[scoop]

I'm buying either Beyer DT531 or Grado SR60

In Sweden they're $125 and $135 respectively.

I'm having a hard time to decide which one but I'll tell you my thoughts so far.

When it comes to sound I find it hard to compare after just listening to them for a shorter period of time (30 minutes or so) and using a special headphone amp.

I will NOT use a special headphone amp myself. I will use them with a regular Sony $300 amp (for dvd movies and mp3s) and my portable Iriver mp3player.

So if any of you recommend one or the other based on using them with some powerful headphone amp have in mind they will not sound the same with my setup.

Comfort and buildquality: I find them both comfortable but it's hard to know since I've been wearing them for such a short time. They both fit my head well. The Grado's are smaller and lighter which means I might be able to use them as portables with my iriver mp3player which might be a plus. But I find the the Beyer more luxerious. Grado's seems a little cheap, the demo headphones even had a crack in the earmuffs.

I think the Grado's are a little overpriced in Sweden and the Beyer 531 on the other hand is suppose to be on sale - normally costing twice that much. So my first impression is that I get more bang for the buck with the beyer.

I will use them with dvdmovies and mp3s (192kbps or better) I like most kinds of music but I don't listen much to classic, jazz, techno.

two specific questions:

Will any of them work BETTER (or noticably better) with a typical type of music? will mostly listen to more quiet, sing-songwriter-acoustic music (think nick cave, 16 horsepower, will oldham, recent johnny cash albums (american recordings, kasey chambers) and more modern synth-based triphop music (massive attack, portishead, everything but hte girl)
and I do like a lot of rock-metal (70'is, 80'es 90'is like alice in chains, led zep, alice cooper, pearl jam, iggy pop, danzig but i wont listen very loud in my headphone so bigtime bass and loudness isnt very important, i need to be careful with my ears... but normally i do play that kinda music a lot on the stereo)

I THINK I'll probably end up using my headphones mostly for softer music (singsongwriter, acoustic, country, soul etc) and I will use my normal stereo for heavier rock and metal (pantera, slayer, soundgarden, audioslave etc) and rap/reggea which need more bass (little worried about my ears using that in headphones) 50 cent, dmx, manu chao, bob marley, alpha blondy etc.

Or with Dvdmovies? (emulating 3d sound or sense of "being there" etc when watching movies?) (guess the same carefullness apllies here, i wont be listening full volume to explosions of saving private ryan on my headphones...)


Thanks for any input here, I plan to make my decision and buy them this coming week!

ps. also do anyone have links to actual reviews of these headphones? only i've seen so far is the one of the beyer's in hifi choice where it only got 3 outta 5 stars and they even said they were uncomfortable after 10 minutes of wearing?? strang review dont know what to believe...

 

[dMoog]

For Christ's sake, if you're going to buy Grados, import them from USA! That's what I did (I live in Sweden too) and I saved a bunch by doing that (SR-60 are like $70 new there).

I don't know about the Beyers (you're buying them from Ljudmakarn, right?) but Grados are not what I would call suitable for portable use. The isolation is bad and they leak like hell. Plus, they become rather uncomfortable during extended use.

 

[scoop]

ok but with the postage+toll etc you dont end up saving much do you in the end? and if they become uncomfortable that's not a good thing, thanks for the input

 

[dMoog]

You do actually save quite a bunch, especially if you buy them used and thereby avoid customs and such (like I did).

 

[wallijonn]

Scoop,

did you do a search on this forum? you should be able to get an idea of what they comparatively sound like to the owners.

Whatever you get will have to play through whatever equipment you have, so it's all a gamble.

If I were you I'd buy the DT531 and import the SR60. That way I would have two headphones.

 

[Snufkin]

Quote:

Originally posted by wallijonn If I were you I'd buy the DT531 and import the SR60. That way I would have two headphones.

That's a great suggestion right there

 

[MegaMeee]

hmm... if you buy alessandro ms1's from http://www.alessandro-products.com/headphones.html i think they might have free shipping to you... at least it was free shipping to australia, which is a fair way

worth checking out IMO - essentially a renamed and maybe revised version of grados - specs suggest modified grado 125's - but they have the comfy pads same as the grado 60's.

from all the stuff ive heard about beyer 531's i would go for them over the sr-60's... but over the ms1's i dont know.. i had to make the same decision

but over here the 531's were $90au odd more than the ms1's which was why i wnet with ms1's...

sounds like a good price for the 531's... though...

 

[SunByrne]

I've not heard the 531s, but I have to agree that the SR60s do get uncomfortable after a while--at least, I find them so.

The SR60s are easy to drive off a portable, but as mentioned, *very* open. Anyone sitting within a few meters of you will hear your music almost as loud as you will.

 

[MegaMeee]

the 531's are pretty damn open as well...

btw personally i find my ms1's very comfortable... although i had to bend the head band to make it tighter so it didnt fall off so easily

 

[lini]

scoop: I'd recommend to ignore the HiFi Choice review of the DT531 - I haven't heard about any DT531 owner over here (including myself) who would agree to that. It's a very priceworthy headphone with very good comfort. Nevertheless, it might not be the ideal solution for you, as it's not too sensitive and efficient - thus I'd recommend to try it with your pcdp before purchase.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[pbirkett]

That HFC review has made me wonder just how much companies must lose from poor reviews, particularly considering that the review is considered far from accurate. I will be the first to admit that very review put me off them a while back.