[F355]

X2

just make sound and comfort your priority [in that order] and you wont be sorry.

btw i love my MS-1.
next up, pad upgrades and possibly a total bithead

 

[sinafl]

are shure E3c's better than the Grade Sr-60?? If I cant find a decent pair.. i might just go with Shures. Thanks alot for the responses guys.

 

[Mercuttio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinafl are shure E3c's better than the Grade Sr-60?? If I cant find a decent pair.. i might just go with Shures. Thanks alot for the responses guys.

Shure E3c's don't sound better than the SR-60 to me. But then again, that's IEM territory, and I'm not an IEM guy. With the Shure you're going to be paying for isolation and size too.

 

[arto]

Never, ever buy Grados until you have at least held them and tried them on. Mostly they're incredibly badly made (cheap, crappy materials in the headband and driver housing, careless assembly, visible flashings, trapped and noisy cables) and terribly uncomfortable. Do you want to spend the rest of your life sweating over reversed bowls, flats, 414s, "comfies" etc, just so you can wear the damn things for more than 10 minutes?

And I speak as a Grado owner. Too bad the sound is so good.

 

[m_memmory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arto Never, ever buy Grados until you have at least held them and tried them on. Mostly they're incredibly badly made (cheap, crappy materials in the headband and driver housing, careless assembly, visible flashings, trapped and noisy cables) and terribly uncomfortable. Do you want to spend the rest of your life sweating over reversed bowls, flats, 414s, "comfies" etc, just so you can wear the damn things for more than 10 minutes? And I speak as a Grado owner. Too bad the sound is so good.

I must've just lucked out then

My MS1 look like they are cheap and made cheaply... but they have done me very well for the 5-6 months that I've had them for. I wouldn't say that I've mistreated them but I wouldn't say that I've babied them either (I've just used them as I do with anything that I have) and they don't have any kind of bad workmanship or anything showing at all.

As for comfort. Well I got some HD414 pads for them and they were comfy enough for me to wear them while I'm at work (that'd be about 8 hours with two 30 min breaks in between) without any problems. After cutting holes in them and using them reversed the fatigue is slightly more but still able to listen while I'm at work without problems.

Like I say, maybe I just lucked out (and yeah - they sound amazing!!)

 

[arto]

One of us had some kind of luck - maybe mine was bad. But yes, I had to attack mine with a craft knife to free up a trapped cable, and the finishing on the housing is a sight - in places it looks like craft glue has been smeared on the plastic (bought 'em new, by the way). The bowl pads have long since crumbled into dust and the comfies I replaced them with have gone a putrid brown.

It's a world away from the style and rugged build of, say, Senns and Beyers.

My point is that there are other considerations than sound quality - comfort, looks and build quality all speak volumes about a company's attitude to its customers. In my opinion, given the endless threads here and elsewhere about improving Grado comfort and fit, the company's failure to acknowledge and rectify these problems long ago can only be described as disdainful.

I reiterate that I speak as a Grado owner - and a fan of the sound.

 

[m_memmory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arto It's a world away from the style and rugged build of, say, Senns and Beyers.

I can't really argue with that. My Sennheisers give the impression that they are made to withstand and last through almost anything - and they are made out of plastic the same as the MS1. My Beyers... well I originally thought that they were kind of delicate - but that was only because of how amazingly comfy they are - then I realised that the plastic parts are rather strong but the metal that's holding the headband in place is not going to snap anytime soon at all.

I'm still being rather delicate with my A900 ... but then I've only had them 2 days now so they are still very new to me. But these also seem to have better looking build quality then the Grados as well.

And, as you say, I'm also a fan of the Grado sound (as well as the Beyers & the ATs & the Senns)

 

[dj_mocok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arto Never, ever buy Grados until you have at least held them and tried them on. Mostly they're incredibly badly made (cheap, crappy materials in the headband and driver housing, careless assembly, visible flashings, trapped and noisy cables) and terribly uncomfortable. Do you want to spend the rest of your life sweating over reversed bowls, flats, 414s, "comfies" etc, just so you can wear the damn things for more than 10 minutes? And I speak as a Grado owner. Too bad the sound is so good.

I think you're a little bit exaggerating there. I am not a fan boy, but your blanket statement really made it sounded much worse than they actually are.

I know some unfortunate owners got a slight imperfect made (and unfortunately it seems that you got a bad one too), but from the way you mentioned it, it sounded like they wouldn't last a month. Many users have been using their Grados for years without problem. I also don't have this "noisy cable" phenomenon that you mentined as well. I received mine in perfect condition, no problem at all. Well, maybe if I wanna be picky, some of the stitches on the headband are probably a few mm off the straight mark.

And no, not ALL people find Grados uncomfortable. I for one (and my partner) don't have problem with comfort. My only problem is I need to adjust the headband every time I wanna use them because the sliders are easily moved out of position.


If I had no idea about Grado headphones whatsoever, and used only your comment as a base of my decision, I wouldn't get it anymore, thinking it's so crappy.
I know we can't help being subjective at times, but extremely subjective statement like that (whether it's good or bad) might mislead people.

Enough rant.

 

[rodbac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Duke_Of_Eli I'll join that club. People think I stepped out of a 1980s film with my SR-60s and think they're really old classic headphones. Which they are design-wise but not 20 years old.

I think you got the wrong decade, there. The '80s were when earbuds and tiny phones came into fashion with the Walkman.

The Grado style is reminiscent of WWII era radio operators' gear, and yeah, I think they're one of the coolest designs going today, too.

Oh, and Grados look cheaply made, but are surprisingly rugged generally due to their simple design.

 

[arto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok If I had no idea about Grado headphones whatsoever, and used only your comment as a base of my decision, I wouldn't get it anymore, thinking it's so crappy. I know we can't help being subjective at times, but extremely subjective statement like that (whether it's good or bad) might mislead people. Enough rant.

You are right, but the point I was making is that, of all headphone brands, Grado is one that I would never unreservedly recommend to anyone on a forum or anywhere else who hadn't seen and worn them. For a mid-to-high-end piece of equipment, the plastic ones in particular are remarkably shabby and yet, perhaps because of the long-standing, almost mystical allure of the Grado name, this is rarely mentioned.

I have owned Grados for about 8 years now (bought them sight-unseen, on the basis of their reputation), and I have gradually become less and less enchanted. Questions kept popping up, such as, why do owners of other makes of headphone get to enjoy strong, attractive build quality and soft, comfy velour pads?

I joined this forum to find out what I could do about it and have stayed on out of interest. Think of my earlier post as trying to help prevent someone from making the same mistake I did.

 

[dj_mocok]

Reading at your previous post about the state of the Grado you received when you bought it, if I were you, I'd probably send it back and ask for another pair, or at least request a replacement foam.

I've never dealt with Grado's customer service, but as in every company, after you brought up the dissatisfaction (as a customer), and if no effort made to fix the problem, then I would post it in the forum to warn future buyers.

But by the end of the day, it's up to the company to decide whether it's willing to sacrifice the portion of customers (and future customers) that aren't happy with the build, or try to fix the issues.

Anyway, I understand how you feel. I would be pissed too if I received a sub standard product of which I have paid with my hard earned money. But then again, I would complain (a lot) and ask for a replacement if I were you.

 

[arto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok Reading at your previous post about the state of the Grado you received when you bought it, if I were you, I'd probably send it back and ask for another pair, or at least request a replacement foam. I've never dealt with Grado's customer service, but as in every company, after you brought up the dissatisfaction (as a customer), and if no effort made to fix the problem, then I would post it in the forum to warn future buyers.

Good point. Unfortunately I was living in New Zealand and had bought them over the net from the States (something that's not possible now) and the logistics of returning them etc were daunting. Who knew how long that'd take? I just wanted a pair of cans to listen to, so I bit the bullet and did the fix myself (not unheard of here at Head-fi

).

 

[dj_mocok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by arto Good point. Unfortunately I was living in New Zealand and had bought them over the net from the States (something that's not possible now) and the logistics of returning them etc were daunting. Who knew how long that'd take? I just wanted a pair of cans to listen to, so I bit the bullet and did the fix myself (not unheard of here at Head-fi ).

I still would ask for a replacement pads sent for me free of charge if I were you. But too late for that now I guess. Oh well, at least you sorted it out and enjoying it now.

 

[smeerkaas]

this probably has been said numerous times in this thread.

But if you can, try out the ms1, they are considered the best $100< headphone.

Wheter you like the looks is personal. If you have senn 414 pads the comfort ain't that bad IMO.

 

[Oistrakh]

Thought I wanted to share this, this is a quote from a disney forum when I asked them about bose

Quote:

Sorry...I DO have the Bose QuietComfort 2. Not something I would have EVER bought for myself, but I got them as a Christmas present, so why look a gift horse in the mouth? Pricey? You bet...but boy do they sound amazing. The noise cancelling technology is pretty impressive as well. I can't hear a thing when I use them at work. The phone sits right in front of me and I miss call after call when I'm listening. Great for airplanes, as well.