Ultrasone or Grado

[llamatimelord]

I have narrowed down my search for new headphones to some Ultrasones and Grados. I have a $200 budget and I know that some of these go over but I have been able to find them for cheaper prices. These are the headphones I am thinking about: Ultrasone Pro 2500 and HFI-780 or 580. I also am thinking about Grado SR80i. I don't need to much bass but I would like it to have a little bit of a punch. One of my top priorities is the treble. I want really clear high but I don't want to sacrifice the bass or vocals entirely. I don't have an amp but please tell me if you think it is necessary to have one. Open or closed doesn't matter to me. I understand that the Grados leak a lot of sound but I'm okay with that. I 80% of my music is classic rock with some Alternative mixed in. So, I want a headphone that works well with classic rock mainly. I want to take into account the comfort also. I want my headphones to be comfortable but the overall sound quality is more important than comfort. Thank you for the advice.

 

[alv4426]

I definitely recommend you go with the Grados(225i) they are much better than the Ultrasones Ive tried for those genres. Grados are perfect for those genres IMO. Grados dont really benefit much from amplification in my experience so you should be fine without one. But one big problem is comfort, as in the lack of it with Grados YMMV. I made mine comfortable but modding was needed I ended up changing the headband to a Sony and it became very comfortable.

 

[talisman42]

+1 Grado.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

You said comfort is a factor. Take Grado off your list likely. They sound great, but they're hard to wear for most (myself included and I have three Grados).
 
Consider:
 
Beyer DT770
Beyer DT990 PRO
Ultrasone HFI 780 & PRO 750
 
Very best,

 

[ProjectDenz]

Go for the Grados, they excel at classic rock and have a nice bass kick and treble. The Ultrasones I have never blended too well with rock, the mids/vocals just did not sound right to me and felt very distant. I'm talking about the Ultrasone DJ1 Pro/HFI-550, Pro 750 and HFI-2400. Ultrasones seem to have a 'house' sound of having distant mids, which doesn't fit well with classic rock.
 
Comfort is about the same for Grados/Ultrasones to me, not the best but acceptable.

 

[TwoTrack]

Quote:

Go for the Grados, they excel at classic rock and have a nice bass kick and treble. The Ultrasones I have never blended too well with rock, the mids/vocals just did not sound right to me and felt very distant. I'm talking about the Ultrasone DJ1 Pro/HFI-550, Pro 750 and HFI-2400. Ultrasones seem to have a 'house' sound of having distant mids, which doesn't fit well with classic rock.
 
Comfort is about the same for Grados/Ultrasones to me, not the best but acceptable.

 
+1.

 

[MegaMushroom]

Comfort wise Grado is better initially, but is surpassed by the Ultrasone as the hours roll by. (SR-60 vs HFI-580)  
For your specific genres I would recommend that nice Grado sound over the Ultrasones.  I can't put my finger on it, but the 580 sounds a bit off for the vocals.  I find myself going for either my Sennheisers or Grados in many cases. 

 

[swmtnbiker]

Ultrasones completely trump Grado for comfort IMO. Which house sound you prefer is a personal decision.

 

[cel4145]

The Grados work great with rock. There's good quality sounding bass (about like a pair of good monitor speakers), it's just not featured. The highs and the mids are. Guitar in many rock songs sounds awesome because of the sound signature and because of the very fast transient response. I haven't heard the HFI-2400s. But I like the SR80i better for rock than the HFI-780 or 580. The mids and highs are definitely better on the Grados. Just got some SR225i which have a touch more bass presence than the SR80i. If you are into rock, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to at least try the Grados. Even if you have to return them because they aren't comfortable enough for you or you want a little more bass.  Every rock fan should hear them