Recommendation: MS2i or SR80i & AD700 etc

[zedevan]

I'm hoping for a recommendation. I have never owned proper headphones, but using my crap streetstyle ones (mdrg72 - which were comfortable until the rubber broke off, and no new versions seem to have them) for about 6 hours a day has gotten old really quick mainly due to discomfort.

I have learnt about heaps of headphones i hadn't previously heard of thanks to this site - all that is readily sold in aus are sennheiser's

From this I decided i should try out the grado sound, since my main music taste is what i would clasify as heavy rock, with bits and peices of other music to break it up. So what must be a month ago i went to the store of the australian importer for grado headphones, planning to buy some sr80i's, only to be told they were a couple of weeks away, and they had sold out of the all the non "i" headphones except for ones beyond my price range

The wait is really starting to get to me - particually since every time i call them i am told "in the next week or so". This has lead me to go and try out some AD700's, which i would of bought except they want AU$260, or to get them cheaper i'd have to wait for that long that i may as well just wait for the grados - also nothing about them really jumped out at me in terms of their sound, but i was listening to music i wasn't familiar with in a noisey store, comfort wise they were great, although they are not the most descret headphones thanks to their size and colours, which imho are ugly - if they looked like k701's then

- but i dont want to buy a AU$400 amp to drive my headphones at this stage so that's ruled them out.

I'm planning to buy a ZY LOD and an E5 to get decent sound out of my 1st gen iphone, as conincidently my miniture 3.5mm to normal 3.5mm lead has broken - and i was hoping to use the grado's on public transport to and from work. i dont listen to music loud enough to annoy others, and like to b able to hear whats going on around me - this is also a requirement of using headphones at work.

My dad has broken pairs of HD414's and 424's, but currently can't find them - from memory i found the 414's really comfortable and the 424's to tight (my brother had some hd433 and i remember them being to tight also), but since they were broken/not mine i never wore them for more than 10min. I assume sr80's would compare in comfort to hd414's since i could even use 414 pads on them - if i find them uncomfortable i will get some ad700's and use the grado's with my ipod.

To reduce the wait i've been consider buying some older grados, although I am not a fan of the appearance of them, except for hp-1000's and ms2i's - or ordering some ms1's (but have just read there is a wait on the i version's).

My thoughts have been that i should get a taste of the 'true' grado sound with sr80i's, instead of intially buying ms2i's and forever wondering - while spending all my money on some headphones which i could find uncomfortable, meaning i wouldn't be able to afford/justify buying something comfortable like ad700's too.

Should i just keep waiting? is there something that i'm missing? should i just buy ad900's since they are a more full sounding and professional looking version of ad700's? should i get ms2i's? is an e5 enough to drive dt880's?

sorry for the long post - but from which you might be able to get a sense of how much my ears are looking foward to some decent can's!

 

[fjrabon]

just get the ms2i. It's based on the SR125/SR225 and will sound more like those phones than a Grado SR80 will, so that should allay some of your concerns about not having the "true Grado sound"

 

[mbd2884]

Just get the AD700. The others are torture devices, the AD700s are actually made as if someone will be wearing them on their head for comfort.

And the AD700s are more balanced in sound signature, compared to the SR80, and will do better with more genres of music IMO.

 

[lucky]

I have no idea why folks ask if they should get the AD700 vs. other $100 phones; unless you're looking for something closed, it's going to be the default recommendation, and I suspect any n00b who knows enough to ask about the AD700 knows it'll be the top suggestion. Oh, Head-fi...

 

[GeckoSlayer]

If you still want the AD700's, go to headphones.com.au, they stock them at $219. Availability is currently "Back soon" so give marcus a ring tomorrow about them.

 

[zedevan]

Quote:

just get the ms2i. It's based on the SR125/SR225 and will sound more like those phones than a Grado SR80 will, so that should allay some of your concerns about not having the "true Grado sound"

I find this interesting seeing you have both an sr60 and ad700's - what was your reason for not just getting the ms2i's then? Also from what i've read around on here ms2i's are better sounding ms1's which are halfway between sr80's and ad700s?

 

[zedevan]

Quote:

And the AD700s are more balanced in sound signature, compared to the SR80, and will do better with more genres of music IMO

Currently I spend about 90% of the time listening to rock, from jack johnson, audioslave to rise against kinda stuff, particually that with heavier base, so i'm worried the ad700's will be a bit to soft in that end

I've spent a few hours listening to a workmate's hd555's straight out of a pc, i found them very comfortable and they sounded like i'd expect them to sound - the ad700's were alot more airy, but maybe it was just the music and surroundings.

 

[zedevan]

Quote:

I have no idea why folks ask if they should get the AD700 vs. other $100 phones;

sorry mate, i mustn't have been clear enough, i was asking 1 $250 pair vs 2 $100 pairs. Ad700's are also to large to use on public transport in my opinion - and being purple and gold are a bit extreme

 

[zedevan]

Quote:

If you still want the AD700's, go to headphones.com.au, they stock them at $219. Availability is currently "Back soon" so give marcus a ring tomorrow about them

I contacted him about a week ago, and he said they wont have them back for almost a month - he seems like a great helpful guy though!

 

[zedevan]

I just went and picked up some SR-80i's and i'd have to say they sound exactly how i'd hoped they had!

I was worried the highs would be to peircing and there wouldn't be enough base but its all pretty spot on for now, when playing daft punk or pendulum it could do with a bit more but still nothing to complain about for the money!

When i was listening to my mates hd555's i had to use an eq to get them to sound anywhere near this full with the same music

i'm starting to think maybe i should of forked out the extra for ms2i's or sr325i's, but i'll c how these go and if they annoy those sitting next to me, and if they are comfortable enough after a few hours, and after more reading i've done maybe get some beyer dt880's for extra comfort with more base - and they are semi-open so might drop down the noise a bit to others around me

but for now i'm very happy! i'm thinking maybe i should buy some bowls to try them out?!? or since sr-80i's are made for comfy's would it sound worse?

 

[member1982]

might be abit too late, but how much total and where do you get the SR80i in Australia? the price i seen is 180 dollars without shipping i think... from www.audiophile.com.au

i am looking at something that i can listen to Queen satisfyingly the mids on all the headphones that i have seems distant not, which i think the Grado present the mids very forward which i probably will definately like