[FAILURE]

I'm looking for a pair of portable headphones for use unamped with a slimx and, in the near future, an iPod. I've heard a lot of good stuff about the Grado SR60's, but I'm wondering if it's really worth the extra money for the SR80's or SR125's. I'm willing to spend up to 150, since I'll be using these a lot of the time, but I don't want to spend 80 dollars more than the SR60's if it's not that big of a difference.

 

[Ptrick]

Hi Failure,

Welcome to Head-Fi, and Sorry about your wallet...

You'll find that the SR60/80s are probably more suitable if you plan to drive them directly out of your portable player unamped (SR60s as little more so than SR80s).
Higher range Grados like the SR125s sound their best with a headphone amp, so performance/application-wise you could be wasting money.
The SR60s are great portable phones and can be driven easily, so perhaps they'll give you best bang for buck.

Hope this helps.

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ptrick Hi Failure, Welcome to Head-Fi, and Sorry about your wallet... The SR60s are great portable phones and can be driven easily, so perhaps they'll give you best bang for buck. Hope this helps.

What he said.

 

[MegaMeee]

/me votes for ms1's

 

[Ymer]

Are the Alessandros MS-1s better or even different if compaired to the SR-125s?

 

[lini]

Failure: Keep in mind, that only the SR60 and SR80 come with a 1/8" plug plus 1/4" adapter - so the SR 125 might be a bit awkward to use with portable equipment. In addition, the sonic differences were not that drastic to my ears (at least when equal earpads are used). Actually, I'd recommend going for the SR 60, as its earpads are more comfy than the bowl-pads on the SR 80 and SR 125... The comfy pads also mellow out the sound somewhat, but whether that's good or bad is probably up to your taste...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[DLP]

I preferred my SR125 to my SR80s unamped, to me it was a more lively sound with the 125 than the 80, but I seem to be alone on that one. I'd suggest the SR60s as well because realistically, neither the SR80 or SR125 I had were properly driven, and it can really show when you listen to them. The SR60s seem to be the most easily driven to their potential of the available Grado line.

 

[blessingx]

Unamped off the iPod I thought the 60's, sounded a bit better than the 80's, but I thought the 225's sounded better by far than either. Have no idea on the 125's or Alessandro's, but I don't think there is necessarily a dividing line between lower end and higher. HeadRooms comments also seem to support this confusion. How could the 60's sound best if the RS-1's are the best sounding phones without an amp?

Any of these will sound good, and some will grow better (should an amp or a stronger output be down the line). The Alessandros at $99 shipped are hard to beat.

 

[FAILURE]

After doing some more looking, I've come down to either Grado SR60s or Sennheiser PX200s. Is there any sound difference between the PX100s and PX200s besides the first ones being open? Thanks for your help.

 

[MD1032]

Why don't you get some canalphones like the ER-6 or the E2c? Those are very portable!

 

[Ptrick]

Keep in mind that the SR60s will always leak sound both in and out. So if you're like me and using them during transport like train and trams, people relatively close around you will be able to hear what you're listening to much more than you realise. There's been so many times when I take down my SR60s to answer a mobile or something and it sounds like I have the discman going on near full blast when in fact it's only at a reasonable volume. People must think I'm making myself deaf, heheh.