[joseph69]

  Looks like the L cushions might be a worthwhile investment, then. 

Without a doubt…the (L) cushions are the way too go!

 

[stacker45]

  Without a doubt…the (L) cushions are the way too go!

 
I second that, I'm not big on ''permanent'' moddifications, but pad swapping is a relatively cheap mod, and it's totally reversible.

 

[jokullmusic]

Hey all. I got the SR-80i headphones early last summer (July I think), and they were really nice at the time. However, they started falling apart really quickly- I carried them around a little bit, but I was generally very careful with them, since they seemed pretty fragile (since they're 99% plastic), but they just didn't hold up well. First, the rubber wire casing started to crease and eventually break through in multiple places. Still perfectly functional. Then the little black end of one of the metal rods fell off, and I could never find it. I could still use them fine, though. However, a few weeks later, the right side of the headphones went silent, unless I held the cord a certain way. After that, I managed to get them to work somewhat for a few weeks, and then it completely cut out. I lost the warranty card for them, which is my fault (I have poor organisation skills...), so I opted to upgrade to some new headphones.
 
Has anyone else had problems like these with the SR-80s? They always felt poorly built and they broke after eight or nine months of regular use for me. The worst i'd ever done with them is accidentally drop my bag with them in it, which was months before any problems started occurring. Did I just have a shoddy pair, or is this a regular issue?

 

[Focker]

  Hey all. I got the SR-80i headphones early last summer (July I think), and they were really nice at the time. However, they started falling apart really quickly- I carried them around a little bit, but I was generally very careful with them, since they seemed pretty fragile (since they're 99% plastic), but they just didn't hold up well. First, the rubber wire casing started to crease and eventually break through in multiple places. Still perfectly functional. Then the little black end of one of the metal rods fell off, and I could never find it. I could still use them fine, though. However, a few weeks later, the right side of the headphones went silent, unless I held the cord a certain way. After that, I managed to get them to work somewhat for a few weeks, and then it completely cut out. I lost the warranty card for them, which is my fault (I have poor organisation skills...), so I opted to upgrade to some new headphones.
 
Has anyone else had problems like these with the SR-80s? They always felt poorly built and they broke after eight or nine months of regular use for me. The worst i'd ever done with them is accidentally drop my bag with them in it, which was months before any problems started occurring. Did I just have a shoddy pair, or is this a regular issue?

 
I've had six pairs of Grados and the only time mine fell apart was when I took them apart intentionally. Generally Grados are very easy to take apart and reassemble (when you dont lose the pieces! lol), but all my pairs have held up pretty well. 

 

[joseph69]

  Has anyone else had problems like these with the SR-80s

Never…I alway take very good care of anything I own.
I don't mean this in an offensive way, but sound like you didn't care much for them, so I don't believe its because there made out of plastic…most HP's are. 

 

[Golota]

Hello. In a couple of hours I will buy a Grado. I need to chose betweem the 80e and the 60e. Even though I will have the opportunity to briefly test them, this will be a short listening session, so I would like to hear your opinion. I mainly listen to thrash/black metal, like Inquisition, Marduk, Taake, Armagedda, etc, so I need headphones that can handle real aggressive, fast music, with a lot of distorted guitar and blasting double bass kickdrum. What is the real difference between these headphones? I heard, that the 60e has great, tight bass, (true, tested briefly) unlike the 80i, but how does the 80e compare? Price will be almost identical. Thanks for your help.

 

[stacker45]

  Hello. In a couple of hours I will buy a Grado. I need to chose betweem the 80e and the 60e. Even though I will have the opportunity to briefly test them, this will be a short listening session, so I would like to hear your opinion. I mainly listen to thrash/black metal, like Inquisition, Marduk, Taake, Armagedda, etc, so I need headphones that can handle real aggressive, fast music, with a lot of distorted guitar and blasting double bass kickdrum. What is the real difference between these headphones? I heard, that the 60e has great, tight bass, (true, tested briefly) unlike the 80i, but how does the 80e compare? Price will be almost identical. Thanks for your help.

 
Sorry man!, I feel realy bad that you didn't get any replys. The good thing is that you can't go wrong with either of those. I do think that at this level, the price difference is so small, that I would've told you to go with the SR80e.
 
I see that you're a new member. If you're not too P.O at us, I would like to know wich one you've ended up buying, and what your impressions are.

 

[Golota]

   
Sorry man!, I feel realy bad that you didn't get any replys. The good thing is that you can't go wrong with either of those. I do think that at this level, the price difference is so small, that I would've told you to go with the SR80e.
 
I see that you're a new member. If you're not too P.O at us, I would like to know wich one you've ended up buying, and what your impressions are.

Hi,
 
Thanks for your help, anyway. I went for the SR80e. This was a tough choice, as the SR60e is very similar, with slightly more bass. However, the SR80e just sounded more "musical" in the mid frequencies and guitar sound was really enjoyable. I was swapping headphones like a madman, but eventually realized that I liked the 80e more. Also, the SR60e had been in the shop for a while, so probably had several hours burn-in time, while the SR80e was just taken out of the box. And I thought that with some burn-in, it will even get better.
 
I have tested it against my friend's AKG550. The AKG has more space, but the Grado is a lot livelier, more enjoyable with the type of music I like. I enjoy the SR80e tremendously. It has approximately 20 hours burn-in and the bass has really improved. Noticed that the SR80e is very picky, when it comes to the source quality. You can definitely hear the difference between a flac and a quality mp3. With other headphones, I often could not tell the difference.
 
I tried a lot of headphones, but I don't think there is a better choice for metal music in this price range. I like the SR80e a lot.

 

[Focker]

Nice choice

 

[stacker45]

 
Hi,
 
Thanks for your help, anyway. I went for the SR80e. This was a tough choice, as the SR60e is very similar, with slightly more bass. However, the SR80e just sounded more "musical" in the mid frequencies and guitar sound was really enjoyable. I was swapping headphones like a madman, but eventually realized that I liked the 80e more. Also, the SR60e had been in the shop for a while, so probably had several hours burn-in time, while the SR80e was just taken out of the box. And I thought that with some burn-in, it will even get better.
 
I have tested it against my friend's AKG550. The AKG has more space, but the Grado is a lot livelier, more enjoyable with the type of music I like. I enjoy the SR80e tremendously. It has approximately 20 hours burn-in and the bass has really improved. Noticed that the SR80e is very picky, when it comes to the source quality. You can definitely hear the difference between a flac and a quality mp3. With other headphones, I often could not tell the difference.
 
I tried a lot of headphones, but I don't think there is a better choice for metal music in this price range. I like the SR80e a lot.

 
Welcome to ''The Dark Side''.

 
You chose wisely, I've had my SR80e for a few months now and they still impress me everytime I put them on.

 

[slmckay73]

I think I'm going to pick up the sr80e in the next week or so. I'm excited to listen to something new since I've only had M50x's for months. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy with them, but I'm looking forward to adding to my collection and having a different sound signature to broaden my perspective. I keep waiting to see if I can get a Massdrop deal, but if they haven't dropped by monday or tuesday I'll probably just get them from Amazon.

 

[stacker45]

  I think I'm going to pick up the sr80e in the next week or so. I'm excited to listen to something new since I've only had M50x's for months. Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy with them, but I'm looking forward to adding to my collection and having a different sound signature to broaden my perspective. I keep waiting to see if I can get a Massdrop deal, but if they haven't dropped by monday or tuesday I'll probably just get them from Amazon.

 
I think that the SR80e are THE best buy among the Grado line, although honorable mentions have to go to the SR325e, and the RS2e.

 

[slmckay73]

I think that the SR80e are THE best buy among the Grado line, although honorable mentions have to go to the SR325e, and the RS2e.

A lot of people I've seen talk about them seem to agree with you. Within the prestige lineup in particular, is it just that the next steps up aren't big enough improvements to warrant spending the extra money? 

 

[stacker45]

  A lot of people I've seen talk about them seem to agree with you. Within the prestige lineup in particular, is it just that the next steps up aren't big enough improvements to warrant spending the extra money? 

 
Of course, as you move up the ladder, the return on investment diminishes. In a certain way, I get as much satisfaction from my SR80e, as I do from my PS1000, why?, read on. 
 
Another very important factor that understandably happens when you move up the ladder is, greater expectations. I get a lot of satisfaction, for my SR80e, because they greatly exeed the lower expectations that I have from them.
 
I think that the sweet spot is at $500-$600, when you get past that, all bets are off, and some people may very well prefer a $900 pair of headphones, to a pair costing twice as much. There are many people that prefer the RS1 to the PS1000, regardless of price.

 

[slmckay73]

 

  A lot of people I've seen talk about them seem to agree with you. Within the prestige lineup in particular, is it just that the next steps up aren't big enough improvements to warrant spending the extra money? 

 
Of course, as you move up the ladder, the return on investment diminishes. In a certain way, I get as much satisfaction from my SR80e, as I do from my PS1000, why?, read on. 
 
Another very important factor that understandably happens when you move up the ladder is, greater expectations. I get a lot of satisfaction, for my SR80e, because they greatly exeed the lower expectations that I have from them.
 
I think that the sweet spot is at $500-$600, when you get past that, all bets are off, and some people may very well prefer a $900 pair of headphones, to a pair costing twice as much. There are many people that prefer the RS1 to the PS1000, regardless of price.

Makes sense. Thanks for your input, my man.