[cobley]

Ive had my 595s for over a year now, and Im awaiting a pair of 598s in the mail
But I have a little spare, enough for the sr225i's.

I'm thinking I want to try something with a different sound to the sennheisers, and from the posts on this forum it seems like that would be the way to go, your thoughts?

 

[TakashiMiike]

As someone who has owned the hd650 and a grado sr60i (to which on my setup I prefer the sr60i modded). I would say that they are extremely good complimentary cans to sennheisers, there are an incredible amount of things you can do to your grado's to customize them to a sound of your liking. Senns as I have heard them (at least the 650) are quiet laid back, mellow, not obtrusive, which works well for some music but tends to shadow all music with the same veil making even lively music sound this way. The grado's on the other hand are forward, great mids, no veil at all, more forward than neutral but very natural sounding, from my experiences with the grado sr60i I can HIGHLY recommend getting a pair of grado's.

 
 
 

 

[baka1969]

I've owned the HD650 and listened to the HD600 and 595. I have an ides about what Senn sounds like. I've also been a fan of the Grado house sound. The SR-225i exemplifies that well. It's a good contrast to the Senns. As much as I admire Billavideo and his Grado mods I don't really have the skills to do his terrific Grado alterations. If you can and have the time and patients to do them I'd pic up a Grado SR-60/80 and mod away. If you're more like myself I think the SR-225 is worth the price and is an excellent headphone. Certainly one of the cans to try in life.

 

[Ikarios]

If you're on a tight budget, just pick up an SR60i or MS1i and mod the heck out of it (or keep it stock if you like how it sounds

). A lot of bilavideo's mods change the general sound signature of the Grados (especially the venting... we didnt' like the SR60 very much when we vented it - it sounded artificial). My opinion on the modding of lower-end Grados is that, while you can change the general sound signature of the budget models, there will still be crucial things missing, a lot of which I look for - detail, cleanliness of sound, bass punchiness, and of course, aesthetics, among others.

 

[estreeter]

As the owner of the SR325is, having owned MS1, SR60i and SR80i, I second the motion that you get the SR60i and mod the hell out of 'em. Really go to town.
 
Even with the plastic cups still in place, I'm blown away by the impact of opening these cans up - just dont expect to listen to them within 30 feet of someone who wants to use their ears for something other than listening to your music.

 

[Melvins]

Quote:

I've owned the HD650 and listened to the HD600 and 595. I have an ides about what Senn sounds like. I've also been a fan of the Grado house sound. The SR-225i exemplifies that well. It's a good contrast to the Senns. As much as I admire Billavideo and his Grado mods I don't really have the skills to do his terrific Grado alterations. If you can and have the time and patients to do them I'd pic up a Grado SR-60/80 and mod away. If you're more like myself I think the SR-225 is worth the price and is an excellent headphone. Certainly one of the cans to try in life.

That being said, you can also just mod the 225. The Bilavideo mods work for every Grado can.
 

 

[baka1969]

Quote:Originally Posted by Melvins 




"That being said, you can also just mod the 225. The Bilavideo mods work for every Grado can."


I'm sure they do. I'd practice on the SR-60 first. You can buy three of them for learning on for the price of the 225. If you mess up on a 60 it's not as much of a tragedy. LoL I'm not so skilled and would probably get the 225 again if I wanted a sub $200 Grado.

 

[Melvins]

ehh yeah sure that makes sense but the mods are quite simple indeed to do. It takes a lot to mess up. I hated the idea of pulling apart my 100+ can, but once it was done I realized how simple it was. If you follow Bills videos and other advice given by people here on the forum, it won't matter if you're pulling apart a 600 dollar pair of cans. Ya won't mess up. Inless....you're ridiculously unable to follow directions. Simple ones at that

 

[estreeter]

Melvins, if there is a point in the mod where I seriously thought I might do damage, it was the amount of force required to get the cups apart after steaming them to loosen the glue. The hair-dryer might be a safer method, but they seem to have a 'press fit', even without the glue, that really gives them a sort of 'vacuum seal' : my biggest fear was tearing the cable out of the soldered join. I simply wouldnt be willing to risk that on anything that cost more than the 60s - YMMV. 

 

[Melvins]

ahhh see I used the hair dryer method, and haven't done anything to the cables. So.. that's that I spose

 

[cobley]

Hey, thanks for all the advice. So here is what Ive got from everything Ive read so far, and some kind of plan of attack.

Grado's in general have the same 'sound', as a trademark, though obviously the higher up you go the better the quality (though not necessarily a linear relationship)
They all seem to be moddable, though obviously modding a cheap pair compared to a more expensive one if youre a novice
The sr225i's have less frequency response than the sr60i's at lower frequencys. Im a bass player so this is pretty important to me (see below)
Possibly the most important: Some people dont like the grado sound. I figure it might be up my street where I mostly listen to rock, but Im also thinking a) i might not like it and b) I'll love it so much that the sr60is are enough until I have the money to upgrade

So my plan is probably to pick up the sr60is and mod them till I find a nice sound, then wait till christmas. I think then will be my first really high end purchase as I'll have those, 595s and 598s. May sell the 595s and pick up the DT770s over the summer if I so choose

Few more things
If someone could post and tell me the difference in the bass between the sr60i and the sr225i, that would be great
I have the E7/E9 amp. I take the E7 around with my iPod everywhere, and Ive read the sr80is would be an improvement over sr60is, is this true of just headroom trying to push an extra $20 out of me?
MS1s. Im told they lose a bit of the grado sound, but are easier to listen to. This doesnt bother me much, what I want to know is how the bass compares?

 

[baka1969]

It's difficult to quantify the difference between the bass of the 60 and 225. I would say the impact of the 225 is better by (possibly) about 5%. Although that may seem small it is a significant difference. The 225 does also extend a bit further while maintaining the house signature. The highs also are more refined compared to the 60. Plus the drivers are more closely matched on the senior Grado. Detail is also better and so is clarity. I believe this to be, my guess, how the drivers test when they're testing determines which model they go into. Plus whatever tweaks they do for each model. So the 225 probably gets the better testing drivers over the 60. This is how Grado does this with their cartridges.

 

[DocBlasto]

As an owner of the "classic" SR-225's and DT-770 Pro-80's, I feel like I need to say hi. They're both great headphones. The SR225's are great bone-stock, further improved by some amplification (I'm using uDAC, nothing fancy). In fact, the first Grados I wore (325i's) were a revelation... I had never heard that kind of detail in my music before. Mind you, my experience up to that point with headphones was very limited. I was using cheap Sony and Phillips earbuds, and not-so-cheap Sony IEMs and Bose buds. Slipping those bizarre gold cans onto my head was weird in itself. Ten minutes later, I'm frantically searching through my music for albums I've heard a thousand times so I can hear them for the first time again.
 
I knew I needed a pair of Grados, and I settled on the 225's for both price point and stellar reviews. I was not disappointed.
 
The DT770's are sturdy and perhaps the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. They have big (if boomy) bass and really require an amplified source for optimal performance. The sound is a good deal more neutral than Grado, so I feel they're a great complement for when I want something cushy, soft and non-fatiguing for all-day listening at work. Sometimes I wear them at work without music just to get some quiet brainspace, even though they don't totally isolate. Also, they can really kick out a bass line.
 
My only regret is the amount of time I spent listening to bad headphones and earbuds, and the amount of hearing damage I undoubtedly did in my teenage years trying to drown out the lawnmower with $5 Sony headphones.

 

[TakashiMiike]

Regarding bass amount in the sr60i there is a mod you can do called the "venting mod" which involves you poking holes in felt around the driver. There are 10 holes, and I recommend poking them 2 at a time, the more holes you poke the more bass output you will receive, in this way you can fine tune your bass amount. I have not heard the sr225i yet so I cannot speak in terms of quality of bass.
 
Also as far as I know the sr60i and sr80i use the same driver so I would get the sr60i and customize the bass to your liking with the venting mod. Most people report the difference between the 2 is the sr80i has more bass, but the venting mod fixes this. Bilavideo recommends 4 holes poked, some people like with 10 holes poked.
 
Either way do it gradually and find what fits your needs.

 

 

[Megalomaniac]

My modded 60i had more bass quantity than my 225i but the 225i's bass was tighter and extended lower. My 325is almost matches the modded 60i's bass quantity and has the extension of the 225i.
 
Edit: forgot to add specifics... I have 6 holes punched in mine, driver and shells damped.