[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT I would certainly suggest at least try HD650 with Zu Mobius. Nothing from what I have heard so far beats it. And the difference is not marginal, you don't have to listen for it. Currently I am in situation when I just in love with one set of cans and trying to convince myself that I might stand others. Difficult, isn't it? What can I get to compliment/compete with HD650? W5000 may be? Opinions/suggestions? Anyone?

I know what you mean about being in love with just one set of cans. I have the same situation with the similarities between the MS2i and my speaker system. I am more than satisfied with the current status quo of cans for rock and speakers for everything else, but I'd really like to get another set of cans to cover the classical and jazz side while leaving the really big orchestral stuff and the movies for the speakers. But I'd like the "other" phones to have the same "sound" as the remainder of the speakers/cans. And that's why I'm starting to think of MS-Pro with it's even greater soundstage than MS2i, and other helpfull capabilities, mated with tubes to further seperate it from the MS2i and give me perhaps a more complementary set-up but with the same familiar "sound" that I worked for years to put together. I had originally strongly considered HD650 with Glite or K701 with tubes as real possibilities, but the fear of finding something I like better than my MS2i and speakers combination is more than just a little scarry at the moment! It was shock enough to find that my cans are now seriously intruding into my speakers territory!!

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander I can see the engineer in you speaking.

Sometimes I think it's easier to take the Engineer out of the job than it is to take the job out of the Engineer!

.....gotta find something to fill in the retirement gap!

 

[VR6ofpain]

I think I am going to be ordering some MS-2"i"'s in the coming weeks. What form of shipping do they use, when you take the free non-expedited shipping (UPS Ground, USPS Priority, etc)?

 

[F107plus5]

They ship USPS. And I'm sure you know the deal with Alessandro on their telephone and E-mail and shipping situation, but just in case:

After the order is placed on-line, nothing will happen for at least three days; maybe longer. Then one day the money will magically disappear from your financial institution. That means the cans are on their way. No tracking numbers no nothing. I never tried to call or E-mail them, but non-responces are the stuff of legend.

Unless I miss my guess it's just George and his Wife, and they have the rest of their business to run in addition to handling the cans, so I always gave them the benifit of the doubt.

......but then again; I got both my MS-1 and MS2i within a week!!

 

[Andrew_WOT]

So, what pads everyone is using with MS2i?
From my observations I have found:
- bowls too thin, bright, uninvolving, and fatiguing in a long term;
- reversed HD414 too tame, soft and flat sounding;
- reversed bowls best sounding but worst comfort wise.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT So, what pads everyone is using with MS2i? From my observations I have found: - bowls too thin, bright, uninvolving, and fatiguing in a long term; - reversed HD414 too tame, soft and flat sounding; - reversed bowls best sounding but worst comfort wise.

When I had mine I was using soggy bowls washed a few times in baby shampoo, and I had to dial in ~3 db of boost below 200Hz to help warm them up.

Of all the Grados I've owned, I found the MS2 to be the most accurate and least colored.

 

[Meyvn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhydon No. Its not. The entire interior of the MS2, MS2i, 325, 325i are all the same. They all are plastic, just an extended SR225. The aluminum cup is only on the exterior. I have taken 4 pairs of MS2's completely apart, as well as a SR325i (for the magnum upgrade). You say this makes changes in sound, but perhaps more a matter of psycho acoustics. Changing the chamber length and then completely sealing it with aluminum could sound different than completely sealing it with wood. Also there is no way to test such a theory unless you spent thousands of dollars on machining alternative and identical parts. Youd be completely changing the headphone design itself. The fact of the matter is that all the interiors are plastic (except for the RS-2/1), theres no arguing it.

Ease up, dude. Calm down. Oh, and there's also the PS-1, HP1000, GS1000, and HF-1 you didn't mention.

 

[RollsDownWindowsManually]

Call me crazy but the bowls and reverse bowls sound exactly the same to me. Maybe the reverse bowls are a decibel or so louder since the driver rests ON your ear, but other than that, the tonality and response seems the same.

I would like to try flats on my MS-2's eventually but don't really want to pay much for them since they sound great with the bowls as they are.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RollsDownWindowsManually Call me crazy but the bowls and reverse bowls sound exactly the same to me. Maybe the reverse bowls are a decibel or so louder since the driver rests ON your ear, but other than that, the tonality and response seems the same. I would like to try flats on my MS-2's eventually but don't really want to pay much for them since they sound great with the bowls as they are.

I dont know how people use bowls reversed... I could never get them to remain secured consistently. They would slide all over the place, and sometimes the coarse driver grilles would sit flat against my ears.... OUCH.

 

[aufeuer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RollsDownWindowsManually Call me crazy but the bowls and reverse bowls sound exactly the same to me.

Same here. I think in my case, it's mostly because I have small ears and the bowls sit semi-circumaurally on my ears (with them slightly touching the drivers). The only difference is that the reverse bowls are much more uncomfortable.

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT So, what pads everyone is using with MS2i? From my observations I have found: - bowls too thin, bright, uninvolving, and fatiguing in a long term; - reversed HD414 too tame, soft and flat sounding; - reversed bowls best sounding but worst comfort wise.

Flats for me. Bowls (reversed or not - little difference to me) are unnaturally/piercingly bright. Comfort sucks too.

 

[F107plus5]

This thread and others, begins to add a little insight into just how personal the subject of pad sellection really is!

My new MS2i shipped with bowls, and that's how I left them for a few days. This morning, however I managed to do a very quick swap with the reversed 414s off "my Wifes'" MS-1s and found that with the 414s there was "something missing" and the cans seemed somewhat thin with a slightly reduced soundstage. The bowls on the MS-1s just "added something" to the over-all sound enjoyment and appeared to open them up to a certain extent. I seemed to find the sound more detailed with the bowls rather than the reversed 414s. The 414s were in fact more comfortable to me, but the sound made up for it. My outer ears wanted the 414s but the inner ears voted for the bowls, and the inner ears are closer to the brain and could wield more influence.

At this point, however, it's taking me almost as long to type this than the test took. I only spent about fifteen minutes in the test before I had to quit, so those are just preliminary findings. I still would like to get flats to try, and even reverse the bowls, but that will be a bit later.

Perhaps my ears are aging right along with Johns and we both need bowls to keep the gold from tarnishing!! Plus; my ears are also small and tend to fall inside both the bowls and the reversed 414s and this may add to my particular take on the whole thing as well. Then again I am going from fairly bright speakers to fairly bright MS-1s to fairly bright MS2i so the MS2i don't seem un-naturally bright regardless of which pads I have installed.

More to follow.......

 

[RollsDownWindowsManually]

Necropost....

So this thread got me to thinking about the possible advantage of having aluminum on the housing vs. all plastic like the SR-225. Is it possible that the added weight of the metal on top of the plastic chambers reduces resonances and increases the rigidity of the driver enclosures?

 

[Televator]

RollsDown... I believe that's indeed why alu was used as far as I know: to make a less resonating chamber. Wood is also used as it resonates in a preferable manner, but it colors the sound more than a non-resonating chamber (but of course the drivers could be tuned to it to negate those effects)

The MS2i is more tuned to be (more) neutral (than other grados), the HP1000 series are considered pretty neutral as well

Of course the PS1 is bass-heavy, but that could be a conscious decision

In short: alu resonates less than plastic or wood (= inherent characteristic of the material) but plastic resonance is unwanted and needs to be counteracted by the drivers, while wood can be wanted. Using alu versus plastic means less work has to be put in compensating for the plastic so it could be a better headphone for the same work put into it. Compared to wood, alu could still be better, but using the wood to its advantage could add a warmth that alu can't attain

 

[RollsDownWindowsManually]

thanks for the response, all I know is have really been enjoying my MS2's for the past year....still sounding great.