Why would someone reccomend Grados as rockers? I mean, they sound bright, harsh (to my ears), and lack a bass end entirely.... isn't that the antithesis of rock? Rock is generally a bass oriented kind of music, why would cans that lack bass be a good choice?

The grados do have a lot of detail...but....that's detrimental in this case. The fact of the matter is that most rock CDs out there right now were mastered by a guy name Jake who's in a perpetual drunken stupor.....

Modern rock CDs have a restricted soundstage, instruments covering eachother, Instruments are overlapping in the frequency spectrum, instruments are panned willy-nilly, often vocals/bassdrum/snare are out of place....no core to the sound....etc...

I'm not saying ALL rock CDs are like this, just most.

it would seem Grados bring out what rockers want to hide, and don't bring out what rockers want you to hear....good rock cans? I don't think so...

opinions?

Concidering that the Grados are some of the hardest equipment to match correctly, your assesment of their sound is correct. But if you put them together with the right system, they pretty much blow everything out of the water. You have to hear it to believe it. But pair with 90% of the gear out there and it will sound TERRIBLE.

As for rock, when the cans are happy, they have the dynamics, bass, midrange, impact, PRaT, and everything else that makes them excel at any music that benefits from those kinds of sonics.

My Grado SR225 gives me ton of bass out of almost any kind of source that I have.

Harsh? Bright? Yes... that describes some lower-end Grados. Things do get slightly better with a pad change to the flats. I agree with the bowl pads shipped these days most Grados do not sound their best. The Grados are generally entertaining phones to listen to, and therein lies their advantage. It peps up music, which is what you want for rock and pop.


I suppose also there's also the value factor in the Grado recommendations, given the heavily US flavoured nature of the board. In the US, the Grados are priced to sell in comparison with other phones. In the rest of the world they are considerably poorer value.


Then there's bass. There is the extended-duration, bloated bass that most inexperienced listeners would consider bass. The Sony MDR-V700 certainly delivers this, not sure about the 600. It's fun to listen in limited quantities even if you consider yourself an audiophile (or at least I think so), but if you've developed any kind of listening ear, after having heard the taut, punchy bass that comes out of an unbloated phone then it's a poor substitute for regular listening.

i never had a problem with grado brightness, probably because of the source i use. eggo was never bright for me neither. i think the grado have as much bass i want for rock. i enjoy my metal music with the eggo also. my main concern here is the type of bass, not how much it have. in the case of grado, its punchiness, in the case of the eggo, its ..quickness, making thse two headphone much more fun to listen to because they are persausive. something like the ex71, the bass is just bland and boring. but its could be something to do with me entering head-fi and listen to music with max bassboost and now on flat eq.

Zemo-
I agree with you, they sound harsh on alot of stuff (SR60's and SR80's). I've never tried anything higher than that though.

I think that people should preface the grado recommendations with the fact that they need to be paired with a darker, more treble rolled-off source.. The bowl pads, while not uncomfortable to me, definitely add to the bright/harsh nature.... the Senn replacement pads make a big difference.

What would be the best warm, or smooth amp to use with the grados? Perhaps a Mint, since they tend to color the sound to be warmer?

For what it's worth, I'm comparing SR80s to HD580s, HD600s, and AKG K501s....

Can you all mention what you are referencing your opinions to?

Statements like this don't mean much without a comparison...
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I have heard the SR60's, and SR80's, and they are far cry from the higher end Grado cans. I feel that the Sennheiser 580's, and 600's would stomp the SR60's, and SR80's in almost every department. Getting up to the 225, RS-1, HP-1000 range though... My HP-2's make rock sound -real-, then again, everything sounds incredible.

Trevor

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The SR-225 would be more in league with these other headphones.

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There's your problem.

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That's EXACTLY what I thought when I read your first post. Glad you get that.

I don't mind the brightness of my SR-80's, but then again, that's me. Also, I enjoy the extremely tight (almost to a fault) bass. It's got a nice punch.

Gosh do I need to chuck this Santa Cruz, though...

I agree entirely about the poor state of recording for rock. Generally they sound abysmal compared to most other stuff out there and I also agree that the lower end Grado's can exacerbate the situation. Personally I prefer my Senn 580's to the Grado 60's or 80's. The midrange ones aren't too bad but still not perfect. I haven't heard any of the higher range ones yet so can't comment on them. I can imagine myself having fun with them given the right albums however I find them somewhat fatigue inducing after a while. One reason I like my Shures is because they have very good bass and decent detail without being too 'in your face'. A good rock combo in my book.

I only recently acquired the Grado sr225 and it's hard to overstate what it does for rock listening. I also use inexpensive Senn hd202 cans at the office and AKG k501 cans at home.

In my experience, the k501s go a long way with different kinds of chamber/orchestral music and some related forms of mostly instrumental post-rock. They do a pretty good job with beatless, ambient, and otherwise minimalist forms of electronica. The k501 sound is very detailed and lends itself to deep listening without feeling overly analytical. It is never bright and never forward. Much has been written elsewhere about the liquid midrange, and I generally agree.

There are two significant reasons why I sought another set of cans for home use. One, the k501s are not very forgiving of standard-issue jazz CDs. Some remasters help, but in lieu of forever waiting for the next audiophile pressing I wanted cans that would warm up to my Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Mose Allison, Chet Baker discs as-is.

Two, the k501s do not deliver sufficient proximity with rock music. In my case that means an odd assortment of The Smiths, Nick Cave, Idaho, Windsor for the Derby, Cocteau Twins, Joy Division, Stereolab, The Cramps, whatever. The music is not wronged in a technical sense by the k501s. But something about the experience is a bit killjoy.

In comparison, the Grado sr225s deliver plenty of detail and immediacy. There is no harshness or bloat. It is a different quality of midrange, well matched to clean and pleasant high and low ends. There is no detecatable coloring and the punch gets through effortlessly. Not aggressively punchy but quick, alive, a hell of a lot of fun. I have not experienced fatigue with either rock or jazz.

It would be unfair to expect one set of cans to substitute the other, as there is plenty each does exceptionally well. I'm happy to have both. They reveal different things in the same recording, and for some they make it clear there is only one way to go.



There is something to be said about the concert hall (k501) vs. club (sr225) analogy I found somewhere in the archives. I suppose it goes back to the soundstage issue. Any takers on this or any of the observations above?

Hey Zemo..

Ever heard of the GIGO principle.. (short for Garbage In Garbage Out).. or it is more like Garbage In - More Garbage Out, when the Grados are paired with an amp..

In other words, pair up the Grados with good source (both the player and the audio stuff) and amplify through a decent amp, you will find that Grados offer great detail and intimacy to the sound. I have a Creative NJB3 -> Supermini amp -> Grado SR-225, and I find that while good music sounds great with this setup, bad recordings are next to unhearable with my SR-225s.

Some 128kbps MP3s that sounded decent when I heard them through my PCDP using stock headphones, were practically unhearable when I heard them through my NJB3->Supermini->SR-225s.. With quality recordings however, there is a night and day difference in how they sound, and the bass is really hi-fi standard..

Of course, the SR-225s are my first venture into decent head-fi cans, so, take my impressions for whatever they are worth..

-raaj