[AdamWill]

Which British Sea Power album? The first one isn't brilliantly recorded, it seems to be rather heavy on the treble in the original recording, which does make it sound rather obnoxious with Grados. I prefer my Eggos for listening to Decline. The second album is a lot better recorded and sounds fine through Grados.

The Audigy cards have been the most _popular_ for a long time because a) they're great gaming soundcards, b) Creative is good at marketing, and c) they don't suck in sound quality. But they've never been that _great_ for sound quality either. They're fine for driving a low-end pair of headphones or some reasonable PC speakers, but if you're going to be getting into real serious audio - and a pair of RS-2s, make no mistake, is serious - the Audigy is going to start looking pretty crappy in comparison. You shouldn't hate the Grados out of the Audigy, so there's still some burn-in / adjustment / whatever to happen there, but they _will_ sound better out of a decent sound card like an E-Mu, or an external DAC.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

yeah, decline of british sea power. i dont really care for the second album as much, they seemed to have lost their balls. i await the day the pixies dont sound like crap on my rs-2.

 

[AdamWill]

You don't need an ultra-expensive sound card if you're going to hook it up digitally to a receiver. In that case the card is just acting as a digital transport, all it needs to do is transmit a bit perfect stream, and a $30 Chaintech AV-710 can do that perfectly well. Spend the money on the receiver, in that case. Only go for an X-Fi or E-Mu if you're going to keep using the sound card as the digital -> analog stage (i.e. hook its analog line-out into a headphone amp).

I don't think you should start spending money yet. At least, not silly money. Calm down. Take the headphones off. Leave them to burn in overnight, and go to sleep. In the morning, start again, and listen to a _good_ recording through them. Give yourself some time. You don't have to pull a Jahn and start spending several thousand dollars a month right away

. Give the RS-2s some time to burn in and your ears some time to adjust, and if you start to like them, _then_ make a plan to spend some money to bring your source up to the standard of the headphones. If you still don't like them in a couple of weeks, you're probably not going to like them with a $1000 source upgrade. Sell or trade them and try something different, maybe some Senns.

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AdamWill You don't have to pull a Jahn and start spending several thousand dollars a month right away

Hey now I DID tell him to GoVibe it before jumping into the Melos!

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

what is an e-mu sound card equivalent to reciever-wise? low-end $300 reciever?

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

anyway, thanks for everyone's help.

 

[AdamWill]

If you're talking about the headphone out on the receiver, I think you'd be talking about a substantially better receiver than that to match an E-Mu, even the 0404. Sure the 0404 is only $100, but that's virtually all going into that lovely line-out. The receiver is $300 but most of that money is going into the speaker outs, since that's what people are going to judge the product on. The headphone-out on a receiver is more of a freebie.

But anyway, it's not the most apt comparison. The 0404 is a source stage. You _can_ connect your phones directly to it (especially low-impedence Grados), but you don't really want to. You want an amp. A receiver isn't a source stage, it's the amp stage. So you'd really be comparing the E-Mu to, say, a standalone CD player, and the $300 receiver you should compare to a headphone amp. You'll get a lot more quality for your headphones by spending $300 on a headphone amp than spending $300 on a 5.1 receiver. There, hope that wasn't confusing.

Basically if you want a dedicated headphone set up that starts with a PC, there's really only a couple of sane ways to do it.

1: High quality soundcard line-out -> good headphone amp -> RS-2
2: Any decent soundcard digital out (or USB port) -> good external DAC -> good headphone amp -> RS-2

If you tried to replace the good headphone amp with a general-purpose receiver and get the same quality, you'd have to pay rather a bit more.

 

[AdamWill]

jahn: sorry, I didn't mean he shouldn't follow your _advice_, I meant he probably shouldn't follow your _example_

 

[music_man]

first off you cannot power $500 cans with a cheap consumer soundcard. if you want to power them with a computer that is better than many $1000 headamps you could get nuendo or pro tools or rme hammerfall. plan to spend a whole lot of money for these.

second, many people never do get used to the grado sound. it is very hifi,colored,upfront,and bright. all of them are like this. nonetheless the rs1 is grados best balance of what people that like them find appealing.
to make a very very general statement, senn hd6xx are the exact opposite of the grado sound sig. before everyone flames me, i said "a very very general statement!"

third, listening to $30 headphones for years tends to condition ones ears to be used to 'sludge' sound. if you give the grados more time then go back to the $30 fons you will most likely think the $30 fons are now crud. unless as i said you just can't get used to grado.

if you like the senns you don't have to feel you need to force yourself to like grado because everyone elese likes them. senns are more analytical and grados present with a 'house sound'. on the other hand with senns you could find yourself not enjoying them either. due to listening to hard to the "science behind the music" rather than the music itself. they bring out a lot of nuances that many people get too hung up on. the grados are more rock 'n' roll, toe tapping cans. but many people just can't deal with the fatigue due to the brightness and sibilance.

i love grados. but not for more than 20 minutes untill my ears start ringing. i will eventually have every grado. but i do not feel the need to own every senn or other brand. why? because grado is a family owned american retro classic product. they intrigue me for reasons other than their sound.
i also fall into the department of more money than brains. unless you also fall into that department and your return priviledge on the grados gets near the end with you still not liking them i'd send them back if i were you.

furthermore, given what you have said(cinnamonandgravy) i'd suggest you get senn px100's start modifying them and be happy. i bet you will think they are ten times better than the grados. and you do not have to be ashamed of those senns like other $30 fons. think of them as $500 fons for a total of $70 modified. see my post "px100 revisited".

now again, before everyone jumps on me! i told cinnamonandgravy to get the px100 over the rs2. i didn't say that to any other specific person here!!!!!
given what he has said i bet the px100 would knock his sox off. i could be wrong though. who knows?

overall, the most important thing i can say(and always do!) is lsiten first! or at least buy online from a place that has no restocking fee and is willing to take back merchandise per previous customer ratings.

ok, hope all this really helps you cinnamonandgravy.

music_man.

 

[Aman]

Here's an idea for you:

Buy yourself some real audio equipment! What are you doing pairing 500 dollar headphones with a source like the Audigy? Are you even amping these headphones?!

Honestly, are you that ignorant to believe that the root of your problems was your headphones? If you had gotten a 500 dollar source, had your $30 headphones stayed alive, you would have noticed an exorbitant difference.

If you truly want to be on your way to HiFi, get a REAL source (a CD player, turntable, what have you) and a good headphone amp, like the Gilmore Lite or the ASL HB1.

 

[VR6ofpain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirosia But seriously, one day impression doesn't really mean much. And next time, do some research on the forums before spending so much money. It's your own fault.

I was floored after hearing a buddies RS-1's for only ~3 minutes (not even through the first track off Larry Young's "Unity").
I couldn't afford $650 headphones, so I did the next best thing, I went out and picked up some SR-80's for $80+tax at a CSW. What took me by surprise was how 'similar' they sounded. I am what they call a 'fan' of the Grado sound signature.
My HF-1's w/ Todd flats are perfection. Now I am happy...but lately I have been looking at better CD players and headphone amps....will it ever end?
My biggest 'tweak' has been expanding my music collection. Music I have never heard, but really like, is a much bigger upgrade than any cable or amp...

 

[Jmmmmm]

Azure..?? Is that you again??
What happened to the a900s?

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

"If you had gotten a 500 dollar source, had your $30 headphones stayed alive, you would have noticed an exorbitant difference."


simply, yes.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

this thread has seemed to die. thank you for all the glorious help to those who offered it. smell the rest of you jerks later.

 

[kwitel]

No offense buddy, but this is one of those idiotic threads that apparently everyone needs to reply to (including me

).
Just randomly buying a pair of $500 headphones without listening to them first may have not been the brightest of ideas.
Also, the RS-1's can run easily w/o an amp; I tried them direct from my IPOD a couple of months back and they were like butter baby! (although an amp is recommended)
All jokes aside-I do feel for you...it must suck to be let down like this. If I were a betting man, I would say its as simple as: youve received a faulty unit. Yes, its possible.
As for "burn in"-its overrated.
Yes, it will make a difference, but one would never react to a non-burnt in RS-1 the way you have even if they could not get into the Grado sound signature.
Swap em for a new pair...if you have the same problem again, go see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist and tell the Dr. your ears are broken.