[etnt]

Change a dac/amp while waiting for the ps1000e, pardon the messiness of the work-desk.
 

 
Chord Hugo with #374. I thought the replaced Nuforce HDP sounded decent but the Hugo made it sound like sandpaper.
 
The highs are not piercing in anyway but well extended and baby butt smooth. The bass is much more defined and there's an overall musicality that just snares you in.

 

[MacedonianHero]

  that's MUSIC to my ears!
 
Time to give Jon Grado a call!!!!
 
was rockin' my 325is and thought  - Hmmmmm, I think I'm gonna dig the new 1000e cuz of your comments!!
 

 

  crosspost from Grado fan club thread.
 
early impressions of PS1000 (older serial around 1000)
 
The PS1000 is in the house. First impressions from the MAD Ear+ (stock tubes for now. also, DAC is Emotiva DC-1)
 
It’s beautiful.
 
I must admit I was nervous when it was on its way that the experience would be closer to my previous time with this headphone (on Soloist) where I found the treble a little too much, but this is not the case in my current setup.
 
It sound fantastic. and I’m trying out some music that I thought would possibly lay bare any treble harshness. 
 
1. AC/DC’s "Long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll". around 2 minutes in and for the next 30 seconds or so, then more fun times at 4 minutes in. this can be painful on some headphones I’ve owned.
2. Camille Saint-Saens "Violin Concerto 1 in A minor”. yeah, big shift from AC/DC, but the violin is occasionally biting and aggressive, but in a good way. The PS1000 doesn’t hit you over the head with it, as I was worried it could.
 
No issues from either of those, plus my other test tracks of poorly mastered stuff with sibilance. phew! And good stuff sounds really, really good.
 
The heightened treble (compared to darker headphones) shows itself as increased splashiness with cymbals but there’s no piercing, panful reproduction with them. And other instruments that play in the high frequencies - but not as high as cymbals - sound just great. 
 
Everything else is exactly how I expected them to be, based on my previous time with them. Wonderfully flat midrange, no glare with female vocals. great details and subtlety with all instruments. Soundstage is much larger than the RS1, of course, but not spread out (or as precise) as the HD800. It’s in the middle and that works best with most of my music.
 
Bass doesn’t extend like an Audeze down to 20 hz, but is good enough for most music (decent extension down to around 50 Hz) and that big, meaty hump at 100 Hz adds life to a lot of music. I’ll take it, yessir.
 
Now I’m gonna listen to a bunch of great music till I need to make supper.

 
I too heard them on "less than synergistic" setups....and then I got them for an in-home trial for a few days on a loaner and rushed out and bought a pair. 
 

 
i really liked the ps1k with the mad ear, in fact, i kinda with i had it now, instead of the lcd x, but, its pretty great too

As much as I like them, I'd still take the LCD-X over them pretty much every time. 

 

[LCfiner]

I liked the LCD3 a lot but, for whatever reason, found the LCD2 just a bit too dull for my tastes. might have been different amp synergies at the various times I owned them. who knows?
 
I’d be very curious to try the LCD-X after my positive experience with the LCD-3’s sound. i just know I could never deal with the heat (and head clamping pressure) for long periods.
 
When it comes to flagships that I can actually wear for longer than an hour, I can’t deal with anything with leather pads once we hit the springtime. Just makes my ears and sides of my head all sweaty. So that limits me to the HD800, T1, Hifiman models and PS1000. (unless I forgot one?)
 
T1 didn’t impress me, HE-500 has comfort issues with the headband height adjustment but is otherwise very nice, HD800 really impressed me but it doesn’t involve me with rock the way the PS1000 does. It handles orchestral better than PS1000, imo due to imaging and better controlled bass, but that’s only a small percentage of my listening. For a lot of other music that I listen to, the PS1000 really hits the spot for me.
 
PS1000 isn’t the best “behaved” of the flagships but, man, it’s got verve and enough technical chops to hang in there. I’m not worried about missing details - i’s very resolving and places instruments quite nicely in space. My only issue is a slight one with bass control. But that could be partly remedied with a better driver tube in the Ear+, I think. Or a later DAC/Amp upgrade much further down the line.
 
I’m also very seriously considering the PS1000e as an upgrade early next year. the comments about better extended bass and clearer sound staging is very enticing

 

[jaywillin]

   

 
I too heard them on "less than synergistic" setups....and then I got them for an in-home trial for a few days on a loaner and rushed out and bought a pair. 
 
As much as I like them, I'd still take the LCD-X over them pretty much every time. 

i said KINDA wish, i do wish i could have them both but that will have to wait until i can find a great deal on a used ps1k

 

[MacedonianHero]

i said KINDA wish, i do wish i could have them both but that will have to wait until i can find a great deal on a used ps1k

 

[jaywillin]

i am looking for another headphone, and i would like a grado, though i'm liable to try anything

 

[Focker]

 
i am looking for another headphone, and i would like a grado, though i'm liable to try do anything

Fixed 

 

[jaywillin]

  Fixed 

or "do" could have been left out

 

[LCfiner]

In case anyone is interested. Headfonics review of the PS1000e
 
http://headfonics.com/2014/07/the-ps1000e-by-grado/
 
There's some comparisons to the PS1000. According to the reviewer, the bass is less boomy and there's less of a bass boost (that's at 100 Hz on the PS1000).

 

[chirawatf]

One aspect I'm not sure about PS1000 is grain.  When compare to LCD-X, PS1000 has more grain.  I don't know whether it's becuase PS1000 is more resolving (LCD-X may gross over?) or it's because PS1000 actually has more grain.
 
No reviewer comment to this aspect yet.
 
I would like to read more comments about this, and compare between PS1000 and PS1000e, does PS1000e has less grain/higher fidelity than PS1000?
 
Thanks.

 

[Justin_Time]

One aspect I'm not sure about PS1000 is grain.  When compare to LCD-X, PS1000 has more grain.  I don't know whether it's becuase PS1000 is more resolving (LCD-X may gross over?) or it's because PS1000 actually has more grain.

No reviewer comment to this aspect yet.

I would like to read more comments about this, and compare between PS1000 and PS1000e, does PS1000e has less grain than PS1000?

Thanks.

Perhaps the reason there was no comments on this aspect is because, like myself, most people have not perceived the PS1000 as being grainy.

The LCD2 & 3 I have share a common voicing: they have virtually no depth and a very narrow soundstage. Furthermore, they are down many dBs around 3-5 KHz and then rolled off beyond 10KHz. A s a result there is very little inner details, articulation or presence in the sound. There is also a dark, caramel coating over the midrange, a euphonic coloration but a coloration nevertheless. So behind the forward center image, you hear very little texture or details to the music. Perhaps this is what you perceived as lack of grain! I love my LCD for certain music but they are anything but transparent or detailed.

With the PS1000, the is not much beyond 10KHz either but there is a gigantic hump around 7-10 KHz that gives the sound a lot of texture, articulation, details and presence. Given the transparency and big soundstage of the PS1000, you can hear all kinds of details around and behind the center image. I would not call this grain.

Grain to me is the artificial sound created by distortion (a lot of it from overshot and ringing in the transients) that results in a sound that is raspy, not smooth. With the right amps, the PS1000's sound is super-smooth, and rich (textured and detailed) to the point of being euphonic.

But I would never call the PS1000 grainy!

 

[chirawatf]

Perhaps the reason there was no comments on this aspect is because, like myself, most people have not perceived the PS1000 as being grainy.

The LCD2 & 3 I have share a common voicing: they have virtually no depth and a very narrow soundstage. Furthermore, they are down many dBs around 3-5 KHz and then rolled off beyond 10KHz. A s a result there is very little inner details, articulation or presence in the sound. There is also a dark, caramel coating over the midrange, a euphonic coloration but a coloration nevertheless. So behind the forward center image, you hear very little texture or details to the music. Perhaps this is what you perceived as lack of grain! I love my LCD for certain music but they are anything but transparent or detailed.

With the PS1000, the is not much beyond 10KHz either but there is a gigantic hump around 7-10 KHz that gives the sound a lot of texture, articulation, details and presence. Given the transparency and big soundstage of the PS1000, you can hear all kinds of details around and behind the center image. I would not call this grain.

Grain to me is the artificial sound created by distortion (a lot of it from overshot and ringing in the transients) that results in a sound that is raspy, not smooth. With the right amps, the PS1000's sound is super-smooth, and rich (textured and detailed) to the point of being euphonic.

But I would never call the PS1000 grainy!

Thank you very much for sharing your thought.  You said PS1000 sound great with the right amp.  What is your favourite amp for PS1000?

 

[Justin_Time]

Thank you very much for sharing your thought.  You said PS1000 sound great with the right amp.  What is your favourite amp for PS1000?

Here is an edited excerpt from my response to a similar question last week.

"...If you dabble in Audio long enough you also know this: audio gears are NOT perfect, far from it, high prices, manufacturers’ hyperbolae or owner's bias notwithstanding. Once we accept that, things gets a little easier to understand.

So, selecting the right combination of cable and amplifier for your favorite pair of headphones, in this case the PS1000, is not a simple matter of assembling the most neutral, most transparent, most expensive or even the highest quality DAC, cable, amp, etc. Rather it is a difficult balancing act of matching the strengths and weaknesses of each link in the chain to achieve the sound that you prefer, which varies from person to person depending on your musical taste your hearing acuity.

For the PS1000, the easier solution for me was to pick a relatively inexpensive tube amp (MAD Ears+ HD; $750) that has a smooth and forward-sounding midrange and limited extension in the trebles ((to compensate for the PS's hump around 7-10 KHz). Add to that an OCC Copper cable with smooth midrange and transient, and that pretty much took care of the PS troubles in the trebles (apologies to Star Trek fans) with only a minimal sacrifice in soundstage and inner details. The pairing of the PS1000 and the MAD Ear cannot be beaten at the price.

A more difficult and far more expensive but even more rewarding solution is [...] to find a very high-quality amp that has excellent bass control and pristine high frequencies. [...].Any one of the four excellent amps, the Woo WA5-LE (~$4,500 with upgraded parts and tubes or the WA5) and the EAR HP-4 (~$5,000) for tube designs or the Bakoon HPA-21 and HeadAmp GS-X Mark 2 (~$3,000 each) for solid-state design, I was able to re-produce wonderful music with the PS1000. One benefit of this approach was that, unlike the MAD Ear, which has a more limited versatility--what do you want for less than a grand?--any one of these four amps can also deliver excellent sound with nearly all high-performance headphones out there."

I hope this answer your question.

 

[LCfiner]

I haven't heard the PS1000 on as many amps as Justin_Time but I've heard it on a few decent ones before (Burson 160, Soloist and ALO Amphora) and, I must say, the sound from the MAD Ear+ and the PS1000 is really impressive - the best I've heard the PS1000. (FYI, DAC is the Emotiva DC-1)
 
Absolutely musical. No harshness, great detail, very good soundstage and imaging. Extremely clear and detailed vocals. And a very involving, toe tapping experience that one hopes to get with a Grado headphone.
 
The only issue is a bit of boominess to the midbass using the stock Ear+ tubes and DC-1 DAC. I don't know if that's something that can be better controlled with a different amp with lower output Z or if it's something a better tube can help fix. Maybe the DC-1 is partly contributing to this? I know that part of that is inherent to the PS1000 itself but I think that it's possible for changes in upstream gear to slightly tighten this up. Overal, a minor issue for an otherwise amazing listening experience.

 

[Justin_Time]

I haven't heard the PS1000 on as many amps as Justin_Time but I've heard it on a few decent ones before (Burson 160, Soloist and ALO Amphora) and, I must say, the sound from the MAD Ear+ and the PS1000 is really impressive - the best I've heard the PS1000. (FYI, DAC is the Emotiva DC-1)


 


Absolutely musical. No harshness, great detail, very good soundstage and imaging. Extremely clear and detailed vocals. And a very involving, toe tapping experience that one hopes to get with a Grado headphone.


 


The only issue is a bit of boominess to the midbass using the stock Ear+ tubes and DC-1 DAC. I don't know if that's something that can be better controlled with a different amp with lower output Z or if it's something a better tube can help fix. Maybe the DC-1 is partly contributing to this? I know that part of that is inherent to the PS1000 itself but I think that it's possible for changes in upstream gear to slightly tighten this up. Overal, a minor issue for an otherwise amazing listening experience.

 


Completely agreed about the boomy bass.

Unfortunately, the PS1000 has nothing below 50 Hz or so (according to my ears, not measurments) and a pretty hefty hump around 100 Hz or so. Tough to overcome with tube amps which tends to emphasize the same region.

I have not "rolled" the tubes with the MAD Ear--tough to justify the cost with such moderately priced amp--so I cannot tell how effective I could be.

I found that the GS-X Mk2 and the Woo WA5 (or WA5 LE), the former in paticular, did amuch better job of controlling the mid-bass, making it a little tigher less boomy. The Bakoon BHA-21 and EAR HP-4 were less successful in this area though they were a little more musical overall. But none of them could compltely eliminate the "bloom" in the PS1000 bass because the mid-bass and upper-bass hump on this two-hump camel is quite substantial.

But with Rock, this is just what the doctor oredered!