[metal_monger]

I got my grado 225's 2 days ago and have put a good 25-30hours of acutual use time. Sonically, they are great, no issues. However comfort is a different story.

At this point I am considering returning them because I find them unbearably uncomofrtable if in use for more then 3hours or so. I have the vmap pads and the bowl pads. The bowl bads sound slightly better(the highs are more noticeable also, but I like the sound) the bowl bads are slighty more comfortable but you sacrifice a bit of sound for these pads, but again I dont care about such a small sound difference. The problem is the comfort issue, I cant seem to wear them for more then a few hours and I like to listen to music for quite a few hours at a time. The specific problem that I have is that part of my left ear hurts because of the contact with the pads and I am wondering if ultimately with time you become more accustomed to them? Or does it not change? If they do not change I will most likely return them and go for something else. I am a broke college st udent and 200bux for headphones is just too much unless they are perfect. Altho I alrady got the grado's here and I do love the sound, so I want to givce them a full audtion before I give up on Grado.

I am back to considering the senn 600's and possibly the shure e3. How are the senn 600's on comfort?

 

[lindrone]

If you search around, there's various pads and mods to make the Grados more comfortable. For me personally, I still can't stand them, regardless of which pad/combo they're being used with.

HD600 are so much more comfortable, you won't even be able to make a comparison. They have a completely different sound signature though.

 

[Kirosia]

You do get accustomed to the weird physical harshness of the bowl pads. I did within a day or two. Of course, this might not be true for all people. I agree that the bowls sound better than the vwaps. Also, if you have some extra cash (and I mean quite a bit), you could try the flat pads, they are argued to be the best pad available for the grado family, and slightly more comfortable than the bowls. Once again, may not be true for all.

 

[metal_monger]

I already spent 15dollars on the vwamp pads and spending another 30 for more pads just seems too much to make the grado's comfortable. I love the grado sound, but hate the comfort.

Gonna see what other people post, but I am kind of leaning towards returning them at this point.

And another quick question, the beyer dynamics are all generally regarded as pretty comfortable cans right? Its not like grado where there is a split in that some say they are comfortable and say there are not? THe vast majority of people seeem to say that senn 600's are comfortable, is the same true for beyers? Im looking mainly at the Beyerdynamic DT 250-250, Beyerdynamic DT 831, Beyerdynamic DT 931, Beyerdynamic DT 931 and Senn 600's. Are all of these well driven enough by a CMOY mint amp? I realize I wont get 100% potential, but enough potiential to make it just a little bit better then unamped!

 

[ls20]

Quote:

Originally posted by metal_monger I got my grado 225's 2 days ago and have put a good 25-30hours of acutual use time. Sonically, they are great, no issues. However comfort is a different story. At this point I am considering returning them because I find them unbearably uncomofrtable if in use for more then 3hours or so. I have the vmap pads and the bowl pads. The bowl bads sound slightly better(the highs are more noticeable also, but I like the sound) the bowl bads are slighty more comfortable but you sacrifice a bit of sound for these pads, but again I dont care about such a small sound difference. The problem is the comfort issue, I cant seem to wear them for more then a few hours and I like to listen to music for quite a few hours at a time. The specific problem that I have is that part of my left ear hurts because of the contact with the pads and I am wondering if ultimately with time you become more accustomed to them? Or does it not change? If they do not change I will most likely return them and go for something else. I am a broke college st udent and 200bux for headphones is just too much unless they are perfect. Altho I alrady got the grado's here and I do love the sound, so I want to givce them a full audtion before I give up on Grado. I am back to considering the senn 600's and possibly the shure e3. How are the senn 600's on comfort?

i share your exact feelings! i have a pair of the yellow vwap, and also the grado bowls

the bowls sound a tad better (id be hard pressed to tell for sure), and are a bit noticably more comfy

however they both press on my left ear and it hurts after a while!

personally i will revert to ksc-35 (comfort heaven) and i also have a pair of AKG K240s arriving that are supposed to be very comfortable as well

 

[kugino]

how about bending the headband part to make them less constricting? i for one have no comfort issues with the grados, but then again, i have small ears. i wonder if larger ears have problems with grados...

 

[metal_monger]

Bending the headband would, i assume, alieviate the feeling of a clamp. My comfort issue is not so much feeling its a clamp, but the fact that part of my ear huts from touching the drive, i belive this to be case. If the band where to open up some more I think my ear would still have contact with this part of the driver, therefore not fix the problem.

However I will try to strech the headband some and see if this helps any.

*i have also tried to wear the headphones in different positions, like wear them low and wear them high and in the middle (i hope that makes sense...im referring to what part of the ear they rest on)*

 

[MD1032]

Bend the headband. My SR-80's drove me nuts clamping down on my head (the area around my ears was getting too much prssure) and made it painful after a while. I can stand anything but pressure on my ears (or head in this case. Bowls are circumarual on me). All of a sudden they fit much more loosely and the pressure was gone. They're quite comfortable now, and I can wear them for many happy hours.

 

[eric.w]

I just got my SR-80 last week. I found them pretty uncomfortable at first, because of two problems:

1. Too tight. solution: bend the headband out until more comfortable

2. The feeling on your ears. To me, the discomfort doesn't come from the bowl pads themselves, but from my ears touching that scratchy, rough white covering over the drivers. I cut out some thin, round pieces of foam (from a foam mattress topper) which just sit between the bowl pads and the driver, and they cushion my ears and prevent them from touching that white mesh.

Now, I find my Grados pretty comfortable.

Heres a picture:

 

[Permonic]

Quote:

Originally posted by eric.w I just got my SR-80 last week. I found them pretty uncomfortable at first, because of two problems: 2. The feeling on your ears. To me, the discomfort doesn't come from the bowl pads themselves, but from my ears touching that scratchy, rough white covering over the drivers. I cut out some thin, round pieces of foam (from a foam mattress topper) which just sit between the bowl pads and the driver, and they cushion my ears and prevent them from touching that white mesh. Now, I find my Grados pretty comfortable.

Exactly the same for me: the Antihelix (see the picture on http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...threadid=56481) touches directly the mesh. The pain comes from the mesh, involvement of the earpad is indirect.

I did similar experiments a while ago, however I found that this solution affected the sound, at least fo me. Bass became little bit bloated, high treble suppressed.

 

[metal_monger]

"To me, the discomfort doesn't come from the bowl pads themselves, but from my ears touching that scratchy, rough white covering over the drivers." That is exactly my problem. To be more specific:

I feel a pain in my Comba Concha mainly on my left ear but sometimes my right. I really wanted to love my grado's and that mod seems like it may work, but I am starting to get frustrated with the grado's. So much work aftermarket to just make it so that you can be able to wear them comfortably........mods to improve sound to your liking is one thing, but mods to make something just so that it does not hurt your ears seems too much from a consumer standpoint.

*a disappointed consumer with grado's at this point*

 

[LTUCCI1924]

HI: I have owned the sr60,80,225,325,rs1 and found all of them to be very uncomfortable. I really liked the 225 the best but the comfort was just not there so I sold all of them. Grado is not very understanding about the comfort issue because if they would come up with a great comfortable ear pad there sales would sky rocket. I have had all the different pads and still no comfort. This cause me to check grado off my headphone list even though they sound great. I find that comfort is very important fore me and there are so many headphones that are very comfortable to choose from. like the sennheiser to name just one of the many. Also grado could take a lesson on sound stage to boot. It really is a shame that such a great can cant please most issues with their cans.

 

[tortie]

We have the very same problem, I love my Grado RS1 but I just cant listen to it for extended periods of time because it is very uncomfortable. I have tried the flat, bowl & comfy pads (with some vwap pads on the way), so far I think the comfies are the most comfortable. But it is still uncomfortable and I have never gotten accustomed to the grado fit.

The SennH600 is in a different league when compared to the RS1 for comfort, it is waaaay more comfortable.

 

[Amsties]

Touch the mesh? mine don't even come near to the mesh. If your ears touching the mesh is the problem, wouldn’t flat pads be worse?

this is exactly how they fit to my ears. don't know if i got bigger ears than u guys, if not try wearing them like this.

the RED circles are where the pads put pressure. top left of ear, earlobe, and cheekbone.

The blue is where they come in contact. Basically just the rim touches skin.

You want to bend the band so the pressure is even among the lobe and top of the ear.
U don’t want to bend the band just by grabbing the two sides and prying it apart. U wana bend it like your molding the beak on a hat.
Like this

if u bend it buy prying it apart ill look like the second pic. And the pressure will be uneven among the loab and top of ear, and I’ll end up falling of your head when u look down. You want as much support as u can, cuz u want these things to just lay on your head (very loose). So little pressure that if u look down quicky they almost fall off your head. As little pressure u can get away with while keeping them secured enough on your head.

With Grados light weight, wearing them like this is like not wearing anything at all. VERY comfortable. Out of the box ya they are a bit unconfie but u would be amazed how much u can improve on these things. Like I said these things are light and after wearing them for a few min you’ll forget u got anything on your head.

 

[Permonic]

Please people, do not put so great cans (like Grados are) away!!!

I am in the process of designing more sophisticated earpads which would be (I hope) very comfortable and sonically OK at the same time. Evaluation needs time...couple of months....the sound can't be distorted....