[NeilPeart]

Rankings (5 Is the Best):

Bowls:
Comfort - 3
Sound -3

Comfies:
Comfort -4
Sound -2

Radio Shack:
Comfort -3
Sound -2

Vwaps (modded Sennheiser 414):
Comfort -5
Sound -4

Flats:
Comfort -4
Sound -5

My personal favorite is the Flat Pads, but since they are the most expensive, they are best reserved for the SR225 and above; the Vwap pads are more affordable and sound almost as good (and are a bit more comfy due to their softer material), so they fit well with the SR125 and below.

SR60/80/125/MS1: Vwaps
SR225/325/RS-2/RS-1/PS-1 Pro: Flats
MS2/MS-Pro: Bowls (I just enjoyed the bowls more with the higher-end Alessandros)
SR100/200/300/HP-1000: Flats ONLY!!!

 

[Xanadu777]

No mention of upsidedown bowls? Though I haven't heard vwap pads, I would think they're pretty comparable to them... When I'm not using flats on my HP-2's, I'm using turned over bowls with nice sound results.

 

[saint.panda]

Very nice grado pads shootout indeed, I'm sure many will find this useful.
Personally, I've tried bowls, reversed bowls (ouch), comfies, vwaps and reversed vwaps (not normal vwaps turned upside down but actually designed this way). I yet have to try flats but so far the normal vwaps are the best, followed by the reversed vwaps which adds a bit more of soundstage but takes away some bass, adds sibiliance and with less intimacy and immediacy.

 

[gsferrari]

[size=large]UPDATED WITH IMAGES AND VIDEOS!!!

[/size]

 

[Permonic]

Great! Cool! Thanks. GSFerrari is the first Head-Fier using video in the review, this should be a standard for reviews.

 

[gsferrari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsferrari [size=large]UPDATED WITH IMAGES AND VIDEOS!!! [/size]

ADDED Squishy Test Videos

 

[gsferrari]

My my my...this started out as a mini-comparison and ended up as a monster bandwidth killer

LOL

Fortunately I have reliable hosting...I will use videos in future reviews as well...much more "interactive" than plain images (which were often omitted in reviews...guess that will have to change too).


Thats it folks - I cannot invest any more time into this review. I hope it helps make choosing pads easier. Secretly however - I hope it helps empty your wallets faster

Enjoy and I will appreciate it if you save the videos the first time instead of coming back to view them repeatedly. This will save me bandwidth and make the downloads faster for those who really need it.

SOMEONE - Please do me a favour and tell me approximately how long it takes to download the First two videos and then the BOWL-SQUISHY test video.

Thank you

 

[agile_one]

Great job, Guru! Outstanding photos, and the videos rock.

Even though I'm not a Grado owner, it's useful for when I ever do get a chance at a pair.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsferrari SOMEONE - Please do me a favour and tell me approximately how long it takes to download the First two videos and then the BOWL-SQUISHY test video. Thank you

Took about 2 min 25 sec to download Video 1 (18.6MB). Not too bad, and now I have it - will go back for the others.

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanadu777 No mention of upsidedown bowls? Though I haven't heard vwap pads, I would think they're pretty comparable to them... When I'm not using flats on my HP-2's, I'm using turned over bowls with nice sound results.

I am not a big fan of the grados (sr-225), but I have to agree the upside-down bowls are a good pad configuration. The reversed pads pretty much hit the midpoint between bowls and vwaps, and I liked them the best overall. With vwaps the bass gets too loose & sloppy, and regular bowls were way too bright with rolled off bass (but very punchy). The only problem is that reversed bowls aren't as comfy as the very, very soft vwaps.

 

[greenhorn]

A REFERENCE review.

Thanks, gsferrari.

It took about 2 minutes for each video to begin (from the moment I ckicked on the respective link). I have a 512 kbps connection.

 

[greenhorn]

double post, sorry

 

[NeilPeart]

I LOVE the videos, gsferrari; they add a charming effect!

This review makes me feel sad about giving up on Grados.

 

[Vashin]

I downloaded all videos very quickly, at 1.5mb/s took around 6 seconds for each video. I'm on the university's "resnet". The pad review is awesome, for I'm hoping to get a pair of MS-2 during december. I'll keep this review in mind when the time comes.

 

[gsferrari]

Thanks for all the comments guys. 2 minutes is pretty much what I am experiencing too...I hope thats ok with you folks...not too bad for 15-20MB but it could be faster - i'll give my server dudes a call

[size=small]
No comments on the Squishy test?

[/size]

 

[Mr.Radar]

I've recompressed the video files with XVID 1.0.0 (playable with XVID, DivX 5, or any other MPEG-4 CODEC). They're hosted on my home cable modem which is capped at ~15 kilobytes per second upstream so don't expect a speedy download if you have broadband (max connections is limited to 5 as well).

Movie 1 (2.5 megs)
Movie 2 (1.25 megs)