Why do you Love the Grado Sound {Grado Fans}

If you like bright and mids forward; if you like to sit with the band instead of far enough away to set the sound stage, you should like the Grado SR signature sound.

It's always your own ears that count the most.

Grados don't do classical very well. They're not good with congestion. Other things they do exceedingly well. You really need to audition them to see if you like them.

Grados are really all about the high energy presentation to me. I agree that classical is not something they do well. If you are really interested, but unsure and have no place to audition them, you can always order from a website with a fair return policy. Listen for a few days and decide. You could also start with the SR60i, for a slightly smaller investment if you are uncomfortable with returns.

I would describe Grado sound as "in your face". I've yet to hear a Grado I felt was "laid back" but of course I haven't listened to them all. If you like bright and snappy sound then they are fantastic. They are also great to mod , very mod friendly. 

 

If I was starting over I would buy the SR60i on the cheap and judge from that point. The SR60i certainly isn't there best but its a good base line of how other Grado's can sound (of course they improve as well with more money spent) so if you don't like the SR60i's then you might be a "Grado" kind of person.

The PS-500 is kinda ''laid back''

Grados sound like live music.  No graph, mic measurement, waterfall plot I've seen shows what live music sounds like.  In a decade when people figure out these measuring tools folks will realize that Grados do a good job of reproducing the live musical performance, until then I trust my ears.

I'll echo what painter said. To my ears, they excel at reproducing the natural timbre of various instruments in a way that music sounds very organic and natural. Live recordings sound off the charts awesome. The 80s have nice airy presentation where it feels like (to me) that you're walking into a room (or on a stage, as others have rightly suggested) where music is playing as opposed to having headphones on. Details are there in spades. The 80s are physically very light and I barely even notice I'm wearing them, especially after throwing the pads in the wash with the laundry. Sound stage is not very big, but it's appropriate and it's layered. Imaging is spot on and arguably my favorite characteristic of these cans. Bass does not hit deep, but it's very natural and crisp. The mids are fantastic. The top end is a bit on the bright side, which I tend to prefer. For $99, if these are the type of qualities you prefer, you'll love them. If you're a bass head and you want a headphone that is flat to 5Hz, they aren't for you.

 

PS. Frank also gave great advice. Pick them up from somewhere like Amazon where there is a return policy in place. I sent some Beyerdynamic DT880s back with no trouble.

Edited by Focker - 4/10/12 at 1:59am

I love the immediacy of the sound - how close you feel to the musicians. And, although they don't have a large soundstage, they do have a great "open, airy" quality to the sound that I really like.

 

Most people say they excel at rock but I prefer them for acoustic guitar and laid back live recording sessions. wonderful sound, very inviting.

 Ding! Ding! We have a winner over here ^

My personally optimal sound would be Grado signature with a whole lot better bass extension and possibly overall tiny bit more bass in the whole range than what's present but depends on model a bit in them but yea midbass impact is already very good in them so the major thing would be the subbass range. 

 

The thing is what many people are missing that it's not about neutrality really, it's about what your ears wants to hear and I'd be willing to bet if doing a public blindtest between Grados and say Sennheiser HD650, 800, AKG K70x (laid-back corner) on one end and Grados on the other end, more than half would go for Grado sound. I think a lot of people enjoy this type of sound signature when everything is like thrown into your face, it becomes a more intimate and engaging listen, one that can't stop you from foottapping or headbanging to the music which fits especially younger people's preferred listening experience, it's like getting an energy kick out of it, this is also why my "default" config for my custom foobar2000 Dolby Headphone setup mimmicks Grado-esk sound because I know it'll appeal to a lot of people. 

 

In-your-face but airy with a significant bass bump, that's my personal optimal sound signature, unfortunately I don't know of any perfect examples of that, Grado with a significant bass extension fix would be what I'm looking for.

Edited by RPGWiZaRD - 4/10/12 at 7:47am