[progo]

I was listening happily to my well burnt HD650 when a parcel arrived. What did it bring? Grados. SR60 and SR80. 60s for my mom and 80s for me...

Man I was eager. Tore the pizza boxes wide open and put SR80s on. These are much bigger than they look in pictures. Put my "reference" piece playing. Angelo Badalamenti's Mulholland Drive / Love Theme. The last track on Mulholland Drive's soundtrack. Very nice. The highs are very clearly heard compared to HD650. OK, so grado can rock?

Windir's Journey to the End started its riffing. I can actually hear the drums beating completely separate from the other noise. Senns couldn't do that .. at least with this amp (Corda Arietta).

The bass is amazing .. out of the box these babies sound heavenly although there are some points where HD650 beats the unburned SR80 in highs. I believe things change after a well burn-in.

These experiences are from two songs. Now I rolled Judas Priest's Painkiller and this perfoms bassy rock sound just right. The soundstage.. I'm not sure if its that great change from HD650.

Have to test some bass booming as well. Moby's Go shall do. Oh, this does clear bass better than I presumed. It's not as deep as Hd650's but it has the right characteristics. I can't say I'd sell HD650 right away but this sure looks interesting. I know HD650 can be juiced for more if I upgraded the amp and the dac but for this rig the Grado seem to be a clear rival.

I'm afraid -- will I turn to a grado man? I'm not sure whether I want to convert. These do leak sound and they do it well. The leaked amount must be directly correlating to the highs performed. Very, very cool can.

 

[intoflatlines]

Grados are amazing. After several hours of break in (by you listening to music, of course) the sound should be even better.

I think HD650 has better extension and refinement, right?

 

[Blackmore]

Congrats man, good choice!

And now be aware of upgrade bug, you have been warned.

Sennheiser HD650 must be driven by Rudistor amps, cos they make them sound totally different. I am not HD650 guy, but after having heard with Rudi RPX100, man, they do rock as well. However I still prefer Grado sound sig.

Enjoy!

 

[progo]

Whoah, the piano in beginning of Judas Priest's Epitaph is absolutely amazing with these. :O The vocals are nicely separated.

 

[Winterlord]

I own the Grado SR225 since last week

.
I also listen to metal, I actually never thought someone here would know Windir.
It actually started as a search for gaming headphones, but when I listened to these Grados.. well, I had to take them

I let them play Prodigy for about 4 days straight for burn in (I took a vacation in that time) after I listened for almost two days straight with them and they are extremely good cans.
Now the search for an amp begins..

 

[lipidicman]

I would not rush to sell the 650s. I find them a relief after a period of SR60 use

 

[BrookR1]

Great write up.

So did you give the SR-60s to your mom yet? What did she think of them? Did she play some Judas Priest on them?

 

[progo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lipidicman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would not rush to sell the 650s. I find them a relief after a period of SR60 use

I switched to HD650 and I still find the sound very enjoyable. It's again that different from Grado so I can't choose one. Plus I noted the fatigue which was quite quickly overwhelming.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrookR1 Great write up. So did you give the SR-60s to your mom yet? What did she think of them? Did she play some Judas Priest on them?

Thanks.

She was pretty amazed with the sound. Later for my misfortune I found that she put her soul into the music so deeply she singed spontaneously with the music. Oh my. Yes -- she's happy. I have to have her try this SR80 as well. She's more like a TV person so she's trying them with some tv programs.

 

[pataburd]

The SR-225 bettered the HD650, too, IMHO. While not as detailed, or even as accurate as the HD650, the SR-225 were certainly faster, more exciting and more balanced-sounding to my ears. For the decided majority of time when owning both, I reached for the Grados and not the Sennheisers (which I promptly sold--and without a hint of remorse).

The Grado's "edginess" may not suit every taste, though. And while it helps the listener differentiate instruments/vocalists, lends a sense of briskness and enhances the perception of dynamic contrast/coordination, this "leading edge" characteristic of the SR-225 may be found wanting when the Grados are run with more resolving upstream gear. Under such conditions, the listener realizes that not "everything" is "there" in strict terms of fully resolved detail. But what actually IS there is still sufficient to make the SR-225 preferrable to the HD650, IMHO. : ) The comparative clarity and immediacy of the SR-225's mids alone were enough to convince me to sell the HD650 and to never hearken back.

Even with modest upstream gear (like a mini component system) the Grados sound fantastic and oh so engaging! . . . and I think the Grados look "cooler" than the Sennheisers . . . : )

Auditioning the SR-225 (being my long-delayed introduction to Grado) led me to try the MS-2. While the latter definitely offer more detail and certainly more warmth and midrange liquidity, they lack the excitement and to a degree the sense of openness of the SR-225. Suffice it to say that the SR-325i now loom on the horizon.

My reigning reference is still the RAL re-cabled K701, but I've found the Grados/Alessandros pleasantly surprising. I am very much anticipating an a/b session with the K701 and 325i! : )

 

[mchang]

Background: I had a pair of SR-60 for over a year. Loved them as my first higher end cans.

Currently: I'm pursuing an upgrade path with my HD-650. I had the HeadFive (pre-cursor to Arietta) and CanAmp side-by-side for awhile, and the HD-650 did not shine with the HeadFive. Both were driven by the 0404 USB.

HeadFive was a good pair with the DT-990. But with the HD-650, it was slow and muddy. Not so with the CanAmp. YMMV with Arietta (which I haven't tried).

I do not want to touch off a Senn and Grado fight, but see if you can drive the HD-650 from a higher power, more synergistic amp. But then again, you may not want the upgrade trail (and expenditure), and the SR-80 may be less headache. I can totally understand and appreciate that.

 

[progo]

I want to upgrade but I'm not on any real work right now. I can't spend hundreds (thousands actually) on amps and dacs.

Whatever I choose to do, I'm keeping my HD650 for the time being. The balanced rig has been in my dreams for a while and I'm going to listen to one before giving up with these. I may change the DAC from Juli@ to EMU so it may better things a bit.

I also believe HD650 beats SR80 in movies because of their soundstage. I could try Grados tonight to see if they can act.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd The SR-225 bettered the HD650, too, IMHO. While not as detailed, or even as accurate as the HD650, the SR-225 were certainly faster, more exciting and more balanced-sounding. Even with modest upstream gear (like a mini component system) the Grados sound fantastic and oh so engaging! . . . and I think the Grados look "cooler" than the Sennheisers . . . : )

While Grados do look very cool (especially the reference series) I think nothing can beat the stylished gray grilly look of HD650.

Grados do sound engaging and I found myself moving with the rock with those grados. Sennheisers are so passive in that manner. They deliver the music to me, Grados dance with me. Like in a real dance, the dancer gets tired in some point. So that's the reason Grados fatigue me.

 

[progo]

OH yes. These has got some burning (15-hour pink noise) while I was working elsewhere.

What would I say generally... these sure are from different price class than Sennheisers. Senns have better detailing but Grado has the involviness I described in the earlier post.

Sennheisers: smooth, grados: edgy. That's a word that comes to mind. It is clearly heard when guitar's key is changed. The tunechange has edge. Senns do it smoothly and while it doesn't lose any texture it sounds more silky.

These guys are so different. Oh my they differ that much but that little on the other hand. Senns are going to stay as my main cans and I am going to seek higher quality Grados.

Ofmg. Mike Oldfield's Crises with Grado == I piss only honey from this on.

 

[GreatDane]

I've had the HD 650 longer than my 325i and never once thought about selling the 650. They both sound so good and do certain music so well that each has its place.

I wanted to try the Grado sound in my own system so my first thought was to buy the 60, but decided to go half way up the ladder. Now I wish I would have bought the RS-2...but then I would want the RS-1...it never ends.

 

[progo]

So, my mother has tried these two and has chosen.

Quote:

So far I have listened SR60 for about 2 hours and SR80 for about an hour. But immediately I noticed the difference between them. The SR80 plays bass so much better. Also I find them more pleasant to wear. They are both very light but the headset on your ears is very different. SR80 gives your ears some air too and I have a feeling it makes the music come out a bit nicer too. For some reason I would use the word FREE here... Free music for my ears. In SR60 the sound is a bit like played in a small box. Anyway, for my opinion, SR80 is definitely a better set of headphones compared to SR60!

And I tried SR60. This has something I have way underestimated. This has something more than any can I have tried in the world: price/quality ratio. This sounds absolutely amazing and what was interesting to hear these aren't shamed what comes to bass music. Mike's Amarok sounds absolutely perfect with these and the nice bass banging in the middle sounds almost as good and deep as with Senn HD 650!

And the pads are much comfier than SR80's. So, we have spoken.

 

[headphonejunkie]

So you are saying the 325's beat the ms2 in presentation and foot tapping power. I love my 225's but want to upgrade and was considering the ms2's but if they are more like hd580's I will be disappointed. I like that foot tapping, air guitar, rhythym that gets me going everytime.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif The SR-225 bettered the HD650, too, IMHO. While not as detailed, or even as accurate as the HD650, the SR-225 were certainly faster, more exciting and more balanced-sounding to my ears. For the decided majority of time when owning both, I reached for the Grados and not the Sennheisers (which I promptly sold--and without a hint of remorse). The Grado's "edginess" may not suit every taste, though. And while it helps the listener differentiate instruments/vocalists, lends a sense of briskness and enhances the perception of dynamic contrast/coordination, this "leading edge" characteristic of the SR-225 may be found wanting when the Grados are run with more resolving upstream gear. Under such conditions, the listener realizes that not "everything" is "there" in strict terms of fully resolved detail. But what actually IS there is still sufficient to make the SR-225 preferrable to the HD650, IMHO. : ) The comparative clarity and immediacy of the SR-225's mids alone were enough to convince me to sell the HD650 and to never hearken back. Even with modest upstream gear (like a mini component system) the Grados sound fantastic and oh so engaging! . . . and I think the Grados look "cooler" than the Sennheisers . . . : ) Auditioning the SR-225 (being my long-delayed introduction to Grado) led me to try the MS-2. While the latter definitely offer more detail and certainly more warmth and midrange liquidity, they lack the excitement and to a degree the sense of openness of the SR-225. Suffice it to say that the SR-325i now loom on the horizon. My reigning reference is still the RAL re-cabled K701, but I've found the Grados/Alessandros pleasantly surprising. I am very much anticipating an a/b session with the K701 and 325i! : )