[Tigerboyce]

Hello Headfi, first post here

After reading numerous threads and various sources I decided to go ahead and buy my first 'proper' set of headphones Grado SR80.

4 days ago I received them but in all honesty I'm not really that impressed with them...

I'm not really sure why, but possibly there just not quite meeting the high expectations i had from spending a considerable amount of money of a set of headphones that had good reviews. I also find the build quality to be fairly flimsy...

I'm reconsidering my purchase and instead thinking of getting to a closed back model, mainly because a lot of my problems with these tend to be from them being open, hearing other sounds around me, and constantly having the nagging thought of others hearing your music while out and about. I appreciate that the Grado's do sound very nice when sat in a silent room, but I dont get the chance to do that often.


I mainly listen to a wide range of music, ranging from mainly IDM/Ambient through to rock/metal. Most of the time I will be running it through my Ipod Touch or PC, using 256 or higher bitrate.

So any suggestions on what I should purchase in the same price range? (£90 or lower) or am i just being too picky and expecting too much

 

[i_love_hina]

Audio Technica ES7 imo.

 

[LeonWho]

Let them burn in a bit.

 

[Dobber65]

Give the Grados some time. What do you listen with now?

While Grados may not have some of the refined sound of a Sennheiser, AKG, Beyerdynamic, and others, they are very good and compete fairly with these brands. They also should be a good match for your type of music.

 

[Tigerboyce]

Yes I think I might let them burn in a bit more, whenever I'm not actually using them I will try and keep them on a shuffled repeat of my whole library overnight for example.

It is very hard to tell, but I think they have improved since first using them, especially when going through my flac files. I guess they just need more time and patience.

 

[Dobber65]

While I don't have an SR-80, my 60s continue to amaze me in their quality and presentation of the Grado house sound. As you move up the line, the sound improves, but as always the value for that sound comes down to personal preference. The 80s are as good a starting point as any in the line.

Not that this matters, are they the older style or the newer "i" version?

 

[Moocher]

Go to search, advanced search, type in "closed," change from entire posts to titles only, go.

I suspect a decent pair of $50 iems would suit you better than the Grados. Do a search.

Mooch

 

[washa]

I don't think any burn in time will help improve the sound of the open phones when most of the time you're listening in places where it's not quiet. I find my sr80s to be amazing in sound quality. But when a plane passes over or when my brother is playing the piano many rooms over, it totally ruins my music listening experience and loose that sense of immersion. Heck, i can even hear hear the clicks of my old keyboard as when i'm on the desktop lol.

Anyway closed phone or IEMs would be good. There's quite a few choices in your price range. The M-audio Q40 sounds good if I remember, but kind of a different sound than the sr80s that I like..

 

[tjohnusa]

Try AKG K81DJ with the blu-tak mod

 

[Brighten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tigerboyce /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hello Headfi, first post here After reading numerous threads and various sources I decided to go ahead and buy my first 'proper' set of headphones Grado SR80. 4 days ago I received them but in all honesty I'm not really that impressed with them... I'm not really sure why, but possibly there just not quite meeting the high expectations i had from spending a considerable amount of money of a set of headphones that had good reviews. I also find the build quality to be fairly flimsy... I'm reconsidering my purchase and instead thinking of getting to a closed back model, mainly because a lot of my problems with these tend to be from them being open, hearing other sounds around me, and constantly having the nagging thought of others hearing your music while out and about. I appreciate that the Grado's do sound very nice when sat in a silent room, but I dont get the chance to do that often. I mainly listen to a wide range of music, ranging from mainly IDM/Ambient through to rock/metal. Most of the time I will be running it through my Ipod Touch or PC, using 256 or higher bitrate. So any suggestions on what I should purchase in the same price range? (£90 or lower) or am i just being too picky and expecting too much

Get a pair of IEMs,

 

[Xan7hos]

I think part of the appeal of Grado's design is their sense of no non-sense, minimalistic approach. Every piece is designed with function in mind, and overall its a very simplistic "retro" looking phone. These are definitely not cans you can take to the library or outside, but they got a lot to offer for the amount you spend.