[loopsider]

Having read various opinions by means of the search function, I've seen the mixed opinions, which of course did not surprise me.
I have seen that the Grado SR60 has great, quality sound; but has the major downfall of leaking sound to one's environment.
Then, the Shure E2C's have said to have either a great, natural, rich sound; or some have said it has a dull sound with overpowering bass. The E2C though, has great isolation capability.
Now, it would be a perfect situation if I could have both, however, that is not the case or else I would be looking at a different price range.
On the internet, I found the Grado for 5-10$ less than the E2 (shipping considered). I also do not know why many E2s are sold for 99$ when they were previously 70$.
Nevertheless, I mainly want to know the downsides of each, and go from there.
Is the sound "leakage" from the Grado substantial enough to be clearly heard in an environment such as a quiet house at night? Is the leakage bad enough both ways (you can hear the environment and the environment can hear you just as clearly)? I am mainly troubled because I am getting psychologically conditioned to thinking that the Grado is akin to merely putting computer speakers to one's ear, only a foot away. I also am conditioned to think that the Grado is some sort of dual-sided headphone, as if it has one driver facing the ear and another driver facing outside, giving equal amounts of sound both inside and outside.

Also, can one mod the Grado to add some isolation, and prevent this leakage?

Thank you.

 

[warpdriver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by loopsider Is the sound "leakage" from the Grado substantial enough to be clearly heard in an environment such as a quiet house at night? Is the leakage bad enough both ways (you can hear the environment and the environment can hear you just as clearly)? I am mainly troubled because I am getting psychologically conditioned to thinking that the Grado is akin to merely putting computer speakers to one's ear, only a foot away. I also am conditioned to think that the Grado is some sort of dual-sided headphone, as if it has one driver facing the ear and another driver facing outside, giving equal amounts of sound both inside and outside. Also, can one mod the Grado to add some isolation, and prevent this leakage? Thank you.

No you cannot mod it without changing the sound dramatically

And yes, it leaks A LOT. It leaks out the back as much as it is putting sounds into your ears. So if somebody is sitting beside you, they can clear hear what song you are playing and maybe even sing to the lyrics.

You may just want to consider closed phones. That way, you get full sized headphone sound quality (without the muddiess of the Shures), and get some degree of leaking

HD201, and AKG K26P's come to mind as good budget alternatives.

 

[guvnor]

the sr-60 and the e2c are in a different field.

the e2c provides entry level IEM sound, awesome isolation, and great portability.

the sr-60, provides entry level headphone sound, bad isolation, and moderate portability.

needless to say, entry level IEM and entry level headphones don't compare in terms of sound quality, the headphones takes the trophy.

and modding the sr-60 to be isolated will basically defeat the purpose of buying open headphones.

like warpdriver said, good quality closed headphones or clip-ins might be better. it's sort of a compromise between the two. the price is better than both entry level IEM and headphones too.

 

[loopsider]

Thank you for the replies.

Regarding the "mod," I was mainly envisioning some sort of easily reversible process, so that different situations could be accounted for.

AKG K26P's look like an option. However, the Grados seem like a sure bet for sound quality (right now, a high concern). I have not been a sound enthusiast for that long, however, in my experience I have heard many under 50$ headphones have that horrible midrange accentuation that makes it sound like the frequency response is a bell curve. Though I would love to try the K26P's at a store and ascertain its sound.

The Grado just seems like an end all solution. Especially after reading the Grado SR60 appreciation thread.

 

[MdRex]

both

 

[DobsOnly]

If your considering the E2C but like the description of the SR-60 then maybe search on the Ety ER6, ER6i. Might be a better match for you. Very detailed with probably less Bass punch than the SR-60.

 

[wolfen68]

SR-60's provide a superior level of sound (quality). If you must have isolation, than E2's are a good compromise.