Attached Link: Grado Labs Inc.

Ok, this is pretty far off topic, headphones have very little to do with cg. However. Thought I'd let any audiophiles out in this forum know about them. For the longest time I've been calling myself an audiophile. Only 192 kbps mp3's, Building my own amps/tweaking for optimum outputs, building custom equalizers, etc. My uncle is a B&O user. Likewise we get all his old audio equipment. Currently we have two Beolab Penta loudspeakers, $8,000 speakers that frankly aren't worth that much money. But he has it to spend so anything goes. Anyway, I've always compared my headphones to these loudspeakers. Pretty tough call for the most part. I had some B&O portables for a while that sucked. Eventually I moved to sony closed design headphones. Sony MDR-V600's...$120, Very disapointed. Unfortunately the return policy was non-existent. Bloated bass, undefined highs plagued these phones, this problem was slightly lessened by using a dedicated headphone amp. However, they were closed style (part of the problem) so they sufficed for listening in areas where I didn't want to be disturbed or disturb others. For portable use I bought some Koss Portapro's. Exceptional portable headphones for about $40. Very comfortable, fairly decent definition. Definitely not bad. Recently I decided I needed something better than my MDR-v600's, IE something not made by sony. The quest started at a few local Hi-fi stores, I tried out a few sennheisers (was not increadibly impressed btw, they have pretty boomy bass [IE woooffy] and don't have an extreme amount of detail.) I had brought some acoustic cd's with me that had excellent recording quality as well as a crisp full spectrum of sound. Of course I brought some trance, but this sounds good on a lot of cans. After the sennheisers I was handed a pair of Grado R1's... oh my god. Mahogany resonance chambers, huge range, warm crisp detail, punchy bass, I was completely detatched as soon as I started listening. They actually gave me goose bumps. The true test proved itself, at medium volume, about 85 db I could clearly hear the artists fingers sliding across the guitar strings and up at the frets (this was distinguishable, wow), the bass guitarists plucks were pristene in the background, every breath the vocalist took could be heard. It brought entirely new layers to the music, I was amazed. Of course the price tag read $700... *sigh* I wish I read it before I tried them on, I had my wallet out and everything. I hate downsizing and can't appreciate worse phones once I have heard better ones. (IE when I got my first discman I thought the headphones that came with it were amazing, I soon found that they were the worst you could possibly get and now refuse to listen to such contraptions (however elitist that may sound). I had a good salesperson though and asked if Grado had other phones in a lower price range. Sure enough the Grado SR60's 80's and 125's were less pricy, costing (what do you know) $60, $80, and $125. Not bad prices. I tried them all, starting at the lowest, it's far easier to tell a difference going up than down. The SR60's are an exceptional pair of phones, the high end shimmers beautifully, the bass is punchy however the low bass is a little...low.. so I needed something suited to my taste. The SR80's had more clarity overall and bass *score*, $80 was not much for such exceptional phones. I actually liked the $80 grados more than the $200 sennheisers. Probably because the grados are not built for aesthetic appeal. They look like ham radio headsets from MASH. There was an audible difference between the 80's and 125's but believe me it was barely noticeable. For a 50% increase in price you get about a 1% increase in performance. (this is how audio equipment works though, as the price increases you are getting a lesser % increase per dollar. IE the $80-$170 range is great for entry level enthusiests. So, I bought the Grado Sr80 headphones. An steal at that price. You really have to hear these to believe what I am saying. They blew me away. If you do get them though, don't be disapointed by the uncomfortableness at first or the crappy sound, These phones need to be broken in. I left them running white noise at medium volume levels for 40 hours before listening to them after the first time. A HUGE improvement after the break in period (ranges from 30-50 hours for these) The pads are rough at first, but after wearing for a while begin to conform to your ears, as well as the above head strap. So, all in all, go get some grado headphones, even the SR60's are exceptional, possibly the best headphones you can get for under $200 are the SR80's, price/performance wise. Just thought I'd share.

Ill take your word for it. :) Although, i must say, that i have a couple of Sennheiser HD545 reference headphones ($230 at the time), and i cant complain. Probably depends on the music played. :)

bla bla bla were u on a trip while writing this it doesnt make any sence to me lol

I think I remember reading a review in Stereophile magazine a while back about their headphones (may have been the 125s?). Glad to hear you like them (pun intended). I don't usually listen with headphones--never really had the desire to. Happy listening!

Well, in a dorm situation, speakers tend to annoy people. I listen to music [in dorm or on the go] about 6 hours a day, maybe more. You also can't get the same level of 'detail' from speakers. (don't get me wrong, you get a much MUCH better 'feel' for the music. but you lose a lot of the clarity due to all the distortions[room size/shape/material etc].) I've always been a portable type of person because I live in crowded urban environments. Headphones offer a form of isolation.

That reminds me... Back when I was in the Navy, I had some nice headphones that Sony made. They were a closed earpiece design and were a definite improvement over the foam-pad jobbers that came with my CD player. MX-(some number) that had a nice sound to them for just under $30. Also they folded up nice for storage in a cramped locker. However, they got stolen and I couldn't get the same model anymore. The newer one that came after it (MDX-120?) didn't have the same sound quality. Thus I got Koss UR-30 headphones (also a folding model) at the NEX, and I still have them today. They're not bad for about $20 - probably not comparable to your $$$ stuff. However my hearing's half shot anyways - so I'm not likely to notice all the subtle stuff (so why spend the $?) It probably has something to do with having ear infections as a kid, listening to music too loud, not to mention living on an aircraft carrier for a few years (sure they had hearing protection, but it gets awfully uncomfortable when sweaty - not to mention I also stayed in a berthing under the catapults for a good while. Heheh...)

What kind of music do you listen to?

Hmm yeah, if you can't really hear a difference, there's no reason in spending money on something you won't enjoy. That was a main reason for this headphone purchase. since they perform best at medium volume levels, I am far less likely to damage my hearing (as the sonys need to be cranked). Amethyss; I listen to rock, newer and older. Old metalica, Megadeth (all 9 cd's which have since been ripped and encoded at VBR 256kbps.), I frequent the newer 'stuff' as well, Audioslave, Creed (first and MAYBE second cd the third turned into a commercialized piece of crud), Sevendust ( big fan ), pantera, Cold (all songs except stupid girl, which ironically is the stupidest song they've ever compiled), Crumble (a local band that really kicks arse), a little caroline spine (wall flower is a very poetic piece, see if you can interpret it [it's fun]), Cradle of Filth (ok, I can't stand their sound but WOW the lyrics are unbelievable) Some Rage against the Machine, Ra (wow they are good), Tool (not for serious listening, more for background [ it gets monotonous ], Incubus, dry kill logic, red hot chilli peppers, california something.... That's about all I can remember right now, lots more that slip my mind at the moment. These headphones are great for rock. Other than rock I listen to a lot of trance and classical music. Vivaldi being one of my favorite classical composers, as well as Wagner. Trance, well, Anything Infected Mushroom, Astral Projection, Growling Mad Scientists (GMS), Logic bomb, and Paul Oakenfold. There's a lot of trance out there, those just happen to be my favorite artists. The headphones (though being 'less suited' for these genres as rock are still the best sub $100 headphone you can get for this type of listening.) Hope that answers your question. heh. I love music, sorry.

Attached Link: http://www.philosomatika.com

By the way, if you are on broadband, this site has an exceptional 160kbps Trance radio station. They usually play high quality tracks.

Hey thank ornlu for the " proof test " LOL.; I'm actually looking for a good headphone.. you know the kind of that will be my reference to sound.. so I can carry it with me everywhere (studio etc..) and allways have a real good reference. By the way how many of you play music? I know Rochr Do... I do too, but what about the other ? .. I'm really curious to listen. maybe we should submit some tracks for the next renderosity DVD .. a kind of "sounderosity" :-) Cheers

Good info all around from everyone. I've been wanting to pick up a decent set of headphones for when I am Brycing and my girlfriend is watching tv. Rammstein and animal planet don't mix well. Ornlu, thanks for the tip on the radio station. Got it on now and it works for me.

Sounds like a good set of headphones. I'll have to check those out :) Everyone here always get's angry when the whole house is shaking on my songs of metallica, linkin park, disturbed and deftones :) they don't like my music styles usually... But I hate my current (ultra-cheap, ultra-crappy) headphones so I need good ones. I'll see if these SR80's are to my liking :)

(ok what's with rosity, I posted a pretty long reply and it brought me to some page with the forum listings, when I clicked back it was gone.) Anyway, yeah, I suggest you audition any cans before purchasing. Be warned, the SR80's, like all of the best headphones, are open air design, this prevents the closed soundstage and tin can effect you get with closed headphones. On the negative end though, they leak, a decent amount, so, probably a bad bet for public listening (not to mention they're pretty ugly) they are 100% 'for-the-sound' headphones, not for aesthetics. Also, the SR80's really do need a dedicated headphone amp, even out of your computer's sound card. You can build one for $20, or buy one for about $100 (entry level). This adds to the price. A good alternative to these are the Sony Mdr-A6's (not to be confused with the sony MDR-V600's, they are based on this design though, but fix all the bugs that made them suck and sold them for less) For $60 they are the best pair of sub $100 headphones you'll get at a department store (and extremely comfortable). My friend has a pair and they are very capable cans. They do (like the 600's) block out nearly ALL external sound while playing though, you won't be able to hear the smoke alarm, or the timer on the stove, a phone call, the kids yelling, anyone calling to you, an alarm clock, the dog barking to be let out (this sucks and leads to cleanup), martians invading, or the jolly green giant on a rampage in your neighborhood. Things of that nature. So yeah, for isolation (and to not bother others) I can suggest these sony's. If you need a more portable solution for running etc. Get the Koss Sportapro's or the Koss Portapro's. They both sound suprisingly good pricing in at $30 and $50. The portapros are really comfortable, I own a pair and use them often when on the go, the sportapro's are supposedly as good and cheaper, as well as more stylish. They were more recently released. Just thought I'd give my opinion (once again lol).