Ancestors

Written by Ian Wagner on 2025-01-08 at 02:11

For the last ~9 months I had the Grado SR325x as my daily heaphones. They took several weeks to get used to to be honest, but they did sound very good. My biggest complaints were all about the build. They were SUPER uncomfortable (couldn't use them for more than ~2h); heavy, hard, weird shaped... the cup position adjustment was not great, and the cable was HUGE and impractical. The last point I expect contributed to the premature demise of the right speaker connection...

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Written by Ian Wagner on 2025-01-08 at 02:25

Last week I had enough and decided to try the other set I had been looking at: Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X. Oh my.... night and day difference on the comfort. These are lighter, have a much more practical cable setup, better adjustment, and my are the ear pads comfy....

The sound is subtly different than the Grados. Slightly different bass response; clearer treble. Also requires slightly more amplification to drive to my usual listening level.

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Written by Ian Wagner on 2025-01-15 at 05:22

Almost a week in, the comfort difference is STILL night and day. I can wear the new Beyerdynamics for several hours comfortably. Other notable differences:

While both are open back, the Grados were a lot more open. This subtly changes the listening dynamic in unexpected ways. I'm used to being able to hear environmental noises, like someone calling me with open back designs, but the new ones mask nearly all environmental noise (in my house at least), WITHOUT the "isolation" of a closed back

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Toot

Written by Ian Wagner on 2025-01-15 at 05:26

So this seemingly strikes a compromise between the typical closed back design, where the "sound of nothingness" is a bit too unnatural. But it's not leaking in very much env noise either. TBH I can't tell when my wife gets home. Especially loud noises will make it through but not typical background stuff.

This does subtly alter the sound stage though. It's not quite as...deep as the Grados somehow? But it's not a difference I'd notice without a side by side comparison.

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Descendants

Written by Ian Wagner on 2025-01-15 at 05:29

In contrast though, something about the Beyerdynamic sound stage is more spatially interesting than the Grados. I feel like it expands in a different dimension than the Grados, and I really like it. Lots of subtle details that I DIDN'T hear in well-mixed tracks are obvious on the Beyers.

Other stuff... I like the bass response of the new set better. I think the little extra "containment" makes it slightly punchier, without being obnoxious.

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Written by Ian Wagner on 2025-01-15 at 05:32

Finally, some people online complained about the bright treble response. It definitely is a bit more than most headpones I've used, but it's not really a problem and I'm more than adjusted to it by now. It actually works very well for a lot of stuff I listen to frequently, which benefits from having the treble highlighted a bit. If you don't like this though, you could correct it with EQ.

Speaking of EQ... HOW THE HECK DOES TIDAL NOT HAVE EQ??? Bizarre oversight by their product team.

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