[Neno]

Hi there folks,

I'm into buying a new pair of headphones and been researching net for a while, reading reviews, forums (this one as well). After many hours of staring at the screen and some headache, I finally narrowed my choice to these two: Sennheiser HD 558 and Grado SR 225i. They cost exactly the same here in Croatia, so the price doesn't help in choosing

. I've been reading a lot of reviews about these two as well and they are praised a lot, well maybe Grado a bit more, but few cons as well. I would be listening these only at home, using my Yamaha amp (AV receiver actually) and I listen mostly Jazz (all kinds), some Rock, mainly from CDs or DVD's, sometimes FLAC.
My criteria is of course good sound, durability and comfort, as everybody else's, lol. I've noticed complaints about Grado being uncomfortable, but they might sound better, don't know, I'm hoping some of you guys was able to test them at the same time! Ideally, would be nice to test them personally, but that's not an option here, so I must trust others and my instinct. Any advice from you guys would be much appreciated    

thanx

Neno

 

[Roomba90]

In my opinion, go for the Grado SR225i. As you said, they're nearly the same, but grado has a more tinted sound and he has the looks

 

[Neno]

Thank you for your comment, appreciate it

.  I'm still bumping this thread, hoping for some more suggestions!
 
[size=x-small]Also, I was thinking, when I buy new headphones and out of the box listen to them for, lets say 1 hour, than plug them into the radio tuner to play for 9-10 days 24/7 and then put them on, would there be a difference (if I could remember the sound quality after 10 days, lol)? I mean, what is better thing to do: to get slowly accustomed by it's sound (improvement) while listening the music day by day, or to let them burn 200h straight without ever using them?[/size]

 

[TeliaSonera]

Grado SR225i

 

 

[schaaf]

I would say grado 225i's. They're not really that uncomfortable. I picked up a set of the yellow Senn. 414 pads that you can buy for about 7 bucks over in the states. (not sure how much they'd be there....) But that seemed to help with the comfort. You lose a little bass doing that, but I didn't care enough to switch back to the stock bowls. ( http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/116351-REG/Sennheiser_019545_H_19545_Foam_Earpads_for.html )
 
As wearing vs leaving for burn in... I dunno. I never really noticed that much of a difference on my 225i's, but I didn't leave them. I just started listening to them on day one. Other people may have done it differently an noticed a significant change, but I just want to listen to the music!
 
Hope that provides some insight.
 
S-