chriscu1
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2001
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As perfectly fine as the Apple lightning dongle is for feeding the Hemp, out of curiosity I decided to get the Cobalt to try out. I wanted something that I could easily throw in my headphone case and take to work with me. I have 60 days to return, so it will likely take close to that to make the decision to keep (we are talking $300 vs $10 here). Anyway, these are my findings after a few days. I mainly listen to classic rock (the Hemp rules here as you would expect from any Grado). I have no intention of using it via PC or any other means, so this is solely impressions using iPhone (mostly streaming Amazon HD).
1. The most noticeable difference for me is the bass is less boomy. It was one of those things that I didn't really realize was happening with the dongle. The Cobalt bass is definitely tighter. It's a decent offset since I'm using the Hemp flat pads which kind of boost the bass anyway. To be fair, this might be a detriment if wearing the L pads. Anyway, this was by far the immediate thing I noticed when comparing (and is hard to trick your brain into thinking).
2. My Apple dongle is just ever so slightly noisy. Not sure if it's interference or what. Of course mine might be different from another Apple dongle. Anyway, with the Cobalt it's dead quiet. I don't know if it's whatever is inside to reduce noise in it or what.
3. Could be related to #1 and #2, but the clarity is just a little better (and I mean a little), especially on things like bass guitars and drums. I admit this could all be in my head...I can't really do a blind test here. Mids and treble sound very similar, but it does appear to lift whatever small veil is there with the dongle.
4. Instrument separation seems better...maybe? Again this could all be in my head. I do not claim to be an expert here.
5. I was a little surprised the volume was not noticeably louder with the Cobalt. This does not matter of course since Grados can get loud with little effort. But it did seem that at about 60% volume on the phone, the final volume level to my ears was very similar. This isn't a pro or con, just noting. Maybe it's louder at 100% but I'm not doing that for fear of hearing loss. I do have a 58X that I may try this out with out of curiosity since it's a little more demanding, but that's not really the use case for me here.
5. One little perk that I had not really thought about was the ability to control volume with my watch. The steps are a little too big (using the dedicated control center "zoomed in" volume is really the best option for the smallest up/down), but I'm so used to using the watch for volume with Bluetooth headphones, it was nice to still be able to keep that functionality.
6. People talk about the rattle/looseness of the Cobalt. Mine does not move at all. That could change with more use. I've read reports of similar experiences. It seems like everyone's gets loose after some point in time. Initially though, does not move around at all at either end.
Obviously the Cobalt loses the value battle here, and I may very well send it back. #1 above though is a nice little difference for me, and you know how the curse is...once you hear it a little better, you argue with yourself even considering going back. Anyway, I just wanted to write this up while it was fresh in my head in case anyone is considering pairing with a Grado.
1. The most noticeable difference for me is the bass is less boomy. It was one of those things that I didn't really realize was happening with the dongle. The Cobalt bass is definitely tighter. It's a decent offset since I'm using the Hemp flat pads which kind of boost the bass anyway. To be fair, this might be a detriment if wearing the L pads. Anyway, this was by far the immediate thing I noticed when comparing (and is hard to trick your brain into thinking).
2. My Apple dongle is just ever so slightly noisy. Not sure if it's interference or what. Of course mine might be different from another Apple dongle. Anyway, with the Cobalt it's dead quiet. I don't know if it's whatever is inside to reduce noise in it or what.
3. Could be related to #1 and #2, but the clarity is just a little better (and I mean a little), especially on things like bass guitars and drums. I admit this could all be in my head...I can't really do a blind test here. Mids and treble sound very similar, but it does appear to lift whatever small veil is there with the dongle.
4. Instrument separation seems better...maybe? Again this could all be in my head. I do not claim to be an expert here.
5. I was a little surprised the volume was not noticeably louder with the Cobalt. This does not matter of course since Grados can get loud with little effort. But it did seem that at about 60% volume on the phone, the final volume level to my ears was very similar. This isn't a pro or con, just noting. Maybe it's louder at 100% but I'm not doing that for fear of hearing loss. I do have a 58X that I may try this out with out of curiosity since it's a little more demanding, but that's not really the use case for me here.
5. One little perk that I had not really thought about was the ability to control volume with my watch. The steps are a little too big (using the dedicated control center "zoomed in" volume is really the best option for the smallest up/down), but I'm so used to using the watch for volume with Bluetooth headphones, it was nice to still be able to keep that functionality.
6. People talk about the rattle/looseness of the Cobalt. Mine does not move at all. That could change with more use. I've read reports of similar experiences. It seems like everyone's gets loose after some point in time. Initially though, does not move around at all at either end.
Obviously the Cobalt loses the value battle here, and I may very well send it back. #1 above though is a nice little difference for me, and you know how the curse is...once you hear it a little better, you argue with yourself even considering going back. Anyway, I just wanted to write this up while it was fresh in my head in case anyone is considering pairing with a Grado.
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