[Beavis5000]

well I recently bought a mini mint waiting for it to get shipped

 

[seeberg]

Try the HD414 replacement pads model #19545 vwap style, or perhaps the RadioShack #33-379 replacement pads. I've got Smashing Pumpkins in my collection, and they sound fine to me in either set of pads.
Just a suggestion, hope it won't hurt to try

 

[mavis]

Thanks for posting this thread!

I just got my Sensas a few days ago and my OPA227 SM last week, and I've been going through all my LAME -ape stuff on my iPod trying to throw different stuff at the new combo. Totally forgot about Smashing Pumpkins until I saw this thread - I've got Gish, Machina, Mellon Collie, Pisces, and Siamese Dream, but haven't really listened to any of them recently. Well, until I saw this thread anyway ...

And then I had a "WOW" moment.

Siamese Dream was my first SP CD, I bought it more than ten years ago, and over the years I've listened to it many hundreds of times, no doubt. I always thought the "... and you need to resist the Devil so that he will flee!" at the end of Soma, and the "now it's kind of strange and umm, awkward to talk about, but I thought maybe you could help - umm, when we start getting physical, rather than having ... " at the end of Spaceboy were kind of cool. Just totally random audio clips. But tonight, for the first time ever, I heard the digitized-sounding random audio clip at the end of Quiet (after the feedback fades out, the last two seconds or so of the song) which sounds a lot like background television noise/static (like channel surfing or something) and again at the end of Hummer (What?! I *LOVE* that song and have listened to it in its entirety COUTNLESS times, and never knew there was a random audio clip after the feedback ends!!) ... Wow. Just, WOW. I never knew that stuff was there, I was totally shocked to hear it tonight!!!!!

So, umm ... yeah. Thanks!!!

 

[plainsong]

His voice sounds thin because his voice is thin.

But what's worse than Smashing Pumpkins is Zwan. The music is fine, it's the artificial pops and clicks added in that makes it sound crap. Why would you take your music and make it so unlistenable that even people using stock earbuds comlain is beyond me.

That said, it's ok through dt531's.

 

[spike33]

vocals aren't grado's strong suit, since they emphasize bass and treble

 

[zotjen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spike33 vocals aren't grado's strong suit, since they emphasize bass and treble

Well I'd have to disagree on this. I think vocals are their strong suit and bass is not emphasized.

 

[allenf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong But what's worse than Smashing Pumpkins is Zwan.

"Mary Star Of The Sea" has to be the loudest-mastered album in my entire music collection - and it suffers because of this.
If it sounded better I would like it even more...

But the Pumpkins' stuff (with the exception of Pisces) sounds pretty good - and as previous posters have alluded to - sounds really good on decent equipment.
I saw them live in early 1994 @ the Astoria in London; the sound was the best I had ever heard at a live rock show.

 

[choweee]

through the last decade of listening to the pumpkins i'd just say that their volume levels are always too low (i have to turn up the volume only when a pumpkins song comes up on the playlist), and they EQ up the low-end way too much. i just don't think you can compare them to today's production methods.

but they're still one of my favorite bands.

 

[spike33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zotjen Well I'd have to disagree on this. I think vocals are their strong suit and bass is not emphasized.

I guess its true that sr125 and down, there isn't much bass, sr225 and up is another story. strong impactful bass is their strong suit, their vocals sound thin in comparison to others like k501, dt880, hd595.

 

[K271 Guy]

Customize your message

 

[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orubasarot I don't know if this is the case for their older stuff, but in an interview for Zwan Billy was BRAGGING about overcompressing all of his tracks, being proud that they'll "sound loud on any system, at any volume". I couldn't believe it.

Hopefully next time they'll keep him out of the booth.

Even friends who don't usually notice things like recording quality noticed how he turned a wonderful album to crap.

It's listenable with dt531's, but even they say "Even I can't hide this."

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spike33 vocals aren't grado's strong suit, since they emphasize bass and treble

Haha, that's funny.

Grado's have the best vocals I've ever heard, and that includes HD650s.

 

[spike33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyfrenchman27 Haha, that's funny. Grado's have the best vocals I've ever heard, and that includes HD650s.

Then you obviously haven't heard dt880 or 595? If 650 is like 580, then I prefer grado. I am not even saying grado are bad, I luv my grado's

I'm just not a grado fanboy who has to defend em when someone points out their limitations. Face it, grado isn't perfect.

 

[zool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beavis5000 I am using the standard ones... but I dunno... is there a pair of headphones where Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness WOULD sound good through?

Haha, eerie! I was listening to this exact cd before I started IE and started browsing this forum, and then I found this thread

.

I always thought that this particular CD sounds bad out of bright sounding equipment, and Grados are usually on the bright side. Not trying to start a Grado vs Sennheiser war here but I think this particular cd might sound better with a non-bright sounding Senn can. I'm actually enjoying this cd as we speak out of my HD650's.. as mentioned earlier

.

 

[allenf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by choweee through the last decade of listening to the pumpkins i'd just say that their volume levels are always too low.

Yep - that's because dynamics exist in the music - and part of why they sound really good on decent equipment.
In other words, crank it up for the intro and get yer eardrums burst during the crescendo that exists near the end of most Pumpkins' tracks..