[Seele01]

hi all,
 
pretty new on this forum, but i guess it's time to make a change.
4 months ago i made my first headfi purchase, the beautiful grado Sr325 goldies.
 
for sure they are awesome sounding, love the soundstage, the details they manage to reveal. 
i bought just after the Fiio E7 so i could use them with my iphone.
 
the thing is it's impossible to enjoy them on daily use. so i bought some in ear UE triplefi 10 for that.
 
now the sad thing is, i find the ue10 even better than the grados.
 
Is that possible if i get a propper headphone amplifier to get the SR325 to their cap potential? i guess the fiio won't drive it like it should.
 
i'm pretty curious about tube amp, but maybe it's a bad choice with the harsh mids of the grado?
 
 
 

 

[Focker]

I had a similar thing happen to me. I had picked up some Sennheiser 518s a few months ago for around $120. I wasn't really blown away by them but I figured that's the sound I'd get for that price point. Well then I happened to order some little Etymotic IEMs for like $50 and I was shocked how much more I enjoyed them than the Senns.
 
But anyway, I have Grado SR80is and love them...they run fine off my iPod and iPhone, but I think they benefit from when I'm using the Fiio E11 to amp them. This is consistent with what I've heard others say, that although you don't NEED to amp Grados, there is a little more in them that a good amp can bring out. That being said, since you're already amping yours with the E7, I tend to doubt you'd get a huge improvement if you went to another amp. It might just be that you really like the tripleFis better, and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm currently using Atrios and have never heard the UEs, but from what I understand they are fantastic. In order to get the sort of improvement you're looking for, I would imagine you'd need to move up the line into a higher end Grado, either the RS or PS series. I just don't think a different amp will give you an appreciable improvement.

 

[macrocheesium]

Pretty much what Focker said, you might get a slight improvement, but coming from the E7, not much.
 
It's a good thing that you like the UE10 better, less expensive for you in the long run. 

You might even want to consider selling the Grado and getting some full-sized cans with a sound signature closer to the UE10.

 

[Zombie_X]

Grado's in general don't improve much with amping, but take on the characteristics of the amps signature. Those FiiO amps would do nicely and I don't think you need more.
 
I tried my SR-80i's and MS1i's on my Violectric V200 and the improvement was subtle. Even out of my ROC it was subtle, but noticeable. From my Auditor they sounds a lot more neutral, but their detail, speed, and control didn't improve much at all.

 

[KimChee]

If you're feeling brave there's a little plastic ring inside your cups that you could remove.  Other than that you could get wooden cups, or go Magnum.

 

[Seele01]

thank you for all the responses,
 
i wish i could mod my grado, but the sr325 is a pain to open because of the metal cans. 
don't know if i'll have the courage to mess up with it.
 
i really though that a higher grade amp than the portable one should get it better. So what is the advantage of getting a 500$ headphone amp if a 100$ portable amp would do the trick?
is it because the grado 325 itself isn't that scalable? 
 
because when i'm pushing the fiio with the grado i get so much noise in the background.
 
what would be the cans that would have the closest sound signature to the triple fi 10?
 
thank you guys

 

[GM325i]

I am in the same boat as you with the 325 goldies and wanting a little better sound. What I did was to buy a cheap cmoy amp off ebay, opened them up to poke holes in the rear of the driver, add some dynamat and remove the plastic and the end outcome was much better all around.

Don't be too scared of ruining anything by taking these cans apart, its a easy process just a little scary the first time

 

[maddin]

Hi Seele01,
what do you mean with backround in the SR325i when you push them with the fio? Are you listening very loud?
I have to say that in neither of my grados I had some background issues... and I have to say that while I in general agree that Grados do not need an amplifier I think the SR325i is there a little bit an exception: It sounded flat with my old MP3 player and more full with a headphone amp, whereas the Allessandro pro sounded fine on both...
Best
 
martin

 

[Seele01]

hello madin,
 
yes i'm listening to them pretty loud with the fiio E7 to catch the same level of detail than the UE ( around 45/50 for Fiio users )
 
about the amp/unamp question, the difference is like day and night to me, i just cannot listen to my SR325 un-amped, it lacks of everything, with the fiio it's way more full, the soundstage open also quite a bit, it's clearly noticeable.
 
maybe the word noise is way to much here, i'm sorry, i'm not fluent enough to describe all those feeling that well but it's like a constant subtle blow when i'm listenning at the 40 ish level on the fiio.
 
 

forgot to say it's for a home use, my source is my computer with everything in 320 kbps /Flac and the fiio in between. shall i invest in a DAC or something?​

 

[GREQ]

It sounds like your fiio might be faulty.
If it is 'humming' at high volumes there may be a problem with one of the inner components.
I'm using an Electric Avenues PA2-V2, and I've cranked up the gain to use with old 600 Ohm AKG studio headhpones (and more), and they're smooth as silk with absolutely no humming; I only make this comparison because they're about the same price as the fiio (?) 
 
 
 

 

[Seele01]

so i guess i am right at that point, that the fiio isn't the right amp to get all the potential of my sr 325?
 
 

 

[macrocheesium]

Do you have any idea what sound card your computer is using? Getting a better source might improve your sound quality, but it won't make much of a difference if you're already using a good sound card. That might also be the source of the humming.

 

[Seele01]

the fiio E7 has internal dac, so it's not even using the soundcard or even windows i guess.
 
otherwise the cheap ass integrated realteak soundcard of the motherboard.

 

[GREQ]

Apart from the humming, is there anything else that you find the Grado lacks? you said you prefer the sound of the UE buds, but it could just be the simple fact that Grados don't do deeply extended explosive bass, while most buds can do 'thumpy' bass quite easily. 
While the Grados have trumps on fidelity and a natural sound, the UE buds might just have a more overall 'fun' sound? 
 
Unfortunately if this is the case I don't think there's much you can do about this, because the itunes graphic equalizer presets are absolute rubbish. 
 
 

 

[Mad Max]

 
Quote:

thank you for all the responses,
 
i wish i could mod my grado, but the sr325 is a pain to open because of the metal cans. 
don't know if i'll have the courage to mess up with it.
 
i really though that a higher grade amp than the portable one should get it better. So what is the advantage of getting a 500$ headphone amp if a 100$ portable amp would do the trick?
is it because the grado 325 itself isn't that scalable? 
 
because when i'm pushing the fiio with the grado i get so much noise in the background.
 
what would be the cans that would have the closest sound signature to the triple fi 10?
 
thank you guys

PRaT goes through the roof once you hook them up to a dynalo or M-Stage.  You will then make this face: 

 
SR325 is not a pain to open in the least.  Use a hair dryer to heat the cups alone, then pull them off.  Add dynamat extreme to the backs of the drivers then put the cups back on after reheating the glue.  You will get cleaner treble, deeper, slightly punchier bass, and a more open quality to the sound.  You'll love it.
 
Sure they scale with better equipment, just not as much as higher-end headphones.