[Strongbad99]

Hey guys I'm new here with posting but have been lurkin around for advice for a while. I had a decision made to buy the Grado 225i headphones with a Fiio E7 Amp and mabye buy the E9 if i felt it was appropriate. The problem is the more reviews i read the more the Grado's are recommended to Rock/Metal lovers. I like everything about the Grados but am hesitant to buy them because I listen to a variety of music. I came upon the Denon AHD-2000 while looking for more versatile headphones in the same pricerange. These are more expensive and I'd rather get the Grado's if they aren't a let-down in other genres of music. I listen to many types of rock mainly as well as electronic music.
 
I guess the main question here is will listening to other genres of music with the Grado's make me regret buying them? instead of the AHD2000 or other headphones that you could recommend to me
 
Here are some bands that I listen to: Phish, Grateful Dead, Sublime, STS9, Pretty Lights, My Morning Jacket.
 
All help appreciated! Will determine what I buy.
 
Thanks!

 

[KneelJung]

Strongbad I've had both the 225 and the Denon d2000. I just added wood to my 2nd pair of 225's. For my tatstes I prefer the Grado. The Denon is a nice headphone, it's extremely comfortable and sounds pretty good but it's boring. I'd rather listen to the Dead on a 225 and I know I'd rather listen to the Allman Brothers on a 225 versus the Denon. My musical library is mostly guitar driven rock so I cant speak to the other genres thing but they are pretty adept at handling anything I channel through them.

 

[BotByte]

YEAH YOU BETTER WATCH IT
 
If you try to play rap on a Grado, the cans will actually jump off your head and start to beat you half to death with your amp.
 
Really, Grado are what I base all my EQ settings on. Low - lows, greater mids and high-highs
 
 
Now when someone says Grado or M50's would be best for (insert genre) they mean the headphones is better at that then the others. It doesn't mean that they can't play that genre, but it would sound better out of another can.
 
Simply, I love my grados. I even hunt after cans that sound like them.
 
 
So if you listen to mostly rock, then Grado would suit you great. If you also listen to this and that, then they will play them without a problem. There won't be any porblems but then the Grado won't be able to put that certain shine on that genre.
 
 
Example:
I bought my Grado first
Loved them
Bought V6
learned that they play rap better
So I use the V6 for rap and hip hop, but then I also listen to my grado without a change over.

 

[BotByte]

Also, you can get Fostex T50RP if you feel like modding
 
They do need an amp, but they can take whatever I throw at them without a problem.
 
My review here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/559233/review-fostex-t50rp-it-s-been-needing-a-review
 
 
And, they are better then the 225i, and even HD650 for that matter. Still the great mids and startling highs, but the bass aslo comes out after modding and the soundstage, clarity and seperation is massive. $75 for $700 cans? Yes this is great.

 

[KneelJung]

Quote:

 
 
And, they are better then the 225i, and even HD650 for that matter. Still the great mids and startling highs, but the bass aslo comes out after modding and the soundstage, clarity and seperation is massive. $75 for $700 cans? Yes this is great.

I think this is a very misleading statement. I've had those T50's on my radar for a long time but they require some modding to maximize their potential. Then they have to be properly amped as well. I havent read anything in the T50 thread for a while but I also remember getting turned off by some of the characterizations, I almost bought one before I bought my HF2 but chose the HF2 instead. You've got me curious again though.

 

[Questhate]

 
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Honestly, the Grados do just fine with other genres. They are known as rock headphones, because that is what they excel at, but it's not like all other genres will sound terrible with Grados. Are there headphones that excel at other genres better? Sure, there are, but the same can be said about any headphone in the world. Electronic music will sound better with Ultrasones. Classical will sound better with AKG or Sennheiser. But on Grados, they're just fine. 
 
I've been listening to a modded SR60 exclusively at work for the past couple of weeks and I've thrown everything at it: rock (Fleet Foxes, Widespread Panic, Arcade Fire), electronic (Flying Lotus, Gang Gang Dance), hip-hop (Wu-Tang, Outkast, The Roots), jazz (Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Cannonball Adderley), blues (Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf) and soul (Erykah Badu, D'Angelo). Never once was the sound coming out of my Grados so disappointing that I wish I had something else on. The closest I get is for some electronic music that has lots of deep sub-bass that goes further down than the Grado can reach. But outside of Beyer 990s, I don't think any open-headphone under $1K will be able to achieve anything comparable to a closed headphone in terms of deep bass. 
 
But boy do they rock for rock music! Guitars are so delightfully sparkly. If you mainly listen to rock, then they are a great bet. I'd stop focusing on the shortcomings and start focusing on what they're good at. As for the D2000, they're fun, but the recessed midrange in those aren't going to compare to your Grados for rock. 
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[BotByte]

Quote:

I think this is a very misleading statement. I've had those T50's on my radar for a long time but they require some modding to maximize their potential. Then they have to be properly amped as well. I havent read anything in the T50 thread for a while but I also remember getting turned off by some of the characterizations, I almost bought one before I bought my HF2 but chose the HF2 instead. You've got me curious again though.

 
I've tested a lot of headphones and I know my scales are correct.
 
Now, they are bland and boring right out of the box. But the driver is amazing.
 
1. You need custom earpads to increase ear to driver distance and large enough to move the bass around.
 
2. Dampen the inside like a madman
 
3. dampen the driver like a madman
 
4. add solid with soft features in a layer on the inside
 
and you have $700 cans for $75.
 
My T50RP are between HD650's and LCD-2's. 
 
 

 

[KneelJung]

 
Quote:

 
I've tested a lot of headphones and I know my scales are correct.

I believe you, like I said the T50 has been on my radar for along time. I've also sort of become addicted to the whole mod thing too. I've modded a pair of SR60's and 225's. I'm listening to my 225's right now and they sound awesome, they scaled up very well too.
 

 

[yashu]

I use my sr325is for just about any genre. The thing to understand, at least, what I understand about these headphones is that they apply a very forward presentation to most (all?) genres. This doesn't mean "bright", although they can sound this way, but just about literally forward, when compared to other headphones. The soundstage is just "different" than other cans. It is not always super wide, but it doesn't sound like the music is coming directly from two headphone point sources, no, the sound still floats, just more forward than many headphones.
 
This effect just doesn't always suit all genres, but it is not by itself damning. The 325i can make other headphones sound dark... by the time you get used to their sound, it is a bit hard to jump back to a more conventional headphone. I use the electrical tape mod for a shored up bottom end, and I have listened to plenty of non-rock genres and enjoyed it. Sometimes theor forward nature seems to detail things that can sometimes be overshadowed. They are very sensitve, actually, and they pick out background noise, hiss, and hum pretty well, so your sourcing/amplification is pretty important.
 
To me, these are one of my best headphones, and they definitely have their own sound. They aren't boring, to say the least. It is nice to have (another) pair of headphones that make listening to music interesting. So many headphones their price and under, they all seem to be hitting the same notes, if you will. You own one, it is not really important that you own the rest. There is plenty of overlap elsewhere, so the Grados offer a sound quality that works really well when it works, and sets itsellf apart from many of the other brands.
 
The nature of amplified rock music speaks to the design philosophy used by Grado. I think the hostory of their development has a lot to do with how well they sound with the right rock. Guitars do sound absolutely heavenly... If anyone here listens to anything that fits under 'folktronica', these headphones are 2nd to, well, hardly anything.

 

[Melvins]

grado's sound great with anything. Hip hop is tremendously enjoyable, the bass resonates so much it seems. Have 10 holes on both sides, and recently damped both drivers as well finely. I can easily tell when it's time to charge my pa2v2 now as well. Ambient and Drone are incredible, doom, any metal, pop, punk, electronic, dubstep, reggae, ska, everything sounds great. 

 

[Strongbad99]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I ordered them today. I am planning on getting the Fiio E7 DAC/Amp with them. Do you think that will be sufficient as I have heard they need to be driven.

 

[WhiteCrow]

Anything under the 325i/is IMO is really only suited for more aggressive music, the bass and clarity as well as smoothing out really takes place with the 325i and up until the GS1000i once again IN MY OPINION.

 

[Arleus]

The E7 will be a great start, and is a fantastically flexible piece of equipment for the price and size. It should have no trouble with your Grados. It's also a nice piece of equipment from a design point of view, so I don't see how you could go wrong with it (unless you already own superior equipment - don't think you've said what you're using at the moment?)
 
Quote:

Thanks for the advice everyone! I ordered them today. I am planning on getting the Fiio E7 DAC/Amp with them. Do you think that will be sufficient as I have heard they need to be driven.

 

 

[Questhate]

Congrats on your purchase! The 225i is what got me tremendously hooked on the Grado sound. I don't think you'll be disappointed. 

 

[Strongbad99]

Thanks for all the input. I was looking specifically for a nice starter setup when I researched the E7. I don't currently have any amp or dac because the most expensive headphones I've gotten were around $60. I plan on ordering the e7 soon then if I were to upgrade I would get the E9 and use the E7 as a DAC only.
 
Quote:

The E7 will be a great start, and is a fantastically flexible piece of equipment for the price and size. It should have no trouble with your Grados. It's also a nice piece of equipment from a design point of view, so I don't see how you could go wrong with it (unless you already own superior equipment - don't think you've said what you're using at the moment?)