hirsch

I've had them for several days, and have yet to say anything about the GS1000 sound and still am not ready to start talking. This is a headphone that requires a healthy burn-in period before it starts showing its real sound. Initial sound had nothing to do with how the headphone is sounding now. Once I'm convinced the burn-in is over, and I've actually got something to say about how the headphone sounds, I'll start talking about it. In the meantime, let's just say that it is very unlikely that I'll need to use the 30-day return privilege

DON"T DO IT!!! Find a mistake on your transcript showing that actually you need several more semesters to graduate. Once you take that degree, you can't get back in. You'll also be the receipt of fund-raising requests from that university for the rest of your natural life (and probably into the hereafter). You'll also find that you need a job!! Ugh. Working is definitely overrated. Take my advice kids: stay in school!!!!

Sound is changing pretty fast as they burn in. Any comments at this point would be completely premature, as they probably wouldn't be true in an hour or two. Will do some comparisons after they've got some playing time.

forgot the all-important side-view:

Not until I plug them into an amp there isn't. Right now, the noise floor is very quiet...

I'll post sonic impressions after some burn-in. Maybe a few months or so...

If it was a single-box unit, it was a Supra. If it was a two-box unit, and you got a hernia lifting it, it was an SDS-XLR

So far, I've only used one amp (Earmax Pro, at work). Hey, I've only owned them for one day! The EMP has no trouble at all with the low impedance, but that's the only amp I can talk about so far. Actually, they are sensitive enough that I have to compensate by reducing the volume (control is lower than I would use on any other headphone). The custom molds give a great fit, but not necessarily better isolation. With no music playing, I can hear someone talking if they're close to me. Doesn't happen with ER4s.

Just got my UE10's. This is my first impression with a set made using my...impressions. First (sonic) impression is pretty much the same as I got at the National meet using a generic seal, but better still. These things are incredible. An IEM with real low end. Loads more detail than ER4s. Can be driven by pretty much anything. Not as isolating as the Ety's, but very nice sonic upgrade.

Referring to Dave's, which were Brian's, Tom's, and the other two or three sets I've heard. I used to have 404's, never liked them all that much, and sold them. I now have Lambda Pros, which IMO are a better headphone than the 404. I still like the Orpheii.

Heh. The recent auction only went for $405. That wouldn't even pay for half a GS-1000. I guess I'll keep mine after all. Back to Stax: Omega II bass is in the upper registers, at least I haven't really heard it go low using 007t amp. The Omega II creates a bass illusion with that upper bass hump, but doesn't really deliver the goods. HE60 and HE90 both have a more convincing deep bass. Come to think of it, the Lambda Pro actually does deep bass better than Omega II.

My complete disinterest in the last two HP-2's I've owned has sort of turned me off to the headphone a bit. Not for me Supply seems to stay pretty constant. I need a large collection of premium 6SN7's, and a few other types. Just in case, you know. Helps control costs in the future.

If the price of the HF-1 goes any higher, I may be able to trade for an HP-2 on an even swap basis What about tubes? Tubes, getcher tubes here, red hot tubes...

Good grief. I've got an HF-1. However, if the current eBay auction for one goes any higher, I'm not going to have it much longer than it takes to list it on eBay. I don't believe people are dishing out that kind of cash

The headphones should be electrostatic, though

Yep. If you recable, the headphones are still under warranty (although you may have to go to court to get it enforced). If, however, it can be shown that you are responsible for damage (hot solder dripped on the driver, short in cable taking out driver, or something like that), you pay for the damage you caused.

OK, here's the scoop on the balanced GS1000. The ones from Grado will use a double run of the Grado cable, and will cost $150 extra. Moon Audio may be using their own cable for the balancing, which would explain their higher upcharge.

I have a balanced RS-1 in front of me, and have seen the ones that Tyll has. There are two separate wires going all the way down the length. Grado does not split out the stock cable (or at least they haven't yet). They add another run of wire. The cable is much heavier than the headphone

Odds are that it won't be done by Todd, but rather at Grado Labs. In balancing a Grado, they actually run a separate length of wire from the earcup, so you've got a dual cable run instead of a single one (at least that's the way they did my RS-1). I'm not sure which cable are being used, but I think it's the Moon Audio Black Dragon (at least that's what I remember from the National Meet, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of this). So, Grado would be paying for an outsourced cable, rather than one of their own. That would be where the cost came in. This is an option offered by Grado through Todd, and would not void any warranties. Incidentally, you cannot void a warranty in the US, which very few people seem to know. If, in doing an unauthorized modification/repair you damage an item, then you are responsible for payment for the damage that was demonstrably caused by you. However, the warranty remains in force for any parts of the item that were not damaged by the repair/mod, regardless of the language in the warranty. I had a crash course in how warranties work in some of my battles with Sony

Actually, he bought the iPod because he likes the idea of having a large set of music available to him in his bedroom rig without getting out of bed. So, the iPod as source was already set in stone. However, the rest of the system was up in the air, and he is able to afford the best rig he can get. He was over at my place listening to the SDS-XLR and a variety of other amps before making his final decision (SDS-XLR/Qualia 010). It is not a waste, nor is it stupid. It's the best rig possible for his particular needs. He's got plenty of common sense, but I'm not so sure about those who posted otherwise. The best rig for his needs might not be the one that's best for yours, or fit your economic constrainsts. So what?

I didn't get to hear that one this time. On the older modules, I felt that the Balanced Max and SDS-XLR each had headphones that they performed better with. I preferred the Beyer DT-880 on the Balanced Max to the SDS-XLR (not sure what would happen if I was specifically tuning the amp for the Beyer, though). SDS-XLR had the edge with Qualia 010, RS-1, and HD-650, IMO. For AKG's (K-340, K-1000, and formerly K-701), my amp of choice is the Wheatfield HA-2.

Rudistor balanced amp sounded better with Beyers than Senns (although if he's selling a $13K amp, Rudy should put new pads on his Senns, as the ones there were shot). The Rudistore is a cleaner-sounding amp than the B-52. However, neither of them seemed able to project a soundstage that went past the headphone. I'm getting a bigger stage out of my modded EarMax Pro than either of those amps managed at the meet. Note: There's more going on than staging, and there are aspects of the sound that both amps did better than the EMP. That said, I like a reasonably large stage with some apparent height, width and depth, and neither the B-52 or Rudistor provided that at the meet. That's the major advantage of balancing, to my ears (well, better low end is another), and these amps simply didn't get the point, to my ears. I'd take the Noise Audio amp single-ended amp over either of these (that monster was sonically gorgeous), but must confess I'm still extremely happy with the SDS-XLR which has been getting even better (am in process of upgrading caps and tweaking the circuit to Mikhail's current spec)

See the Stereophile.com article on the National Meet. Mikhail has built an SDS-XLR for an iPod source. The amp includes a tube phase-splitter so that the iPod can run balanced. At the risk of stating the obvious, this is not a portable rig

Not a typo on the price. The big ALPS potentiometers alone cost around $500 each.

Think extremely comfortable Grado with huge expansive soundstage. It's got the Grado house sound, but it knocks yours socks off on first (or second) listen. This was the biggest news of the meet for me.