[JK1]

"sound - i like the Grado's better for sound, to me there's a lot more detail and they're very neutral. the mdrv600's are a bit boomy and woofy."
 
The Sony V600 sounds much worse than the V6. The V600 is very boomy sounding and is not built as well as the V6. Years ago I bought the V600 hoping it would be better than the V6. It was much worse. My v600 broke and went in the trash. My original V6 is still going strong. The v6 has none of the boominess that the V600 has.

 

[DanthePolishman]

  I like me a bit of rock and jazz but I also like electronic music and things with a lot of layers of sound. I also like to have a strong bass but not an overdone bass (Beats anyone?)
 
in short I usually use this song to test phones
 
Layers and bass and guitar

NONONO Please don't tell me you use a 144p track on youtube to test headphones. It sounds awful, 

 I'll lend you one of my CD's and you'll listen to that, will ya?

 

[Mad Max]

  NONONO Please don't tell me you use a 144p track on youtube to test headphones. It sounds awful, 

 I'll lend you one of my CD's and you'll listen to that, will ya?

 
HAHAHAHAHAHA, hopefully he didn't actually mean that particular youtube video.

 

[JoeDoe]

  Oddly enough, I only have 2 fullsized headphones in my house, and they are these two. Both of them are good headphones.
 
I prefer the Grado's personally, but the Sony v6 is good too. The sony v6 is a tank, but the simplicity of the grado makes it fairly durable as well.
 
First off: if sound leaking out/in is absolutely impossible (going to be using them in a loud environment, or a really quiet place likea library and you don't want to bother people) don't go with the grado, or any other open headphones, as they let sound leak out.
 
Secondly: What music do you listen to? The grado's are great for rock and roll, jazz, folk, female vocals and even classical solos/chamber music (not full orchestra), but I wouldn''t suggest them for hiphop, or bass heavy techno, although they can be made to work well with it if you are willing to 1: do some eq-ing and 2: some basic mods.
 
The V6 has the edge over the Grado in terms of clarity, they literally reveal everything about the music, but they don't seem especially "musical" compaired to the Grado, which adds a coloration to the music that I find very desireable. Keep in mind that compaired to consumer headphones/earbuds, both of these will show you things in your music that you never knew were there. Both the Grado and the v6 have a fair amount of treble and not a lot of bass in stock form, so if you want bass monsters, hopefully someone else will  be willing to offer some advice in that catagory, although I have heard good things about the dennon d1001, and some others, i don't have any experience with them.
 
Honestly, I don't particularly enjoy the v6 as a pleasure listening phone (it's great as a monitoring phone though), perhaps someone else with experience with other headphones in the pricerange could drop by and make a few other suggestions. if isolation isn't a problem though  (it might be on a bus, but probably not at home) and you listen to a lot of rock/metal/or female vocal music, i'd suggest the grados. If it is a problem, or you prefer more Dubstep and hiphop, I'd bet that there's a 3rd contender out there as an option

Pretty much nailed it. 
 
The SR60i may be more fun in a quiet setting, but if you need it to isolate, go with the V6. I'd say the Sony wins in terms of clarity, however, it's inherent sound is more analytical. A simple mod that will tone down the treble and give a little extra bass bump is to roll some Beyerdynamic velour pads on their. I have a pair of V6s and 7506s, both with velours and they are very easy to listen to, not to mention more comfortable than the stock pads. 
 
Actually, thinking about it, the velour leaks more sound than the stock so maybe that's not the best option.
 
Another can that shares characteristics with both of these to consider is the Koss PortaPro. Check it out.

 

[mamamia88]

I have the v6s and I like them quite alot.  They are somewhat too flat for my tastes but, when paired with a cheap portable amp fii0 e6 the music really comes alive.  Not sure how isolating they are though.  I had them turned up all the way yesterday and when I put the two pads together it leaked a little but not much at all.   So as long as you are using them at a reasonable level you should be good.  

 

[yoyogross]

they do better with an amp?????????????????????????????????????

 

[yoyogross]

and + 1 for the v6 if you want isolation and build quility the grados you can mod to youre preference like crazy though

 

[mamamia88]

  they do better with an amp?????????????????????????????????????

To my ears it's night and day difference at least with a sansa clip.  

 

[yoyogross]

im using a clip so maybe ill buy th fioo

 

[mamamia88]

  im using a clip so maybe ill buy th fioo

Ok maybe night and day may not be the best wording but, it makes the experience much more enjoyable.  Listening to "Whole Lotta Love" right now and the amp just pushes it over the top.  But, I already had the amp laying around going unused for quite awhile

 

[Dmitrijs]

I have Sony MDR-XB950AP today bought Grado SR60i. No echoes, no artificial basses. More natural sound