pdupiano
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2008
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I finished recabling my GS1000's about an hour ago with some cardas 4x24ga cable because someone wants to buy it from me. I figured I'd give it a quick listen to make sure everything was nice and perfect for the new owner. Well that was an hour ago, and I'm still listening to them. I am completely mesmerized and amazed at the headphones, I'm almost afraid to put them down because I may never get a chance to listen to them again. I've always restricted myself to listening to rock and metal with my grados since I've owned pretty much every pair upto the Gs1000's and they've all "failed" at every genre except rock and metal. I've never really found myself wanting to go outside that grado comfort zone. But now I'm listening to Norah Jones, Amos Lee, and some piano Solos and I can't for the life of me think of another time when I've heard these songs like I'm hearing them right now.
My thoughts on the GS1000's were always, detailed, fast, airy, and agressive with a nice punchy bass and a good impact behind it. Basically the recipe that calls for the Ozz Man, but now I'm not sure. I'm currently listening to "Bark at the Moon" -Strung out's cover of Ozzy's song and its showing me that the track was poorly mastered. The vocals are drawn back, the guitars pushed to the fore front and the drums somewhere in between (the snare and cymbals are very aggressive and detailed). The bass line is shining through perfectly and the guitars are quite clear, and its pretty easy to pick out the 3 guitarists in the band (1 bass, 2 guitars). Its doing a great job separating the instruments, but the image I have in my head is the drums right in front, the lead guitar to the far right, the bass to the far left and the second guitarist just to the left of the drums and unfortunately the singer in back stage. But like the other grados I've had in the past it does a great job reproducing the distortion effects and its aggressive (not the most aggressive grado though, that's a special prize I might have to give to my SR325-Black ver).
Now I'm listening to Van Morison's Healing Game CD (the newly mastered one -I actually don't like the newly mastered version, but its the only one I got on this ipod for some odd reason). I'm listening to "Burning Ground." Its pretty nice and up-beat, the drums feel nice, they have that tight texture that you can feel more than hear and it hits you at the top of your chest. Its not like the HD650's where you feel the bass with a bigger thud in your gut, but its that tight and compact feeling you get at the top of your chest. I can't help but feel my head bounce with the beat. Now I'm entering the Sax solo. The highs and mids are perfectly portrayed and you can hear the air. It sounds weird but I get this image of the saxophonist just taking center stage and raising their sax in the air and you can "hear" the space or perhaps its the notes wafting through a large space, either way its something that you'll never hear with the sennheisers. I love my sennheisers to death, but they can't compare to this open transparent sound -not for one second. Now I'm at the healing game, the newly mastered version sounds drastically different from the old one. It looks like they balanced the instruments a bit more. Instead of having the organ strictly at the right side, they decided to center it for the intro. As for the first Sax solo, they've pulled away from the saxophonist and it feels very awkward for me. The sax doesn't sound right for some odd reason. I'm not sure if its the gs1000's or if its the recording this time. Normally the sax extends very far and the notes are rounded out during the solo, this time they were short and felt cut off. At this point I don't think I'll be buying any of the newly remastered van Morisson Cd's.
Now I'm listening to my favorite artist, Colin Hay and his latest album "Are you looking at me." Pure love sounds... pure. His vocals are right up front, and you can actually separate the background vocals, into several people. I'm not sure if its intentional but you can definitely make out several different voices during the chorus. The instruments are also amazing, its the exact opposite of some of the old Men at work stuff with the synthesized tracks (most notably Land Down Under). This music is pure and soulful and I am amazed that the gs1000's can portray them without taking away from it. I wish I had his other albums in this ipod, but apparently I don't (I should really get a 200gb ipod, shouldn't i). What would bob do, does a very nice job of having the piano and drums behind Colin's voice without obscuring the lyrics. And the punchy bass from the gs1000's definitely help with the upbeat catchy tune.
Ok, moved on over to Adrian Belew and "This is What I believe in". Vocals are a bit laid back in this one. Guitars are nice and upfront, very catchy and you can hear the different plucking techniques and even the changes in his voice throughout the song (I think theyre distorted on purpose). The solo is very well portrayed and the gs1000's don't miss a beat when it comes to the distortions. And now Onto Zocalo, one of my favorite trance tracks of all time (Armin Van Buuren's 10 Years CD). I am just Floored by the bass on these headphones. Theres a part during the intro that always ALWAYS leaves you wanting more from grados and even the MDR SA5000's. If you have a pair of headphones that are bass impact-less or weak, you notice it right away. These did a great job. In the song, Armin also lets the bass line get too powerful and can muddy the rest of the song, but the gs1000's are doing a good job keeping the bass line in the back where its not bothering the rest of the melody. The guitar part is very rich and warm, not quite as warm as when I heard them with the hd650's (listening to that section with the hd650's makes you piss in your pants-you know like when you piss in a pool, it gives you that nice warm feeling), but unlike the hd650's, the bassline and the bass is bearable. Whenever I listen to the rest of the song with the hd650's I just want to rip the hd650's apart for their slow response, but the gs1000's are keeping up very nicely, in fact they might very well have surpassed my sa5000's with respect to their speed. I just got to the "sweet spot" of the song, and there are layers of music going on right now and I don't have to work at trying to hear each one. Its almost like going to a concert and all you have to do is look at a particular performer and you can hear whatever instrument they are playing even if its a single violinist in a sea of violinists. Its doing an amazing job.
Now I'm listening to Armin's Imagine CD. Imagine is playing and I really like this song for its versatility and the effect that he seems to put into the music. It feels like a lot of the intro is about bringing in different sounds, like thoughts, they start in the corner and slowly creep up in front of you and it comes through very easily. For those who criticize Digital music as being Digital rather than "real" music, I really think that most if not all of what you hear in the intro of imagine is from real pianists, violinist, and guitarists. Its pretty damn good. Now I'm getting to the funky bass line and the transition is very well done and I like how he incorportates quite a bit of space. Ok now, were entering the digital music arena and everything sounds flat and dull (pre recorded and synthesized drums), all every easy to notice and a bit unappealing really. Ok I'm at the part where he begins to inject some real music, and its a bit muddled by the strong bass (I never though I'd every say that about a pair of grados), but the piano is still there, just a bit overshadowed by the bass. The guitar's loud and clear, it almost feels like the drums are moving around a guitarist playing on center stage. Now the bass has completely taken over and I'm having a hard time hearing anything else, I'm also having a hard time staying still at the moment -its very upbeat and I'm bobbing my head waay too much at this point. This sone really emphasizes directionality and 3dimentionality of sound. I would kill to hear this on some awesome speakers, but I think the gs1000's have done a great job with it.
Ok Norah Jones, god damn I fall in love with this woman everytime I hear her sing, and I dare anyone not to after hearing her voice. I'm listening to "Humble Me" Theres a hint of sibilance, but its not uncomfortable, its what you would hear when you talk to someone in person or hear her in concert. I really love how her voice and the bass just hits you in the right way in your chest. Its very easy to detect her moving close and away from the mic, and the song is just amazing, I really can't comment too much on it and I'm afraid I havent because I was too busy listening, sorry. Ah crap, I just heard some hissing and distortion near the end of the song. I noticed it before with my iems, it might be from my scratched up cd.
Amos Lee's "What's been going on" Has been one of my recent favorites and is currently in my cd rotation in my car, its pretty different hearing it with the gs1000's and my car. Wow that bass hits hard, I don't feel it but it kind of envelops your ears and quiets the rest of whats going on in the music. For some odd reason, the music isn't as engaging as when I hear it in my car. Normally I can't help but sing along and I've often been caught singing along without noticing to this song. Over all I think the gs1000's might not be as warm as I'd like them to be for this song, I would definitely prefer the hd650's or another pair of warm and rich headphone, perhaps the d5000's or d7000's. The gs1000's certainly capture the intruments but fail to capture Amos Lee's vocals.
And it is now 3 in the morning here in Jersey. I started listening to these headphones well over 2 hours ago, and it feels like its only been a few minutes. Thanks for reading this, I've pretty much typed up my thoughts as I listened to the music and left everything as raw as possible. I don't really like writing reviews around head-fi since they take a lot of time and often feel fake because you read through it and you correct or second guess yourself. So I think this was just my way of "reviewing" the gs1000's without really reviewing them, while keeping it as raw as possible. Hope you liked it, and I really hope this encourages people to try out the gs1000's with other genres of music, I'm probably going to regret selling these, but I've had one hell of a good time listening to them.
My thoughts on the GS1000's were always, detailed, fast, airy, and agressive with a nice punchy bass and a good impact behind it. Basically the recipe that calls for the Ozz Man, but now I'm not sure. I'm currently listening to "Bark at the Moon" -Strung out's cover of Ozzy's song and its showing me that the track was poorly mastered. The vocals are drawn back, the guitars pushed to the fore front and the drums somewhere in between (the snare and cymbals are very aggressive and detailed). The bass line is shining through perfectly and the guitars are quite clear, and its pretty easy to pick out the 3 guitarists in the band (1 bass, 2 guitars). Its doing a great job separating the instruments, but the image I have in my head is the drums right in front, the lead guitar to the far right, the bass to the far left and the second guitarist just to the left of the drums and unfortunately the singer in back stage. But like the other grados I've had in the past it does a great job reproducing the distortion effects and its aggressive (not the most aggressive grado though, that's a special prize I might have to give to my SR325-Black ver).
Now I'm listening to Van Morison's Healing Game CD (the newly mastered one -I actually don't like the newly mastered version, but its the only one I got on this ipod for some odd reason). I'm listening to "Burning Ground." Its pretty nice and up-beat, the drums feel nice, they have that tight texture that you can feel more than hear and it hits you at the top of your chest. Its not like the HD650's where you feel the bass with a bigger thud in your gut, but its that tight and compact feeling you get at the top of your chest. I can't help but feel my head bounce with the beat. Now I'm entering the Sax solo. The highs and mids are perfectly portrayed and you can hear the air. It sounds weird but I get this image of the saxophonist just taking center stage and raising their sax in the air and you can "hear" the space or perhaps its the notes wafting through a large space, either way its something that you'll never hear with the sennheisers. I love my sennheisers to death, but they can't compare to this open transparent sound -not for one second. Now I'm at the healing game, the newly mastered version sounds drastically different from the old one. It looks like they balanced the instruments a bit more. Instead of having the organ strictly at the right side, they decided to center it for the intro. As for the first Sax solo, they've pulled away from the saxophonist and it feels very awkward for me. The sax doesn't sound right for some odd reason. I'm not sure if its the gs1000's or if its the recording this time. Normally the sax extends very far and the notes are rounded out during the solo, this time they were short and felt cut off. At this point I don't think I'll be buying any of the newly remastered van Morisson Cd's.
Now I'm listening to my favorite artist, Colin Hay and his latest album "Are you looking at me." Pure love sounds... pure. His vocals are right up front, and you can actually separate the background vocals, into several people. I'm not sure if its intentional but you can definitely make out several different voices during the chorus. The instruments are also amazing, its the exact opposite of some of the old Men at work stuff with the synthesized tracks (most notably Land Down Under). This music is pure and soulful and I am amazed that the gs1000's can portray them without taking away from it. I wish I had his other albums in this ipod, but apparently I don't (I should really get a 200gb ipod, shouldn't i). What would bob do, does a very nice job of having the piano and drums behind Colin's voice without obscuring the lyrics. And the punchy bass from the gs1000's definitely help with the upbeat catchy tune.
Ok, moved on over to Adrian Belew and "This is What I believe in". Vocals are a bit laid back in this one. Guitars are nice and upfront, very catchy and you can hear the different plucking techniques and even the changes in his voice throughout the song (I think theyre distorted on purpose). The solo is very well portrayed and the gs1000's don't miss a beat when it comes to the distortions. And now Onto Zocalo, one of my favorite trance tracks of all time (Armin Van Buuren's 10 Years CD). I am just Floored by the bass on these headphones. Theres a part during the intro that always ALWAYS leaves you wanting more from grados and even the MDR SA5000's. If you have a pair of headphones that are bass impact-less or weak, you notice it right away. These did a great job. In the song, Armin also lets the bass line get too powerful and can muddy the rest of the song, but the gs1000's are doing a good job keeping the bass line in the back where its not bothering the rest of the melody. The guitar part is very rich and warm, not quite as warm as when I heard them with the hd650's (listening to that section with the hd650's makes you piss in your pants-you know like when you piss in a pool, it gives you that nice warm feeling), but unlike the hd650's, the bassline and the bass is bearable. Whenever I listen to the rest of the song with the hd650's I just want to rip the hd650's apart for their slow response, but the gs1000's are keeping up very nicely, in fact they might very well have surpassed my sa5000's with respect to their speed. I just got to the "sweet spot" of the song, and there are layers of music going on right now and I don't have to work at trying to hear each one. Its almost like going to a concert and all you have to do is look at a particular performer and you can hear whatever instrument they are playing even if its a single violinist in a sea of violinists. Its doing an amazing job.
Now I'm listening to Armin's Imagine CD. Imagine is playing and I really like this song for its versatility and the effect that he seems to put into the music. It feels like a lot of the intro is about bringing in different sounds, like thoughts, they start in the corner and slowly creep up in front of you and it comes through very easily. For those who criticize Digital music as being Digital rather than "real" music, I really think that most if not all of what you hear in the intro of imagine is from real pianists, violinist, and guitarists. Its pretty damn good. Now I'm getting to the funky bass line and the transition is very well done and I like how he incorportates quite a bit of space. Ok now, were entering the digital music arena and everything sounds flat and dull (pre recorded and synthesized drums), all every easy to notice and a bit unappealing really. Ok I'm at the part where he begins to inject some real music, and its a bit muddled by the strong bass (I never though I'd every say that about a pair of grados), but the piano is still there, just a bit overshadowed by the bass. The guitar's loud and clear, it almost feels like the drums are moving around a guitarist playing on center stage. Now the bass has completely taken over and I'm having a hard time hearing anything else, I'm also having a hard time staying still at the moment -its very upbeat and I'm bobbing my head waay too much at this point. This sone really emphasizes directionality and 3dimentionality of sound. I would kill to hear this on some awesome speakers, but I think the gs1000's have done a great job with it.
Ok Norah Jones, god damn I fall in love with this woman everytime I hear her sing, and I dare anyone not to after hearing her voice. I'm listening to "Humble Me" Theres a hint of sibilance, but its not uncomfortable, its what you would hear when you talk to someone in person or hear her in concert. I really love how her voice and the bass just hits you in the right way in your chest. Its very easy to detect her moving close and away from the mic, and the song is just amazing, I really can't comment too much on it and I'm afraid I havent because I was too busy listening, sorry. Ah crap, I just heard some hissing and distortion near the end of the song. I noticed it before with my iems, it might be from my scratched up cd.
Amos Lee's "What's been going on" Has been one of my recent favorites and is currently in my cd rotation in my car, its pretty different hearing it with the gs1000's and my car. Wow that bass hits hard, I don't feel it but it kind of envelops your ears and quiets the rest of whats going on in the music. For some odd reason, the music isn't as engaging as when I hear it in my car. Normally I can't help but sing along and I've often been caught singing along without noticing to this song. Over all I think the gs1000's might not be as warm as I'd like them to be for this song, I would definitely prefer the hd650's or another pair of warm and rich headphone, perhaps the d5000's or d7000's. The gs1000's certainly capture the intruments but fail to capture Amos Lee's vocals.
And it is now 3 in the morning here in Jersey. I started listening to these headphones well over 2 hours ago, and it feels like its only been a few minutes. Thanks for reading this, I've pretty much typed up my thoughts as I listened to the music and left everything as raw as possible. I don't really like writing reviews around head-fi since they take a lot of time and often feel fake because you read through it and you correct or second guess yourself. So I think this was just my way of "reviewing" the gs1000's without really reviewing them, while keeping it as raw as possible. Hope you liked it, and I really hope this encourages people to try out the gs1000's with other genres of music, I'm probably going to regret selling these, but I've had one hell of a good time listening to them.
