Grado SR225i Headphones

I was searching for a "fun" headphone that I would enjoy listening to. I started looking at the SR80i's and the SR60i's, until I tried the SR225i and couldn't go back. There was a big difference in sound and comfort for me. Perhaps it was only the bowls (I didn't try the lower models with the bowl pads) but there was enough of a noticeable difference for me to opt for the higher model. What I noticed was a great increase in instrument separation, slightly increased soundstage, and improved clarity. Additionally, I found the bowls to be much more comfortable than the "comfies", which made my ears warm after only 15 minutes of listening. The vinyl headband was not a big problem for me. I found the clamping pressure to be perfect, and not as strong as the Sennheiser 558/598's I tried.

For $200, these are not the most balanced or do-it-all headphone out on the market in the price range. There are obvious flaws with the headphone, mostly with the lack of neutrality, build quality, and comfort for some (though I had no problems with this). There may be a lack of "oomph" in the bass for some people, and the soundstage is nothing to brag about. However, these were never meant to, I think, be serious reference or studio quality headphones. They were meant to make you enjoy your music, and to get your feet tapping. If you are looking for a complimentary headphone or a rock centric headphone, look no further.

If you want an introduction to the Grado sound look no further to the SR225i.  The special Grado sound is liked by many but also hated by many as well.  The best way for me to explain the Grado sound that it has characteristics of Warm sound with a nice touch of Brightness.  It is bright but not to the point of hurting your ears.  Because of this you will not find any of the Grado headphones to be netural sounding at all (colored sound).  I like my stuff colored (I like tubes as well, eh) so this is not an issue, but I will say it because that's the fact about any Grado.

 

The design for the most part is good but it is mostly plastic (some of the lettering is coming off) and it does take a very long time for the headphones to get comfortable.  I think the only major con of these headphones is comfort.  After a little awhile the headphones fit on my head just fine but it just took too long for that to happen.

 

Some people also say that the lower end Grados doesn't have enough bass.  For me the SR225i does a great job with bass (and great bass impact I must add).

 

Overall for $200 you really can't go around with the Grados.  The midrange really shines on these headphones. 

 

Note as of 06/09/10:  I should had add this in the review but an amp makes a big difference with the Grado headphones (or any headphone period).  Invest in a good one because a good amp will add in the suppose "missing bass" to the Grados.

Found a pair of these at a friends place, at first from the looks of the packaging and the heaphones I thought they were some crumby dollar store brand. Plugged them into my mobile setup (behringer u222 dac and Fiio E11, i had a 1/4 to 1/8 adapter handy)  that i usually use with my ATH-M50s, and was even more convinced they were some kind of cheap dollar store brand. I decided to look them up anyway and found out they have an MSRP of ~$200. Honestly, I was shocked, sound aside these things look like dollar store headphones and are about as comfortable (which is to say rapidly become painful). Every sound that comes out of them sounds muddled, there is no crispness or definition. These headphones made my ears feel dirty just for listening to them. I cant adequitely express my general displeasure with these headphoens in every aspect, even when I was expecting dollar store quality. I wouldn't pay 10$ for these, much less the completely rediculous price of $200. If you're looking for a pair of headphones and are willing to spend that much, look somewhere else, ANYWHERE else. I cant believe I'm saying this but you would be better off spending your money on a pair of -shudders- .... beats. 

 

 

- look like dollar store heaphones

- uncomfortable to the point of painful

- sound awful

 

TL:DR

 

Stay away from these at all costs.

Say what you want about Grado headphones, they certainly have a die-hard cult following. So, being a Head-Fier, it's relatively impossible to not know about them. When I asked for advice on the forums for upgrade suggestions to my HD448 with "Metal performance" being one of the key things I was after, it was inevitably that the Grado sound would be recommended to me. They seem to be a polarising line up of headphones, with the 225i often referred to as the sweet spot. They fit my budget at the time perfectly and apparently had the sound I was after, so I jumped on them (at a PC store no less, which I was quite surprised to hear were getting them in). 

 

My first impressions of the headphones when I saw the box were that they were significantly larger than I thought they would be. I don't know why, but the pictures always just made them look so small for some reason. For me, they're somewhere between supra-aural and circum-aural in size (and practice, I'll get to that later). They have a thick, dual entry cable that's approximately 1.5-1.6m long. They're open back, with fully rotating ear pieces, and sliding rodblocks to adjust the height. The headphones hug the top of the head with a vinyl covered headband.

The first night I had them, I must admit, I thought I had made a huge mistake. The Grados are known for not being great for comfort, and that had been eating away at me, but I figured I can put up with mild discomfort for the great sound. However, when I first put them on I thought they felt pretty strange. No immediate discomfort or anything, but it didn't feel like it was something designed to go on the ears in such a manner. They seem to put most of the pressure on the outside edges of your ear, rather than directly on the ear or head. Pretty weird, really, and it still feels quite unique every time I switch from a more conventional headphone to the 225i's.

 

After 30 minutes or so some pretty serious discomfort started to set in. This was because of two things; the clamp force and the earpads. I knew before I bought them that you had to stretch the headband out, but I didn't do it enough. As they are now, when relaxed (face down) the closest points of the earpads sit about 7.5cm away from each other, which leaves the clamp force just right for me. However out of the box they probably sit 1.5cm apart, hence why they were so violently uncomfortable. As for the earpads, they are not as soft when new as they are after a good fortnight of use (and a wash or two), which also improves the comfort. Still, even with these improvements the comfort is mediocre at best, and will inhibit long listening sessions. The cable is also fairly heavy, disproportionately so to the weight of the headphones, so if the cable isn't supported it will feel like the cable is dragging down your head. Still, it could have been a lot worse since to it's credit they're quite light and allow your ears to breathe quite generously, so sweat and heat never really occurs. Really, these are actually comfy for listening to a single album, but the longer you listen after that, the more they become uncomfortable. These are definitely not all day headphones.

 

The build quality is actually better than I was expecting (since I'd heard they were "extremely cheap" feeling). There's no thin, flimsy plastics used. The plastic of the the cups, gimbals and rodblocks actually seems very sturdy. It sounds very solid when tapped with my knuckle and has absolutely zero give when pressure is applied to it. The metal grille is very nice, in fact I prefer it to almost every modified grille I've seen. The cable is very thick and sturdy, and the 6.35mm jack is very solid. The dual entry cables are also attached very well to the cups. The overall build and sturdiness isn't stellar but it's actually fairly respectable. I think the sense of cheapness that many people get is from some of the materials and the design. The aforementioned earpads are just foam. Sure, it's significantly higher grade foam that what you get on a crappy $10 pair of headphones from a reject store, but it's not a luxurious material to sit on your ears or to look at. But the real killer is the vinyl headband. Once again, it's not as bad as I was lead to believe, but it is most certainly the weak point of the entire build. It's quite thin, and doesn't feel or look nice in the least. This is the main thing that makes you feel as though you've been ripped in the build department. Also, when you hold them in your hands, the free swivelling ear cups give the sensation that the headphones are less 'solid' but I think that's more of an illusion than anything.

 

I knew that the vinyl headband had to go before I even received the 225i's, so I got myself a genuine cowhide leather headband from Headphonelounge.com (now Turbulent Labs). It adds a whole world of extra quality, looks and a bit of comfort to the Grados for $50. I think my 225i's look quite nice with it on:

 

But, even with this addition, I must agree that for a $200 headphone they are rather rudimentary and un-luxurious. You want (and can get) something that just feels and looks much more high end for that amount of money. I still think they look quite cool, but take that with a grain of salt because I'm one of the weirdos that thinks the Koss Portapro looks cool (and it's not even me reminiscing to the 80's, I'm only 21 ).

 

With all of that said about the quality and comfort, this is probably the time to mention the modding community. I won't say much, but there is a wealth of info about ways to modify your Grados (and even businesses you can send yours into). The relatively modular design of the Grados allow for many DIY possibilities if you have the know-how or the dollars.

 

However, this also brings me to Grado's policies and service. If you're modifying your headphones and break a part, often you can get a replacement part from the manufacturers, or another store that sells the parts. Not so with Grado. All they sell are replacement earpads, extension cables and 6.35mm to 3.5mm converters. They have a policy against selling parts like metal headband inserts, grilles, gimbals, badges, cups etc. So unless you're able to find somebody selling a used part, you'll be forced to send your headphones into Grado and pay what will end up being an exhorbitant servicing & repairs fee for a single part. I think it's a crap policy, and I don't really care what reasons they have for it, it just makes things worse for their consumers. I've heard of people carefully wording their emails to Grado about spare parts (lying) and having success getting the part sent to them for free, but that people should have to do that just to get their hands on some innocent little spare parts is ridiculous. Not to mention, my particular grados were missing the sheets of paper that normally come with them, I contacted them about it and got bounced all around the place with unhelpful crap (I never got the papers). I've seen Grados service praised but I haven't had a single good experience with them.

 

It's probably time I got around to talking about the sound. I've had the Grados for 6 and a half months now, and my enjoyment of their sound (if put on a graph) has been somewhat bell-shaped. It took me a little bit to appreciate what they did, and since I did I've been loving them immensely, but with time and exposure to other headphones, my maturing tastes and their flaws have had a bit of a sobering affect in that I realise I can't use them for everything. Here's what I think of their sound;

 

Bass- Fantastic quality but lacking in quantity for certain applications. The bass is very tight, fast and punchy. It does a fantastic job of keeping up with drum blasting or fast-paced bass rhythm. It's well defined, too. The problem is that for stuff like electronic, hip hop, ambient and even quite a lot of metal, I think the bass has too little authority. It leaves quite a few tracks sounding like there's quite a bit missing, kind of like 2.0 monitors with poor extension / authority vs a balanced 2.1 setup. It's just far too light for some music. Compared to the HFI-580, the bass sounds embarrassingly weak for said genres. The quality is there in spades, but the quantity is insufficient for those bass heavy uses. For stuff like Jazz, Progressive, Acoustic, and for more technical Metal the bass is great, though.

 

Mids- These are kick ass. Easily the highlight of the 225i, and they sound just bloody fantastic to my ears. They possess a very warm, crisp tone, and they're quite forward and aggressive. This works wonders for distorted guitars but it also gives intimacy and authority to other instruments. Vocals sound just right to me. Keyboards are one of the stand-outs for me with these, they sound quite 3 dimensional, very real, very fun. The mids are definitely the best quality of these phones.

 

Treble- Basically what I said about the mids, the forwardness and aggressiveness can be fantastic for the right music. It gives darker, relaxed recordings excitement and intimacy. Power. But, like the bass, the treble isn't good for everything. It's not as bad as the HFI-580s, but the fatigue and piercing isn't exactly hard to come across in long listening sessions or with an already bright recording. Comparing bright Black Metal recordings between the PX100 and the 225i definitely made it apparent that if I was going to stick to the album on the Grado it would be at the expense of fatigue. A good example of where the treble is advantageous is Tool's 10'000 Days. It's music that is peaky by nature that the extra peakiness of the Grados makes things too bright. 

 

The 225i's sound intimate, coherant, fast and airy, punchy and energetic with the correct music. These do sound fantastic with small ensemble Jazz, Progressive and Acoustic, as well as metal that isn't quite as "grand" or "epic" sounding, they're too narrow and not bassy enough for that. Also, all of this is with the assumption that you're feeding them well recorded music, because I don't find the 225i to be a very forgiving headphone at all.

 

Would I recommend these? I would, but only for a very specific type of user; Somebody who doesn't prioritise aesthetics or quality, but who wants them for short listening sessions at home with SQ that will excel with well recorded Jazz, Progressive, Acoustic and Metal, and is interested in modifications. It's fantastic for that sort of person. However, I feel anyone who doesn't fit into such a narrow userbase will likely encounter some glaring flaws.

 

If you want stellar build quality you will be disappointed. If you want bass power you will be very disappointed. If you want easy listening you will be disappointed. If you want forget-they're-on comfort you'll be disappointed. If you want wide genre compatibility you will be disappointed. If you want portability you will be disappointed. If you want luxurious finishings you will be disappointed. If you want top notch support and service you will be disappointed.

 

There's quite a number of things that can very easily leave someone disappointed in these headphones, it's true. It does some select things very well indeed, though, and if those things happen to be those that you value most, then you've found yourself a great buy. For me personally, I really love what they do well. However, these are certainly headphones that belong in a collection, not on their own. My music tastes have branched out considerably since I bought them, so their narrow specialisation no longer fulfils my needs as a whole. I'll probably upgrade to a more easy listening, all-rounder in time.

 

A great specialist headphone, just don't expect it to do everything well.

I previously owned a pair of Klipsch Image S4 earbuds after reading a review on C-Net about how good they sounded. After hearing music with the Klipsch I started to crave for a richer sound.

I came across head-fi and searched for the best cans in my price range.

There were two contenders it came down to the Grado SR225i and a pair of Sennheiser's for which model I can not recall.

After calling around local audio shops I finally found the Grados. They didn't have a display pair but the owner of the shop was nice enough to open a brand new pair for me to test out. I feel in love instantly.

The sound quality was like nothing I had heard at that point in my life (I've heard better now, but I was only a high school kid at the time and Dr. Dre "Beats" were considered amazing by most people my age).

So I bought them and never looked back.

For how worried I was about breaking the plastic things or ripping out the cord (the head pieces rotate in a full 360 degrees and I was always worried I'd over rotate one side too much a single way and it would snap off) they have held up more than a few years.

They still sound good for the money, I'd recommend them for any person who doesn't want to spend a crazy amount of money or invest in a full dac/amp setup.

My reference is primarily with inner ear monitors (UE10pro) and the Beyerdynamic DT770.  

 

I've been listening to the SR225i's for a few days and have developed a few opinions...  I've been wanting Grado's for a long time, but I've never jumped on a pair because of criticisms of cheap construction, narrow soundstage and overly colored mid-ranges.  I finally jumped on the SR225i's because it seemed like the best I was going to do for $200 sound quality-wise and these are constantly referenced as some of the best "Rock" headphones.  

 

I should note that I almost exclusively listen to Hard Rock and Power Metal.  I understand that these genres aren't terribly popular for audiophiles, but the music is ideal for higher-end equipment because it's extremely bombastic with tons of textures that just blur to a mush with unworthy headphones.  Power Metal itself is extremely fast so highly responsive drivers is critical to hear the detail.

 

I have found the SR225i's to represent these genre's extremely well.  The more upfront mids sound better than the more neutral tuning on my ue10pros.  The ur10pros mids can also sound harsh so I find myself tweaking the equalizer to up the highs a bit.  I don't have to do any adjustments for the Grados, they sound phenomenal with no manipulation.  The mids are much softer and the bass was far more punchy than the $900 monitors.  The DT770s are not as clear and upfront and the bass is not as punchy. Since metal is notoriously lacking in bass, I thought the music was ideally represented by the Grados.  Simply put, for the price, the audio is top notch.  I'm using the headphones unamped, running them through my M-Audio Firewire 410 recording rig.

 

Comfort... This is going to be hard to adequately describe.  I initially found the headphones to be extremely comfortable.  I did not find the foam material to be irritating, but it did make my ears a bit warm.  It wasn't until wearing them for about 2 hours that I started to get extremely uncomfortable.  I have very sensitive Sinus' and the pressure from of the headphones really flared them up.  I know my sinus is nowhere near the ear, but it still seemed to have an effect.  I got instant relief when I took them off. Since I've only had them for a few days I don't know if this is going to be a long term issue.  Overall, the comfort is good initially, but can get fatiguing over time.  It's worth noting that I'm rather large (6'4"), have a longish/narrow head with small ears- my ears experienced no discomfort.  

 

Build Quality is pretty pathetic.  They really look cheap (the vinyl headband should be better, it looks terrible) .  My wife could not believe they cost $200.  Only the drivers and cable seem to be of decent quality.  The rest of the materials would not be out of place in a Dollar store.  I knew this going into buying them so I'm not upset, I just hope they hold up over time.  This is the biggest gamble I'm taking.  I'm surprised that Grado does not up the design and build quality a bit purely for advertising.  Seeing these things has to be a pretty big turn-off for many buyers.

 

In the end, I'm rating this an overall 5 because the sound quality for this price point is really where the substance is at.  I can put up with everything else as long as they work and continue to sound great.  I'm delighted to sat that my high expectations have been met. For the genres of music i enjoy, these headphones are perfect.

 

These songs really shined for me:

Angra- Course of Nature

Dreamtale- Mortal Games

Gamma Ray- Hand of Fate

Харизма- SoS

Heavenly- Virus

Highlord- Hand of God

Holy Knights- Glass Room

Olympos Mons- Locked in Chains (This one blew me away)

Pathfinder- Beyond the Space, Beyond the Time

 

 

 

  

 

 

I purchased these headphones for my birthday of this year to replace my Logitech G930 headset. I've never had an "audiophile" or very high quality pair of headphones, but have heard very great things about them. I am a person who makes sure my music is in FLAC or other lossless (Or from original CD to lossless) so this isn't your average person who listens to MP3's on their Ipod.

 

To start when I got the headphones, the design was terrible. Looked tiny like it would break and actually DID break on the second day of usage. The left connector to the cup broke off, I do not have a big head and I never mistreated them, but it's most likely manufacture defect. The next thing I noticed was the comfort, they use foam pads that are itchy to my ears, and their not very sensitive. It can really get on your nerves and you have to take them off for a while after a couple hours of music listening because of their ear irritating fatigue. 

 

But the most important aspect of this is the sound. When first used, there was no bass. NONE, not a single bit of bass could be felt from these headphones, my G930's surpass these Grado's 10x over in bass production, which I find quite sad. Although I do have to praise the reproduction of high frequencies. From listening to a couple high-string heavy songs from Red and a couple of solo/chorus high singings it seem's VERY nice to listen to. It will make you be able to feel some of the highs, if you know what I mean.

 

Lastly, the mid's we're turned up way too high on these. I don't have an equalizer running from my motherboard audio source (Realtek audio stuff) and neither in any applications, so this is pure headphones.  The mid drowns out any sort of highs and makes it sound quite muddy, not defined. And no matter how I equalized, it would sound bad.

 

The combination of the no bass, oversized mids and headphones breaking pretty much sealed the deal for me to return them to amazon along with my FiiO E9 (And 6.3 to 3.5MM jack) that I bought along side the headphones. (Not even the FiiO E9's Bass boost would make the bass any better!)

 

So right now i'm stuck with my G930 headset, that I have no major gripe about since I got the software to work and have the headphones equalized to my liking, and they are closed headphones, so I don't have to worry about waking anybody up anytime soon (And are wireless!). Grado's are not my audio reproduction style, although they might be for you. 

 

So my journey for my perfect headphones moves on!