[Nemi]

Before I came to this site, I thought Bose was as good as it got. So I bought a pair of Bose OE because they looked snazzy, and damn that in store demo sounded good to my virgin audiophile ears.

Now don't get me wrong, I actually do like them a lot because I can bring them to the library and not have to look like a terrorist receiving transmissions from the homeland. Plus they're closed, so the transmissions I am receiving aren't disturbing to anyone anyway....

However, my question is about when I'm listening to music at home off my macbook. (hotusb1 > pav2)... Do you think I'd be happier in listening to the much less expensive SR80s, or even alessandro MS1s instead of my Bose OEs?

 

[moogoob]

Depends, but the simple answer is... most likely.

It may turn out that you won't like the Grado sound - some people don't, but if you do you'll be a lifelong Grado fanboy.

Just a word of warning- Bose products tend to be very warm, and the SR80s have one of the lightest bass of all the Grado phones.

EDIT: but they still have much more bass than the Senn HD 280 pros, so that should be worth something.

 

[BrookR1]

It mostly depends on what type of music you like and what type of signature you prefer. For classical and mellow music, the Bose might suit you better, but for rock, nothing beats the SR-80s except for the higher end Grados. The sound is very forward, aggressive, and punchy. A bit less refined than the Bose, but way more fun.

 

[moogoob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrookR1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It mostly depends on what type of music you like and what type of signature you prefer. For classical and mellow music, the Bose might suit you better, but for rock, nothing beats the SR-80s except for the higher end Grados. The sound is very forward, aggressive, and punchy. A bit less refined than the Bose, but way more fun.

Well said.

For some badly-recorded heavy metal, my SR80s are even superior to my 325is, which may be TOO revealing in the highs.

 

[Nemi]

thanks for the input all;

modern rock is about all I listen to nowadays, sounds like the SR80s are a good fit for me.

 

[Tomikans]

my first real cans were sr80's. I'll never hear music the way i did. A serious intro head-fi. and i see you have RE2.. Good iems yes?

 

[aaron313]

I liked Grado's until I heard other headphones. And the 325i is not too "revealing" of the highs, it exaggerates the **** out of them, which fatigues your ears in about ten minutes.

 

[Nemi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomikans /img/forum/go_quote.gif my first real cans were sr80's. I'll never hear music the way i did. A serious intro head-fi. and i see you have RE2.. Good iems yes?

I love my RE2s for the gym, walking around campus etc... and this could be a sign of my lack of experience/audio knowledge, but I feel that the RE2's are lacking in bass.

Other than that they are very clear, I'm hearing minor details that I never heard with my Bose IEMs. Very much worth the 80 group buy IMO.

 

[Tomikans]

there isn't that much in the bass region. it doesn't really extend to the lower end bass but shows just enough to have some presence of bass. It's strength to me is it's mid range and clarity. Instrument separation could of been better but it definitely has quite a bit of soundstage. x2 with the 80 dollar group buy, very much worth it.

But sometimes i wish i bought pk1's instead. I bought pk3's for my girlfriend and i'm jealous on how the sound is so similar to my sr80's. And to top it off, i'm getting a ibasso d2 boa, so i'm craving for some high impedence earphones/headphones.

 

[Nemi]

Let me know how you like the ibasso, as I'm currently wondering if I could have spent my money more wisely than on my current amp and dac.

 

[dye1337]

I was using triports for a while, had listened to many senn's but decided to look around for my next buy..... am I glad i got the sr80s. I like many different sound signatures, but I will say the grados are very fun like everyone else says. Not as much bass as the triports, but the bass is MUCH more detailed (I used to not even know there was detail in bass lol) and MUCH nicer mids and highs. If you're in a quiet area (i learned it has to be very quiet) then the grados are perfect if you like their sound signature

 

[ASillyUsername]

I own both the Grado SR-325is and Bose OE, use the same source, no amp. As far as the difference goes, the best comparison I can make is Bose OE ~ 10" Ported Subwoofers in a car with factory radio system and factory speakers. Grado Sr-325is ~ Full car system with 8 inch Sealed Subwoofers. Mainly that the Bose appear to have better bass extension but the rest of the performance is forgetable compared with the Grado's. http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]= It's interesting to find similar peaks and dips near the 3-5kHz region but the Grado 'sound' definitely results from the peak around 10kHz which adds a distinct clarity and realism to the music that is hard to describe. My best guess would be that the Bose OE has a similar graph to the Bose QC15. I find the Bose OE to be more fatiguing than my SR325is, and the only genre I prefer my Bose headphones with are Trap music. Hope that helps a little, if you listen to rock I think you should stick with Grado.