Sol
100+
loves motorcycles !
Chief Technical Numpty
Posts: 135
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Post by Sol on Jan 24, 2007 15:56:18 GMT
Oooo lovely ... Initial impressions .... Bigger than Grados ... tight ... very tight ... both in sound and grip around the lugholes. Good job that the ear pad go around the ears. Very cool in both heat around the ear, and looks. I find nothing to dislike yet ... hopefully the headband and sound will loosen in the next few days on continuous play. Need to find those run in sweeps 0 - 15 mins Huge detail, no sound stage. Not as hard to drive as I thought ... volume knob on fractually up on the Grado! Still loads of sound leakge for the wife Been running 2 Hours so far ... will have a listen again later.
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Post by MaN227 on Jan 24, 2007 17:04:49 GMT
maybe I'm crazy , I have the 650's as well and am new to all this. ... but, disclaimer aside, I just grabbed eash side firmly ABOVE the ear pieces , where it is adjustable and simple gave them a work out lol. that top band has a LOT of give to it. just don't try to flatten it out on the table or anything and that should help ease the friggin' Vice like grip the put on your melon when new hehe . Mine are WAY more comfy now that I stretched them a bit. I did this .... oh, 6 different times or so. Now they are like a treat to have on my ears instead of tourture lol But don't come chewing my ear if you F yer sh!t up though hehe. a couple days straight playing (3 or 4) also helped the sound imho. I didn't believe in "BURN-IN" so much before that, but I am a believer now. AMEN Brother.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 24, 2007 17:38:21 GMT
Nice one Sol! The vice like grip soon relaxes (after about a month) and the sound fills out a lot more after a good few hundred hours bed in. You can flex the headband with your hands, it won't snap, but be careful not to overdo it as the paint on the edges of the headband can crack and lift (yes, the headband is spray painted then laquered) The edges have also got a tendency to peel if you've got a very sweaty head.... the top of the band never peels though.
I find that washing brand new pads helps to bed them in a bit faster too. Lukewarm water with some shampoo added, squish the pads about in the water and then rinse well with cold water.... squeeze out the excess and hang out to dry. I've washed my HD-600 pads about 40 times from new and they are good as new.... very robust don't be afraid to wash them.
Graham Slee bedded his in on the top of a radiator wrapped in a couple of pillows IIRC..... gave them a good thrashing for a few days...... Just crank your amp up to the 12' 0' clock position and stick an album on loop, cover with pillows if the sound leaks too much.
Mike.
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 24, 2007 18:18:16 GMT
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 25, 2007 0:13:45 GMT
Oh, and for you Mike the best of them all is of course a GRADO! Not just a Grado "spammer" but a "tone deaf" Grado spammer to boot I concur with your 650 / 600 observations. The 650, to my ears, exhibits way too much bass bloat to be considered a "neutral" reference 'phone but they're jack of all trades for the masses never offending and mostly pleasing / compatible with all listening formats / amps. Not my personal cup of tea otherwise I'd have a pair strapped onto my head as I type but good 'phones for the GP handling all source formats with equal chocolaty, pleasing, like an old glove regularity....... HD-600 are still my reference 'phones.
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xerxes
Been here a while!
Posts: 1,115
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Post by xerxes on Jan 25, 2007 0:58:31 GMT
You can't have too much low end! If all Grados have less low end than the HD650s, I can comfortably cross them off my "must try them one day" list.
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 25, 2007 1:10:03 GMT
be careful what you wish for bub because you never know,one day I may visit "Sheepsville" and strap a pair on you after i tie you in a chair and not let you up until you become a member of Team Grado sure you can when it is fake bass ! first of all NO headphone produces true deep bass because true bass is tactile not audible so what you are hearing is mid bass up.second the Senns bass is bloated,not natural.May sound musical but no WAY does a drum sound like a drum or a piano sound like a piano.the attack is all wrong,the delineation way off,the defination below a certain frequency non existant plus everything below a certain point in volume has zero life until you crank it up a bit more. Grados have TIGHT bass much like a horn loudspeaker system does and the highs are more tonally correct (if you doubt this check the graphs at headroom) so the image remains constant no matter what the volume level and the softest notes retain all the energy of the loudest so if dynamic realism and "true to the original" are the measure Grado SMOKES Sennheiser but if romantic and lush is your measure,if you like artificial bass and smooth over dynamic then i'm happy for ya
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 25, 2007 1:51:15 GMT
Present for Mikey a little known historical "fact" is I was the knucklehead that began the headphones "team XXX" concept when in the middle of a Grado/Sennheiser online war at Headwize that went to a lot of "fk you I hope you die" type responses I suggested we meet and have a paintball war to settle it with my "Team Grado vs. Team Sennheiser Paintball War" that led to my bud Apheared whipping out the above logo.The "Worlds Finest Sharpshooters" part was the fact that most of team Grado was ex-military and worse,ex 11 Bravo meaning the sennheiser punks were TOAST if the event took place as planned (Central park in NY ) which sadly it did not. Would have been great fun lighting up the opposition and if you have ever been hit with a paint ball you KNOW it stings like a bitch making it even more fun when we devestated the opposition sending them packing back to mamma with their wanna be headphones in tow.....
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xerxes
Been here a while!
Posts: 1,115
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Post by xerxes on Jan 25, 2007 2:43:50 GMT
No doubt all in artillery devisions. I SAID, NO DOUBT ALL IN ARTILLERY DEVISIONS.
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Post by MaN227 on Jan 25, 2007 18:06:25 GMT
poor Sol, just wanted to talk about his new baby. Ok, who had the can opener and opened up the worms? I have the Senn HD-650 and very much enjoy it. got the AKG 701's , too new to tell about them, a few things about them are obvious even to me crappy 'ol ears. the bass is better in the 650., mid near even, and highs go to the 701. Mind you they are very new and have not had their , (supposedly) needed 2-3 hundred hours of burn-in. ... which leads to a question , maybe noone can answer , but it makes me scratch me noggin and wonder.... if burn-in is such a necessary thing with headphones then why don't this manufactures burn them in to sound their best THEN ship them out... ? humm but when I FINALLY get some amps that can properly drive them it all may change , but I like them equally well. sort of a tit for tat kinda feeling I have between them. so I guess we need some AKG supporters in here I to would like to try some Grado, but have to avoid what many claim is the brite sound of the grado high end. So from what I have been told ( by a trusted source ) the MS-1 would make a fine choice and read also that the MS-2 and maybe the 325i are about the only choices. sorry Sol, for flipping the bail on the track changer and send this tread even farther off track . now where did I leave them damn goggles? can't afford to lose an eye with these paintballs flying all about hehe thats a very nice um ...er siggy? there Rickcr42
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 25, 2007 18:17:31 GMT
Totally agree with that banner of yours Rick
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Sol
100+
loves motorcycles !
Chief Technical Numpty
Posts: 135
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Post by Sol on Jan 25, 2007 22:09:42 GMT
poor Sol, just wanted to talk about his new baby. Glad I could contribute to a bit of a flame session So ... 24 hours + on the headphones - figure I better listen to the bloated base and the unnatural top end, but wallow in the silky smoothness and falseness of it all. Thanks for that frequency sweep Rick .... on repeat with a classical track, a rock track and a electronica track repeating!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 25, 2007 23:01:27 GMT
poor Sol, just wanted to talk about his new baby. Glad I could contribute to a bit of a flame session So ... 24 hours + on the headphones - figure I better listen to the bloated base and the unnatural top end, but wallow in the silky smoothness and falseness of it all. Thanks for that frequency sweep Rick .... on repeat with a classical track, a rock track and a electronica track repeating! Keep bedding those babies in on full gas Sol, the entire presentation changes / shifts after a few hundred hours of use and you'll find the bass tightening up, the soundstage widening and the treble will perk up a bit. I speak from experience with the HD-600 (years on my head) and they really do take a long time to fully bed in, when they do though you will find they spend more time on your head than off. Fresh from the box, in my experience, no headphone sounds anywhere near like it will sound a few hundred / thousand hours down the line. The big mistake quite a lot of people make is reaching a conclusion after a few hours listening and then putting them up for sale.... you have to be patient with all headphones and accept that a prolonged bed in period is essential before they perform to their optimum, just think about your motorbike engines.... the same applies with any moving parts. The slowest 'phones to bed in have to be the AKG K-501, my pair didn't really start to perform the way they do now until a good year of use had passed... bass shy my foot! when they're fully bedded in they are different animals entirely. The reason I never visted the headphone forum on Head-Fi was the people there who started posts "my XYZ have arrived..... I think they sound blah blah blah........" Bollocks, let's get your impressions after they've been on your head for 6 months, not 6 hours! The Goldring DR-150 I have just ordered were described by Hi-Fi World as sounding slightly constrained, uncomfortable (head clamping) and not as dynamic as the reviewers reference Sennheiser 570 (yeh, tell me about it ) He then goes on to mention an extensive bed in period of "2 days" fuNk off! no wonder the damned things sounded constrained, lacking in dynamics and uncomfortable.... his "reference" 570's probably years old and on his head every day..... I always give something a good 3 months before I evaluate it or I'll start with an "initial impressions" thread and then update on the progress of the piece of equipment over a good long period. Fresh out of the box reviews are worthless unless they're followed up a few months later with a "hold on a minute..... these are now sounding a lot better /worse...." These reviewers (hi-Fi journalists) reference gear is gear that's been with them for quite some time, gear that has bedded in and gear they have grown to know and appreciate.... to compare known, bedded in gear to fresh out of the box is one of the reasons I don't subscribe to Hi-Fi mags and why I don't follow the pack who expect it this minute, on a plate, instant gratification style. I hope I don't sound big headed here but I pride myself on my "long term" appraisals and when I do give a recommendation you can be sure it's based on many hundreds of hours of listening. Only today I discovered the magical sound / sweet spot of Grado and that's after a good few months experimenting with different amps.... rockgrotto.proboards39.com/index.cgi?board=b&action=display&thread=1169759985&page=1 Let us know what your impressions are in 6 months time Sol Mike.
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 25, 2007 23:12:30 GMT
Light Infantry bubba with me leading the band of renegades being the most qualified and why the match would have been a lock someone say something ;D was just sittin' here minding my business because they would have to pay somne knucklhead union scale to burn them in then when done remove them and give them to the next knucklhead to pack then on to the next guy for......... Bottom line cost is all.Combine that with the majority of average consumers not even knowing what burn in IS why bother ? proper amp...proper amp...proper amp...proper amp........ my favorite all time cans.Plug it into ANY headphone jack and it will play as loud as you can stand and then some.Plug it into a GOOD jack and you find yourself listening instead of critiqueing .....so I had this sweet 1968 Barracuda that started out in life as a 318 with an A904 torqueflite tranny that I painted Corvette white #5 from its stock MOPAR green,bolted on some 340 heads thus making it a 340 (same block ),ripped out the rest of the drive train and put in a limited slip differential with a long tail 727 Torqeflite tranny and a new drive shaft (withthe rings to hold it in in case i blew the fker up),cammed it to 258 degrees ,replaced all the rockers/pushrods with edlebrocks,slapped on an edelbrock "performer" intake manifold but kept a two barrel carter carb on it instead of moving to four barrels (gas embargo at the time) then finally added some proper tires then adjusted the torsion bar front suspension for a lower profile and...... BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh...........FKN STREET ROCKET ! damn I miss that car what was the question ? huh what while your at it you might want to look into getting a pair of Boston Acoustics or vintage Advent loudspeakers too...same shit in SQ : Smooth,never sounds caught out,no real LIFE but sweet just the same you got it bubba rick out **
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Sol
100+
loves motorcycles !
Chief Technical Numpty
Posts: 135
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Post by Sol on Jan 26, 2007 0:12:57 GMT
Let us know what your impressions are in 6 months time Sol Mike. Of course .. the Grados are now 9 months old and have ben played pretty much 2 to 3 hours week during that time .. so only 100 hours! They sound sweet - but sheeeit - only 100 hours! Tell you what 's weird ... jumping between the two. Suddenly the Gardos feel light, and comfortable!!! Amn those 650s appear heavy - guss it's that clamping feeling doing it!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 26, 2007 0:15:42 GMT
You obviously didn't read the small print Rick (taking Vietnam, Iraq and friendly fire into consideration )
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 26, 2007 0:16:21 GMT
By the way Sol,I really do feel bad about crapping all over your thread but is a habit I am working on (and failing at ).Damn good thing that A-we don't enforce rules on thread crapping here and if we did B-I am a moderator so untouchable sorry man,couldn't resist.Another of my personality defects (no self control) that i'm working on to no avail I'll try to behave though hard as it is
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 26, 2007 0:18:23 GMT
You obviously didn't read the small print Rick (taking Vietnam, Iraq and friendly fire into consideration ) X2
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 26, 2007 0:24:52 GMT
Let us know what your impressions are in 6 months time Sol Mike. Of course .. the Grados are now 9 months old and have ben played pretty much 2 to 3 hours week during that time .. so only 100 hours! They sound sweet - but sheeeit - only 100 hours! Tell you what 's weird ... jumping between the two. Suddenly the Gardos feel light, and comfortable!!! Amn those 650s appear heavy - guss it's that clamping feeling doing it! Weird! I find the Grados very uncomfortable and the Senns fit like old gloves....... give them time...... SERIOUSLY
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Sol
100+
loves motorcycles !
Chief Technical Numpty
Posts: 135
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Post by Sol on Jan 26, 2007 0:26:31 GMT
By the way Sol,I really do feel bad about crapping all over your thread but is a habit I am working on (and failing at ).Damn good thing that A-we don't enforce rules on thread crapping here and if we did B-I am a moderator so untouchable sorry man,couldn't resist.Another of my personality defects (no self control) that i'm working on to no avail I'll try to behave though hard as it is I think of message boards as a chat down the pub kind of thing .. some one starts a conversation and it quickly shifts off to tits, drinking, bullshit and evetually comes back to the original premise! So you fire away and crapola on threads as much as you like!
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 26, 2007 0:50:23 GMT
Some may class it as uncontrolable "rap"...... I prefer the Jazz classification myself, a lot more classy sounding than "rap"
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 26, 2007 1:16:34 GMT
shitshooters also works for me mikester since i can shoot the shit with the best of them on damn near any topic and usually as the central figure since.In fact i think my nickname is "shut up rick" AKA "does that guy ever shut up ?" but only my freinds can call me that.
if i like you you can pretty much insult me,my manhood or lack of and even my family/ancestry
(questionable as it is being 1/4 Scott,1/4 brit,1/4 Viking and 1/4 German or put another way a mix of all the badd asses of europe though I choose to call myself a viking being that I not only like their style but their balls for sailing those wanna be ships all the way here WAY before Christopher columbus got his ass lost and stumbled in by accident THEN found their way back home again !)
Oh,yeah among the Neilson side of my family i am known as "little rick" because I am only 6'3.5" and they are all fkn giants making me feel like a freakin' midget in their presence 'cause i am NOT used to looking UP at anyone !among the local vikings i am known as "Skaarny Varden" or "skinny viking" a name i earned by going toe to toe with a big bastard of a Scandanavian Biker named IVAN and who everone was afraid of so when i pounced on his ass and he realised it was ON and once on that this skinny f**k has some iron earned me both respect and the name
Jazz.
Starts out with a theme stray to virtuaosity,to whatever feels like the thing to do at the moment then back to structured so everyone knows when to stop.Kinda like a Team sport and an Individual sport all rolled into one so while there is collaboration there are no "you can't do that" rules and probably why it hits me so hard i get dizzy if I am standing up and the band into it.If I sit i just close my eyes and zoom while swaying and tapping to the baseline.
That is free form jazz and no recording comes close it needing to be experienced and not listened to.For listening I like fusion Jazz most,a sprinkling of Carribean some New orleans style funk/jazz and anything with great horns
YEAH BABY !
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Post by PinkFloyd on Jan 26, 2007 1:20:39 GMT
Classic case of uncontrolable / frenzied rap ;D What was this about again?? HD-650 wasn't it?
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 26, 2007 1:25:21 GMT
whatsa HD650 ? small hard drive ? Compact sedan ? Some kind of euro designer drug ?
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jan 26, 2007 1:53:24 GMT
when rap first hit the scene it was a lot more fun instead of nasty, "old school rap" albums like Curtis Blow and the hilarious Rapper Delight long version
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