[h8uthemost]

I stumbled upon the site goodcans(maybe from this site), and they seem to be all about Grado's. Like i am. I've been searching and searching for a pair of closed cans that are similar to Grado's.

Their site is saying that they're in love with the HFI 580's. Any Grado fans out there with these and are pleased? I'm looking for clarity.

Thanks.

 

[chailee80]

I stumbled upon the site goodcans(maybe from this site), and they seem to be all about Grado's. Like i am. I've been searching and searching for a pair of closed cans that are similar to Grado's.

Their site is saying that they're in love with the HFI 580's. Any Grado fans out there with these and are pleased? I'm looking for clarity.

Thanks.

Just got the HFI 580's today and so far i'm really impressed. I'm a Grado fan and currently own the SR225i and PS500 and in comparison i'd say these kinda sound like a closed back Grado. For the price the clarity is excellent, maybe not quite as good as an actual Grado can but definitely enough to satisfy those who love the Grado house sound. Treble response is very nice, again its not quite as attacking in the highs as an actual Grado headphone but it definitely doesn't lack anything either. The biggest difference is in the bass, being closed back these cans have some pretty heavy hitting bass. It can be a little boomy and some of the very low sub bass frequencies don't come through too well but it seems to be fairly well controlled and doesn't drown out the mids, if you love big bass you'll love these. The only gripe i have is out of the box the pads do put a fair bit of pressure on your head but that should hopefully lessen as i stretch them out a bit.
Some people say the s-logic can take some getting used to but personally i thought it sounded just fine from my first listen. It gives the can a pretty good soundstage considering its closed back.
 
From the reviews i've read the HFI-780 is more like the Grado sound, it has less bass but more attacking mids and highs.

 

[Aizura]

Ultrasone sounds NOTHING like any Grado. I never get where people get that. Ultrasone=V shaped, Grado=n shaped. That's not even taking into account that one is open and the other closed-back.
They do sound nice though (the 'Sones) with great clarity and attack.
HFI 580 does sound less V shaped and more natural than the Pro 900. Kinda ironic, since the latter is supposed to be the reference studio headphone.

 

[chailee80]

If they sounded nothing like a Grado then people would never have said that they do. To me they sound kind of similar. They both have a very attacking sound and have treble thats quite bright. If grado were to make a low-fi closed back I imagine it would sound something like the 580.

 

[Aizura]

People read too much what other people think, instead of listening themselves and form their own opinion.
Have you A/Bed any Ultrasone to a Grado?

 

[Aizura]

People read too much what other people think, instead of listening themselves and form their own opinion.
Have you A/Bed any Ultrasone to a Grado?

 

[chailee80]

People read too much what other people think, instead of listening themselves and form their own opinion.
Have you A/Bed any Ultrasone to a Grado?

Yeh I always a/b a new headphone with my Grado cans. I been comparing the HFI 580 against the SR225i. Obviously its open vs closed back but as I said above they both have a very fun, attacking sound and if Grado ever made a cheap closed back can I imagine it would sound something like the 580.
I do have the ultrasone Pro 2900 coming in the mail soon and I plan to compare it against my PS500. Should be quite interesting!

 

[alpha421]

I own Grados', and owned the stock and a ALO modded/reabled  HFI-780.  I concur that out of all the truly closed cans I've owned and auditioned, the HFI-780 had the closest sonic signature to that of a Grado.  On a side note, if you want to capture the Grado sound as much as possible in a very portable fashion, try the JVC/Victor FX700.

 

[chailee80]

Just been testing the pro2900 against the ps500 and im afraid the ultrasones dont sound anywhere near as good. They do have a better bass response than the ps500 but sound far too laid back in the mids and highs. Ps500's sound much more attacking, more clarity, airiness, instrument seperation and timbre. Its a good thing the pro2900 only cost me half as much as the Grados.

 

[HeretixAevum]

Having owned both a HFI-580 and a SR225i, and not looking back favourably upon either of them, then I guess people who like one would like the other 

 They both certainly have crap comfort, so Grado owners will love them in that regard. And they're both certainly bright to unwarranted levels, with the Ultrasone actually being a bit worse. The biggest differences between the two, I would say, is that the Ultrasone actually has some bass quantity, whereas the Grado is way too rolled off to be either pleasing or realistic. The other difference was that the Ultrasone sounded very cold and metallic whereas the Grado sounded warmer in tone. The Grado was also faster, but the Ultrasone had a more spacious presentation next to the Grado's almost IEM level soundstage.
 
In any case, I don't like either headphone and sold both for a reason.