Grado Love or the RS2 (TTVJ Deluxe Pad) Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by purr1n, Feb 13, 2020.

  1. Philimon

    Philimon Friend

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    Yes. When I was still pretty new I craved large soundstage, but then after hearing Grado for first time I realized a big soundstage is not important and worse sometimes disengaging.

    You may borrow headphones if you want to write more comparitive notes. I’d like to hear RS2e w ttvj deluxe again since my experience was not as awesome, maybe I had a faulty unit or my expectation bias since I wanted a Hemp++. Also, would like to hear your HD580 since I didn’t like mine (unit variation is known) and would like to compare to modded 6XX. :)

    And I’d like to add that my TTVJ deluxe pads were asymmetrical. One had rounded edges, the other square. And the layers of different density foam werent very equal. Asymmetrical pads is not uncommon in general ime, but for $60shipped foam pads I think Todd could scan the box for a more matching set. However, Todd is kind with unmatched customer support, which is part of why I didnt complain (to him) about some pad nitpicking.
     
  2. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I’d be down for some headphone lending once I’ve got the full measure of these, for sure.
     
  3. Grattle

    Grattle Friend

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    I may not pay $60 for foam pads everyday, but when I do, I expect them to match. Stay thirsty my friends.

    [​IMG]
     
  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    You should nitpick. He's cool about stuff like this.
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    It's strange and a lesson on why measurements sometimes may not matter. The measured bass distortion on Grados suck however way we cut it. THD is worse slightly worse than HD650, which is known to be veiled. However, when we look deeper at the 3rd harmonic, we see something interesting. Also, there is the transient response to consider.

    Another headphone which sucks in respect to bass distortion is the SR1a. However by more than a few subjective measures, the bass quality of the SR1 is excellent. Great transient response but poor distortion.

    The reason I am mentioning these things is because objectivists miss so much... the overall experience of sound cannot be quantified in one, two, or even three objective measurements. The more the better, and only if the measurements are meaningful, but still...
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2021
  6. Raimei Templar

    Raimei Templar Friend

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    I am pretty sure its due to the drivers being so close to your ear. I found the subbass of the Grados with the flat pads and even the L pads to be surprisingly good. EQ it up a bit and you can get some pretty solid slam out of them. The hemps subbass was outstanding, better than most other headphones i have tried.

    I also found the ad2000 to have far more slam than its fr graphs would indicate and is very similar to a grado, both stick a larger than typical driver as close to your ear as possible. I think the placement of the driver has a pretty big impact on the way we perceive the overall sound and this is why fr graphs can be misleading.
     
  7. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    I've been listening to the RS2e on my Lyr 3 all evening. I surmised the Lyr 3 would be more of a synergistic pairing because it's a more laid back amp than the Liquid Platinum, and I do find myself fiddling with the volume far less than I did with the LP. However, this is hardly a 1:1 comparison. The LP is plugged into a Gungnir MB A1 via the balanced outs, the Lyr is connected to a Bifrost 1 MB. I also have the Lyr running through a Saga in passive mode whereas the LP had no preamp (although frankly the LP could use it far more than the Lyr, but I don't have a balanced pre). The Gungnir is fed by a 502DAC/RPi through SPDIF, the Bifrost is Unison USB.

    Interestingly this combo seems to improve the layering and soundstage of the RS2. No, it's not suddenly an HD800 but the with the LP it was very left-right whereas on the Lyr it has more sense of depth. The opposite is true with my 580. The LP feels extremely 3D with the LP, and flatter with the Lyr. Go figure.

    One thing I've noticed about the RS2e is that there seems to be a bit of brain burn in necessary to really fully appreciate it. With both the LP and the Lyr my initial impression was underwhelming, to the point of wondering if I even wanted to keep the headphones. As I kept listening, the sonic qualities bloomed and I went from "meh" to "f**k this is a tremendous headphone!" I doubt it's the drivers needed warmup, because running them from the SE out on my ZX300, they sound great from note one. For the LP it could have been amp warm up (I turned it on ~20 minutes before I sat down to listen), but the Lyr I accidentally left on for the last two days so this amp was well warm already.

    I had originally ordered these to be the "fun" headphone in my collection but the incredible amount of clarity they provide may actually make them an excellent tool for critical listening. This is certainly far less forgiving of poorly mastered material, and great masterings sound utterly incredible. And I'm not just talking about singer/songwriter one person and a guitar and a piano stuff. This headphone really cuts the wheat from the chaff when it comes to mastering. I put on Bete Noire by Bryan Ferry on at random, just clicking around in my library. This was just a plain old '80s CD release. It was spacious, harmonically rich, very lifelike. I then put on his 2002 album Frantic, which I think is the superior album musically, but it had shitty '00s crushed mastering and sounded like ass. The 580 would be more forgiving of the latter but less able to pull out every last bit of sonic goodness from the former. I think it's also revealing more of the sonic characteristics of the downstream gear I'm using than the 580. It's kind of like a scalpel in that sense.

    I've got a Bifrost 2 coming, which should narrow the performance delta between my systems, because I know the Bifrost 1 is a limiting factor here. At the end of the day the Gungnir is just so engaging. I was up until almost 1 last night listening to song after song on my main system. Tonight I'll be in bed before midnight as I don't have as much compulsion for just one more song, but I think that speaks more to total system synergy than it does about the Lyr or the RS2e.
     
  8. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Back on the Liquid Platinum and it sounds less peaky tonight. Might be more brain burn in? I’m hardly touching the volume knob like I did the first night. I’m listening to the Berlin Philharmonic production of Karajan conducting Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, material I would never have considered playing on my 225 in stock form, and it sounds tremendous. I thought the driving nature of these headphones might prove too much with as dramatic a composer as Beethoven but it’s exhilarating. I know I’m gushing, but I honestly didn’t expect this level of performance from a simple pad swap, despite Marv talking about using this headphone with these pads on TOTL gear.
     
  9. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    Last edited: May 17, 2021
  10. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Has the 225 always had 44mm drivers?
     
  11. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    I think it did...but could be wrong since 225 keep going thru revisions.

    it seems the better headphone cable is an improvement on the stock one. I bet they will do adjustments to the Reference/Statement series soon. Feels dumb having only lower end having the better headphone cable and "better" headband.
     
  12. Philimon

    Philimon Friend

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    Why take 50years to update? Not an improvement either, more like a fix. Strange.

    The new cable reminds me of the one they used on HF-3 which was stiff and microphonic. You’ll be wanting to upgrade to reference series rubber hose cable. lol

    @Grado owes @purr1n and @TTVJ . How about a SBAF or TTVJ exclusive?
     
  13. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    That's awesome. Grado doesn't owe me anything, but a reach out from them would be appreciated!
     
  14. Grattle

    Grattle Friend

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    I still haven’t pulled the trigger on the flats. Something about $60 + shipping just kind of pisses my inner jackass off. I know they are worth every penny though. Cognitive dissonance is a beiatch.
     
  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    You could opt for the new Grado X series which includes the flat pads. Getting some of them in for review.
     
  16. donunus

    donunus Friend

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    The 125x comes with S Pads/Comfies based on all the pics. Too bad because I wanted to try the highest in the "all plastic" line since it is the only model number I haven't tried in the past. Problem is that if I find out that it's potential is limited just because of the pads then it will come out cheaper to just go up the line to begin with. I am really looking forward to impressions of the 125x especially against the others in the x line. I don't like the 225x looks with the metal mesh on plastic so I would skip it to go directly to the 325x based on looks but if there are reports that the 225x sounds best then oh well, sound quality is still the most important factor.
     
  17. Grattle

    Grattle Friend

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    I enjoyed my SR125i back in the day. Another headphone I wish I still had. A great value for sure. I ended up giving mine to a good friend.
     
  18. Marvey

    Marvey Super Friend

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    I have the 325X in the house. This weekend...
     
  19. Merrick

    Merrick A lidless ear

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    Super curious if those F pads tame the 325 screech.
     
  20. donunus

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    Hoping the new X series do not have any more screech at all regardless of pads :D
     

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