[youngjun]

Are they even comparable? I've been loving my Sennheiser 580s for a couple of months now, but have found them a bit awkward and funny looking to carry around with my portable CD player as I walk to my office, and totally unuseable if I want to work out with them. So I'm thinking of getting a more portable and more efficient pair of phones. Problem is my wife gets mad at me for all the big purchases I've made lately. If price were not an object I'd get the Grados. But I'm wondering how the Porta Pros (for $23 shipped!) sound relative to the Grados ($60 shipped). I think I can get a $23 pair of phones through under the wife-radar.

Thanks for your help.

 

[raif]

i don't know about sound relativity but for the uses you describe grados really make no sense. They are not good portable phones. I love the way they sound but they are a bit uncomfortable, the cord is really annoying(as are the free rotating drivers), and they would slip off your head a whole lot faster than your senns if you tried to work out in them.
If you read around a bit you will find a million threads talking about the porta/sporta pros sound.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Originally posted by youngjun Problem is my wife gets mad at me for all the big purchases I've made lately. I think I can get a $23 pair of phones through under the wife-radar

Just don't wear them in the kitchen and she won't know you have them

 

[delenda est Sony]

I agree with Raif. The SR60s are excellent phones and blow the Porta/Sporta away, but are also terrible phones for portable use. Cable, weight, bulk, all the noise coming out the back, no go. If you want a really high quality portable, the $30 KSC 35 would be a good choice, though it is only available online from www.headphone.com. These are really portable, should work fine with exercise, and sound good enough to use at home. Much better than the Portas in ease of use at the gym and much better sounding (per those who have heard em) than the Portas. So if the extra $10 or so won't cause marital discord, no reason not to get the 35s.

 

[Robster1958]

for $23 shipped????????

i'll order them immediately!

 

[delenda est Sony]

here you go:

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/shopcy/freshipkospo.html

 

[Robster1958]

thanks...but they are out of stock... (or never had them!!)
when i'm out of stock, i sell them for $15 !!

that price is actually a little too low....maybe some sort of B stock or used?

 

[delenda est Sony]

I didn't order from those guys but I think a few folks on here actually did...The posting on this price was a few days ago and a lot of Head-fiers were favorably impressed by the price, so they might have had a lot of orders. Or they could be dirty cheating bastards of course...

Maybe headfiers who have ordered from that store would respond to an inquiry post.Run that up the flagpole, Robster!

That price does seem too low, though. Almost as if you saw allegedly new Senn HD600s for $145...

 

[youngjun]

Let's forget about portability for a moment. Can anyone actually comment on the differences in sound between the SR 60 and S/Porta Pro (& KSC-35)? Recessed midrange for the Kosses? Too much bass on the Kosses? 60s too bright? Stuff like that would be helpful.

 

[Vince]

I can vouch for the price - I ordered them as soon as I saw the post here about the $23 price. They are indeed brand spanking new and sound great. Too bad they're out of stock!

Soundwise, the porta's are decent. Having heard so much about the bass, I was a little disappointed at first with the treble side of things. They seemed muffled compared with the old sony headphones I was using (mdr-62). However, after a decent amount of listening and messing around a little with the tone controls on my Nomad Jukebox, I'm o.k. with it. I've not heard much about the break in issues with them, but they definitely seem better to me since I've listened to them more.

I am actually in the market for either the grado sr60 or senn hd497, but can't quite decide between the two, although recent posts seem to favor the hd497. Since I can't audition them anywhere, I decided to wait!

delanda est Sony - you seem to have the most experience with these cans (or at least you're doing the most talking about them!) - I listen primarily to small jazz groups like acoustic piano/bass/drum trios. The upright bass is a challenge to reproduce. Would you recommend the hd497's for this purpose over the grado's? Or does it come down purely personal preference (i.e. the "grado sound" vs senns)?

 

[delenda est Sony]

Well, YJ---

the Sportas (which I have) have overemphasized bass which washes out the mids too easily and trims articulation (the ability to separate one instrument from another as both play simultaneously). These are warm phones, which have good low bass extension, though it is not precise or balanced. Soundstage is adequate though suffering a bit from the heavy bass. They don't sound terrible with classical but are obviously made for modern bass-heavy music. The Porta (which I heard) sounds almost exactly similar. The Sportas also leak a lot of sound to the outside world to delight/annoy those around you.

The 35s (which I have not heard) have the same drivers as the Sportas/Portas but position them a bit farther from the ear. The overpowered bass is cut down quite a bit and the overall sound is more balanced and elegant (according to reviewers here and elsewhere.)

The SR60s are somewhat bright, i.e. emphasis on treble, but not terribly so. Bass is very tight and not too prominent. Indeed bass can sound almost non-existent with the 60s if you are accustomed to hearing gobs of sloppy bass from other listening. Mids are well balanced, and the soundstage is a bit broader than the Sportas. Articulation is great. The Grados have a unique "up close" presentation that in my experience is rare in headphones---you feel very close to the musical source. They are in my opinion, much superior to the Sporta/Portas as a means of reproducing music. They also have massive sound leakage, much worse than the Sportas.

Many Grado haters feel that the 60s have muted treble. I feel this is noticeable only in comparison to Grados at the 125 level and above, and certainly not in comparison to other phones of similar price, e.g. the Sportas.

If you wanted a great set of home phones, the SR60s would be ideal (and they look so cheap that they would probably pass under the wife radar! ) but for portable use, especially when working out, I would go for the 35s. The Sportas are too imbalanced, though I like mine, mainly because I have other options if they get too tiring...

 

[delenda est Sony]

Hey Vince! Welcome---

for small jazz ensembles, I would reluctantly give the nod to the 497s. Reluctant because the Grado sound (if you like the proximal effect) is quite enjoyable for jazz. However the treble push and the minimal bass limit your enjoyment of the full spectrum of jazz. In particular the treble can get fatiguing; like on Miles' Sketches of Spain, I can listen for maybe 10 minutes max on my 60s before wincing. And for low notes, the 497s are a lot more enjoyable and balanced.

If you could audition the Grados I'd say give em a shot, but if you're "buying deaf" so to speak, I think you have the best chance for happiness with the Senns. (Though remember that they'll sound better after roughly 40 hrs of break-in; I remember them as being more than OK out of the box, but the break in only made em better...

hope this helps!

 

[Vince]

delanda est Sony - Thanks! In regards to the Sketches of Spain recording - it has so much piercing treble in the trumpet ensemble parts that I think it would be hard to listen to it no matter what you are using. In other words, if the headphone is accurate, this recording is inherently on the sheer, brittle side. Are you saying, though, that the senn 497 has a smoother, more graceful and satisfying high end when you do an A/B comparison of this particular recording?

 

[delenda est Sony]

whoops! See below...

 

[delenda est Sony]

exactly so---the 497s were far more pleasant with Sketches. Smoother. less shrill. 497s were also more enjoyable with Kind of Blue. Though the SR60s were a bit better with Bitch's Brew and Headhunters, i.e funkier jazz. I would give the overall jazz nod to the 497s though.