[SillyHoney]

Hell yeah! Steve Harris is the soul of Iron Maiden.

 

[stang]

Up the Irons!

To the OP: I had a very brief listen with the SR325is playing some Metallica. They were brighter and had a lot less body compared to my HF-2. As I said, very brief, so are my impressions

I used to own the SR-225 and LOVED them, but wanted to try something different. After trying Beyerdynamic and Ultrasone, I bought a new pair of HF-2, which was my original plan and love them.

 

[Mad Max]

Quote:

Originally Posted by St3ve /img/forum/go_quote.gif The general consensus is that Grado do very nicely with rock and metal. Personally, I never found the 325is to be overly bright - but I think it has a lot to do with the volume you listen at. I may well be in a very small minority who actually prefer my grados for 'cleaner' ensembles (jazz, acoustic) - I found that a bit more space (like a Senn might give you) works nicely with heavier material (like opeth). That said, the 325is (and other higher-end grados) have great tone, and voice guitar like satch beautifully, and can be very involving.

Small ensemble chamber music is another to add to the list. And anime, and anime, and anime. Kind of sucks that 325is cannot have AD700's speed.

I still love mine when I want a fun, engaging sound. Also, they were made for AKFG and Imahori Tsuneo's stuff.

 

[philosoraptor]

Are the 325is really that bad?

:/

 

[stang]

They are not really 'bad', but people generally find them too bright.

 

[Mad Max]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philosoraptor /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are the 325is really that bad? :/

People exaggerate a bit, I think, but it also has to do with a lot of them being more familiar with the even brighter previous incarnations of the 325. The 2009 325is is alright.

 

[captian73]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philosoraptor /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are the 325is really that bad? :/

For me, they're not bad, just too one dimensional. My Senn HD650 are very much a jack of all trades, but the SR235i headphones that I had were a master of one ... or two at best. They were very good at classical, unbeatable for the price, but for the rest of my music collection, they just didn't 'float me boat'.

As I've said the HD650's are a jack of all trades. they do my music collection more evenly than the 325i's did. They have 90% of the Grado's performnace, but they were better at coping with different genres.

If you were into classical the 325's are nigh on impossible to beeat, but with rock, my Alessandro MS-1's were far more balanced and easier to live with. So I guess the MS-2 would be better than the MS-1's.

The 325i headphones were just not for me!

 

[aimlink]

^ Agreed. Though I find them really good for some genres ... NOT heavy metal, I find their benefits to be pretty narrow. I don't find them at all to be all-rounders as the HD650's or my Ed8's.

Just to give an idea of the brightness and how it affects my listening: I was the other day listening to my SR325is, now Magnums, at work. I like listening at low volumes while in my office. I can work while doing so, and I can hear when someone is knocking at my door or when the phone rings. The Magnums are particularly useful here since at low volumes, the clarity in the mids and highs remain preserved, and the bass is there in the background. One evening, I decided to play at home what I was playing in the office and when using the HD650's, I raised the volume to a level that would bring the mids and highs to a nice volume. The bass, with the HD650's balance, was now very different. Deeper and more extended. Much better. The funny thing about it was that the punchy bass of the Magnums offered a sound that was adequate and very enjoyable. However, little did I know how much depth and extension I was missing. This was one instance in which ignorance was bliss.

 

[Nachkebia]

325 are more of a chamber rock phones, jazz and vocal jazz is also superb but for metal they are bit hardcore

 

[Roger Strummer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Max /img/forum/go_quote.gif People exaggerate a bit, I think, but it also has to do with a lot of them being more familiar with the even brighter previous incarnations of the 325. The 2009 325is is alright.

That may be true, my experience was with the 325i, but I have seen some people reporting the 325is as less bright, although that makes me wonder how do they compare now with the 225.

 

[terriblepaulz]

I owned the 325is for a little over a year and loved them. I have never understood the complaints of excessive brightness. This was not my experience at all. All Grados sound bright to me relative to the other brands I have tried, with the 325is being no more bright than other Grado models. I understand this is a minority opinion, but I strongly suspect the claims of excessive brightness are more a product of expectation bias than any real properties of the 325is.

EDIT - forgot the OPs question. Grado's reputation as a great rock or metal 'phone is well deserved.