[Reach]

I heard they have really good sound quality but they are uncomfortable. IF I do end up buying them are there any recommended accessories to make them better? Like the Sennheiser HD414 earpads and the Sennheiser 580 pad to make it more comfortable? 

 

[Katun]

First thing to do is to buy them and try them on before you decide to order any aftermarket pads.
 
I've heard so much crap about Grado's comfort, but seriously, the SR80i was one of the most comfortable headphones I've worn! The RS1i on the other hand...
 
SR80i is a safe headphone to start out with. Especially if your musical tastes orient toward rock.

 

[BotByte]

People who say the Grado are uncomfortable are not knowing what they are talking about.
 
Yes, get the Grado SR80i and either think:
 
Do you want around ear, or on ear?
 
Don't cry about the price here, it's worth it:
 
G-cush for more around ear. They are the same pads on the PS1000
 
L-cush for on ear. They used to come with the SR80, but then dropped to the comfies on the SR80i
 
I would go G-cush, but if you want more portable, go L-cush.

 

[BotByte]

Quote:

First thing to do is to buy them and try them on before you decide to order any aftermarket pads.
 
I've heard so much crap about Grado's comfort, but seriously, the SR80i was one of the most comfortable headphones I've worn! The RS1i on the other hand...
 
SR80i is a safe headphone to start out with. Especially if your musical tastes orient toward rock.

+1
 
I've made my own earpads to increase the bass and found that the foam pads are best. But make sure your sideburns are trimmed, sometimes that foam can irritate your hair if you wear them and move them around a lot.

 

[Reach]

Quote:

First thing to do is to buy them and try them on before you decide to order any aftermarket pads.
 
I've heard so much crap about Grado's comfort, but seriously, the SR80i was one of the most comfortable headphones I've worn! The RS1i on the other hand...
 
SR80i is a safe headphone to start out with. Especially if your musical tastes orient towar
 

 
I usually listen to House/ RnB/ Dubstep/ Drum & Bass. Will they sound good using these headphones?

 

[keanex]

No. Don't get the Grado's for those genres.

 

[Katun]

 
 
 
Quote:

 
I usually listen to House/ RnB/ Dubstep/ Drum & Bass. Will they sound good using these headphones?

 
Quote:

No. Don't get the Grado's for those genres.

It really depends on the listener. I think they'd do well, but that's just me.

 

[Maverickmonk]

I would lean away from the grado for that sort of thing, as much as I love my Grados, I'm currently looking for a pair of headphones for my dubstep/dance/DnB listening sessions, I'm looking into something along the lines of the Koss DJ 100 or the Ultrasone HFI series.
 
Grados have crisp highs and warm forward mids, but very poor bass response, they can be improved with mods, enough to get the bass guitar singing in rock songs, but not the deep bass needed for electronica.

 

[keanex]

Getting Grado's at any price point is dumb if you listen primarily to electronic music. There's a better choice at every price point.

 

[TrantaLocked]

I tried both the bowls and the comfy pads with the SR-80i. I can't speak for the 414 pads, but I enjoyed the comfort and sound quality of the comfy flat pads that come with the sr60i over the bowls (they produce a warmer, less piercing sound). The headphones I tried may have been over used (loose), but they were extremely comfortable with the comfy pads, even more so than both my around ear sennheisers.

 

[Chris_Himself]

At this point I've stopped recommending them to new audiophiles, they usually find one or more things to complain about and then eventually they revisit them later in their headphone hobby and then begin to like them? If I sound like I'm projecting, it's because thats exactly what happened to me! I used to loathe Grado saying how it sounded so thin and wiry, I bought all the wrong headphones for me, then I revisited them after owning Sennheisers and IEM's for years and after training my ears for a while did I REALLY come to appreciate them. Also the alarming number of bassheads on here who like Sony XB's make me a little more reserved about recommending things in general.
 
Yes they're uncomfortable like hell out of the box. It's mostly the headband if you don't adjust it and you got anything bigger than a child's noggin, and it's the grainy texture of the pads that sandpaper at your ears. Also remember to wear the outer rim of the pad on your ear and not try to put your ear inside what you think are "earcups".  If you just get out of the shower and put them on for a couple listening sessions, it really softens the pads up too. I used to get these weird rashes probably from a combination of the scratchy pads and the heat from wearing headphones. 
 
But yes they're good for your first pair of good headphones, you'll hear a lot more than you used to, but because it adds anything to the music, but you'll be less distracted trying to feel for physical impact and you'll just plain hear more of it due to less distractions.
 
If you don't like them, don't be hard on yourself, just move onto something else and come back to them later. I've recommended them to a friend of mine I made here who has an 800 dollar dac/amp setup with HD600's, and he really enjoys his MS-2's now. They're very unimpressive looking in terms of build quality. I think they look very cool and if you read my sig, don't tell people how much you spent on them lol. Yes they can sound better to some people than 200 dollar headphones, but if you even tell an unsuspecting civilian that you bought these things for 100 dollars, it's pretty laughable. It's a design that works though and I haven't broken any of them quite yet. That being said my Sennheisers haven't broken either and they don't flop around and "adjust" themselves when I pick them up.
 
Grado can be the most comfortable headphone you own only because they're so light compared to other offers, thats really the only reason they'd be better than anything else. That and I guess it doesn't get hot with supra aurals. They're so light to the point where I'll actually try to scratch my ears or scratch my head while I'm wearing them as if I wasn't wearing headphones.
 
By the way, I'd recommend Allessandros for the money since you get the SR-125's build without the 1/4" plug (no need for adapters) and the annoying "SR-80" button. I also have never seen a thread about Allessandro's losing a driver or a cable problem. Take that with a grain of salt.

 

[CARRION FEAST]

I've got some pretty nice sounding headphones and my sr80i's are still one of my favorites. They were my first real headphones that didn't come with an iPod and my first taste of the rich sound you only get from quality cans. For the money they are hard to beat IMO. They're a great general purpose, consistently good sounding headphone & I've always found them very comfortable. They definitely improve with amplification, but still sound great straight out of a headphone jack. I'd be happy if they were my only cans.