Grado SR-80 Headphones

Rating:
Summary: Great Headphones
Review: First the good: These headphones will clearly reproduce any note or sound given to it. You will hear beautiful clear music. Bass response is excellent. 1 review here says it is too bassy, another review says there is not enough bass. I think it is perfect. Grado does not give their headphones the "Sony" treatment by boosting the bass. High notes are unlike anything I have ever heard. They sound like NHT Zeros (perhaps even better), clear, pristine, sweet. I have had my Grado SR80's for 2+ years now and I'm used to the large "uncomfortable" earpads. Super long cord, must be close to 5 or 6 feet. The tip of the connector appears to be gold tipped (although I could be wrong). Inexpensive - for the money you can't beat these cans. At under $100, it's like buying a Toyota Corolla with a Porshe engine.

Not so good: These headphones utilize "open air" design. Not only can you hear sounds while you are wearing them, but the sounds you are listening to will exit as well. You can't really wear these on a plane because you will bother your neighbors. The best place to listen to them is in a quiet office or bedroom. Not so comfortable to wear (if they are new), either in the long term or the short term. Cheap foam covering the headphones. Thick "stethoscope-like" cord can be cumbersome. My Panasonic portable CD player does not have any problems driving these headphones at all. Maybe it's because my CD player is older and I picked a good model. :) I have owned older Sony CD players that had difficulty driving any headphones, regardless of power requirements.

These are the best headphones I have ever owned. The soundstage is the same as my other Sony headphones so I can't say whether it is good or bad. I can say this: the reviewer "Gal" from Jerusalem (below) has it right on.

Rating:
Summary: Great headphones
Review: I just picked up a pair of these beautiful headphones. They take a little while to burn in, but once they do, they're extremely clear. The sound is so realistic. Strings are amazing. Jazz, rock, classical, electronica all sound they way they were recorded. Now, the headphones do pick up everything, so if the recording was not perfect, you'll hear it. Lots of pop music sounds like your listening in a box. Also very good, by the way, for playing with video games. Just finished the last part of Half Life 2 with these headphones on. So amazing.

Rating:
Summary: Great sound!
Review: I purchased echo indigo PCMCIA audio play back card and GRADO SR-80, and I equipped my Thinkpad T30 with them. The sound is amazing! Sound quality is certainly better than that of portable mp3 players. Since echo imdigo card includes a headphone amp, my notebook has no problem to drive GRADO SR-80. I think GRADO SR-80 needs a headphone amp. I connected my GRADO SR-80 with iriver, but it seems iRiver cannot drive GRADO SR-80 very well (volume is too small and I couldn't fully enjoy the detailed sound GRADO SR-80 can produce). If you are interested in listening to music by using your notebook computer, I strongly recommend trying echo indigo PCMCIA card and GRADO SR-80. The system is costly but worthwile.

Rating:
Summary: In A Word - Wow!
Review: I've been looking around for some really good sounding headphones for quite some time, and I have to say, these SR80 phones have been like listening to each of my songs in an entirely different light. Vocals sounds awesome, everything is placed exactly where it is supposed to be, bass response is great, but not over done, and the drivers are small enough to be driven by an iPod or other portable device.

As for the look, like all of Grado's phones, these don't win points for a "space age" look. But I think it's sort of cool that they stand out and don't look like other phones.

Highly recommended for the price. Nothing under 100 bucks will sound better.

Rating:
Summary: Grado SR80s not for me
Review: I've owned and used (off and on) a set of Grado SR80s for the past year and sadly I can __not__ recommend them because they have such poor bass response (IMO and given my ears and listening habits). They are also not very comfortable to wear (I find them too heavy on the ears after only 30 minutes of use and yes they have the new style of head cushions and I've tried to break-in the headband as best as I can).

I've tried everything that I can think of to make these headphones sound better (to me). I carefully "burned" or "broke" them in (for more than 20 hours before I even used them), I tried higher-powered amplifiers, I listen to different types and sources of music, nothing really helped.

I've finally come to the conclusion that the SR80s are just an inexpensive "boutique" or audiophile headphone that will never sound good to me even if they do come from Grado (I guess that the much higher-priced Grados are actually pretty nice and some say that the SR60s are both more comfortable and have better bass -- and the SR60 is less expensive, go figure). Can you tell that I'm not happy with these phones? Actually, they're probably fine for classical music or anything that doesn't have an important or strong bass line, they have a clean, very well defined, mid and high range but that's about all. They are also not suitable for low-powered (portable) music players (which isn't a direct fault of Grado's, but you have now been forewarned).

Overall, __not__ recommended for most users (popular, rock, folk, dance, and country music fans do not need to apply).

Rating:
Summary: They're pretty comfortable, too
Review: If you are reading this you have probably already read one of the many reviews raving about the perfectly balanced and clear sound of these headphones. [...] Most of those (older) reviews comment on how the older earpads were too hard on the ears, or the headphones themselves were overall just uncomfortable to wear.

I just wanted to add that (at least in the newest incarnation--the pads have been tinkered with by the manufacturer) they are *very* confortable, compared to many other headphones. The earpieces have two pivot points: one allows them to pivot on a vertical axis attached at the headband and another on a horizontal axis running through the earpiece. This combined with the bendable headband allows for a lot of adjustment. I have a pretty large head and they're not overly tight or otherwise uncomfortable. And the apparently-recently-redesigned earpads on this model have some cushion without being mushy-soft on their outer surface (pads like that always made my ears sweat).

Before buying these, I read just one (recent) review that claimed these were comfortable, and I didn't beleive it. Now I do. (I also didn't beleive they would sound appreciably better after a break-in period, but they did after about 30 hours of being attached to my receiver with the radio on nonstop.) Well, that's all I wanted to say. Back to listening.

Rating:
Summary: Easily the best audiophile investement under $100
Review: People who are not into audio equipment may look oddly at the Grado SR80. These headphones lack the flashy design most would expect from a circa $100 cans, the design reminds me of old soviet navy headphones. Do not let the looks mislead you, these cans pack enough sound to give a good fight against the Senn's beautiful $350 HD600. The open headset takes some time to get used to, the padding is a little harsh to the ears and it may take some time for the metal arch to accomodate itself to your head, the set is, however, quite lightweight.
Once you get used to them, and after spending a few days of burning them in, the SR80 starts to shine. Connected to an Arcam CD72 CDP via an Onkyo TX810 stereo receiver, Mahler 5th (conducted by Rattle) could finally show its tragic might. "Nozze di Figaro" (conducted by Kleiber) overture was as lively as Mozart intended it to be, although the cans have very dominant bass, it didn't overshadowed the brightness of the violins. "Kind of Blue" was a little bit too "Bassy" to my taste, but overall the details and clearness overwhelmed me. Listening to the live preformance of "Your Latest Trick" (Dire Straits' "Sultan of Swing") the SR80 lacked the soundstage to deliver the live performance feeling, but again - details were astonishing, this lack of soundstage was the SR80 vice when playing "Alexander Nevsky" (conducted by Bernstein), "Arise ye Russian People" and again the cans were a little too "boomy". The ability of the SR80 to show the finest details of the sound with its great bass capability made listening to a fine studio record, such as "Violator", a true delight - "Halo" is my favorite track and the SR80 shows the great production work put into that record. In another great studio production - The SR80 make Suzanne Vega and Joe Jackson a delight to listen to with "Left of the Center", on the same CD ("Tried and True"). More velvty productions may sound a little "hazy" with the SR80, this could be either a downside, as with "Moonlight Shadow" (from Oldfield's "Crises"), but with the tragic "Song after the Rain" (from Poliker's "Ashes and Dust") the SR80 sound truly fits the occasion.
As an added bonus, and unlike Senn's offerings, the SR80 are very easy to drive and can color your iPod (or any favorite MP3 player) with briliant sounds.

The Good - Astonishing vocal range, clearness and detailing you will not find even in >$1000 speakers, great bass. Unique design and build quality.

The Bad - Little "bassy" to my taste, tiny soundstange. Ergonomics could have been better, anachronistic design.

Conclusion - For less than $100 (or even triple than that), you will not be able to find a better piece of equipment. It will astonish you with details that will make you rediscover your CD collection. You may not like the design, ergonomics, the emphesis on bass or the lack of soundstage, but the SR80 cans easily get 5 stars for overall value.