[Ricky112]

Im using my grados on a pc sound card right now and this sound card costs $353 and im wondering if its giving me full potential sound? the sound card can output a maxium of 113db

 

[quiksliver]

what kind of soundcard is it?

 

[Ricky112]

Its a Audigy Z 4 pro limited edition sound card from creative

 

[Ricky112]

Does anyone know??

 

[manofmathematics]

Grado's are decently easy to drive and your soundcard, i'm sure, is driving them just fine. I'd worry more about your computer power supply. Crap-o power supplies have the tendencie to hold back musical experiences with computer as source.

Full potential sound can be rather subjective. What are you looking to achieve? How satisfied are you with the sound as it is?

 

[Ricky112]

Well my power supply is a SmartPower 2.0 450W ATX12V v2.01 power supply

 

[Ricky112]

Well my power supply is a SmartPower 2.0 450W ATX12V v2.01 power supply well when im listening to my songs i can hear very sharp highs and clear lows and the singer who is singing the song sounds very clear, i have the volume set to 60% and i found that the highs are really hurting my ears. My sound card also supports a number of effects like auditorium, disco, jazz, concert hall, small room, and much much more, i have used the audio effect small room and theres a really clear echo when the singer sings, it sounds as if im in a concert sitting in the front row hearing her sing, but im still not sure if im getting the full potential sound out the grados im using.

 

[Walie]

You mention the piercing highs, well the 325s are known to be the brightest of the grado's.

What format is your music in? If you look in the computer-as-a-source forum, you may get a better idea of how to take advantage of your grado's since you're using a soundcard to drive them

 

[Ricky112]

Well i took a Cd and ripped it at 320kbps mp3 format and i listen to it and it sounds great again the highs were really hurting my ears, and you know when a female sings you can hear a great amount of detail when she saids every word like the word "small" and you say it, it makes that shhh sound, lol i know the way im explaining it is kind of weird but anyway even though i listen to mp3s that are at 320kbps, i listen to the actually cd and i found it better and slightly clearer than the mp3s that are at 320kbps

 

[Walie]

try encoding in lossless then such as FLAC

the shhhh sounds like sibilance to me, try flat pads or sennheiser 414 pads. Or get a tube amp

by the way, information for everything above regarding your 325s as well as tons of further info is available on this forum, you just gotta search for it and do some reading

also i can't help but mentioning, you paid over $300 for an audigy? i hope you didn't do that recently

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ricky112 /img/forum/go_quote.gif the highs were really hurting my ears

well, you're not alone; i always have this problem with all the grados i've tried

 

[Ricky112]

i bought my audigy z 4 pro 3 years back but now their discontinued, but i still think the audigy z 4 pro is still a pretty good card. As for a tube amp im afraid i dont have enough money to afford one thats y i use my grados on my sound card.

 

[filipelli]

I am about to get my 325s and a little dot, with the hopes of synergy with the headphones and the tube amp. the warmth of the tube amp, i hope, will mellow out the potential harsh highs..

 

[Ricky112]

well, you're not alone; i always have this problem with all the grados i've tried



really? with grados do you have?

 

[rourouni815]

you have a 300+ sound card being powered by a sub 100 no name brand psu? I dont think thats such a good idea.