how bad is sound leakage on Grado SR60/80s?

[regnad kcin]

I'd like to get my first pair of decent headphones, but as a relatively poor person my budget isn't that much.

Everyone on the planet seems to think the best value for the money is the SR60s or 80s. I'm worried about sound leakage, though, as well as ambient outside sound.

Most of my listening will be walking to work, which is in the Tokyo area, not one of the quieter places in the world. Some of my listening will be on trains, where I might disturb people.

I don't listen to loud irritating music -- mostly jazz. But any music will be irritating to others if it's too much.

Now I'm starting to think, though, that the Sony MDR 7506s may be the way to go, since they're fully closed circumaurals in the same ballpark price range.

So are the Sonys the way to go? How bad is the leakage with the Grados?

 

[lauinbeta]

for the volumes i listen to, the sound leakage (out) is very little, maybe 20% of what i hear leaks out. even so, you can only hear it if you are close (within 2-3 feet of me). on a subway that might be a problem, but i think the noise from a moving a subway is more of a problem because then you will have to turn it up louder to hear and disturb other people in the process.

about sound coming in, you might as well not be wearing headphones. A LOT of sound comes it.

 

[regnad kcin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lauinbeta /img/forum/go_quote.gif about sound coming in, you might as well not be wearing headphones. A LOT of sound comes it.

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.

So are the Sony MDR 7506s the way to go you think?

 

[lacrossebowe8]

I know nothing about the sony's but I would not go with the grado's in your situation. No isolation and quite a bit of leakage.

 

[i_don't_know]

My friend's SR80 has okay isolation (better than I expected) and just about no sound leakage. And yes, they're real.

I don't know what all this talk about zero isolation and a lot of sound leakage is.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Mainly jazz and in environments that simply won't work with the Grado's construction...yeah, I strongly recommend you should hunt for closed-back 'phones instead.

 

[Dobber65]

The Grados are great, but I don't believe they will work as well on the trains. Not because your sound leakage to others (which probably won't be easy to hear on the train), but due to the noise leakage into the phones (it works both ways).

I would probably recommend some Senns for higher sound quality than the Sonys. Maybe the HD280 Pro (not necessarily the best sound), or the HD25-II or even HD380 (they cost the same here in the US, about US$200).

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by i_don't_know /img/forum/go_quote.gif My friend's SR80 has okay isolation (better than I expected) and just about no sound leakage. And yes, they're real. I don't know what all this talk about zero isolation and a lot of sound leakage is.

This is literally impossible. The front of a driver puts out just as much sound as the back does. The grill covering the back inhibits sound no more (actually maybe less) than the driver cover in the front does. Right this second I have my grados wrapped around a small medicine ball (burning them in) and I can clearly hear sound leaking out of the back. In fact, from maybe 3 feet away, they basically sound like laptop speakers on low volume.

And as to isolation, the only isolation they provide is raising the noise floor (by just playing music). If you don't have sound coming out of them, they don't reduce sound by any noticeable amount. I can snap my fingers and hear them basically just as clearly as if I had nothing on.

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobber65 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Grados are great, but I don't believe they will work as well on the trains. Not because your sound leakage to others (which probably won't be easy to hear on the train), but due to the noise leakage into the phones (it works both ways).

Yeah, trying to overpower a subway with grados is a recipe for going deaf if I've ever heard one.

 

[pistolsnipe]

almost all of my headphones are open, and the grados leak the worse by far (at least out, not necessarily in) it is very noticeable to others even at reasonable volumes

 

[regnad kcin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobber65 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would probably recommend some Senns for higher sound quality than the Sonys. Maybe the HD280 Pro (not necessarily the best sound), or the HD25-II or even HD380 (they cost the same here in the US, about US$200).

200 bucks is a bit out of my price range. Would you recommend anything else?

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Have you thought about the Koss KSC75?

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by regnad kcin /img/forum/go_quote.gif 200 bucks is a bit out of my price range. Would you recommend anything else?

what exactly is your price range? $100 or under?

 

[regnad kcin]

$100-ish

 

[fjrabon]

I really like my Denon AHD1001s and I got them from amazon for $108. Lots of bass, ridiculously comfortable, isolating enough for most reasonable applications. They seem to get a huge upgrade if you want to get them re-cabled later. They're very efficient (my iPod drives them well at half volume), but an amp will give improvements too, if you want to get one later.

The cable is also pretty short, compared to most other headphones in this quality level, which, IMHO, makes them much easier to deal with in a situation like a subway. Also, they're not terribly bulky (unlike say the Audio Technica ATH A500's, which are comparable in quality, but gigantic in size).