L7R
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2004
- Posts
- 84
- Likes
- 12
I have to share this, fellas...
I have been "grado guy" since I got my SR225's about 6 months ago. Before then my main phones were "classic" MDR-7506 studio monitors for years. I found Grados perfect match to my taste. Just every bit better than 7506's. Crystal clear with precise attention to every single detail to the recording. Very, very rich sound with full of life. Separation of instruments is just very good, which makes sound -in my opinion, "airy". And the "attack" and emotion what they give to music is magnificent. They are just soulful phones. Many say grados perform well with rock, but in my mind they perform excellent with music. They just detach every instrument from the recording and put every performer close to you. You just pick the one you like to listen -or just relax and enjoy them all at once. Just like when in live concert.
Now to shures. I got my new E4's couple of days ago and I must say I'm not very impressed their sq. First, I have to say I made my decision with a lots of time. I'm not much of a writer, so I'm just lurking here every once in awhile (best to avoid if wallet is empty, you know). So after lots and lots of reading what iem could be best for me I decided to go with shures. Other choice was Etymotics (er4 or er6). There aren't many topics here asking "what iem sounds like grado -if any?". So I picked shures because of their good reviews.
What I like about is comfort and they look and feel very sturdy. Seal was not a problem and I found good seal almost immediatelly. There are great details like how the cord go behind the ear without lots of microphonics. Cable feels robust and you can tighten it behind your neck very securely if youre moving.
Then the most important aspect; How they sound? I almost immediately realized they might not suit me well, if at all. I burned them 24h in a row after first listen. I didn't notice much change after that. They sounds like, well... if they are made for people who like german-made headphones maybe (I'm from Finland btw, so no offense to anyone)?
I don't know if I could describe the sound with my poor english, but they are almost completely different from grados. After listening with grados my laid back Tannoy speakers do sound a little duller, but after 3 hours with shures, Tannoys sound very lively and clear with good lower end. In my mind e4's sound is pronounced so much from low-mid to the low highs OR the highs are just recessed or cutted (-zap-) like with razorblade. I really don't know, but all in all the sound is like they are trying too hard. It sounds little bit dull and boring with almost no air between the instruments. I mean no much of separation or details. Few examples are if you like to concentrate to drummer. In some recordings there's almost no cymbals at all in drumset, 1st track "In the presence of Enemies" from Dream Theaters new album are one example. I barely hear hi-hat until it's fully opened. And cymbals (splash-ride in second song "Forsaken", for example) sounds weak. On many recordings fast paced single/double-bassdrum got mixed with bass-guitar and lower tones of keyboards or piano, so the sound gets too "busy". That may cause a loss of details, imho.
I think i might have heard this kind of sound previously with some sennheisers or akg's, but I might be wrong. I've heard many likes to describe low-midrange emphasis sound signature to good soundstage or airyness, but to me it's almost completely otherwise. Sometimes I want to concentrate to invidual performers but it's hard if the sound is recessed in high's. Or if bass or lower mids are pronounced too much. These always depends in every person of course, but to me grados and most studio-monitors suits best. I want to hear every single detail!
Now I need your help fellow head-fiers, to decide what to do? I think these e4's are pretty expensive for using on casual walking trips or outdoors. I have "Kramer modded" (greetings kramer -ya are a star, sir!) E888's and when eq'ed with MZ-NH1 the sound is better than eq'ed E4's imho.
These shures are from earphonesolutions, but I don't think they accept refund or are willing to change them to other phones. Should I go with ety's? I'm not going to able to try ety's or other iem's either because where I live, so please, if you can tell me if they are more detailed or "grado-like" than shures, thank you. I really want iem's for noise-cancelling. I just can't afford more than I paid for shures.
And for sound preference, I found less bass is better than too much. E888 has a little bit more lower end emphasis than sr225 or 7506 but I can live with it. I don't like to use eq but with e888's I have to up the upper mids/highs and lower the bass/midbass too. Yeah, i know, nowadays nobody thinks E888 has too much bass but sound preferences are changed to more bass heavy than 10 years ago (back then many thought MDR-V6's were for bassheads).
I think most of us don't think that way nowadays...?
ps. earphonesolutions.com are just great! I was prepared to pay 22% import tax, but they were marked the parcel as a gift with 10usd value without even asking. They are just wonderful people!
And finally a little test comparing grado vs shure with pictures:
Song is "Faraway", performed by finnish band Apocalyptica from the album Reflections.
Shure: Emotion level 0
Grado: Emotion level 1000 hairs up
Hey fellas, not from shrilling highs, no,no. Just moved by the song.
thanks for reading, long post - bad habit.
I have been "grado guy" since I got my SR225's about 6 months ago. Before then my main phones were "classic" MDR-7506 studio monitors for years. I found Grados perfect match to my taste. Just every bit better than 7506's. Crystal clear with precise attention to every single detail to the recording. Very, very rich sound with full of life. Separation of instruments is just very good, which makes sound -in my opinion, "airy". And the "attack" and emotion what they give to music is magnificent. They are just soulful phones. Many say grados perform well with rock, but in my mind they perform excellent with music. They just detach every instrument from the recording and put every performer close to you. You just pick the one you like to listen -or just relax and enjoy them all at once. Just like when in live concert.
Now to shures. I got my new E4's couple of days ago and I must say I'm not very impressed their sq. First, I have to say I made my decision with a lots of time. I'm not much of a writer, so I'm just lurking here every once in awhile (best to avoid if wallet is empty, you know). So after lots and lots of reading what iem could be best for me I decided to go with shures. Other choice was Etymotics (er4 or er6). There aren't many topics here asking "what iem sounds like grado -if any?". So I picked shures because of their good reviews.
What I like about is comfort and they look and feel very sturdy. Seal was not a problem and I found good seal almost immediatelly. There are great details like how the cord go behind the ear without lots of microphonics. Cable feels robust and you can tighten it behind your neck very securely if youre moving.
Then the most important aspect; How they sound? I almost immediately realized they might not suit me well, if at all. I burned them 24h in a row after first listen. I didn't notice much change after that. They sounds like, well... if they are made for people who like german-made headphones maybe (I'm from Finland btw, so no offense to anyone)?
I don't know if I could describe the sound with my poor english, but they are almost completely different from grados. After listening with grados my laid back Tannoy speakers do sound a little duller, but after 3 hours with shures, Tannoys sound very lively and clear with good lower end. In my mind e4's sound is pronounced so much from low-mid to the low highs OR the highs are just recessed or cutted (-zap-) like with razorblade. I really don't know, but all in all the sound is like they are trying too hard. It sounds little bit dull and boring with almost no air between the instruments. I mean no much of separation or details. Few examples are if you like to concentrate to drummer. In some recordings there's almost no cymbals at all in drumset, 1st track "In the presence of Enemies" from Dream Theaters new album are one example. I barely hear hi-hat until it's fully opened. And cymbals (splash-ride in second song "Forsaken", for example) sounds weak. On many recordings fast paced single/double-bassdrum got mixed with bass-guitar and lower tones of keyboards or piano, so the sound gets too "busy". That may cause a loss of details, imho.
I think i might have heard this kind of sound previously with some sennheisers or akg's, but I might be wrong. I've heard many likes to describe low-midrange emphasis sound signature to good soundstage or airyness, but to me it's almost completely otherwise. Sometimes I want to concentrate to invidual performers but it's hard if the sound is recessed in high's. Or if bass or lower mids are pronounced too much. These always depends in every person of course, but to me grados and most studio-monitors suits best. I want to hear every single detail!
Now I need your help fellow head-fiers, to decide what to do? I think these e4's are pretty expensive for using on casual walking trips or outdoors. I have "Kramer modded" (greetings kramer -ya are a star, sir!) E888's and when eq'ed with MZ-NH1 the sound is better than eq'ed E4's imho.
These shures are from earphonesolutions, but I don't think they accept refund or are willing to change them to other phones. Should I go with ety's? I'm not going to able to try ety's or other iem's either because where I live, so please, if you can tell me if they are more detailed or "grado-like" than shures, thank you. I really want iem's for noise-cancelling. I just can't afford more than I paid for shures.
And for sound preference, I found less bass is better than too much. E888 has a little bit more lower end emphasis than sr225 or 7506 but I can live with it. I don't like to use eq but with e888's I have to up the upper mids/highs and lower the bass/midbass too. Yeah, i know, nowadays nobody thinks E888 has too much bass but sound preferences are changed to more bass heavy than 10 years ago (back then many thought MDR-V6's were for bassheads).
ps. earphonesolutions.com are just great! I was prepared to pay 22% import tax, but they were marked the parcel as a gift with 10usd value without even asking. They are just wonderful people!
And finally a little test comparing grado vs shure with pictures:
Song is "Faraway", performed by finnish band Apocalyptica from the album Reflections.
Shure: Emotion level 0
Grado: Emotion level 1000 hairs up
Hey fellas, not from shrilling highs, no,no. Just moved by the song.
thanks for reading, long post - bad habit.
