Double Bass Listen to THIS! What about headphones?

[the_Ryan]

Now they use molds to create the plastic shell that will perfectly fit your ear.

I haven’t gotten custom IEMs made, but I did get custom earplugs made recently and I assume the molds are pretty much the same for either.

 

[Jason Sypher]

I'm enjoying googling the cans you guys all use. It's a world I haven't explored too much. My next purchase along these lines is a decent, DAC to put between my AKGs and my phone or iPad.

I'm surprised that hasn't come up. I know some of you are plugging into a proper headphone stage or a mixing board, but I assume there is a lot of portable device listening too.

Yeah. I’m an audio geek. I fell down the hole HARD during the pandemic. I ended up chasing the dragon. Bought some very nice speakers, powered monitors, headphones etc. There are fun audio YouTube channels, my favorites are Darko and Headphones.com. Darko is my guy. Zeos Pantera is also great.

What I found is some very good sounding gear and there are great products at just about every price point. This is something I just had to do. I pretty much got it out of my system. My gear is excellent and listening is a complete joy.

 

[Lee Moses]

I use Audio Technica ATH-M50x. I'm sure they come way short of the higher-end stuff a lot of you all are using, but they're pretty good bang for the buck. I'm satisfied.

 

[TroyK]

Yeah. I’m an audio geek. I fell down the hole HARD during the pandemic. I ended up chasing the dragon. Bought some very nice speakers, powered monitors, headphones etc. There are fun audio YouTube channels, my favorites are Darko and Headphones.com. Darko is my guy. Zeos Pantera is also great.

What I found is some very good sounding gear and there are great products at just about every price point. This is something I just had to do. I pretty much got it out of my system. My gear is excellent and listening is a complete joy.

I had a decent vintage turntable and receiver going into the pandemic, but they both failed so I went down my own audio rabbit hole.

 

[JBarz]

The headphone/amp/dac was the last rabbit hole I went down. It ended when I realized I was listening more to the difference between cans instead of the actual content of the music, thankfully right before I was about to convince myself to buy a $5k set of Focal Utopias. Can you imagine a dude rolling up to elementary school pickup in a pair of $5k cans? So silly… Listening context is key for understanding your headphone needs/wants. In terms of DAC, the apple dongle sounds just fine, 44.1k is plenty of fidelity for my ears (Bluetooth is ok by me, radiation concerns aside). There are a lot of parallels with the studio monitor world. When I was mixing/recording a lot I used a pair of nice high-dollar Genelecs and some regular old Yamaha NS10M. It got to the point where I got so familiar with the NS10Ms that the Genelecs sounded like hyped up nonsense. Now that I’ve really melded with my modified mid-grade Grado headphones, nothing else sounds ‘right’ by my ears. I keep a pair of first-gen modified Grado 325 in the studio, but don’t like them as much as the plastic shell’d second-gen 225i (bass response).

In summation, I think we silly-creatures adapt to whatever the conditions we ingest, digest, and then express music in. ‘Love the one you’re with’ and all that beautiful sentiment implies.

I suspect it’s not about the input signal so much as how our brains interpret it. But, I can’t throw down some money and upgrade my brain, unfortunately (I’ve tried!).

Let’s get down to the real brass- tax, ya’ll — what’s Jason playing these days on that OLED Switch?

 

[garrett2]

It got to the point where I got so familiar with the NS10Ms that the Genelecs sounded like hyped up nonsense. Now that I’ve really melded with my modified mid-grade Grado headphones, nothing else sounds ‘right’ by my ears.

That's an interesting comment. I'm familiar with NS10Ms too, but although if you do a lot of mixing you can infer the sound, not everything is mixed to NS10M. In particular the dynamics and range of serious speakers IMHO are essential for enjoying recorded symphonic music. There's only so much you can infer -- you have to feel the bass section.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Sennheiser HD650

 

[Jmilitsc]

Now that I’ve really melded with my modified mid-grade Grado headphones, nothing else sounds ‘right’ by my ears. I keep a pair of first-gen modified Grado 325 in the studio, but don’t like them as much as the plastic shell’d second-gen 225i (bass response).

Hmm, interesting…. Can you shed more light on what you mean by modified? What/how was modified? Would you call the 325’s or 225i’s good for mixing (like those NS10’s)?

 

[JBarz]

That's an interesting comment. I'm familiar with NS10Ms too, but although if you do a lot of mixing you can infer the sound, not everything is mixed to NS10M. In particular the dynamics and range of serious speakers IMHO are essential for enjoying recorded symphonic music. There's only so much you can infer -- you have to feel the bass section.

No, you’re right. I should be more clear that I am speaking from my very limited experience and kind of as hyperbole. I have a tendency to get caught in gear rabbit holes and see them as traps, of sorts.

Hmm, interesting…. Can you shed more light on what you mean by modified? What/how was modified? Would you call the 325’s or 225i’s good for mixing (like those NS10’s)?

So the cool thing about the Grados is that they have a really simple, relatively modular design. All their models, from the $100 to the expensive ones are based on the same basic cans. The DIY community has a whole bunch of stuff they’ve done - from simply modifying the pads to getting in and replacing or modifying the drivers. It’s all pretty easy DIY stuff and lot of fun to experiment with, if you’re into that kind of thing. For us, as bassists, the best thing you can do is the ‘vent hole mod’ which allows a lot more air to be moved and gives a lot more bass response. These headphones are known for their treble and mids, but not the bass - but this mod ‘unlocks it’. I punched all 10 (if I remember correctly) holes in mine and do not regret it at all. If interested, I suggest you get a used pair of SR80 off eBay for around $30-50 and read some of this:
The Collected Grado Headphone Mods.
Invalid Link Removed
post your grado mods....

I use my SR325 for mixing and tracking, yep! The 225i are a little more ‘relaxed’ and hyped in the bass, which I like for on the go listening but the original SR325 tend to be the ‘studio choice’ Grado, because they’re very transparent and detailed.

 

[Jason Sypher]

The headphone/amp/dac was the last rabbit hole I went down. It ended when I realized I was listening more to the difference between cans instead of the actual content of the music, thankfully right before I was about to convince myself to buy a $5k set of Focal Utopias. Can you imagine a dude rolling up to elementary school pickup in a pair of $5k cans? So silly… Listening context is key for understanding your headphone needs/wants. In terms of DAC, the apple dongle sounds just fine, 44.1k is plenty of fidelity for my ears (Bluetooth is ok by me, radiation concerns aside). There are a lot of parallels with the studio monitor world. When I was mixing/recording a lot I used a pair of nice high-dollar Genelecs and some regular old Yamaha NS10M. It got to the point where I got so familiar with the NS10Ms that the Genelecs sounded like hyped up nonsense. Now that I’ve really melded with my modified mid-grade Grado headphones, nothing else sounds ‘right’ by my ears. I keep a pair of first-gen modified Grado 325 in the studio, but don’t like them as much as the plastic shell’d second-gen 225i (bass response).

In summation, I think we silly-creatures adapt to whatever the conditions we ingest, digest, and then express music in. ‘Love the one you’re with’ and all that beautiful sentiment implies.

I suspect it’s not about the input signal so much as how our brains interpret it. But, I can’t throw down some money and upgrade my brain, unfortunately (I’ve tried!).

Let’s get down to the real brass- tax, ya’ll — what’s Jason playing these days on that OLED Switch?

Fortnite. Love that game. Racked up 600 solo wins which gives me great cred with my son’s friends.

 

[garrett2]

I have a tendency to get caught in gear rabbit holes and see them as traps, of sorts.

I'm a reformed audiophile because I finally found the setup that does everything I want -- it cost a little less than a Kimmel and way way less than a Hachez -- and I've been happy with it for years. But before then I spent way too much $ trying to make it better.

 

[Jmilitsc]

So the cool thing about the Grados is that they have a really simple, relatively modular design. All their models, from the $100 to the expensive ones are based on the same basic cans. The DIY community has a whole bunch of stuff they’ve done - from simply modifying the pads to getting in and replacing or modifying the drivers. It’s all pretty easy DIY stuff and lot of fun to experiment with, if you’re into that kind of thing. For us, as bassists, the best thing you can do is the ‘vent hole mod’ which allows a lot more air to be moved and gives a lot more bass response. These headphones are known for their treble and mids, but not the bass - but this mod ‘unlocks it’. I punched all 10 (if I remember correctly) holes in mine and do not regret it at all. If interested, I suggest you get a used pair of SR80 off eBay for around $30-50 and read some of this:
The Collected Grado Headphone Mods.
Invalid Link Removed
post your grado mods....

I use my SR325 for mixing and tracking, yep! The 225i are a little more ‘relaxed’ and hyped in the bass, which I like for on the go listening but the original SR325 tend to be the ‘studio choice’ Grado, because they’re very transparent and detailed.

Outstanding…. Rabbit hole time I guess

Thx!