[mattr762]

Hi all! New to the forum here. Did my research and decided to get the Grado SR60. The first time I heard about Grado was a month ago in consumer reports. The more research I did the more I wanted them. The main complains I found were just on the looks, but I like the retro style. Everyone around me thinks $60 for headphones is expensive. LOL! I told them they had no idea what expensive is!

Anyway, got my SR60's yesterday and I think I love them. I got them for work and I knew they were open headphones but I didn't think the sound would travel 3 cubicle away. So I thought, "Well, guess I'll just keep them for home usage". So I'm jamming at home last night and my wife tells me to turn it down. I told her it not that loud and she said "Why would you pay that much for headphone that don't conceal the sound. That totally defeats the purpose of headphones!"

So now what am I suppose to do? I love the sound and I want to keep them but I got to please the wife. I usually use the headphones while in the computer room (converted dining room) which is connected to the living room with no walls dividing them.

I also have never heard of a portable amp for my MP3 until I found this forum, but I can see needing one very soon. I've never noticed the bass going to crap until I got a decent pair of headphones. I've also got a pair of Sennheiser PMX200 that sound pretty good.

Cliff notes: Open headphones = Can't use them at work, can't use them at home. What to do?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Redo]

Listen to music in the Bathroom

 

[laxx]

Get some closed headphones then!

 

[GlendaleViper]

Get some RS-1s or GS-1000s then - the deeper chambers help keep the leaking to a minimum!

Just kidding. Closed headphones sound like your only option. Sadly, I have yet to find a headphone that satisfies quite like a Grado does.

 

[Mr Iriver]

well, see if dat really bothers her. If it does well I guess its best to return them for the sake of the relationship. But if she just thinks it is a bad expense, but it does not annoy her, convince her, dat u love their sound and it helps u calm and relax and whatever u have to do.

 

[kipman725]

get a new wife, living with anyone who doesn't appreciate your taste in music isn't living

or use the money saved on not having a wife to buy new headphones

 

[MaZa]

Not sure, but perhaps Sony MDR-V6 would be close enough in closed headphone category?

 

[iPatcH]

Buy her some earplugs.

/problem solved

 

[lmilhan]

There is only one option - Divorce.


Seriously though, my guess would be that you are listening to them way too loud. Yes, they leak like a sieve, but if you are listening to them at a reasonable and safe volume of say 70dbs, I can't imagine them leaking sound loudly enough to bother people 3 cubicles away in an office environment.

Since you probably don't have a quantitative way to measure (SPL meter) how loudly you are listening, my guess is that you are listening at unsafe volume levels. I do own an SPL, and have taken numerous measurements. I listen at an average of 68DBs, with an occasional peak of 75dbs. At that listening volume, with my wife in the same room as me about 6 foot away from where I sit, it doesn't bother her at all.

My best advice: turn it down. Your ears will adjust to the lower volume levels, and you will still be able to enjoy your music without bothering others around you. Unless the people that you are bothering happen to have super-sonic hearing. Hey it's worth a shot, since it will not cost you antyhing to try it out.

If you insist on still listening at higher volume levels, your best bet is a pair of closed headphones, as others have already mentioned.

Sadly, none of the closed headphones I have owned or heard so far were capable of replicating that 'Grado magic', especially within the price range of the SR-60s. It is my theory that a large part of what creates the Grado house sound lies within the fact that they are open phones, as well as the fact that they are supra-aural phones.

Good luck.

 

[GSurge]

I wear SR-60s in my "quiet" dorm room. I have a roommate about six feet away, and my girlfriend is usually sitting right next to me. Neither of them can hear my music, but my girlfriend can tell there is sound coming from my head. I would say you are listening very loudly!

 

[lerio]

Grado can be listen at low volume, one more advantage Grado have so use it

 

[mattr762]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSurge /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wear SR-60s in my "quiet" dorm room. I have a roommate about six feet away, and my girlfriend is usually sitting right next to me. Neither of them can hear my music, but my girlfriend can tell there is sound coming from my head. I would say you are listening very loudly!

I was reading your other thread and you mentioned wanting to "Feel" the music. Well, I like to feel it to. And it can't be felt at low volumes. It seems to me that at low volumes the Grado's sound like any other headphone.

 

[lmilhan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattr762 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was reading your other thread and you mentioned wanting to "Feel" the music. Well, I like to feel it to. And it can't be felt at low volumes. It seems to me that at low volumes the Grado's sound like any other headphone.

Then I'm afraid you don't have many options. Either turn it down, or buy IEMs or closed phones of some sort. None of them are going to sound like your Grados do though.

I don't want to sound 'preachy', but If you are listening as loudly as I suspect you are, you are probably causing damage to your hearing. Be careful - hearing loss due to listening at loud volumes, be it a concert, a night club, or through a pair of headphones is very real.

Good luck.

 

[Frisenette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattr762 /img/forum/go_quote.gif and she said "Why would you pay that much for headphone that don't conceal the sound. That totally defeats the purpose of headphones!"

Tell your wife she's wrong. The main purpose of headphones is not to "spare" others from the music you love.
You use headphones because they have the most detailed, fast sound of any audio device at any price. That's why!
Closed headphones are made to spare you from her noise, not the other way around.
Tell her to either put up or fck off while you listen to music!

 

[smeggy]

Dump the wife and change job.

Luckily my wife isn't even bothered by me blasting with the K1000 and at work I can shut the door. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones in that regard