Grado PS-500 First Impressions

[dalethorn]

First impressions: Instantly comfortable - no pinching or adjustment issues.  Very spacious open sound, and somewhat bassy.  Set bass reducer EQ and bass is good now - still deep and good impact, but tight.  Some things are more prominent than HD-800 such as the ticks (drumsticks?) in the Beatles' And I Love Her stereo version.  I don't hear any peaks anywhere in the sound, but it will take longer to evaluate whether there are any, and whether burn-in will make a difference.  Detail is very good, but impresses me not so much as technical detail, more like musical detail.  That's a good thing.  I don't hear sibilants as much as the Shure 940 or Senn 800, but these are not soft on the high end - they have a lot of energy up there.  How a user would perceive the highs will vary according to whether they play these flat or adjust the EQ.  The good is after reducing the bass, I still don't perceive any high freq. problems or midrange peaks or sibilants, so they're pretty smooth.  But compared to the Shure 940 they are more forward, noticeably so.  But using my test for nasal effects - no problem there.  Lastly I ran through a series of discrete tones from 100 hz to 12 khz (each 1khz from 1 to 12), and the amplitudes varied, but not a lot.  I'd say that 2 khz is noticeably louder than 1.5 khz or 3 khz.

[Maniacal71]

What was the price on these? Any pictures or unboxing video, lol. Will be following you on these, awaiting your review post burn in.

[dalethorn]

What was the price on these? Any pictures or unboxing video, lol. Will be following you on these, awaiting your review post burn in.

I paid $595 USD plus shipping.  If I weren't so eager to get my paws on these I could have gotten free shipping.  Now I have to laugh about the unboxing.  The "box" is about the size of a medium pizza box but much thinner, like stiff paper.  That's it.  There was a simple foam insert to keep the headphone from sliding around.  They didn't need it.  The box is zero protection either way.  Tomorrow morning I will take some photos with my Leica X1, and if the bosses at Headfonics cooperate, I'll get the review and pics to them for posting there.  So far the listening is better than I expected.  I think the PS-500 makes a larger percentage of my tracks sound good than my other headphones.

[donunus]

Your impressions pretty much describes the sound of the Grado HF2 also. I wouldn't usually go as far to use the bass reducer setting on a grado though unless this model is bassier than usual. You just got used to the lightweight sound of the shures I guess I haven't heard a Grado that can touch the bass extension of the shures though. But yah, when you say musical detail, thats exactly like how my akg k141 mkII is. Forward and snappy in the percussions but without the nastiness in the 2khz section of the lower end grados. Enjoy your Grados Dale!

[marcusd]

I paid $595 USD plus shipping.  If I weren't so eager to get my paws on these I could have gotten free shipping.  Now I have to laugh about the unboxing.  The "box" is about the size of a medium pizza box but much thinner, like stiff paper.  That's it.  There was a simple foam insert to keep the headphone from sliding around.  They didn't need it.  The box is zero protection either way.  Tomorrow morning I will take some photos with my Leica X1, and if the bosses at Headfonics cooperate, I'll get the review and pics to them for posting there.  So far the listening is better than I expected.  I think the PS-500 makes a larger percentage of my tracks sound good than my other headphones.

Cooperation is a given

[dalethorn]

Cooperation is a given

This is going to be a very positive review.  I like it a lot.

[dalethorn]

Your impressions pretty much describes the sound of the Grado HF2 also. I wouldn't usually go as far to use the bass reducer setting on a grado though unless this model is bassier than usual. You just got used to the lightweight sound of the shures I guess I haven't heard a Grado that can touch the bass extension of the shures though. But yah, when you say musical detail, thats exactly like how my akg k141 mkII is. Forward and snappy in the percussions but without the nastiness in the 2khz section of the lower end grados. Enjoy your Grados Dale!

Funny about the bass.  It sounds big, almost boomy, not thick or indistinct like a cheapo headphone, but not "just warm" like a Phiaton MS-400 either.  And unlike a couple other headphones where I used bass reducer and the mid/upper bass got fairly flat and the low bass was still very strong, the PS-500 is warm with bass reducer but the bottom end is quite lean.  So that should give you a better idea of the bass signature.  These are definitely forward, and definitely have emphasis around 2 khz, but so far after 100 tunes of all kinds, the worst case is just forward but not irritating.  The high end extension seems about the same as the Shure 940, but without the peak around 9khz, so the PS-500 is smoother.

[marcusd]

This is going to be a very positive review.  I like it a lot.

I hope you do not derail my carefully prepared financial plans this xmas haha

[dalethorn]

I hope you do not derail my carefully prepared financial plans this xmas haha

My other headphones are not going anywhere until I hear from the person I talked to about the Senn 800, yea or nay.  We got new iPhone4s's today, so we can't even afford the petrol to go on the lam.  But fortunately there's a soup kitchen down the street, and it doesn't get too cold under the bridge most nights.

[Mochan]

Your impressions pretty much describes the sound of the Grado HF2 also.

I was about to say this as well. Reading dale's account the first thing that came to mind was definitely "HF2!"

[donunus]

Funny about the bass.  It sounds big, almost boomy, not thick or indistinct like a cheapo headphone, but not "just warm" like a Phiaton MS-400 either.  And unlike a couple other headphones where I used bass reducer and the mid/upper bass got fairly flat and the low bass was still very strong, the PS-500 is warm with bass reducer but the bottom end is quite lean.  So that should give you a better idea of the bass signature. 

Thats definitely the sound of a typical grado using those bowl pads. reverse the pads and you get a smoother sound with softer yet slightly fatter bass. Use comfy pads and you get more of a veil but more extended bass. Use TTVJ flats and you get fatter, richer bass with less highs but with the hf2, I didn't like the flats at all so i suspect the same thing here. Try getting some scotch tape and tape around the bowl pads that you have on there like Tyll did and you may get rid of a lot of the 2khz peak in case that bothers you in the long run.

These are definitely forward, and definitely have emphasis around 2 khz, but so far after 100 tunes of all kinds, the worst case is just forward but not irritating.  The high end extension seems about the same as the Shure 940, but without the peak around 9khz, so the PS-500 is smoother.

The 9khz area and up is pretty good on the upper grados. They are more of a problem with the lower end grados  (SR Series) which is why I like to use the Flat pads to tame down those frequencies on them.

[dalethorn]

The review with my photos is pending at Headfonics. Not live yet.

[marcusd]

The review with my photos is pending at Headfonics. Not live yet.

yeah family duties got in the way haha.. tomorrow promise

[dalethorn]

yeah family duties got in the way haha.. tomorrow promise

The paste-up and header are great.  I posted the link that shows the photo and all on Grado's Facebook page.  I can't wait to see what comments there are.

[Maniacal71]

The paste-up and header are great.  I posted the link that shows the photo and all on Grado's Facebook page.  I can't wait to see what comments there are.

I'm thinking PS-500 and HE500, hmm both common numberings,  , I can't wait for your finished review too.