A few queries about the Grado sr225i before I purchase them

Heya,

 

Woodied SR60i's.

 

Or bust on the prestige line.

 

Very best,

With the exception of the Grado IEMs, all Grados are open backed. They leake music out and allow ambient noises in. They aren't optimal for use in public. Quite honestly, there are much better alternatives for that.

The cord is about 6' long and very thick. Not the best for walking around with an iPod.


For it's intended uses the Grado is a very nice headphone if you like it's colored house sound signature.

For those uses the Grados are not useful. They'll sound like mini speakers to anyone around you and will let in plenty of ambient noise to make it difficult to listen to music. To compensate you'll have to turn up the music risking hearing damage while being intrusive to others.

There are other great alternatives when you're ready. If you look at my sig you'll see I have 4 main cans. With the Grado as the overlap. The HD800 and Grado are open cans that I use in a quiet environment. I use the IEM for noisy situations and when I would rather have portability. The closed 'phone I use for doing chores when I need moderate isolation. I use a combination of wearing the IEM (playing music) and putting on the closed can (without music) on airplanes for maximum isolation. A proper tool for every job.

The SR-225 is one of my favorite headphones of all time. Unfortunately they'll be a trainwreck for your intents and purposes. It doesn't help that the SR-225 and beyond use an 8-conductor cable thats about the thickness of our computer power cable haha.

 

If you can get one of the older SR-225 (non-i) models it'll have the skinner 4-conductor one. The 8-conductor one is higher quality and tougher though.

 

If you don't mind wearing a bag and slinging your cable along, it's quite doable, thats how I got through community college :)

 

If you want something similar to Grado mids, I hear the Shure SRH line is pretty similar in terms of warmth and overall musical enjoyment. The signature seems to be less hit/miss than it is with Grados and everybody generally enjoys them. Grado, you're either a huge fanboy, or you really do not care for them haha. It's sort of like the Jaguar motors of headphones. Good performance, not exceptionally well put together, and some people have had really bad experiences with some, but for the people who enjoy them, there is nothing else like it for them!

 

The main reason I buy Grado these days is just the warranty, everything on them is literally replaceable... so you can get your headphones back real quick. I had a nightmare trying to find a new screw for a Denon D2000 from the manufacturer so I just ended up going to OSH and buying random screws and nuts.

I don't know, I use Grado's in an office (cube) environment, and I've never got a complaint about how loud they are.  And I listen quite loudly sometimes, but usually I have them low enough such that if someone talks to me right next to me, I can hear them.

 

And for portable use, I use Senn PX-100's that are also open.  Never got a complaint with those either.

 

So I'm just questioning whether nixing open headphones for portable use is good advice.

 

But also be aware, that unless you get a lower Grado (SR80i and below?), they come with a 1/4" jack, and you'll need an adapter to go into an MP3 player, and that does make them less user-friendly for portable use.

 

I tried the Shure 440's and 840's and didn't like either one of them.  Too much treble emphasis and not enough low end even compared to Grados, which aren't known of as bass monsters.

 

Edited by Kevin Brown - 11/23/11 at 10:29am

Grado's are a stupidly easy re-cable job. So I wouldn't worry too much about that as a factor - either 3rd party or DIY options are easy and good. 

 

For portable use, it would be easy to recable the 225's to a short single sided entry with a 1/8th TRS jack and call it a day. They do leak a lot of sound - but honestly, I sometimes wear mine even on the subway system. They do have to compete with the ambient noise, so be sure to be careful with your volume and not damage your hearing. But in quieter surrounds (walking around, riding a bus, etc.) they are fine. 

 

 

 

I will say - for your stated needs though, something like the Sennheiser 25-1 II might be a better fit. 

They're easy to disassemble... but the solder pads being able to be lifted and burning out the thin ass voice coil wire is a huge liability compared to say an AKG, which takes like 20 minutes to break down and get ready for recabling...

 

It is easy if you've got the guts for it though!
 

I do wear my Grados on the bus.

 

No need to desolder the pads if you are nervous about it - leave an inch of the grado cable and just do a wire to wire solder inside, with some shrink tube on the joints.