[jTizMLG]

im getting the audio gd fun and was wondering what grado is worthy. im having trouble deciding between the SR80i=$100, SR125i=$150, and the SR225i=$200. i mostly listen to rock music.

 

[JxK]

Honestly, I think you're best off going for the sr60. Diminishing returns being what they are, you won't get a huge improvement for shelling out substantially more cash. If you like them, then consider moving up the grado food chain. If you dislike the grado sound - a very real possibility with such polarizing headphones - you've spent the least amount of money, and can get most of it back by selling them.

 

[fatcat28037]

The 225i is considered the sweet spot in the Grado line-up, price/performance ratio. If you can afford $200 don't go with the 80i, They're good, but the 225i is better. Look for a used pair if you want to save a few bucks.

 

[olor1n]

My Alessandro MS-1i pairs really well with the Audio-GD FUN (Earth). The Grado crunch is retained while soundstage and clarity is significantly improved. I initially found a slight harshness in some genres fatiguing but I think I've just experienced the much talked about smoothing out of the FUN and Earth after the requisite 300+ hour burn in period. I've just installed Moon and initial impressions are of a flatter presentation with a more analogue flavor than Earth. This comes at the expense of soundstage and punch but seems less sterile and may be more pleasing for extended listening periods. I'm listening to some Norah Jones right now and I really like the intimacy presented. For more energetic genres though Earth seems to be where its at.
 
I've not heard any of the Grado cans mentioned above but from all accounts the Alessandros are a slightly more "neutral" and "refined" version. I really love the crunch these cans provide but a slightly brighter and aggressive quality would make them too shrill and fatiguing imo. I imagine the FUN after a long burn in, paired with any of the Grados mentioned above would sound the way the FUN with no burn in did through my MS-1i (ie great but fatiguing).

 

[Mad Max]

Quote:

The 225i is considered the sweet spot in the Grado line-up, price/performance ratio. If you can afford $200 don't go with the 80i, They're good, but the 225i is better. Look for a used pair if you want to save a few bucks.

x2
 
Or buy with 30-day return so you can take your time getting a feel for it.

 

[jTizMLG]

bump

 

[harvinstein]

Here's my $0.02,
 
I had 60's with a uDAC, then moved to MS2i's, only to find the difference between them and the 60's to be very small.  I then got a Fun, which was a very obvious upgrade from the uDAC.  I briefly tried the RS1's only to think that they were not worth the cost increase for the difference in sound over the MS2i's.  Then I sold the RS1's and MS2's, and bought some SR80's.  I like the 80's just as well as the MS2's and RS1's.  I am not saying that the 80's are as good as the higher line stuff, but I am saying that I could only hear the refinement by listening so hard that I wasn't really listening to the music anymore.  I'm talking about total focus on very minute differences.  After finding out firsthand how small the differences were to my ears, I decided to unload the higher end Grados.  As to why I went back with 80's instead of 60's, it was just more experimentation.  I had read that the 80's had a little more bass, so I tried them, although I don't remember the 60's well enough to really compare.  Don't forget that if you get 60's or 80's, be sure to "quarter mod" the comfy pads.  If you don't, you are missing the great Grado sound.  Flat pads are another option, but I'm liking the modded comfies just fine.
 
I took some advice I got on this forum to heart, and I have tried a lot of headphones, just to see how they sound, and what I like.  The 60's were my first set, and they are awesome for making believers out of people.  When I first compared them to the headphones I was using, the description I came up with was that my old headphones sounded like they were full of mud.  The best tip you can get is to buy used on this forum, which minimizes your capitol loss during your experimentation period.
 
All of that said, I really prefer my DT990's for all day listening at work.  To me they sound pretty similar to a Grado, but with more pronounced ("sparkly") highs, and not quite as forward vocals (I would rather hear the instruments more than the vocals anyway).  They are also more comfortable.
 
For anyone who thinks that Grados are too shrill or fatiguing, I ask them have they ever stood in front of a guitar stack at any sort of rock concert?  Have they ever sat behind a drum set and laid into a good 20" crash cymbal.  All of that stuff is loud as hell, and pretty darned shrill and fatiguing.  Those are the sounds that Grados are made to reproduce, and they do a pretty good job of it.

 

[1Time]

Headphones can sound very different depending on the equipment their plugged into. While my SR80 sounded 100% intolerable - as if a laser beam of shrillness was drilling through my brain, I am sure I could have found it quite entertaining with more compatible equipment. 
 
It's not just a matter of the headphones. And it's not just a matter of hearing the music as if being 2 inches from the rock performer. It's a matter of synergy and preference. Not everyone plugs their headphones into the same equipment, and not everyone prefers the same type of sound stage or type of sound with rock music.  
 
Quote:

For anyone who thinks that Grados are too shrill or fatiguing, I ask them have they ever stood in front of a guitar stack at any sort of rock concert?  Have they ever sat behind a drum set and laid into a good 20" crash cymbal.  All of that stuff is loud as hell, and pretty darned shrill and fatiguing.  Those are the sounds that Grados are made to reproduce, and they do a pretty good job of it.

 

[harvinstein]

I'm not here to argue with more experienced people.  I will agree that the MS2's were more "unrefined" sounding and fatiguing when powered by the uDAC, than the Fun, so there's truth in what you're saying.  It's just that I think most people exaggerate the differences.
 
You are 100% right on personal preferences though.  For example, It didn't take me long to figure out that I don't like the Senn house sound.

 

[1Time]

I'm posting primarily for the benefit of the readers, not to arbitrarily lure you into an argument.
 
I'm at least 99% positive you would have agreed with my findings of the SR80 had you heard it with my equipment a few years ago. And, it seems likely that I would hear about the same differences that you described earlier regarding the different Grados with your equipment. 
 
Headphones can sound very different depending on the equipment they're plugged into. But it also is true that some seem to have a "tin" or yet to be trained ear and, for example, could claim little difference between what can be heard from a cell phone speaker - vs - a live orchestra. 
 
Quote:

It's just that I think most people exaggerate the differences.

 

[olor1n]

Quote:

Headphones can sound very different depending on the equipment they're plugged into. But it also is true that some seem to have a "tin" or yet to be trained ear and, for example, could claim little difference between what can be heard from a cell phone speaker - vs - a live orchestra. 
 

Zing! I have a Fiio E7, RA-1 clone and the previously mentioned Audio-GD FUN with Earth and Moon. I could probably understand someone claiming no difference in presentation between different setups but to my untrained, low-fi peasant ears its more than apparent. I liken it to how some people can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p or even standard def to HD. Ignorance is bliss (and cheap). LOL.

 

[1Time]

Yep, that's a good analogy.
 
Quote:

I liken it to how some people can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p or even standard def to HD. Ignorance is bliss (and cheap). LOL.

 

[harvinstein]

LOL.  I played in band in HS, and percussion ensemble and symphonic orchestra in college before deciding that I really needed to graduate.  And although I do not have that great of an ear, I can hear most of the differences that I have read about.  What I am saying is that those differences are overstated most of the time.
 
I know that to the enthusiast, these small differences can be very meaningful, but people new to all of this would probably be better served by trying a cheaper Grado first.  I guess the upgraditis is inevitable though, so they would end up moving up in the end.  So there is the reinforcement to buy used  =)
 
I just remembered hearing the HFI-780 out of my uDAC, and thinking that the highs on those were very unnatural or overly metallic sounding.  Maybe this is an example of a bad equipment match.  I don't think I will buy another set of 780's just to find out though.
 
It's funny that TV resolution was mentioned.  I haven't met anyone who can't tell the difference between 720 and 1080.  That's a 50% increase!

 

[Mad Max]

Quote:

LOL.  I played in band in HS, and percussion ensemble and symphonic orchestra in college before deciding that I really needed to graduate.  And although I do not have that great of an ear, I can hear most of the differences that I have read about.  What I am saying is that those differences are overstated most of the time.
 
I know that to the enthusiast, these small differences can be very meaningful, but people new to all of this would probably be better served by trying a cheaper Grado first.  I guess the upgraditis is inevitable though, so they would end up moving up in the end.  So there is the reinforcement to buy used  =)
 
I just remembered hearing the HFI-780 out of my uDAC, and thinking that the highs on those were very unnatural or overly metallic sounding.  Maybe this is an example of a bad equipment match.  I don't think I will buy another set of 780's just to find out though.
 
It's funny that TV resolution was mentioned.  I haven't met anyone who can't tell the difference between 720 and 1080.  That's a 50% increase!

Precisely why I recommend going straight for SR225, SR325, RS2, or RS1 with 30-day return if possible.  Screw upgrading, and if you find the Grado sound is not to your liking, return it.

 

[jTizMLG]

i have broke it down to either the SR225i or the SR325is what are your thoughts? remember i am going to be using the audio gd fun and will be listening to hard rock/heavy metal bands such as disturbed or slipknot.