..:: ZOMBiE Destinee ::..

Sunday, September 09, 2007
iGrado, CK7 Foam bud and CK7 Storage Box reviewed!
[ZOMBiE CyGiG] ranted at 11:36 PM --- Post#7202379875755571320

iGrado - The Story
Me and Wenze stepped into the shop. I had been here twice. I recognise the bike that was always parked outside when the shop is open. The Jaben.

Its as crowded as always, as me and Wenze inched our way to find Uncle Wilson.

"Hey there! I brought my friend to try out the Mylar 3!"

"Sure!" He looked at me. "You have your player with you today?" He seemed to remember that i dint had my player with me last time when i came to pick up Mylar 3 for Tomato.

"Yup the D2. iAudio D2"

"Oh Good Stuff..."

I did the usual routine to demonstrate the new cans to Wenze. Plugged in to my D2, power on, played lossless FLAC tracks from Superband, turned off all the enhancements and flatten my EQ. I let him listened to the track for a minute or so, then i swiped my fingers across the touchscreen to the jeteffect button. Since he was testing an IEM, obviously he cant hear me, so i raise the player, screen direction towards him and toggled BBE on and off, letting him hear the difference. Enhancement by enhance i demostrated how the IEM will respond to the ehancement, then i did a quick on the spot V-shape equalizing to show how sensitive the earphone is to D2's equalizer and what possible variation can be achieved.

Wenze nodded in agreement on the Mylar. After that we chatted with uncle wilson for a while before a random question popped out from my itchy mouth. "Just wondering if there are any backbone headphone worth recommending?"

"What do you mean by backbone?"

"Err..those kinda that the headband goes around your neck...errr its not full size headphone but some sort like the PX100". Honestly i dunno what i talking also.

His face lighted up with a smile and disappeared behind us and reappeared with exactly what i meant - a backbone street style headphone.

I hooked it up and was surprised by the sound. My face was virtually frozen in an astonished smile as Wenze was staring at my weird expression. I pulled the headphone off and forced it into his ears. His facial expression was similar to mine.

"Nice right?" I exclaimed excitedly. Wenze dint say a think but repeatedly nodding his head. Uncle wilson was laughing and stuck his two thumbs up. I was wondering what brand it was, as i noticed a sliver lined word at the back - "iGrado". Grado? No wonder.

"This is from Grado?" I double confirmed.

"Of course!"

"What model is it?"

"iGrado!"

"No other model number? Just 'iGrado'?"

"Yupp!"

At the moment my heart fell. Surely anything from Grado would be exp. I feel like returning the cans to Uncle Wilson immediately and come back when SAF decides to pay me $1000 a month.

"Ermmm how much is this?"

"Hahah seventy five, young man!"

"You serious!?"

He seemed to think for a while and then replied with confidence, "Of course!"

Wow i think $75 is a great price for smthing liddat! I whispered to Wenze "Shit lah i kena poisoned liao! Eh it sound damn nice rite!". He said yes.

After walking out of the shop and phoning my friend and ask about their opinion...i decided to WACK! I surrendered my NETS card and punched in my PIN. Before i knew anything im the owner of the iGrado. Oh my i just spent $75 liddat!!!! But this make ZOMBiE a very happy guy for this weekend...

iGrado - The Review

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-Physical Built-
This headphone is a Street Style Backbone, meaning the headband goes behind your neck instead of the traditional over your head. The neckband is built from flexible polished plastic and the driver unit has got this hole-punched metal piece on the outside which sort of look cool.There is a silver bot connecting the neck band to the driver units, which on first sight seemed like an adjustable nob, but its not, the whole headphone is non-adjustable. But it fits on my ear perfectly and comfortably. It appears that the neckband will take the width of your head after wearing for some time. At first it felt too tight, but after about half an hour of wearing the tightness seemed to be gone. You leave it for some times without wearing and the tightness will be back again. Comfort is guaranteed, but being a backbone, the neckband will obstruct the way if u try to rest your head on the back of your chair or something. U cannot sleep with this headphone as well.

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-Sounding-
Nice punchy and clear deep bass but not to the extreme like KSC75 (Lots of muddy bass). I love the vocals, the mids are very warm and bright, brings out everything in the vocalist's voice. The highs are a bit lacking with no sibilance, actually the highs are okay with me as im not a fan of screeching reproductions. Overall the sounding is good enough to go without EQ or enhancements at all. Due to its slightly emphasized bass, bright vocal and so-so highs, it shows that this can is not very neutral or balance or flat, but its not to the extreme as well. It still sounds natural yet dynamic and lovely. Perfect for pop, rock and techno songs.

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-Driving-
Its hard to drive, i need to up the volume to 40/50 on my D2. I tried using EQ and BBE enhancements, the nice bright vocal with almost zero sibilance is easily distorted or destroyed in the process if not done carefully. Thus i would just prefer it in flat from D2.

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-Conclusion-
If u compare iGrado to the other Grado models, this is tip of an ice mountain. But if you compare this to other street style models like the PX100, Porta Pro or ATH-ES5, this headphone is definitely one of the leaders. Its price (SGD75) is the cheapest among the three other cans i mentioned as well.

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CK7 Foam Buds

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I got a pair of foam buds for CK7 for SGD4. It seals up your ear canal and now the isolation is damn good. The bass from CK7 is now significantly deeper and punchier. I feel the foams are more comfortable than the original silicon stock buds, though u will have the feeling or smthing pressing on your ear canal, it feels very secure as if it wun drop easily (the original stock buds drop off easily)

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Above shows the new foam bud and the old silicon bud.

IMPACT CK7 Storage box

I finally finished my box of IMPACT mints. The below pics will show that i used it as a storage box for my CK7.

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