Grado Recommendation Question

[DeadMoonKing]

I'll make this short and to the point: I listen to a lot of metal (all varieties, but mainly black and doom) and want headphones that will make that type of music sing. I currently have HD650s, M-50xs, and Westone UM10s and am considering some Grados (prolly SR80es) as I've heard that their sound signature does a lot for rock and metal. I have a Schiit Magni 2 Uber and run most of my music out of my FiiO X1 when I'm not listening to it on the main stereo in the living room. The question is, given what I already own, will I really hear a difference with the Grados or should I just be satisfied with what I have? Thank you all for your time.
Feel free to ask questions if I've left something out. The reason I went with the SR80e is because $100 didn't seem to be an inordinate amount of money to spend on something to try it out, but, I also don't want to try something out if I won't really be hearing much of a difference.

 

[buke9]

Yes you will hear a difference. I have the 650's and have heard the M50's several times . I have heard several Grado's they mostly have the same signature some a little more harsh than others but all good for rock in my opinion.

 

[obobskivich]

Historically the "Grado house sound" was often cast as the antithesis/counter to the Sennheiser HD 580/600/650-family's sound signature. Specifically it is more energetic, brighter, punchier, more aggressive, more forward, etc and a lot of folks tend to dig that for all sorts of music that uses guitars or other stringed instruments. As far as "would you like this" - impossible to say (for anyone); only you will know what you like. But as far as "would it be a difference and do folks tend to suggest Grado for this genre?" Absolutely! That said, the SR-80 are a pretty big step down from the HD 650 in terms of overall fidelity; if you want to match up to the HD 650's level you should probably be looking at the SR-325 or RS-1, but if you just want to hear what Grado sound is all about, the SR-60 or SR-80 would be a fine consideration. If you want to go somewhere "in the middle" the SR-225 are a very competent performer at their price.

Something else to keep in mind, depending on what you're running the HD 650s from - Grado headphones are fairly low impedance (32 ohms) and relatively high sensitivity (~100 dB/mW), which makes them easier to drive than most, but also generally less compatible with many OTL amplifiers that are popular with high-Z cans like the HD 650, and potentially less forgiving of amplifiers that have higher noise floors than high-Z cans like the HD 650. Just food for thought more than anything else.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I'll make this short and to the point: I listen to a lot of metal (all varieties, but mainly black and doom) and want headphones that will make that type of music sing. I currently have HD650s, M-50xs, and Westone UM10s and am considering some Grados (prolly SR80es) as I've heard that their sound signature does a lot for rock and metal. I have a Schiit Magni 2 Uber and run most of my music out of my FiiO X1 when I'm not listening to it on the main stereo in the living room. The question is, given what I already own, will I really hear a difference with the Grados or should I just be satisfied with what I have? Thank you all for your time.
Feel free to ask questions if I've left something out. The reason I went with the SR80e is because $100 didn't seem to be an inordinate amount of money to spend on something to try it out, but, I also don't want to try something out if I won't really be hearing much of a difference.

You'll hear a difference vs what you have now, but whether you'd like the difference or not is something that's not easy to answer.

 

[DeadMoonKing]

Sorry for my delayed reply! Thank you so much to everyone who replied. Definitely good food for thought. T