[pcf]

Quote:

Use lower quality MP3s, WTC. That should tone down the harshness.

Best advice of the day.
 

 

[TobaccoRoad]

Generally all Grados tend to be bright, at least for the SR series.

 

[eucariote]

Quote:

... my SR80i were very bright too... especially out of my uDac (since it cleaned up the signal and made it seem brighter).  I then picked up a tube amp... and though it's still forward, I was able to tone it down a bit.  Plus, I can roll my tubes to change the sound more if I wanted.  I hear good things about the Bravo V2 Amp... might be worth a look.

 
Funny,  I found the uDac much more compatible with my brighter Grados (SR60, SR225) than my other dacs (D10, Dacmagic)  because it has a very warm sound.  HF-1 really tames the brights and increases the bass nicely and balance out all the flaws of the SR225 to my ears.  I like them more than my D7000 which cost more than 2x as much.  You can fix the bright Grado signature with comfies by the way, which really reduce the treble.
 

 

[Bigrock2150]

Don't get anything else in the SR series as they are equally or more bright... ATH AD700 might be something to look into if you want to keep the airy open sound, they're really light in the "synthetic" bass department though. I couldn't recommend the HD555 for your type of music, but they're the complete opposite from your SR-80i if that is what you're looking for. I'd recommend trying cheaper mods to your Sr80i b4 you get a whole new/different pair of cans as Grados are arguably the best for your type of music. 
 
Depending on your budget, the Denon D2000 might work for you. They go for somewhere around $200-230 on amazon. They benefit from an amp but could be ran out of an Ipod if needed. +1 for the M-50, I've never actually heard them but people say they preform well. 
 
Good luck on your search!

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Quote:

Use lower quality MP3s, WTC. That should tone down the harshness.

HAHA, that'll just make it so I can listen to them at all.  The SR80i resolve music well... and shows you how bad lower bit-rate recordings are.  I just use a pair of really cheap headphones or headphones that are more polite to bad recording (such as my Sennhesier PX200-II). That way, the headphones won't expose the music for what it is.
 
BTW: I don't have ANY MP3s.  I only have Lossless WAV or ALAC. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Showoff. I have mostly 192kbps music. That's what I get for being happy with that decent bitrate before. I'd go for 320kbps from now on. I wouldn't wanna waste space on lossless for a negligible sq difference.

 

[WayTooCrazy]

Quote:

Showoff. I have mostly 192kbps music. That's what I get for being happy with that decent bitrate before. I'd go for 320kbps from now on. I wouldn't wanna waste space on lossless for a negligible sq difference.

Space is cheap, but if you ever want to burn a CD from your files... you won't get as good a CD from low bit-rate files.

 

[TobaccoRoad]

Personally I think bitrates are overrated. I can hardly hear a difference between 192 and 320..only if I take time to compare it side by side. oh and 320 and lossless? sound exactly the same to me. That said, 80% of my library is 320kbps, with 10% flac and 10% 192kbps, v2, etc. just because it doesn't cost any extra to rip them from CDs. If this wasn't the case I'd have everything at 192kbps.

 

[Neuromantic]

Before you sell the Grados, at least try using an EQ to tone down the treble.  Also, 2 hours is a pretty long time to be listening to music.  I'd expect some fatigue if you're attention is paid solely to listening.  No matter the headphone or speaker I always have to take some breaks.  However, watching a movie with headphones or playing games isn't that bad because most of my attention is focused on vision.
 
Quote:

Personally I think bitrates are overrated. I can hardly hear a difference between 192 and 320..only if I take time to compare it side by side. oh and 320 and lossless? sound exactly the same to me. That said, 80% of my library is 320kbps, with 10% flac and 10% 192kbps, v2, etc. just because it doesn't cost any extra to rip them from CDs. If this wasn't the case I'd have everything at 192kbps.

I agree but I still keep my absolute favorite music in FLAC if I can, just for the peace of mind. 

 

[wind016]

IMO Grados are not good for rock. They are way too trebly for a genre of music that is infamous for sibilance. I would recommend Ultrasones and Denon. Bass is very important for rock. Look into the Ultrasone Pro and HFI series. Their highs are not as extreme as Grados and the bass quality and quantity are top notch. They also have more intensity than the Audio Technica M50s which I think is important for rock. However, M50s are more balanced but kills the fun for me.

 

[Bigrock2150]

You could also try taking them apart and lining the driver enclosure with felt. A more expensive option would be to get them "woodied", both options would tone down the intensity/sibilance significantly. 

 

[LaDolceVita]

Thanks for the suggestions. Most of my music is in 320 kbps and I'm using bowls (didn't like the comfies). 
 
I'll try the felt mod and using the EQ to tone down the treble and see what happens. Like I said, I like the sound of these headphones but they're too bright and in some cases the vocals and musical details get lost between the guitars.
 
 
Quote:

IMO Grados are not good for rock. They are way too trebly for a genre of music that is infamous for sibilance. I would recommend Ultrasones and Denon. Bass is very important for rock. Look into the Ultrasone Pro and HFI series. Their highs are not as extreme as Grados and the bass quality and quantity are top notch. They also have more intensity than the Audio Technica M50s which I think is important for rock. However, M50s are more balanced but kills the fun for me.

Which Denon and Ultrasone models would you recommend?
Since I'm not using an amp at the moment, they have to be easily driven.
 

 

[wind016]

Actually I would recommend AKG K701s. They are similar to Grados. They are also treble oriented and open. However, they IMO are more spacious and have better resolution than any of the Grado series headphones(though I have not tried PS1000). I tried the GS1000i and I thought the K701s were far superior. The highs in the Grados take a rocket up to the sky.
 
The highest of highs are rolled back compared to Grados. Sounds very natural to me especially through a tube amp.
 
For more fun rock phones, I would recommend Denon D2000, Ultrasone HFI 580/780, Ultrasone Pro 550/750, and Audio Technica ES10

 

[Bigrock2150]

One more thing to think about ---> From what I hear they do well with most music, but not so much Classical (dunno if that is much of concern to you). I've never actually heard the D2000 so you might want to take that with a grain of salt. I've also heard that they can sound kinda "flabby" and boomy in the bass department which can be fixed with a decent amp. 
 
Cool thing is they can be tweaked to sound like you want them; plus there are plenty of mods that can change their sound and/or looks if you get bored of them in the future. 
 

 

[wind016]

Yes. Denon's have slower, boomier bass but just sounds very natural. Ultrasones have very tight, fast bass with immense quantity that still does not run into the rest of the sound spectrum like it should.