[joseph69]

Quote:

I think you must just have a really really good sr80, before I sold them I did a lot of listening to my sr125i and my new 325is phones, and especially in terms of clarity and detail the 325's had it all over the 125's. As a matter of fact IMHO I think those two things along with bass extension are the main things the 325 does better than all the other phones in the SR lineup. I am still sorry I sold my 125's, for some stupid reason I still miss having those around.

Also what exactly is it that makes you say you wish you kept them around?
I owned 80i's before the 325's but destroyed them by accident, but I always wanted another pair for some reason, so I purchased them again, and now I guess I know the reason (for their detail and their clarity). 

 

[HPiper]

I liked the 125i for a strange reason, they struck me as being middle of the road. They didn't call attention to anything in particular, just delivered a nice smooth sound, just what I want when I am doing something else and want 'background' music. Now if I JUST want to listen to music and I mean really listen, then its the 325's without a doubt. I get distracted by the music listening to these as I am right now. You wouldn't believe how many typos I had to correct in this post <g>.

 

[roguegeek]

So I've been messing with my SR325is this weekend and have found that I really love the sound of the L-Cush pads, but I absolutely can't stand the comfort. The material is just far too hard to be laying directly on my ears. I have found the G-Cush pads feel pretty good, but I do like the L-Cush sound better. Is there a way to get L-Cush sound with G-Cush comfort?

 

[joseph69]

Quote:

I liked the 125i for a strange reason, they struck me as being middle of the road. They didn't call attention to anything in particular, just delivered a nice smooth sound, just what I want when I am doing something else and want 'background' music. Now if I JUST want to listen to music and I mean really listen, then its the 325's without a doubt. I get distracted by the music listening to these as I am right now. You wouldn't believe how many typos I had to correct in this post <g>.

See now its the opposite for me, I would be distracted listening to the 80's because there is so much detail going on, and would listen to the 325's without distraction, which is very nice also. 
Like I've said before, I wish they just had the clarity and detail that my 80's do.
Quote:

So I've been messing with my SR325is this weekend and have found that I really love the sound of the L-Cush pads, but I absolutely can't stand the comfort. The material is just far too hard to be laying directly on my ears. I have found the G-Cush pads feel pretty good, but I do like the L-Cush sound better. Is there a way to get L-Cush sound with G-Cush comfort?

Wash the (L) cushions with dish washing liquid, just like you were applying dish washing liquid to a sponge to do the dishes, then squeeze the excess water and lay them flat and press on them with a dry towel several times and let them dry a while and they will soften up. 
Also pull your headband equally apart holding them just above the rod blocks so the drivers just rest on your ears without any pressure and they will be real comfortable, you may have to do this several times with the headband.

 

[roguegeek]

Wash the (L) cushions with dish washing liquid, just like you were applying dish washing liquid to a sponge to do the dishes, then squeeze the excess water and lay them flat and press on them with a dry towel several times and let them dry a while and they will soften up. 
Also pull your headband equally apart holding them just above the rod blocks so the drivers just rest on your ears without any pressure and they will be real comfortable, you may have to do this several times with the headband.

So I'm guessing this is a common issue?

 

[sinnottj]

Quote:

So I'm guessing this is a common issue?

Yeah, the L cushion pads can be pretty rough to the touch when new Another trick is to use a mild detergent designed for handwashing clothes and/or a small amount of fabric softener. Just make sure you rinse them well.

 

[HPiper]

Quote:

Yeah, the L cushion pads can be pretty rough to the touch when new Another trick is to use a mild detergent designed for handwashing clothes and/or a small amount of fabric softener. Just make sure you rinse them well.

+1 on this, definitely use a small amount of clothes detergent, if it has fabric softener in it, that is even better. Makes a huge improvement!

 

[pallentx]

Quote:

I do agree that the 325is has more bass and is a more refined sounding headphone and I do absolutely love it, I'm just getting more micro detail clearer, crisper sound out of the 80i's for some reason, but it is not as rich, full or as smooth as the 325is. Anyway I appreciate you doing the A/B test, let me know what you think.
BTW this was even so before I did any changes to the 80i.
 And also what you say about your memory as far as being foggy, is a great way to describe the detail and clarity differences that I hear between the two that I own. Thanks.

Crazy. When I got my 325is, the increase in clarity and detail was like a punch in the face (in a good way). I find the 325is to be much more detailed and crisp.  Although, my 80s were the original SR80 - not the SR80i.

 

[maddin]

Today I took my SR80 back home from work and now I did the A/B comparions to my SR325i. I listened to two tracks "Out there" from Dinosaur Jr. and "Jockey full of bourbon" from Tom Waits. The first song was because of the GREAT guitars of John Mascis - they actually ask for a Grado headphone to listen to them... and Tom Waits has for my ears really well recorded music and the songs have many details to discover. Source was a marantz CD player to a Creek OBH 21 SE and both headphones were plugged in at the same time.
I started with Dinosaur Jr and the SR325i. It sounded great, the attack of the guitars was there and I like the drums on this piece. Than I switched to the SR80. From my ears they are a little bit louder though I have no means to measure this and can not prove it. They sound warmer, less highs but they are stunning too in their way.
Actually in the beginning when I switched betwen the headphones, everytime when I come to the SR80 I thought "Yes this is it... and why didn't I listen to them for sooo long and left them at work????" But after some more time of listening I found this is more due to the warmer sound of the SR80s. More detail I did not hear with my pair of headphones and my pair of ears. With more listening what I started to appreciate about the SR325i were the vocals. I think this in general one strong point of Grados, vocals. But the SR325i shine in this. With the Tom Waits song this became even more clear. The voice is more clear with the SR325i, whereas the warmths of the SR80 makes it sound a bit muffled. No still nothing compared to the Sennheiser HD650 camp - we are still talking Grado afterall - but with the SR325i I have the feeling Tom Waits is whispering in me ear, whereas with the SR80 he is there, stil sounding nice but just somewhere.
This is somehow the opposite of what you - joseph69 - wrote about your impressions from the SR80/SR325 comparison. You have more details and more clarity in the SR80. I have the opposite. Maybe a difference in the headphones? I mean quality control has been an issue of discussion for Grados since long. Maybe a RS1 driver found by accident home in your SR80s? 
But the longer I listen to headphones and read about them on forums like here I become more carefull to sonic impressions. What we hear is true for us. But no ear is the same and so the same headphone is perceived different by different ears (and different brains and their sonic memories and filters)... so what am I writing about? For me you should be enjoy your to sets of headphes, both of them have something you enjoy. You can listen music differently with them. Who cares that one is supposed to be a more entry level headphone? Just enjoy... happy listening!

 

[joseph69]

Quote:

Crazy. When I got my 325is, the increase in clarity and detail was like a punch in the face (in a good way). I find the 325is to be much more detailed and crisp.  Although, my 80s were the original SR80 - not the SR80i.

Yes, I know it's crazy!
Quote:

Today I took my SR80 back home from work and now I did the A/B comparions to my SR325i. I listened to two tracks "Out there" from Dinosaur Jr. and "Jockey full of bourbon" from Tom Waits. The first song was because of the GREAT guitars of John Mascis - they actually ask for a Grado headphone to listen to them... and Tom Waits has for my ears really well recorded music and the songs have many details to discover. Source was a marantz CD player to a Creek OBH 21 SE and both headphones were plugged in at the same time.
I started with Dinosaur Jr and the SR325i. It sounded great, the attack of the guitars was there and I like the drums on this piece. Than I switched to the SR80. From my ears they are a little bit louder though I have no means to measure this and can not prove it. They sound warmer, less highs but they are stunning too in their way.
Actually in the beginning when I switched betwen the headphones, everytime when I come to the SR80 I thought "Yes this is it... and why didn't I listen to them for sooo long and left them at work????" But after some more time of listening I found this is more due to the warmer sound of the SR80s. More detail I did not hear with my pair of headphones and my pair of ears. With more listening what I started to appreciate about the SR325i were the vocals. I think this in general one strong point of Grados, vocals. But the SR325i shine in this. With the Tom Waits song this became even more clear. The voice is more clear with the SR325i, whereas the warmths of the SR80 makes it sound a bit muffled. No still nothing compared to the Sennheiser HD650 camp - we are still talking Grado afterall - but with the SR325i I have the feeling Tom Waits is whispering in me ear, whereas with the SR80 he is there, stil sounding nice but just somewhere.
This is somehow the opposite of what you - joseph69 - wrote about your impressions from the SR80/SR325 comparison. You have more details and more clarity in the SR80. I have the opposite. Maybe a difference in the headphones? I mean quality control has been an issue of discussion for Grados since long. Maybe a RS1 driver found by accident home in your SR80s? 
But the longer I listen to headphones and read about them on forums like here I become more carefull to sonic impressions. What we hear is true for us. But no ear is the same and so the same headphone is perceived different by different ears (and different brains and their sonic memories and filters)... so what am I writing about? For me you should be enjoy your to sets of headphes, both of them have something you enjoy. You can listen music differently with them. Who cares that one is supposed to be a more entry level headphone? Just enjoy... happy listening!

I do agree that the vocals are smoother and richer with the 325is.
I do enjoy both of the headphones regardless of level/price, I just still find this very strange. Thanks for your A/Bing the headphones.  

 

[roguegeek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinnottj /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Quote:

Quote:

Wash the (L) cushions with dish washing liquid, just like you were applying dish washing liquid to a sponge to do the dishes, then squeeze the excess water and lay them flat and press on them with a dry towel several times and let them dry a while and they will soften up. 
Also pull your headband equally apart holding them just above the rod blocks so the drivers just rest on your ears without any pressure and they will be real comfortable, you may have to do this several times with the headband.

 
So I'm guessing this is a common issue?

Yeah, the L cushion pads can be pretty rough to the touch when new Another trick is to use a mild detergent designed for handwashing clothes and/or a small amount of fabric softener. Just make sure you rinse them well.

 
Well hot damn. This actually totally worked. I've been able to use the L-Cush pads all day long with very minimal adjustments being made. Dream... realized.

 

[sinnottj]

Well hot damn. This actually totally worked. I've been able to use the L-Cush pads all day long with very minimal adjustments being made. Dream... realized.

That's really good to hear!

 

[HPiper]

 I don't understand the people that like to bash Grado's and they seem particularly set against the 325i. I just bought a new cd (Loreena McKennitt-The Visit) and was listening to it for the first time. First through my 225i phones. Something just wasn't right, for the first time ever I had found a cd that they just flat couldn't handle. Too much Low bass and high strings and precussion  all at once had those phones crying for mercy. So I brought out the giant killers...HD600. Now everything sounded right and I was able to listen to the whole cd and enjoyed every minute of it, but there were some problems, in a few places there was something playing that I just couldn't identify. So, having only one other phone, I grabbed my SR325i and listened to the cd through them. I was stunned to be honest. All of a sudden everything was where it was supposed to be and the level it should be at and I was able to easily identify the instrument I had heard as being a Balalaika ( I actually thought it was a Sitar but they seem to sound a lot alike, having not heard either one very often) point being the sound I was hearing was clear as a bell and had I been familiar with the sound I would have been able to identify it first time, without having to look at the liner notes (good reason for buying instead of downloading) I will admit, the HD600 imaging was vastly better (in a way) than the Grado's, much wider and deeper presentation. I actually think that for my tastes at least, it was too wide, she plays with a pretty small ensemble yet it sounded like they were spread all over an entire symphony stage. Some people like that I know, but knowing what I was listening to, I totally felt the Grado was closer to what I would hear at a live concert of hers, if I were sitting close to the stage. In short I have a new appreciation for these phones, with certain material there is nothing like them, that I have heard at least. If I ever end up with $2000 to spare and can listen to some HE-6's or HD800 I may change my mind but for now I am real glad I own these headphones.

 

[KLJTech]

I think the problem is that some find the 325i a bit bright but they can sound GREAT if driven by a nice DAC and a tube amp...even an inexpensive tube amp like the LD MKIII can make the 325i's sound terrific. I've found that my Goldies sound really nice when being driven by my Schiit Audio Lyr too. Keep in mind that opinions will vary with regards to liking anything. 

 

[pallentx]

Quote:

 I don't understand the people that like to bash Grado's and they seem particularly set against the 325i.

I don't think people are making things up. There's likely a lot of things going on. I believe some of it is source equipment and/or file format/quality. The 325is are not forgiving of bad source files.  Some of it may be that some genres of music respond better on different phones than others. The 325is, for me, seem to really be at home with acoustic and vocal music. Guitars, violin, mandolin, acoustic bass all sound amazing. That's mostly what I listen to - with some old electronic stuff mixed in. Finally, I think some people are accustomed to a certain sound signature from their phones and when something else comes along, its difficult to shift gears and adjust to it. I don't think that's a bad thing - I know I do it too. This is probably why Sennheisers haven't done much for me when I have tested them in the past. I think if I spent a month with some HD600s, I would probably start to really like them too. Its also possible there are some quality control issues with Grados such that you cant really say a 325 is a 325 is a 325.