[jpk70]

First of all, they are "Grado SR80i" s what I have here (cannot modify the subject anymore).
 
I want to do review as well .
My background: I have been into Hi-fi since 1986. Also a musician: I play drums in a "professional level" band. Also other intruments. So I pretty much know how instruments should sound .
 
Ok, I have Grado SR80i s now for 2 years and Sony MVR-V6 for couple of days.
 
Grado SR80i:   Pleasant sound. Good bass responce. Bass has punch. Also goes deep. Good balance: no frequency comes too much or is irritating. But I feel like lacking a bit upper frequences. But its not a major issue. Sometimes feels like they are missing clarity because of that. Stereo image is a bit narrow: it sounds more "mono" than with other headphones. Sound is very natural. Good dynamic also: when listening evenings music where is a big dynamic, they can hit your ears even if volume is low!! And this is a *good* thing obviously ...
 
Sony MVR-V6:    Immeditely when I first put them on I noticed that there is more higher/middle frequences than with Grados. Some might say "they sound clearer". Bass is a bit weak. I bought these headphones to be used when I play drums with my band. And they do good job there. They also isolate outside noise somewhat, so good for drummer. Seems like durable, dont break easily. This is good for musicioans and studio workers.
 
Comparison:    I can say immediately that MVR-V6 did not match with my Grados. Grados general sound is more natural and they do not have any bigger weaknesses. MVR-V6 has two "issues":
   1) lack of punch in bass. But do not get me wrong, I do not mean they do not have bass. They do, but Grados are clearly better. MVR-V6 also can go low in bass with some recordings. So its there, but weaker. Also, MVR-V6 does have better bass than many other headphones (even expensive) I have listened so I am not saying it is "bad".
  2) Feels to me that there is too much middle and higher frequences at some ranges. Like the singers "s" comes too much.
   But I would say that MVR-V6 has better stereo image than Grados - it is good with MVR-V6. MVR-V6 quite well also separates intruments, so maybe thats why they call them "monitor/studio headphones". But because of 1-2 above I would not buy them to be my first headphones. On the other hand they were much cheaper: £56 as Grados were like £90. In dynamics Grados seems to better as well. Many times guitars can be heard more with MVR-V6. Some guitar players might actually like it. With some heavy rock songs guitars are coming very clearly and "into your face". But also with guitars Grados have more low end/punch, but guitars can be heard a bit less with Grados.
 
Conclusion:   If budjet is < £60 then I can recommend MVR-V6 - although cannot say for sure if they are the best. But if you want big bass then maybe these are not the ones (although maybe this can be fixed with a equalizator??). If you like to hear clearly middle/top range frequences then again these give them (although some unclarity there as mentioned above). Grados have better bass in my opinion, but they lack of stereo image. MVR-V6 has pretty nice stereo image. So Grados are better imo. Grados will remain my first headphones, but MVR-V6 is doing well the monitoring with my drumming, and I am happy with them as well. For the price they give good value.

 

[bocur]

I used sr80i.When I listen music high volume,highs are bluring.

 

[wje]

Thanks for your comparison - it's always interesting to see how one set of headphones compares to another.  In the end, all that really matters is that we're happy with the sound we're getting from the headphone choice we've made.
 
To add a bit more about Grado, since I don't know really much about the Sony:
 
1) There is a very "lively" group here on the Grado headphones and many capable modifications that one could perform to change the sound.  Some of these modifications could cost little if nothing to implement - while others (e.g. wooden cups), could cust upwards of $200 to implement.
 
2) There is also the free utility called RockBox for your portable music player / source.  RockBox is an excellent piece of software that gives you much more control over your portable device to include a parametric EQ, adustments for stereo width, crossfeed, etc.
 
With option #2 as I've provided above, one could nearly adjust any set of headphones to have a "custom" sound that would suit their needs.  We are very fortunate to have so many choices for product selection and utilities to give us the "ultimate sound".
 
Again, thanks for your product comparison!

 

[jpk70]

Quote:

I used sr80i.When I listen music high volume,highs are bluring.

I have not listened very expensive headphones. I have a feeling that with very good phones there is more higher end and clarity. I was more like comparing them to Sony here.
 
I am not sure what you mean by "blur" but its quite obvious that Grado has somekind of weakness at high freq sounds compared to expensive phones.
 
But I do know how drums should sound (because I play them ).  Grado is closer to natural drum sounds than Sony imo. 

 

[wje]

 
Quote:

I used sr80i.When I listen music high volume,highs are bluring.

Actually, that's pretty much a vague and a blanket statement.  In most cases, people tend to find that the Grado sound isn't for them - just like other headphones might have other shortcomings that will bring out the critics.  However, as witnessed in this forum here, the Grado headphones offer a lot of opprtunities to perform modifications on them.  Following these threads will tune you into the varous modifications that one can perform on their Grados.  These modifications can take a basic low-cost headphone and change the sound enough that it could enhance the sound so the Grado could be nearly on par with a model that costs 3 times the amount one paid for their actual set of Grados.
 
Now, just because modifications can be performed, still doesn't mean that a pair of Grados are made for each person and that person will be happy with their purchase.  We're all different individuals - different levels of hearing, different sized-heads requiring a different fit as well as different music that we all use our headphones for.  It can be hard to find a single product that will do everything perfectly for every individual.  That is why it is great that we have so many choices out there.  That's what makes this hobby so much fun.


 
 

 

[Gorgatron]

Thanks for this review.

 

[Zombie_X]

Your impressions of the MDR-V6 are pretty close to my own experience. The one I had was extremely bright and very sibilant with thin mids and weak bass that sounded like it was coming from a tube. IMO they aren't that good a set of headphones, at least not compared to my current line up.
 
The SR-80 is a great headphone and I am looking to get a pair for portable use very shortly. I have owned many Grado headphones and by far my favorite is the MAGNUM V2.5 (rivals the HF-2 and IMO is far better). If you are wondering about the Alessandro line they sound similar yet different from the Grado tuning. They have a far more neutral sound and have a toned down treble and the mids take a dip (at least on the MS1i they do) but not bad. They just aren't all that warm when compared to their Grado counterpart.

 

[DaveLinx]

I have listened to most of the Grados except the sr80's and would have to say that I like Sony's better (which I own). Just to put out a counter view. I did like the 125s quite a bit. The Sony's just feel more solid and I like clear sounds in the high frequency range. For the price, both are probably a steal.

 

[blacknile]

I've always wondered how these two would compare, thanks for the review!

 

[Gigachau]

You think the SR80s have good enough bass for stuff like dubstep? I have read that they have plenty of bass and other say they are the wrong type of cans for genres like dubstep and electrohouse. Whats your opinion?