Beyerdynamic DT990 vs Grado SR325

Hello everyone, (slightly) new here, so I thought I'd say hello and post a little a/b comparison.

I have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT990's, had them a fair few years (since before Beyer made the DT990 Pro's), and I swear by them. They are comfy headphones that are capable of reproducing anything you throw at them very competently. They need a fair bit of grunt to get them into the sweet spot, but other than that they are fantastic.

Matt (whom I know from work) has been kind enough to lend me a pair of Grado SR325's to try out, and so far, I'm enjoying them very much. They seem a lot more lively than the Beyer's, with much more emphasis on the upper mids and the upper range, whilst being a little light on the bass. With guitar based music, things can be a little shrill if the guitars have a trebly tone (AC/DC), to the point it can be a little painful and very taxing to listen to at anything approaching the proper volume (AC/DC this means nice and loud......). However, switching over to something with less trebly guitars (Dire Straits, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Motorhead, Pink Floyd......), things work much more nicely. Things seem to be brought into balance more evenly, with the treble and the bass ends being much more equal, rather than the upper register simply overpowering things at the bass end.

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of classical music and the Grado's seem well suited to classical, so I'm going to use four pieces to compare the headphones:

Haydn: String Quartet #63 In B Flat, Op. 76 4, Hob 3/78, "Sunrise" - Adagio (Kidaly Quartet)
Rachmaninoff Prelude, Op. 23, No. 5 in G Minor (Vladimir Horowitz)
Tchaikovsky Ouverture solennelle "1812" op. 49 (Herbert von Karajan conducting the Gothenburg Sympthony Orchestra)
Mars the Bringer of War from Holsts "The Planets" (von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharminic)

Starting with the Grado's and the Haydn, absolute clarity is the first thing I notice. Each instrument in the quartet is presented very nicely, and its easy for me to place where each instrument is in space. I can hear every single thing that is happening in the music very clearly, and at times can hear the musicians breathing. At no point does anything sounded muddled or unclear. These headphones are well suited to this piece of music.

Onto the Beyer's. Things don't seem quite as crystal clear, and nor do they seem as loud (the Beyers need even more grunt than the Grado's). Compared to the Grado's, there seems to be a lack of "fullness" for want of a better term to the music. There is certainly more bass and more bass extension on the Beyer's, but I feel that the Grado's bass definition was better. The Beyers have more impact and more "body", but not quite as clear. I'm finding it more difficult to place the instruments in the room than with the Grado's.

With the Grado's..... much the same as with the Haydn. Absolute clarity, if I close my eye's, I can't believe I'm going to say this, its like Horowitz is in the room playing his Steinway.

Back to Beyer. Well, things seem a little dull and lifeless. There seems to be less impact, and the clarity of the Grados is missing. Somehow, the tone of the piano is just dull and boring, things aren't as clear, which is odd. I've always found these DT990's very clear and very accurate...... but now I'm wondering.......... is Grado the way to go.

Now then, to move on to some bigger, louder orchestral music.

Tchaicovskys 1812. This particular recording actually features artillery at one point, a full orchestra, a choir and some cathedral bells, so it should be pretty challenging to reproduce well.

The opening of the 1812 is just the choir, with some strings quietly in the background. AND its more of the same. Perfect clarity. Each member of the choir can be heard individually with a really nice balance struck up between the different registers. Utterly wonderful so far. Skipping ahead to the loudest part of the 1812, I find that the bass is a little too light to create the impact that this bit needs (the artillery). There is enough bass extension, just not enough volume. Even whilst the artillery is going off, the orchestra is not drowned out. I have listened to this recording on many a stereo system costing tens of thousands that can't reproduce this piece of music with any competence at all, and despite the lack of bass impact, these cans still allow each instrument, each bell and each member of the choir to be heard seperatly.

The Beyers......... well again they just don't seem as clear, straight off with the choir, its harder to pick out an individual voice and listen to that one. When we get to the artillery, things are excellent, the low end on these Beyers is exceptional here, the artillery has real power and real impact, but the orchestra gets a little drowned out. When the orchestra, cathedral bells and choir are all going, things get a little muddled, it becomes very difficult to hear the bells, they are just lost in the background, whilst the choir and the brass shine through beautifully. Not nearly as clear or as balanced as the Grado's.

Finally, moving to one of my favourite pieces of music, Mars the Bringer of War. A big sounding piece with a quiet intro, which is mostly plucked strings, of which you can hear each and every single thing that is going on perfectly. In fact, its more of the same, its perfect.

On the Beyers, it just seems dull and lifeless........

With classical music, the Grados are superior. They are far clearer, they allow you to pick one instrument from a full orchestra and listen intently on that one. They are a little light on the bass at some point, but not in a way that detracts from the overall listening pleasure. The Beyers on the other hand, and I never thought I'd even think or say this, sound dull and boring. They certainly have more powerful bass, but other than that, the Grado's simply sound better.

I think that to close off this review, I should include some good old fashioned rock, in the form of a tune called Stargazer, from the album Rainbow Rising. A long standing favourite song from a favourite album.

We start off with one heck of a drum solo, straight into a classic Ritchie Blackmore riff. On both counts, the power of the instruments comes across perfectly. Blackmore has such a fat tone, and these headphones get it perfectly. The cymbals are a little shrill at times, but other than that, its perfect. Ronnie James Dio's incredible vocal range and power is presented very well, and these cans have no trouble in keeping up with the pace of the song (its not the fastest, but not exactly slow either). I am, however, most interested in the closing two minutes and thirty seconds of the song, a long but brilliant outro. Underneath the guitar, bass, drums, vocals and synth, there is a very subtle cello arrangement, so subtle that it often goes unnoticed, even on good equipment. Here, the Grado's separate the instruments very well. The cello's are meant to be relatively quiet within the mix, but they are meant to be heard, and here its perfect.

Now for the Beyers, and this should be their territory, and it is. The guitar sounds bigger. The drums sound fuller and the cymbals don't ever get shrill at all. Dio's voice is represented even more excellently. Like with the classical music, things aren't quite as clear as with the Grado's. Its harder to seperate the instruments with the Beyer's. With the cello arrangement....... its just not as clear, harder to hear it.

Well, which is better? Well I like both. The Beyers are far, far more comfortable to wear than the Grado's but they don't sound nearly as lively.

I like them both, and as good as the Beyer's are, I'm going to go ahead and say that the Grado's win this little comparison. The seperation of the instruments is brilliant and the absolute clarity that they lend to the music is just wonderful, so despite the comfort issue, they are the pick of this bunch (pair)........................ Neither pair is perfect, and maybe my ears have changed since I got the Beyers, my musical tastes certainly have, but the Grado's just seem to work for me.

My apologies for such a long post, but I wanted to do these two pairs of headphones justice.