psychotropic
Well-Known Member
A friend of mine owns a Grado SR125i. I own the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 active noise-cancelling headphones. I had my sister pick up the ATs from New York in August 2008, more from a gadget-freak kind of interest than an audiophile one. That was my first introduction to high-quality sound. Over the years I've compared the ATs to several 'phones including the Bose QuietComfort III, which it completely destroyed, and a few mid-level Sennheiser IEMs and headphones, which again it easily bested.
But this was going to be a completely different test. The Grado SR125i is a few notches up the Grado ladder and is widely regarded as an exceptional pair of headphones for the price, and the Grado name itself is not to be messed with when it comes to headphones.
So when it turned out that we were at his house and both headphones were in the same place, we thought we'd compare. The source was a Cambridge Audio DV89 and we used the headphone out of an Onkyo TX-SR304E receiver.
Now I know some of you will say I should have used 'reference quality' equipment for the shootout. (a) I don't have those available, and (b), these are actually surprising good-sounding pieces of kit, and of more real-world relevance that head-amps that cost many thousands of dollars.
Looks/comfort etc.,
In terms of appearance the Grado has the typical Grado look. So cheap and tacky looking you wonder if this is actually the component that you paid around 10k rupees for. The stethoscope-type thick cord does give it an air of seriousness, and of course the sheer reputation of Grado gives that look an elegance that pure aesthetics would never achieve. These are quite comfortable to wear, except if you're super ticklish like me, then the foam surrounds of the transducers can tickle your ears.
The ATs are well constructed, and look rather businesslike. They are very comfortable to wear and well, I've been wearing them for 2 years, so I guess I am just very used to them. The cable is a regular looking thin cable with gold plated connectors on both ends (yes it can be disconnected from the headphones also).
The Sound
So let's cut to the chase. The ATs are superbly detailed, tremendously resolving and very dynamic headphones, that squeeze out the last bit of detail that your recording, your source and your amplification can send its way. There is plenty of air around the instruments, the dynamic range is excellent and the transient response is exceptional. Leading edges of notes are crisp and beautifully defined and it's a tremendously fast headphone. It's a ruler-flat frequency response and does uniformly well with the bass, mids and the treble. Within the limits of what headphones can do (the HD800 excluded) it puts together a convincing soundstage and stereo image, where the position of each of the instruments in the left-to-right plane is precise and well-defined. While listening to Ella and Louis (SACD) the ATs excelled in all these departments, but lost out to the Grados in reproducing the voices beautifully. The warmth, the body and the texture which the Grado endowed to the voices was not quite there in the ATs. It still did a great job mind you, just that the Grados made it sound more 'pretty.' Listening to Steely Dan, the ATs pretty much thoroughly outclassed the Grados. All of the strengths of the ATs meant that the "Home At Last" from Aja, sounded gloriously tight, dynamic and enjoyable.
The Grados, are an entirely different beast. The best analogy that I can think of is that of the difference between solid state and tubes. The Grado does magic with voices. There is warmth, and body and texture in spades. And it's not of the level of 'thickness' that I heard with the Lyrita DAC-Lyrita amp combo at thevortex's place, but just enough to make it sound beautiful. To clarify, in the Lyrita setup, I wanted to dial-down the 'warmth', here it was just the right amount. In that regard it reminded me a bit of the aspects that drew me to the Odyssey Epiphony speakers.
But when it comes to detail and pace and dynamics, the Grado falls short of the ATs. Not seriously short mind you, but short for sure. There are things you can clearly make out on the ATs that you can hear, but not distinguish. The leading edges of notes are not as well defined, and there's not as much air around the instruments or precision in their position. But let this not give the impression that it's anything but tremendously enjoyable. It's a gloriously fun pair of headphones. Feed it some rambunctious 80s rock like Mr. Big ("take cover") and it presents it with great style. The crappiness of the recording recedes into the background, and you can just enjoy the music. On the ATs, it still sounds great, but you can make out the defects in the recording, and you wish you could have some of the 'full-ness' and slam of the Grados.
Conclusion
Hmmm. I understand that many reviews on the net comparing the Audio-Technica AD700 and the Grado SR125i say that one should ideally own both. In the case of this comparison, I can't help but agree. Both have distinctly different sounds. The ATs don't really have a sound of their own, they are just dramatically transparent, where the Grados add their 'special sauce' that does wonders with certain kinds of music. Anything from the music, to the recording, to the mood you're in and the components you pair them with could decide which one you'd pick up and listen to on any given day. I can't pick a clear winner, but I hope the descriptions above will give people an idea of what to pick depending on their preferences. My friend and I both came to the same conclusions, so these are not very subjective conclusions on the sound, I can assure you.
Notes
The ATH-ANC7 sounds superior when the noise-cancellation is on (compared to when it is off, and this I just discovered while doing this shootout). It is also much easier to drive. Therefore, these factors combine to give it a much quieter nosie floor (noise-cancelling plus the fact that less amplification going in means there's less of the noise of the source or amp that is fed into the cans). This gives the ATs a slight advantage, particularly if you don't have a very quiet listening room.
But this was going to be a completely different test. The Grado SR125i is a few notches up the Grado ladder and is widely regarded as an exceptional pair of headphones for the price, and the Grado name itself is not to be messed with when it comes to headphones.
So when it turned out that we were at his house and both headphones were in the same place, we thought we'd compare. The source was a Cambridge Audio DV89 and we used the headphone out of an Onkyo TX-SR304E receiver.
Now I know some of you will say I should have used 'reference quality' equipment for the shootout. (a) I don't have those available, and (b), these are actually surprising good-sounding pieces of kit, and of more real-world relevance that head-amps that cost many thousands of dollars.
Looks/comfort etc.,
In terms of appearance the Grado has the typical Grado look. So cheap and tacky looking you wonder if this is actually the component that you paid around 10k rupees for. The stethoscope-type thick cord does give it an air of seriousness, and of course the sheer reputation of Grado gives that look an elegance that pure aesthetics would never achieve. These are quite comfortable to wear, except if you're super ticklish like me, then the foam surrounds of the transducers can tickle your ears.
The ATs are well constructed, and look rather businesslike. They are very comfortable to wear and well, I've been wearing them for 2 years, so I guess I am just very used to them. The cable is a regular looking thin cable with gold plated connectors on both ends (yes it can be disconnected from the headphones also).
The Sound
So let's cut to the chase. The ATs are superbly detailed, tremendously resolving and very dynamic headphones, that squeeze out the last bit of detail that your recording, your source and your amplification can send its way. There is plenty of air around the instruments, the dynamic range is excellent and the transient response is exceptional. Leading edges of notes are crisp and beautifully defined and it's a tremendously fast headphone. It's a ruler-flat frequency response and does uniformly well with the bass, mids and the treble. Within the limits of what headphones can do (the HD800 excluded) it puts together a convincing soundstage and stereo image, where the position of each of the instruments in the left-to-right plane is precise and well-defined. While listening to Ella and Louis (SACD) the ATs excelled in all these departments, but lost out to the Grados in reproducing the voices beautifully. The warmth, the body and the texture which the Grado endowed to the voices was not quite there in the ATs. It still did a great job mind you, just that the Grados made it sound more 'pretty.' Listening to Steely Dan, the ATs pretty much thoroughly outclassed the Grados. All of the strengths of the ATs meant that the "Home At Last" from Aja, sounded gloriously tight, dynamic and enjoyable.
The Grados, are an entirely different beast. The best analogy that I can think of is that of the difference between solid state and tubes. The Grado does magic with voices. There is warmth, and body and texture in spades. And it's not of the level of 'thickness' that I heard with the Lyrita DAC-Lyrita amp combo at thevortex's place, but just enough to make it sound beautiful. To clarify, in the Lyrita setup, I wanted to dial-down the 'warmth', here it was just the right amount. In that regard it reminded me a bit of the aspects that drew me to the Odyssey Epiphony speakers.
But when it comes to detail and pace and dynamics, the Grado falls short of the ATs. Not seriously short mind you, but short for sure. There are things you can clearly make out on the ATs that you can hear, but not distinguish. The leading edges of notes are not as well defined, and there's not as much air around the instruments or precision in their position. But let this not give the impression that it's anything but tremendously enjoyable. It's a gloriously fun pair of headphones. Feed it some rambunctious 80s rock like Mr. Big ("take cover") and it presents it with great style. The crappiness of the recording recedes into the background, and you can just enjoy the music. On the ATs, it still sounds great, but you can make out the defects in the recording, and you wish you could have some of the 'full-ness' and slam of the Grados.
Conclusion
Hmmm. I understand that many reviews on the net comparing the Audio-Technica AD700 and the Grado SR125i say that one should ideally own both. In the case of this comparison, I can't help but agree. Both have distinctly different sounds. The ATs don't really have a sound of their own, they are just dramatically transparent, where the Grados add their 'special sauce' that does wonders with certain kinds of music. Anything from the music, to the recording, to the mood you're in and the components you pair them with could decide which one you'd pick up and listen to on any given day. I can't pick a clear winner, but I hope the descriptions above will give people an idea of what to pick depending on their preferences. My friend and I both came to the same conclusions, so these are not very subjective conclusions on the sound, I can assure you.
Notes
The ATH-ANC7 sounds superior when the noise-cancellation is on (compared to when it is off, and this I just discovered while doing this shootout). It is also much easier to drive. Therefore, these factors combine to give it a much quieter nosie floor (noise-cancelling plus the fact that less amplification going in means there's less of the noise of the source or amp that is fed into the cans). This gives the ATs a slight advantage, particularly if you don't have a very quiet listening room.
