[NewVegasBaby]

Hi there
My name is john and im relativly new at the forums
I was planning on getting a pair of grados sr 80i for a sub 100 dolar headphone because i have heard wonders about them, but i wnated to ask a few questions first to someone that owns this headphone( or the grados sr 60 since they are similar)
 
->The thing i am worried about the most it´s their size, i have rather small ears and head  and was wondering if they would be a good fit and if that would affect the sound quality.
 
-> They will be mainly used at home but are they too big to be used with an mp3 player on the move?
 
->Are they too unconfortable?
 
-> I mainloy listen too new age , acoustic ,stuff like micheal hedges , andy  mckee and a little bit of orchestral and other calm instrumental tunes , at the same time i realy like guitar shredding and prog rock ( mainly frank zappa) do you think these headphones fit these genres well?
 
Thanks for your time
Greets John

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

Hi there
My name is john and im relativly new at the forums
I was planning on getting a pair of grados sr 80i for a sub 100 dolar headphone because i have heard wonders about them, but i wnated to ask a few questions first to someone that owns this headphone( or the grados sr 60 since they are similar)
 
->The thing i am worried about the most it´s their size, i have rather small ears and head  and was wondering if they would be a good fit and if that would affect the sound quality.
 
-> They will be mainly used at home but are they too big to be used with an mp3 player on the move?
 
->Are they too unconfortable?
 
-> I mainloy listen too new age , acoustic ,stuff like micheal hedges , andy  mckee and a little bit of orchestral and other calm instrumental tunes , at the same time i realy like guitar shredding and prog rock ( mainly frank zappa) do you think these headphones fit these genres well?
 
Thanks for your time
Greets John

Size shouldn't be a problem.
 
Abandon any hope of taking them on the run.  These are inside cans - they're so open that they just aren't feasible as portables.  You will annoy everyone from the sound leaking out, and a LOT of sound will leak in as well.  They don't need an amp, though.
 
These cans will not sound great with orchestral, new age, or acoustic music.  These are rock cans all the way.  Great energy from crunchy electric guitar sounds.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

disastermouse...
 
Have you ever tried the SR325's? I ask because they do acoustic VERY well. That is why I bought them in fact. I just wonder if that is a difference between the two models? I did demo the SR80 briefly the same time I demoed/purchased the 325 and I don't remember them being bad at acoustic. They are also fantastic with blues...I am quickly becoming a fan of the genre. I never gave blues consideration before now because my 770 Pro 80's did not like the blues so much, the Grados loves the blues.
 
Quote:

These cans will not sound great with orchestral, new age, or acoustic music.  These are rock cans all the way.  Great energy from crunchy electric guitar sounds.

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

disastermouse...
 
Have you ever tried the SR325's? I ask because they do acoustic VERY well. That is why I bought them in fact. I just wonder if that is a difference between the two models? I did demo the SR80 briefly the same time I demoed/purchased the 325 and I don't remember them being bad at acoustic. They are also fantastic with blues...I am quickly becoming a fan of the genre. I never gave blues consideration before now because my 770 Pro 80's did not like the blues so much, the Grados loves the blues.
 
Quote:

These cans will not sound great with orchestral, new age, or acoustic music.  These are rock cans all the way.  Great energy from crunchy electric guitar sounds.

 

I've never heard a Grado any further up the ladder than SR80i.  For me, for acoustic, there was just not enough note separation and ZERO soundstage space.  They are bright, which accentuates acoustic music...but that's it.
 
Remember, these are SR80i with flat earpads - not the cups or domes or whatever they are called...and that might change things quite a lot.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

 

Quote:

Hi there
My name is john and im relativly new at the forums
I was planning on getting a pair of grados sr 80i for a sub 100 dolar headphone because i have heard wonders about them, but i wnated to ask a few questions first to someone that owns this headphone( or the grados sr 60 since they are similar)
 
->The thing i am worried about the most it´s their size, i have rather small ears and head  and was wondering if they would be a good fit and if that would affect the sound quality. I have normal to smallish ears and I don't find it an issue at all. 
 
-> They will be mainly used at home but are they too big to be used with an mp3 player on the move? Too big...perhaps but not any bigger than other full sized cans. Like disastermouse stated though...these headphones are as open as they come...sound will leak in and out badly.
 
->Are they too unconfortable? I don't find them uncomfortable at all, even listening for hours at a time. However others do find them uncomfortable. YMMV. I do think that as the foam pads break down with use they become more comfortable.
 
-> I mainloy listen too new age , acoustic ,stuff like micheal hedges , andy  mckee and a little bit of orchestral and other calm instrumental tunes , at the same time i realy like guitar shredding and prog rock ( mainly frank zappa) do you think these headphones fit these genres well? Like I said above...I think the SR325 at least does acoustic stuff very well. I really enjoy Andy McKee with my Grados as well as some of his label mates such as Eric Turnbull and Antoine Dufour, who IMO is better than Andy and is dreamy through the Grados. 

 

 
Thanks for your time
Greets John

 

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Yeah...that might be the thing...I get pretty good separation, through my system at least, but I agree the sound stage is not there. It's like you are sitting on stage with the performers...which with acoustic I kinda like. I think that is the major reason the Grados don't do classical well. No sound stage.
 
Quote:

Quote:

disastermouse...
 
Have you ever tried the SR325's? I ask because they do acoustic VERY well. That is why I bought them in fact. I just wonder if that is a difference between the two models? I did demo the SR80 briefly the same time I demoed/purchased the 325 and I don't remember them being bad at acoustic. They are also fantastic with blues...I am quickly becoming a fan of the genre. I never gave blues consideration before now because my 770 Pro 80's did not like the blues so much, the Grados loves the blues.
 
Quote:

These cans will not sound great with orchestral, new age, or acoustic music.  These are rock cans all the way.  Great energy from crunchy electric guitar sounds.

 

I've never heard a Grado any further up the ladder than SR80i.  For me, for acoustic, there was just not enough note separation and ZERO soundstage space.  They are bright, which accentuates acoustic music...but that's it.
 
Remember, these are SR80i with flat earpads - not the cups or domes or whatever they are called...and that might change things quite a lot.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

I have been listening to some Michael Hedges...I never heard of him before...pretty good stuff. Very reminiscent of Andy Mckee.

 

[NewVegasBaby]

 
Quote:

Antoine Dufour, who IMO is better than Andy and is dreamy through the Grados.

I listen to him too , check out don ross , billy mc laughlin , ewan dobson , preston reed , phill keaggy , jimmy whalsteen , peter ciluzzi , craig d andrea ,

Peter Ciluzzi, stefano barone , justin king if you dig acoustic music , i know more but they don´t come to my mind right now . Hedges was the forefather of that kind of aocutic music in the 70´s and 80´s .

I have heard stuff from all those guys , i love acoustic music
 
Quote:

Too big...perhaps but not any bigger than other full sized cans. Like disastermouse stated though...these headphones are as open as they come...sound will leak in and out badly.

 
That´s too bad :/ I was thinking of buying the grados but i would need another pair to take with me and to use on pratical classes and im on a budget
 
I have about 100 euros which equates to 140 dolars what cans would you recommend at that price , preferably closed.
 
I was looking at the senheiser hd 555 but they are open too :/

 

[soul05]

grados would be great for acoustic music.  i have a pair of sr80s myself, but i only use them at home.  if you want another set of phones for on the go, you should look for a closed set,  but for at home listening, grados are your best bet.
 sennheiser 555's are good after the foam mod, but they are too big to be portable

 

[Bilavideo]

Hi there
My name is john and im relativly new at the forums
I was planning on getting a pair of grados sr 80i for a sub 100 dolar headphone because i have heard wonders about them, but i wnated to ask a few questions first to someone that owns this headphone( or the grados sr 60 since they are similar)
 
->The thing i am worried about the most it´s their size, i have rather small ears and head  and was wondering if they would be a good fit and if that would affect the sound quality.
 
-> They will be mainly used at home but are they too big to be used with an mp3 player on the move?
 
->Are they too unconfortable?
 
-> I mainloy listen too new age , acoustic ,stuff like micheal hedges , andy  mckee and a little bit of orchestral and other calm instrumental tunes , at the same time i realy like guitar shredding and prog rock ( mainly frank zappa) do you think these headphones fit these genres well?
 
Thanks for your time
Greets John

1. They're not too big.  They are on-ear headphones but low profile.  The plastic chambers are not heavy.  They're quite easy.  They're not helmets.
 
2. They're not too big to be used with an mp3 player on the move, and my gander goes up whenever I heard somebody say they are not meant for portable use.  They're open cans so they do let in outside noise and do leak a little, but unless you take them into a very noisy environment, you're not going to care.  I've worn them on walks, at the beach, at doctors' offices, in libraries and bookstore, at the grocery store, you name it.  The only places I'd stay away from are loud, loud venues and rumbly cars, buses or planes, where the low-frequency rumble will cancel out your bass.
 
3. They're fantastic with the kind of music you have specified.  They're not as good with really grating music, where you need a more filtered approach because it's like hitting the beach on the sunniest day of the year.  Grados are unfiltered, so you get treble so dynamic, it's practically percussive.  If you throw them into metal and alt rock - and I'm talking about the more synthesized or cymbal-crashing - it could be a winceable experience.  But with a lot of natural sound, where the treble is not accentuated for effect, Grados sound incredibly natural.

 

[NewVegasBaby]

 
Quote:

1. They're not too big.  They are on-ear headphones but low profile.  The plastic chambers are not heavy.  They're quite easy.  They're not helmets.  
2. They're not too big to be used with an mp3 player on the move, and my gander goes up whenever I heard somebody say they are not meant for portable use.  They're open cans so they do let in outside noise and do leak a little, but unless you take them into a very noisy environment, you're not going to care.  I've worn them on walks, at the beach, at doctors' offices, in libraries and bookstore, at the grocery store, you name it.  The only places I'd stay away from are loud, loud venues and rumbly cars, buses or planes, where the low-frequency rumble will cancel out your bass.
 
3. They're fantastic with the kind of music you have specified.  They're not as good with really grating music, where you need a more filtered approach because it's like hitting the beach on the sunniest day of the year.  Grados are unfiltered, so you get treble so dynamic, it's practically percussive.  If you throw them into metal and alt rock - and I'm talking about the more synthesized or cymbal-crashing - it could be a winceable experience.  But with a lot of natural sound, where the treble is not accentuated for effect, Grados sound incredibly natural.

Ok , thanks for the feedback
Since this will be my go-to pair of cans how do they fare in movies, especialy action flicks.
I am concerned about other thing , i was never much of an audiophile i have a sansa clip+ as portbale player which is a pretty clean source but my main audio source is a pc with onboard sound , i don´t know if i will be able to get much out of the grados with this setup.

 

[Bilavideo]

Quote:

1. They're not too big.  They are on-ear headphones but low profile.  The plastic chambers are not heavy.  They're quite easy.  They're not helmets.  
2. They're not too big to be used with an mp3 player on the move, and my gander goes up whenever I heard somebody say they are not meant for portable use.  They're open cans so they do let in outside noise and do leak a little, but unless you take them into a very noisy environment, you're not going to care.  I've worn them on walks, at the beach, at doctors' offices, in libraries and bookstore, at the grocery store, you name it.  The only places I'd stay away from are loud, loud venues and rumbly cars, buses or planes, where the low-frequency rumble will cancel out your bass.
 
3. They're fantastic with the kind of music you have specified.  They're not as good with really grating music, where you need a more filtered approach because it's like hitting the beach on the sunniest day of the year.  Grados are unfiltered, so you get treble so dynamic, it's practically percussive.  If you throw them into metal and alt rock - and I'm talking about the more synthesized or cymbal-crashing - it could be a winceable experience.  But with a lot of natural sound, where the treble is not accentuated for effect, Grados sound incredibly natural.

Ok , thanks for the feedback
Since this will be my go-to pair of cans how do they fare in movies, especialy action flicks.
I am concerned about other thing , i was never much of an audiophile i have a sansa clip+ as portbale player which is a pretty clean source but my main audio source is a pc with onboard sound , i don´t know if i will be able to get much out of the grados with this setup.

They're great with movies.  They have fantastic mids, which is important to catching a lot of detail, including dialogue.  The bass will not be as low as certain closed cans, but they won't sound canny and the bass will be better than that of a lot of home systems.  A lot of what passes for bass is mid-bass, which is not a slap.  People respond to slam (100 Hz).  You will find your Grados more than capable of doing such bass with style.
 
You don't need an amp with the 80s.  A PC soundboard will be fine.  If anything, it's the high-impedance cans that end up anemic under those conditions.  Grados are easy to drive.  What you have been led to believe is completely upside down.  If you tried to listen to the HD800 or the T1 off your computer, you would be greatly disappointed because those cans need a much stronger amp than any sound card will give you.  SR80s, on the other hand, are more than able to handle unamped situations, including computer sound cards.

 

[BobSaysHi]

 
Quote:

Quote:

1. They're not too big.  They are on-ear headphones but low profile.  The plastic chambers are not heavy.  They're quite easy.  They're not helmets.  
2. They're not too big to be used with an mp3 player on the move, and my gander goes up whenever I heard somebody say they are not meant for portable use.  They're open cans so they do let in outside noise and do leak a little, but unless you take them into a very noisy environment, you're not going to care.  I've worn them on walks, at the beach, at doctors' offices, in libraries and bookstore, at the grocery store, you name it.  The only places I'd stay away from are loud, loud venues and rumbly cars, buses or planes, where the low-frequency rumble will cancel out your bass.
 
3. They're fantastic with the kind of music you have specified.  They're not as good with really grating music, where you need a more filtered approach because it's like hitting the beach on the sunniest day of the year.  Grados are unfiltered, so you get treble so dynamic, it's practically percussive.  If you throw them into metal and alt rock - and I'm talking about the more synthesized or cymbal-crashing - it could be a winceable experience.  But with a lot of natural sound, where the treble is not accentuated for effect, Grados sound incredibly natural.

Ok , thanks for the feedback
Since this will be my go-to pair of cans how do they fare in movies, especialy action flicks.
I am concerned about other thing , i was never much of an audiophile i have a sansa clip+ as portbale player which is a pretty clean source but my main audio source is a pc with onboard sound , i don´t know if i will be able to get much out of the grados with this setup.

They're great with movies.  They have fantastic mids, which is important to catching a lot of detail, including dialogue.  The bass will not be as low as certain closed cans, but they won't sound canny and the bass will be better than that of a lot of home systems.  A lot of what passes for bass is mid-bass, which is not a slap.  People respond to slam (100 Hz).  You will find your Grados more than capable of doing such bass with style.
 
You don't need an amp with the 80s.  A PC soundboard will be fine.  If anything, it's the high-impedance cans that end up anemic under those conditions.  Grados are easy to drive.  What you have been led to believe is completely upside down.  If you tried to listen to the HD800 or the T1 off your computer, you would be greatly disappointed because those cans need a much stronger amp than any sound card will give you.  SR80s, on the other hand, are more than able to handle unamped situations, including computer sound cards.

Ditto, but keep in mind that if you ever want to upgrade, you could get an amp. There are several inexpensiveamps that would help out the bass plenty

 

[NewVegasBaby]

 
Quote:

They're great with movies.  They have fantastic mids, which is important to catching a lot of detail, including dialogue.  The bass will not be as low as certain closed cans, but they won't sound canny and the bass will be better than that of a lot of home systems.  A lot of what passes for bass is mid-bass, which is not a slap.  People respond to slam (100 Hz).  You will find your Grados more than capable of doing such bass with style.  
You don't need an amp with the 80s.  A PC soundboard will be fine.  If anything, it's the high-impedance cans that end up anemic under those conditions.  Grados are easy to drive.  What you have been led to believe is completely upside down.  If you tried to listen to the HD800 or the T1 off your computer, you would be greatly disappointed because those cans need a much stronger amp than any sound card will give you.  SR80s, on the other hand, are more than able to handle unamped situations, including computer sound cards.

That´s a plus
 
 
Quote:

Ditto, but keep in mind that if you ever want to upgrade, you could get an amp. There are several inexpensiveamps that would help out the bass plenty

I might get the fiio 3e somwhere down the road .
 
I just have one more question before i order these babies( sorry for being a pain in the ass im just extremly anal before buying anything) , a friend of mine has the senheiser hd 555 which he was told me wonders about , are these better than the sr 80i overall?

 

[yifu]

Yes the HD555s both modded and unmodded are better than the Grados just slightly as it improves on 2 things that the Grados lack: fatiguing treble and lack of soundstage.
 
Quote:

 
Quote:

They're great with movies.  They have fantastic mids, which is important to catching a lot of detail, including dialogue.  The bass will not be as low as certain closed cans, but they won't sound canny and the bass will be better than that of a lot of home systems.  A lot of what passes for bass is mid-bass, which is not a slap.  People respond to slam (100 Hz).  You will find your Grados more than capable of doing such bass with style.  
You don't need an amp with the 80s.  A PC soundboard will be fine.  If anything, it's the high-impedance cans that end up anemic under those conditions.  Grados are easy to drive.  What you have been led to believe is completely upside down.  If you tried to listen to the HD800 or the T1 off your computer, you would be greatly disappointed because those cans need a much stronger amp than any sound card will give you.  SR80s, on the other hand, are more than able to handle unamped situations, including computer sound cards.

That´s a plus
 
 
Quote:

Ditto, but keep in mind that if you ever want to upgrade, you could get an amp. There are several inexpensiveamps that would help out the bass plenty

I might get the fiio 3e somwhere down the road .
 
I just have one more question before i order these babies( sorry for being a pain in the ass im just extremly anal before buying anything) , a friend of mine has the senheiser hd 555 which he was told me wonders about , are these better than the sr 80i overall?