[silverrain]

My new RS-1's are sounding better and better after 50 hours of burn-in -- SQ has settled down, bass has gotten more and better -- smoother overall mids and highs.
I never knew a Grado would have nice bass like this! And I still can hear *every* detail in the mids and highs -- stuff I never heard before on my reference recordings. Wow!
Bone stock -- no switching anything around -- if I have to do that, I'll just get different cans. But that's just ME I guess.

 

[adanac061]

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverrain /img/forum/go_quote.gif I never knew a Grado would have nice bass like this! And I still can hear *every* detail in the mids and highs -- stuff I never heard before on my reference recordings. Wow!

The detail in the mids and highs is what swung me to using the bowls,
you don't kill your wallet for an outboard dac just to smother the glorious detail with flats !!

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by adanac061 /img/forum/go_quote.gif [size=small]What could this be???[/size]

Can't wait for mine to come in too. enjoy

 

[aluren]

Quote:

Originally Posted by snejk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Quoting: I feel I need to calm down all this Flats fanboyism. I got the flats from Todd yesterday (EXCELLENT execution of my order btw, 8 days including overseas shipping). While the increased bass was obvious and enjoying at first I soon felt that it was almost overpowering and smearing the sound. The bass was somewhat muddy and some vocals felt fuzzy and not neutral/realistic. When I listened yesterday evening and night after finding the pads in the mailbox I realized I wasnt enjoying the music at all, it almost felt fatiguing. I put it down to me having a real stressful day at work and thought I should listen more today. Today: the same feeling. The music wasn't as engaging as I'm now used to when listening to the RS1s. I then put the bowls back on and the magic was back! A bit more distant sounding but more engaging nevertheless. As always, people hear differently. Maybe because of preferences or maybe because of different ears. But one thing is sure, the pad swapping alters the sound in a not so subtle way. I have a hard time thinking that anyone would have a problem hearing the difference between the two pads, you don't need to have trained ears for that.

i have to agree. got my flats and put them on numerous times and i just can't seem to enjoy them. with the bowls, the bass, soundstage, and overall musicality just comes back and i thoroughly enjoy them.

 

[lerio]

snejk and aluren, don't take it bad but i wonder if age are related, since i read here that bowls appear on RS-1 later (when John Grado get more in age) i wonder if it's not also a thing to point, can i ask you you age ?

If it's not that we must have different ear as individual, the cymbal with bowls sound Too high, that's a Fact

Quote:

Originally Posted by aluren /img/forum/go_quote.gif i have to agree. got my flats and put them on numerous times and i just can't seem to enjoy them. with the bowls, the bass, soundstage, and overall musicality just comes back and i thoroughly enjoy them.

 

[silverrain]

WHAT DID YOU SAY? SPEAK UP!

 

[Clutz]

I am utterly amazed by the RS-1s. I haven't done a side by side comparison yet with my HD650s, and so far I've just been listening to them directly out if my iPod (I don't have an amp at home, it's all in my office set up) but they just sound beautiful to me. I can't wait for Tuesday (work day, Monday is a national holiday in Canada) to try these beauties out with the rest of my system. I'm totally smitten.

 

[snejk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lerio /img/forum/go_quote.gif snejk and aluren, don't take it bad but i wonder if age are related, since i read here that bowls appear on RS-1 later (when John Grado get more in age) i wonder if it's not also a thing to point, can i ask you you age ? If it's not that we must have different ear as individual, the cymbal with bowls sound Too high, that's a Fact

Yes it may very well be age related. But I think another big factor must be the shape of your ear canals and just general sound signature preference. As you are sensitive to highs I am sensitive to certain types of bass (well, I am sensitive to sibilant highs as well...). And don't forget the effect of the source and amp. There's so many factors....

But regarding age, I'm 33 so I'm not THAT old. And I have quite recently performed a hearing test at a clinic without any faults. This test wasn't in the higher frequencies but I'm able to hear the high frequency 'teenage-only-phone-signal', which supposedly people over 25 or so shouldnt be able to hear....

So I'm not so sure it's age related, at least not in my case.

 

[aluren]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lerio /img/forum/go_quote.gif snejk and aluren, don't take it bad but i wonder if age are related, since i read here that bowls appear on RS-1 later (when John Grado get more in age) i wonder if it's not also a thing to point, can i ask you you age ? If it's not that we must have different ear as individual, the cymbal with bowls sound Too high, that's a Fact

i'm 24, so hopefully my ears aren't going bad on me already... lol...

 

[riceboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clutz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am utterly amazed by the RS-1s. I haven't done a side by side comparison yet with my HD650s, and so far I've just been listening to them directly out if my iPod (I don't have an amp at home, it's all in my office set up) but they just sound beautiful to me. I can't wait for Tuesday (work day, Monday is a national holiday in Canada) to try these beauties out with the rest of my system. I'm totally smitten.

A side by side comparison of the RS1 and HD650s would be interesting. I just got my SR225s and they sound great. I also do have the HD650s as well with the Silver Dragon V2 and I like them as well. Right now I've been enjoying my new Grados. Can't wait till I get the RS1s so I can have a side by side comparison as well. Glad to hear you are enjoying them

 

[lerio]

So in this case it's not a question of age as both of you are younger then me (i'am 40)

Strange... can you test that, i have cut a part of a Dave Weckl CD where the cymbals are Unnatural with Bowls to my ear (and as drummer) and sound perfect with flat, maybe with a particularly example we can see if it's question of taste or maybe like snejk said we have each different ear canal ( i know that some security system are based on ear form just like finger imprint)

It's here http://www.savefile.com/files/860703

Quote:

Originally Posted by snejk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes it may very well be age related. But I think another big factor must be the shape of your ear canals and just general sound signature preference. As you are sensitive to highs I am sensitive to certain types of bass (well, I am sensitive to sibilant highs as well...). And don't forget the effect of the source and amp. There's so many factors.... But regarding age, I'm 33 so I'm not THAT old. And I have quite recently performed a hearing test at a clinic without any faults. This test wasn't in the higher frequencies but I'm able to hear the high frequency 'teenage-only-phone-signal', which supposedly people over 25 or so shouldnt be able to hear.... So I'm not so sure it's age related, at least not in my case.

 

[snejk]

Interesting. I will try to get the time tonight to try the music clip tonight with the RS1, my work rig only consists of an ipod and a pair of er4p.

 

[snejk]

I have listened to the clip now, with bowls and then with flats. And surprisingly I prefered it with the flats! The clip had a much more full feel with the flats, more body, and I guess a bit more realistic (which is quite subjective).

Well, actually I shouldn't be that surprised since it had no vocals and my main gripe with the flats was with the reproduction of vocals. I guess I have to swap while listening to instrumental music

The sound of the bowls on the clip was otherwise pretty good, I had no problems with harsh treble or the like. It wasn't until I turned the volume up too loud that the snare drums got a bit overwhelming for my ear drums.

 

[aluren]

just listened to the file and had similar results as snejk had mentioned. thanks for your efforts for making us believe that the flats are better. i will go home and start using the flats for the next couple weeks non-stop, then go back to the bowls afterwards and see which one i still prefer. i mean, i got the flats because of all the positive comments i've read on head-fi, so it should at least be somewhat enjoyable. will do more critical listening in the coming weeks...

 

[lerio]

Interesting post for both of you, aluren did can you say same thing as snejk about vocal ?

snejk you noticed only harsh treble for snare because it's the most comon sound, but believe me the cymbals sound are unnatural with bowls

Anybody else here want to do the test with the file i've uploaded ?