[DrNope]

At the moment I have a pair of Grado SR80, but I think they are a bit too much on the high frequencies, I get tired after a while, perticularly if listening to records recorded at high level it seems. On my home system those are not that bad despite concrete walls with nothing on them.
So today I tried a set of Denon AH-A100, a special jubilee set and indeed those didn't seem to have that harsh treble I experience with the SR80s but the lows.... oh my good was it boomy, thick and no contour to it. Didn't think there was that good soundstage either. That really surprised me. Don't know if this is a problem with closed headphones? (euse Denon SACD and the headphone output on a Denon amp, listened to "Live seeds" and "Let love in" with Nick Cave and the bad seeds, and "best of" by Sade. Nick to find issues in the highs, Sade to find soundstage and speed of low end.
Anyway, are the higher range Grados less harsh in the highs? Was thinking the 125 or 325? Beyerdynamics? Don't have that much time to audit a lot of phones so need a few pointers. I also think I might get a pair of glasses, eye-sight is getting a bit problematic, don't know what kind of issues that might cause and what to look out for.
Using the headphones at work, perhaps 5hours a day together with Little Dot II++.

 

[fusedpro]

Grados will pretty much always have the 'in your face' highs, no matter how far up the line you go (citation needed).
 
Some things that will help with recommendations --
- Price range?
- Listening environment? Office, yes, but will you have your own space or will there be others around? Basically boils down to open or closed phones...
- Preferred genres?

 

[DrNope]

Well, the Denon was $400, but I really would like to stay below $200 if possible, but I dont know where the increased price dont really give that muck better performance.
 
Listening to sort of everything, Nick Cave, the cure (old records), sade, neil young, beasty boys...... Mostly, I really do like the Grados, I just cant listen to some records (New order "best of", 2-cd is terible, Red hot chilipeppers "Californication" not nice) due to the ears starting to bleed, other records are fine, but getting a bit worse, think my hearing is getting a bit damaged.

 

[DrNope]

oh, forgot....opened or closed doesnt matter, sharing space with one at my office.

 

[BotByte]

Denon are boring. IMOIMOIMO
 
I know there's a legion out there for Denon.
 
 
Check out:
 
Sony MDR-7509HD
balance and fun can. Doesn't need a amp like Grado and still got good highs with a bit of bass for your rap
My top pick for under $200
 
Senn HD598
Needs a amp, but sounds like SR225i with soundstage and more bass. Your littldot should handle.
Call up J&R to get them for $180 shipped states
 
 
that's about it because if you want to upgrade further into Grado, save up and go SR325i becuase when you stay in the lower range of Grado, there's not much difference to jump ship to the next best one in the line.

 

[furyagain]

how about the denon hp700    
a closed dj headphones  

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Well, the Denon was $400, but I really would like to stay below $200 if possible, but I dont know where the increased price dont really give that muck better performance.
 
Listening to sort of everything, Nick Cave, the cure (old records), sade, neil young, beasty boys...... Mostly, I really do like the Grados, I just cant listen to some records (New order "best of", 2-cd is terible, Red hot chilipeppers "Californication" not nice) due to the ears starting to bleed, other records are fine, but getting a bit worse, think my hearing is getting a bit damaged.

     Hmmm, I'll have to second that. I've been madly sourcing all sorts of various compilations from 'The Smiths' and 'New Order'
     only to find that they still sound 'hot and harsh' with my 325i's on flats. These headphones just seem to dig up an anomaly
     with some recordings every now and then.
 
    Thought about tube rolling with the Little Dot II? A change over to the M8100 or CV0410? Much cheaper than lashing out on
    a pair of 325i's. My experience is that if it sounds a little 'hot' with the SR80i's then - watch out on the 325i's.
 
    G
 
 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

Well, the Denon was $400, but I really would like to stay below $200 if possible, but I dont know where the increased price dont really give that muck better performance.
 
Listening to sort of everything, Nick Cave, the cure (old records), sade, neil young, beasty boys...... Mostly, I really do like the Grados, I just cant listen to some records (New order "best of", 2-cd is terible, Red hot chilipeppers "Californication" not nice) due to the ears starting to bleed, other records are fine, but getting a bit worse, think my hearing is getting a bit damaged.

     Hmmm, I'll have to second that. I've been madly sourcing all sorts of various compilations from 'The Smiths' and 'New Order'
     only to find that they still sound 'hot and harsh' with my 325i's on flats. These headphones just seem to dig up an anomaly
     with some recordings every now and then.
 
    Thought about tube rolling with the Little Dot II? A change over to the M8100 or CV0410? Much cheaper than lashing out on
    a pair of 325i's. My experience is that if it sounds a little 'hot' with the SR80i's then - watch out on the 325i's.
 
    G
 
 

 

[200poundsofamp]

Californication sounds like it was mastered for car stereos, so anything without a pretty decent bass boost and a somewhat recessed midrange sounds really shouty and weird with it. A Grado is pretty much the worst possible thing for it.
 
A srh840 or m50 maybe? They'll sound boring after Grados, but that's the point right?

 

[DrNope]

Quick as a reptile.... All I've managed to try out so far:
Denon AH-D4000 (I think, some kind of limited edition, same internal as more expencive model but cheaper model housing). Sounded horrible with way too much boomy bass that seemed to almost overdrive the headphones. Thought this was due to being a closed HP, but to be honest I guess it might have had either bass-boost or loudness enabled, dealer wanted to demo the headphones using spotify but I managed to get my own CD to listen to instead.
That was a while ago, last saturday I managed to get a quick listening to AKG701 and a beyerdynamic (model way over my budget) and compared the AKG with Grado SR80 and SR325. The SR80s had pads and not the bowles I have on mine, but the AKG was as if removing the famous blanket and yet I don't think the treble was as harsh, same with SR325, clearer then the SR80, but still harsch compared to the AKG. Did not bring any music of my own since I did not know I would find a few minutes to spare.
 
Can someone give some insight into the AKGs compared to the Grados? It is, for me at least, dificult to judge on fatiguing when you only listen to them for 15 minutes or so in the shop, after a few hours it's all different. I've also read that they are very low in the bass-compartment. Is this really the case or is it more a flat response which people misstakenly think is poor performance?