiguing earphones around. Ear pain can't be a natural good thing, and is something that a lot of people have when they listen to sr-325's, as they are possibly the brightest headphones around.

Biggie.

 

[cello]

nope - nothing's wrong with my meta42 - I've tested the headphones coming directly out of my soundcard, and also coming out of my iPod, and I get the same problems. There's also probably nothing wrong with my ears, I just simply have very sensitive ears. In fact, when my parents were visiting my college dorm, I had my mom listen to the headphones, and she had the same ear fatigue problem... (yeah i know...)

Anyhow, I'm probably going either try the SR-225, or the K501s. I'm a little worried that the SR-225s won't be enough of a difference for me, but we'll see, I guess.

Thanks everyone for your input

 

[cello]

anyone know of a type of headphone that's less bright than grado, but still punchy and great for rock. It turns out that my grado SR-325s simply hurt my ears, regardless of what I do (i've tried using different pads, different sources, etc..., and the same thing happens).

 

[usc goose]

have you tried 225s? otherwise i can only think of the rs and hp series.

edit: oh yeah, they tell me the ms series is a lot less bright but i haven't heard any.

 

[bangraman]

The RS-1 might be what you're searching for. I found I couldn't apply the 'Grato' label to them. Basically they pack the punch of Tyson without the bite

 

[cello]

well, the rs-1 might be a tad out of my price range...

 

[blessingx]

The RS-1's and 225's are both less bright than the 325's. Haven't tried the RS-2's.

 

[cello]

it seems like the grado sr225s wouldn't be less bright enough... i've heard that they're very similar in the brightness, only that the sr325s are ever so slightly more bright

 

[fewtch]

Are you positive the problem isn't related to your sources? I don't think the higher end Grado Prestige series is emphasized enough in treble to hurt anyone's ears, provided they're being driven with clean source material. Frequency-wise they should be putting out what's being fed to them, more or less.

 

[screwdriver]

i have owned a grado Sr225 and a alessandro MS2 (325) and i find both not bright at all .

* i have a melos amp and a naim cd 3.5 in my system and i dont know if it changes the sound a bit . .

 

[LTUCCI1924]

I had the 325 and found them to be very bright and had to sell them. The 225 are great and well rounded headphone. The RS1 I feel need a real good source and amp to sound their best. I find that the SR-225 to be a great headphone. Small light and great sound over other headphones and at only 32 ohms are very easy to run but an amp really opens them up to what they can do and the 225 can use almost any source and any amp.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by LTUCCI1924 I had the 325 and found them to be very bright and had to sell them. The 225 are great and well rounded headphone. The RS1 I feel need a real good source and amp to sound their best. I find that the SR-225 to be a great headphone. Small light and great sound over other headphones and at only 32 ohms are very easy to run but an amp really opens them up to what they can do and the 225 can use almost any source and any amp.

I think I may be getting a pair of 225's soon... too many people have rated these cans highly to ignore. It's between the 225's and the HD-580, but I think the Senns might be disappointing in midrange and not too great for non-acoustic stuff.