will the 2khz "resonance peak" relax after burn in? sr60i

[paengkee]

i just got my first grados. sr60i's after weighing the details that i needed. when i listened to two of my current favorite albums, i could hear some resonance in the upper frequencies. i checked it using a Digital Audio Workstation and after hours of research, ive concluded that the upper frequency peak is at 2khz exactly by sweeping a parametric eq and finding harsh spots. you could hear it when a singer belts out the "ee" vowel sound (as in "see" "me") and at guitars that hit a note around the high B.

im in the process of burning in by letting the two albums play continuously. ive noticed a little relaxing occur but it is still quite accentuated after half a day.

the question is, will this "grado peak" relax and resolve properly after a while of usage? i like how detailed and forward the sound is but i cringe when that particular frequency gets hit.

here are the songs in question (warning: you may not like my music):
youtube (dot) com/watch?v=ysTSZgHBIzs
Emarosa - i still feel her pt. 1

in the intro, when he sings "now, im passing every strEEt lighEEt" a distinct whistling resonance can be heard.



youtube (dot) com/watch?v=Z9wZDd_GgPs
Converge - Dark Horse

during the entire song, i could hear a faint whistling sound in the background (perhaps because of the guitars) this whistling is very distracting and takes away from what the guitars are actually supposed to sound like.




before the grados i have used(really cheap gear): TDK st450, TDK nc200, Sennheiser HD201.

im not a fan of equing and when i used rockbox, some of the stuff i listen to became compressed and "pumpy" so i uninstalled it.

i just need to know if it gets better because on 80% of my music it sounds amazing. but some of the 20% are actually albums i enjoy perpetually

[prawncrackers]

sorry i cant tube in the office...

but i think its a 4khz peaking for gradoes? i remember when i first got my SR80i, i couldnt listen to AC/DC songs without eq-ing around -3db on 4khz and around -1db on 2Khz and 5khz on my sansa clip... now i can just listen to it without EQ-ing, the combination of headphone burn-in and mental burn-in might have worked the trick.

[paengkee]

did a sweep using a parametric eq while the song was playing and it was definitely resonant at 2094hz with a Q of around 0.8 (if i remember) the 5khz peak doesnt bother me at all since its slightly more sibilant than the "whistling" 2khz range.

[Za'afiel]

Welcome to HeadPhiles paengkee.

First of all, are you kidding? I love Coheed so Emarosa is right up my alley. Cool!

2-4kHz is where all Grados naturally peak. That's the upper midrange bite. After about 50 hours if nothing else changes, it's going to pretty much stay that way. This is a sign that you might find Grados fatiguing.

With Converge, it might be a recording glitch. Let me look up some higher quality samples, if there are any. Again, I seem to like Converge! LOL thanks

[Mochan]

Hi Paengkee.

As to your question, no, in my experience the peak does not disappear with burn. But if you really want to get rid of it, you can do surgery on your Grado by dampening the inner cups and removing the buttons. Then change pads -- a friend of mine cut some foam from his Mac Book's packaging and stuck two together to form a pad, then piso-modded it. This will cure the peak.

[paengkee]

nice! thanks for the warm welcome. so far ive clocked around 15 hours on this pair. compared to my hd201s they have livelier lower mids and better high detail. though the hd201 made for more relaxing listening. the level of appreciation is different. im currently listening to the best of boyzIImen (lol stark contrast to the music i just posted). and the clarity is mind blowing!

i like how it peaks at 2khz. its just that there are some vocal formants (resonances) occuring at that range. but it just becomes unmusical sometimes because of what i assume to be resonance because it sounds nothing like the fundamental frequency of 2khz. i could pick out some harmonics at 4k (after another sweep. i did this by loading an offending section onto my DAW, highlighting that section and looping it. doing a sweep made me see the formants occurring at 4-5khz. but the screech lessened compared to the out of the box experience. im just wondering if it gets mellower given the amount of time i spent pumping music/pink/white noise on it so far.

[paengkee]

Hi Paengkee.

As to your question, no, in my experience the peak does not disappear with burn. But if you really want to get rid of it, you can do surgery on your Grado by dampening the inner cups and removing the buttons. Then change pads -- a friend of mine cut some foam from his Mac Book's packaging and stuck two together to form a pad, then piso-modded it. This will cure the peak.

the button that says the model number? ive read that felt stick on "feet" also work to dampen. but im still a little scared of opening up my pair.

[prawncrackers]

i doubt youll leave your gradoes unopened. ill give it two months. 

yes you can use felt... ive used felt.

and the button, well its not really advisable to just yank it out like what other do in the "old days". because its glued hard on the plastic grilles. you might break the grilles. better yet, get a hair dryer and melt that glue.

oh, coheed... mmm...

[Mochan]

yeah, take that button out to increase airflow and mellow the can out.

damping the inside of the cups also helps. I use Blutak. This gives the plastic of the cups a "wood-like" resonating property and it sounds really good compared to the stock plastic chamber.   This helps cure that mess in the highs that I hate on the prestige Grados.

But you will want to pad roll to really get a big change to the sound. Hard to really help here. All the standard pad models retain that peaky sound. You'll need to get creative to come up with something that sounds just right for you. 

And if you want more bass... punch some holes in the felt covering behind the grills. Heh heh heh. This will also help mask the peaky sound, but doesn't really get rid of it entirely, you need better dampening to fix that.

[Za'afiel]

I'm also going to assume your SR60i is stock so that means you're using the S-cushions/comfy pads. The resonance peak might only get worse if you change to the L-cush/bowl pads. I was about to suggest that one.

If all else fails it might be time to question the quality of the files, then the recording methods of the artist's sound engineer.

[prawncrackers]

and maybe ask if grado is indeed the right one for you.
take it for a spin for about three months, you might end up liking that peak in the end.

of the three pad types, the flat pads offer the highest bass quantity. just quantity...

[Mochan]

The flats though still have that annoying peak, that thing is not going away even with the added bass. You need a deep, fat pad with a small hole ideally, I think. Then really you need to open the cups and dampen it with blutak or something, and maybe punch a few holes for good measure.

Once you do this, though, your Grado will no longer sound like a Grado, it will sound more like a Sennheiser. True story.

[prawncrackers]

Once you do this, though, your Grado will no longer sound like a Grado, it will sound more like a Sennheiser. True story.

...sorry cant help it. 

[Mochan]

Legen... wait for it, wait for it, DARY.

[paengkee]

burning in with this

youtube dot com/watch?v=YI0_YW0tfaU
youtube dot com/watch?v=SFu2DfPDGeU

awww yeah. i dont like burning in with noise. playing dubstep always worked for me when i burned in my hd201 and tdks before that. wobbling sine bass. lol