Grado SR60i mods? *Read the OP: The question wasn't covered by search!*

[CrystalT]

I'm looking, specifically, for DIY ways of the following:
 
**Increase stereo imaging
**Ways to make the cups circumaural
**Ways to increase the lower mids, around 500-800hz.
 
I'm fond of the overall package, but I want to increase Grado's ability to accurately depict position, increase the soundstage via circumaural cups, and increase the crunch of a palm mute, and the attack, and punch of percussion, as well as bring forward male vocals.

 

[GREQ]

This probably would have been best posted in the Grado mods thread as you'll get more views and probably more answers, however:
 
- for circumaural earpads you might want to consider getting some G-cush replacements, and for stereo imaging you may want to consider 'slicing' the G-cushions - this means cleanly cutting off a little bit of foam at the front of the cushions (on the side towards your face) as this will position the drivers at an angle similar to the Sennheiser HD800 and in theory should give a more spatial feel to the music - I have tried something similar with my RS2i, but I didn't really like it - this is something you can easily try before modding as you can simply push the cushions in on that side and see if it works - although most people report that G-cushions on SR60s absolutely kills the bass - so this might not be the way to go - or if you have small ears like me, the donut cushions behave like circumaural pads anyway .

Also as far as I'm aware there is no mod for mid boosting. There is however a way to reduce treble - by adding a 15-25 ohm resistor on the signal path to both cans - this will take the edge off the high frequency volume and 'crispiness'. This might give the illusion of a fuller midrange. 

 

[CrystalT]

I'm a fan of the PL30. A lack of bass is of no concern.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

I'm looking, specifically, for DIY ways of the following:
 
**Increase stereo imaging
**Ways to make the cups circumaural
**Ways to increase the lower mids, around 500-800hz.
 
I'm fond of the overall package, but I want to increase Grado's ability to accurately depict position, increase the soundstage via circumaural cups, and increase the crunch of a palm mute, and the attack, and punch of percussion, as well as bring forward male vocals.

 
Heya,
 
I have tried a lot of things to make G-cush pads work on my Grados. The only thing I've found that comes close so far is to use G-Cush pads on your Grados, plug into something that handles bass equalizing well and then use an equalizer on your audio player / software to increase the bass frequencies, drop the treble frequencies and then do what you want with the mids. The result is actually pretty good. I did it with a Fiio E10 because I find it really smooths out bass even when equalized where it was kind of scratchy and muddy on other devices, the E10 some how really smooths that out so it makes equalizing more friendly. The G-cush pads make the Grados comfortable, better imaging. Dropping the treble in EQ takes that tizzy brightness away. It actually sounds pretty normal and good this way I find. It's not bassy, but it's not bassless the way the G-cush make them sound naturally. Just takes some tweaking to return them to how they were nearly sounding stock, but you gain the comfort of around ear and better soundstage/imaging.
 
Very best,

 

[CrystalT]

So you're basically saying to turn the grado in to an entirely different headphone. I bought them BECAUSE they were bass-light, with an emphasis on treble. I find that the low and high mids are a little too weak.
 
I don't know if you've read, but I've mentioned a plethora of times that increasing the bass takes away from the detail, and accuracy from the headphones when it comes to the music I listen to.

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

...I don't know if you've read, but I've mentioned a plethora of times that increasing the bass takes away from the detail, and accuracy from the headphones when it comes to the music I listen to.

I wouldn't expect people to read everything you've ever written before answering one specific question.
 
Also I think MalVeauX has the right idea with regard to EQ - the mods you wish to carry out will "turn the Grado into an entirely different headphone" The drivers are voiced very carefully with the cushion sizes and any changes dramatically changes the sound and presentation; even the size of your ears can make you love or hate a Grado as that affects the position and distance from the driver to your ear canal making Grados an unfortunate choice for those with larger lobes. 
 
Recently I've paired my RS2i with a half decent Fisher solid state amp with a simple integrated EQ, and the sound is absolutely day and night compared with standard singles amps and blows consumer grade products away totally - it's like the amp "turn[ed] the Grado into an entirely different headphone" for the better.
 
Have you tried out out the EQ on something like Foobar2000 to try to simulate the changes you would like to make? You may not like what you hear, or simply find that lowering the EQ in some areas makes more sense than boosting it in others.

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

So you're basically saying to turn the grado in to an entirely different headphone. I bought them BECAUSE they were bass-light, with an emphasis on treble. I find that the low and high mids are a little too weak.
 
I don't know if you've read, but I've mentioned a plethora of times that increasing the bass takes away from the detail, and accuracy from the headphones when it comes to the music I listen to.

 
Heya,
 
Adding G-cush pads remove most of the bass that the stock SR60/80 have. EQ brings it back to stock level with some amplifiers. I'm not making it bassier. It's taking it back to stock. Maybe I didn't word well enough. My suggestion takes SR60i's and adds G-cush pads for comfort and sound staging, but that changes the sonic presentation drastically (bass goes away, treble goes even higher and brighter). The EQ/AMP EQ together works to bring it back to stock levels, the signature you may have already grown to enjoy (or at least near stock signature). Also requires no cutting, clipping, snipping, etc. Simple adjustment of frequencies. Not all amps are able to take equalization the same. My asgard for example when doing this sounds muddy and scratchy when I do it. But when I use the E10, it's smoothed out and doesn't sound like I'm equalizing too much (but I don't know how the E10 works in regards to it's internal bass EQ switch, as that seems to make the difference and it does so in a very positive way).
 
Very best,