why does my in ears sound better than my grado's 80i's with my iPhone?
Hi, I listen to music on my iPhone mainly through my sennheisers cx980is which sound pretty good but when I listen to my iPhone with m grado 80i 's at the same volume I have to lower the volume with my grado because the terrible gets a bit too much to listen nicely. Is it because they are surrounding my ears and and not as close to my ear drums? is is it because the grado's require a amp to effectively drive them?
Does anyone know?
Thanks,
Me
I would say that its just sound signatures of each thing working against each other. The Grados are renowned for having harsh high frequencies and the iPhone doesn't help. So yes a better amp could well make it better but it seems like you just don't like what the grados excel at.
I would say that its just sound signatures of each thing working against each other. The Grados are renowned for having harsh high frequencies and the iPhone doesn't help. So yes a better amp could well make it better but it seems like you just don't like what the grados excel at.
You have to remember that everyone hears things differently. Treble or sibilance that is harsh and horrible to one person can be lovely and bright to another. I used to have the sr80 too and I used to love it until I found other signatures suited me better. I still like the grado sound but can only live with it on the more refined (expensive) models now.
Like I say this is a very personal thing so I would struggle to recommend weather its better to put money purely into a DAC and amp or whether you should look at different headphones. It would depend on how much money you have to spend but also it might be a good idea to try out some other headphones.
The Grados aren't 'harsh', they're just not laid back and smooth like Sennheisers. I find them a far more exciting listen than any Sennheiser headphone.
The reason smaller in-ear headphones will more than likely sound better than larger, better headphones is that in-ear headphones are far easier to driver, and with them being closer to your ear drums they don't need a lot of power to sound loud. Larger headphones are harder to drive, and are of a much higher impedance (usually several hundred ohms, coimpared to 10/20 ohms for in-ear headphones), so the iPod's (very average) internal amplifier can't hope to bring the best out of headphones like the Grados, and may well make them sound harsh.
Sorry, poor choice of words. Grados are mostly very forward in the upper ranges, to some people it sounds 'harsh' and horrible, to others it's bliss. While its true that in-ears are easier to drive I found most iPods and I phones drive larger headphones pretty well, especially compared to most, but their presentation is also forward on the upper mids and treble so it just doesn't help here. My Denon headphones, with a 50mm driver run really well straight off the iPhone 4 because they have really well controlled treble. That's not to say that they don't sound infinitely more exciting off a good DAC and headphone amp though.
The Grados aren't 'harsh', they're just not laid back and smooth like Sennheisers. I find them a far more exciting listen than any Sennheiser headphone.
The reason smaller in-ear headphones will more than likely sound better than larger, better headphones is that in-ear headphones are far easier to driver, and with them being closer to your ear drums they don't need a lot of power to sound loud. Larger headphones are harder to drive, and are of a much higher impedance (usually several hundred ohms, coimpared to 10/20 ohms for in-ear headphones), so the iPod's (very average) internal amplifier can't hope to bring the best out of headphones like the Grados, and may well make them sound harsh.
Grado's are 32 ohms and even their own headphone amp, the very expensive RA1, is only an opamp so apparently Grado don't think they take much driving either. For a pair of Sennheiser hd650's I would agree with your post, a pair of Grado's not the case at all.
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with my Grado’s played through a CDP; if it’s a harsh recording they will be harsh, but with the right recording I agree with David they can be very exciting .
However, played through my Sony A865 (mp3@320kbs) I don’t experience any of the problems you describe. It is EQ’d of course, but they have a very smooth and yet a wonderfully vibrant sound to my ears – I can pretty much listen to anything through them on my Sony which isn’t always the case with my CDP.
I don’t have any real experience of iPod/iPhone apart from a bit of a stint with a Nano and I found the SQ of the Sony to be noticeably better to my ears. As I remember there didn’t seem to be much in the way of EQ tweaks on the Nano, but maybe the iPhone is better in that respect?
I’m sure that amping will improve things, due to amongst other things the silly limiter which all DAP’s have to comply with by decree from the faceless EU nanny state (I think my Sony is probably worse than most in this respect). I have to play my Sony at max volume 30 when my Grado’s are plugged straight in, and although there’s no sign of strain or distortion it does lack dynamics. Run through my Novo it’s a different world and I’m really looking forward to getting myself a portable amp for this purpose (Fiio E11 on the cards I think), so I wish you luck and hope you get it sorted soon
treble not terrible! damn you iPhone auto correct!