postjack

Picked these up at a good price last month over on HF. Kind of a random purchase, but Grado cans hold a unique mystique for me, quite unlike any other company in the market. I have no idea why. Maybe its because of that first experience I had with the RS-1/PPX3/Modwright 999ES/MFSL Ryan Adams "Heart Breaker" SACD combo: it was the first time I felt like I was really listening to what I then understood to be "hi-fi" sound. The midrange was just so beautiful and right, right there perfect and lovely with the guitar sound and Ryan's vocals. Its such a vivid memory along my hi-fi journey, the kind of mind ripping audio experience that tends to come fewer and further between the more we become accustomed to the sonic revelations so many components can offer. I've owned a lot of Grados, if I can try to type from memory right quick: SR60, SR225, SR325i, HF-1, RS-1 (one buttoned, one unbuttoned, one buttoned recabled), HF-2, GS1000 (one recabled, one not), HP-1000, and the HF-2. The only one to survive the inevitable headphone purging is the HF-2. What this humble little not-so-limited edition lacks in ultimate resolution it makes up for in great bass texture, that classic Grado midrange, and highs that are a bit rolled off but as a result not overly aggressive: all these add up to listenability. When I first received the PS1000, I was disappointed to find a loud distortion in the right driver during certain bass notes. I immediately contacted the seller to return them, or arrange for repair under his warranty, but he suggested before we go that route I try the driver sucking technique. I honestly have never heard of this with any Grado before, but he said it tends to alleviate a lot of issues caused by dust, hair, or some other sort of problem with the mylar film that makes up the driver. Skeptically I performed mouth to mouth with the right driver, removing the bagel pad, drying my lips, pressing them against the ear side of the driver, and sucking slightly until I heard a pop sound. I put the headphone back on, and wouldn't you believe it, boom, no more distortion. I tried hard at various volume levels to get the distortion to come back, but after several weeks of listening, nothing. Really weird, but I'm glad it worked. As to the sound, it would serve us best to compare the sound to other Grados, the GS1000 in particular. We all know the greatest sin of the GS1000 is the complete lack of the number one reason anyone buys a Grado: midrange. Couple this with some extremely aggressive and bright highs, and its positives of comfort and soundstage are easily overwhelmed. I still find the GS1000 to be a neat phone, and enjoyed it on certain recordings with severely rolled off highs (see: audience recordings, Dead, Phish, Panic, etc.), but for the most part it is a flawed transducer, more severely than the flaws/tradeoffs of other headphones (darkness and slowness of HD650, small soundstage of traditional Grados, etc). So the good news about the PS1000 is it does indeed bring the Grado midrange back, at least in a sense. It can tend to be quite beautiful, but I still find it to be a bit

bought some cheap DVDs at Big Lots. went to the slightly scary Christmas store but it was cool. made taco salad with avocados! watched Daybreakers which was cool. listened to Some Great Reward which was cool.

no but I have the SACD. I really need to give that a ser listen. I might have spun it once when I bought it.

happy birthday!

happy birthday!

I didn't know their was a hirez version of this, I'll have to snag it. hdtracks?

depending on the sound and the USB/flac/hirez interface, it could be a purchase for me.

BDP-95: MUSICDIRECT - OPPO - BDP-95 UNIVERSAL BLU-RAY PLAYER

Happy Thanksgiving! i'm grateful for my HC fam, RL fam, friends, and the awesome thanksgiving meal my sister will make, and all I have to do is show up and be like "what up" and i get to eat.

I thought you had the higher failure rate lolololollol1

Okey doke, put on the TVT and it settled me down a bit. more dynamic then the new one for sure, and the deep bass, particularly on Down in It, is fuller and has more fullness and oomph to it. and while the TVT is not as murky as I remember it, the remaster is still less murky, and I feel like trent's vocals are clearer. I dunno, with this kind of electronic music, sometimes I like the midbass and highs to really leap out at me, it's a pleasant coloration I guess. and as far as loudness goes, the remaster is a far cry from say, the remastering on New Order's "Singles" double disc, which is really fracking loud and brickwalled. hard for me to say now which version I ultimately like better. more listening.

i'll have to do a shootout with the old TVT. the new one really did sound great to me, both in my car and at home.

I haven't seen a wav form, but to my ears it is definitely not brickwalled. it might not be as dynamic as the original but to these ears it still has some dynamics. the tradeoff of enhanced clarity and pace for less dynamics is worth it for me. I respect deepaks opinion, ymmv, etc.

been listening to the CD today. really great sound! I haven't done a TVT shootout yet but going from memory I'd say the new remaster is superior. it's definitely louder but still sounds dynamic. great punchy bass, trents vocals are very warts and all clear, plenty of space in the soundstage for all the cool effects. gets my seal of approval. pretty cool packaging as well. looking forward to the vinyl of this.

because its Quad dammit.

awesome, what are you selling? I want to buy $500 worth. more if it's chocolate candy or really good cake.

steeeeve!! where's Steve we need a joke stat!

how did you like the Debut? any brief comparisons to the 1200 you can share? I don't need one but I'm always looking for budget turntables to recommend to friends.

yeah altered carbon rocks! in other news school be fuckin up my readin

that is awful Vicki.

pretty much finished my auditing term paper. beyond getting a report binder and proofreading, the rest of the day is just Chinese food and Pawn Stars marathon.

working on term paper for Auditing. procrastinating on the internet. i haven't written a paper since I was an English major.

then don't worry about it. we'll all be good. hc fam for life. ::hits chest:: seriously i do appreciate you calling folks out on their shit, its what friends do. and i know you only do it because you care about this place. having said that you do freak out a little bit in your calling out sometimes. i don't mind the freak out at all, its just what i perceive. and personally I give any headphone a shot. Hell I gave the Ed. 9 a shot, and that was deep in the Ultrasone HC hate game. Through lots of study, experience, and I'd like to think at least somewhat of a natural predisposition, I'd like to believe I've learned a little (a little!) about good sound. And I've consistently found myself surprised to have my preconceptions based on reviews proven wrong through actual listening experience. So I will always give a can a solid, honest shot, and not just so I can gleefully rip upon it later on the internet. I do it because I might just find something unique and cool I really enjoy, that maybe everybody else doesn't.

just wanted to say I currently have the pleasure of auditioning the Neko DAC. I haven't had a bunch of time with it yet, but if I were to describe my impressions in a word: vivid. and without sounding digital. sounds like generic impressions, I know, but it really does sound like a vivid, accurate analog rig. I guess my preconceptions formed from earlier reviews made me think the sound would be soft, but it's not. it's really quite alive and lovely.

well really this is just the other side of us oohing and ahhing over the new stax flagship. we've come to expect excellence from stax so we assume the new model will be excellent. I do appreciate where dusty is coming from, but having said that I think it's fine to rip on some shit we haven't heard. it's better then lauding shit we haven't heard. who gives a fuck ya heard aardvark wins most valuable poster in this thread.