I still have a soft spot for Grados, even if I don't listen to them anymore. Grado SR80 was my first open-back headphone, and it was a revelation vs. everything I'd owned before that. The SR80 was my only headphone for ~8 years and served me well, which is why I'm hesitant to throw them under the bus after I realized the Koss KSC75 sounds better for $15 :P
I bought some SR80 10+ years ago. They were my entry point into open back headphones. I initially liked them, but that changed after I bought a set of V-Moda m100. I’ve since moved on from the m100 and still have the SR80 but find them unlistenable. My son has the m100 and uses them for gaming. My current daily driver headphone is the LCD-X.
I went back and purchased the SR60x, SR80x, SR225x andSR325x to review them but sold them off because I'm just in a different part of the ocean now. I have the LCD-5, the Susvara, the Utopia and the AB-1266. I also have a Qutest and a Ferrum Oor/Hypsos combo. I don't have any need for cheap Grados, but none of the stuff I have now would be something I could just toss in the car or a book bag. None of it would show up to my door for $300 or less.
I have a Timless, a Z1R, a Mentor and a Mest MK2. Still love my 325x. They're amazing, mid-focused goddess and perfect for Rock/Metal/Jazz. Their unique presentation is awesome, they're the "front of the stage" equivalent of headphones and no one does it like Grado. Anyone who's been to any respectable concert will understand that feeling. To this day, they have one of the best imaging that i've ever came across in any IEM/headphone, if not the best. Transients? TOTL fast and that's another unique Grado trait. And honestly, resolution/definition leaves nothing to be desired, of course it won't be TOTL and that's not even their intention given their presentation, but it's really far from being bad on that department. They're a niche product and not for everyone, but there's a reason why they're still around after all these years. And sorry but that KSC75 comparison is just pathetic.
I’m a mixing engineer and I have a pair of Grado GS1000s. They are really great for finding problems in the mix quick (especially the sibilant range) I go between checking mixes on the Grados and the HEDDphone because they show totally different sides to a mix I have noticed even though grados are low impedance they really do sound a lot better with a good headphone amp/DAC in general
I've been a Grado fan since 1993. I've owned the SR60, SR125, SR325i, and my current Grado Hemp. It certainly is a niche product and I don't think people buy them for absolute tonal accuracy or crystal clear resolution. What they do have, especially the Reference series, is a unique balance of warmth and "dynamicism", as I like to call it. The company itself tunes everything by ear. They don't measure their headphones at all, so it might be fair to say that you might find a bit more variation in them than with most manufacturer's headphones. And yes, pad-swapping can change the sound characteristic. And the cables they use have never been my favorite. I hate them actually. And they can certainly clamp down on your ears but it's nothing that a little headband bending can't fix. Ergonomically, they're a mixed bag of parts and nostalga but there just something about that Grado sound! It's a love/hate thing but when my ears get tired of my IEMs, I put on my Hemp and just enjoy the musicality of it. If anyone (audiophiles mostly) is curious about owning a pair, may I suggest starting with the 325x. If you really want to splurge, start with either the RS2 or RS1. And most importantly, don't expect end-game quality. Just free your mind of audiophile nervosa mentalities and just enjoy the music they produce. There's a reason why they have been around since 1953!
Yep. They're lively. To me, they feel natural and live, with all the good and bad that entails. If people want more bass, they could just boost the bass or create a bass-shelf. They're not the best headphones money can buy. I wouldn't trade my LCD-5 or my Susvara or my AB-1266 or my Stax SR-009 for a pair of Grados, but none of those headphones can be purchased for a few hundred dollars and none of them would I run without an amp. I remember buying a pair of SR-60s that had flecks of paint on them because the former owner wore them while painting a house. Nothing wrong with that.
@wind016 That person is totally deaf by the end of the tuning, 325i finishes whatever hearing he got left. I have the 325i and they won't let me return it LOL! there is nothing I could do with it to help it, pads, EQ, everything. It's good for 10 mins and I am tapping out.
I have a Timless, a Z1R and a Mest MK2. Still love my 325x. They're amazing, mid-focused goddess and perfect for Rock/Metal/Jazz. Their unique presentation is awesome, they're the "front of the stage" equivalent of headphones and no one does it like Grado. To this day, they have one of the best imaging that i've ever came across in any IEM/headphone, if not the best. Transients? TOTL fast and that's another unique Grado trait. And honestly, resolution/definition leaves nothing to be desired. How can people possibly hate Grado?
I have a 325X and yes, the niche product is a perfect description. It is a fashion statment and a usable headphone too. Like an anti-Beats hp or resto-mod car. I really appreciate the outdated design and comfort with the different but enjoyable sound.
Granted, there's something cool about the 325x, with its leather headband and aluminum shells, but the best thing about it is the bareback approach. There's no front damping. The result is a lively, sparkly top end. Now, the original 325 used L-Pads, which weren't flat pads and they weren't G-Pads. They looked like radial tires and ended up being an awkward hybrid between on-ear and around-ear pads. They made your ears ache more than the S-pads. I find the flat pads less comfortable than the S-pads but they do garner better bass. You have to take breaks or your ears will ache, though there are lots of around-the-ear cans that leave your skull feeling like you stuck it in a vise. If you want to enjoy the sparkle but with more bass (no sub-bass; mylar pads can't produce that), create a bass shell between 50 and 100 Hz. Just a few decibels up and the bass is plentiful. It's kick-drum bass, not knuckles to the floor, but for most genres, that's more than enough.
I simply called Grado after dealing with comfort issues. They told me to put some dish liquid soap on the parts of the pads that touch your ears, let them settle for a few minutes. Fully rinse and let air dry. I can wear them pretty much all day now.
I’ve been using grados since the late 90’s. I have owned every model of the rs1. I have also owned several models of rs2. Along with hemp, gs3000, ps500, ps2000, gs1000, hf1 and 2, Cocabola (sp?) limited edition, along with sr60, 80, 225? And latest 325. Probably others. I also own audeze lc5 (model?), Dan Clarke expanse, a bunch of senns, focal utopias, and the latest rossin phones. I am also a professional musician. I have to say that the grados hold their own with the best of them. Intimate and dynamic with lush midrange and incredible dynamic prowess. Just sayin’.
Nobody liked your comment so let me be the first to tell you you're not alone. I've owned the SR60, SR80, SR125, SR225, SR325, RS1, HF2, GS1000, PS1000, PS500. I've also owned the Audeze LCD2C, LCD-X, LCD-4z and currently own the LCD-5. I also own the STAX SR-009 and the SR-007a, along with the HiFiMan Susvara and the Focal Utopia. I sold off my HD600/650/660S/660S2 and HD800, along with my Beyerdynamic DT770, 880, 990, 1990, 1770 and T1 and my STAX L300 and L700. They're all great headphones. Each has its strengths and charms. I have literally A/B'ed all of these headphones against Grado's cheapest cans and I'm always surprised when Grado holds its own against headphones that are 10-30X their price. I'm not saying Grados are flawless or that they're the only way to fly. I'm glad my appreciation for them didn't prevent me from discovering great moments with other cans. But when I run into posers who trash these headphones because they're fronting for other audio snobs, I have to laugh. If people hate Grado's cables, how do they not hate the big lumpy cables on the Focal Clear and Utopia? How did they give the Sennheiser HD800 a pass? How did they not have the same hate for the janky cables of the Susvara and the Abyss Diana? If they hate that cheap plastic look of Grado's least expensive cans, how did they not freak out when they tried out the Stax L300/L500/L700? If they can't stand the treble on a Grado, how do dry-hump the treble on the DT-1990 Pro? If their souls are in torment over the non-detachable cable, how did they not scream, "I'm melting! I'm melting" when they ran across the DT-770, DT-880 and the DT-990?
I've used my pair of Grado RS2e that I got used 12 years ago for $300 close to daily. I actually haven't kept up with headphones much since I got them, but it's funny that the sentiment of Grados changed so drastically from the time I was keeping up with it. The internet enthusiasts used to love Grados now it seems they hate them? I can't say I've ever tried a pair of headphones that wowed me as much as Grados, off the top of my head AKG K701, Sennheiser HD598, HD600, HD650... they all just sounded so, bland? Also I use the G-cush on mine and I can hardly tell there's anything sitting on my head. I think the leather band breaks in after a lot of time and conforms to your head.
So you had many headphones. Than perhaps you can help. I am an audiophile and loudspeaker guy for a long time, but have always wanted a natural sounding high end headphones. I heard some Stax models like the 404. For speakers I love my Apogee Duetta Signatures, but only with Conrad Johnson tube amps and a good tube dac. I like a fast but natural sound, not too bright, more analogue, but enough detail. There are sooo many headphones. Under 1000,- (used is also okay) what would u guys suggest? Grado ps1000? Hifiman Ayre Stealth? A good Stax? Audio Technica Apos ..50..? Ultrasone edition 5, 9, 11? I am lost. What would u suggest? Thanks!
The Grado Sr225X and SR325X are fantastic headphones, especially for classical and jazz. Yes, undoubtedly there are some improvements that Grado might make, but I am a very happy Grado headphone user for 20+ years.
I'm a huge Grado fan, my 325x are my main driver. The sound is unbelievably good, and the soundstage+Imaging are very good. It's DEFINITELY niche though. Wouldn't recommend to everyone, but if you try it and love it you might just be part of the Grado fandom.
22 years ago I got my 125s. Plugged into a Best Buy A/V receiver they sounded spectacular in the day. I got an extension cord so I could sit farther away. Eventually they faded into the dustbin, replaced with AKGs and iPods, etc. But the thrill of open back I'll never forget.
Polarizing for many aside, they most certainly have secured a loyal following and especially among audiophiles and high end listeners who are not necessarily headphone arena centric. Regardless of measurements and my leaning towards a different sound signature for most cans, still dig my 11 year old Soviet styled 325’s and that energized signature sound for certain applications or music. Would love to see them provide different pad options.
When I put them up against my Stax SR-009, the 009 wins, but I'm still blown away that an SR-60 can even fight that fight and lose. There's something about the open-back, zero-front-damping, sonically-transparent pad approach that is better than people think, especially those who "know" without ever having heard these headphone or given them a chance. If I had to criticize Grados and Grado Labs, I could write a book, but I find it annoying that the criticisms are always the same ones, with little attempt to dig any deeper. These headphones are being dismissed by the cool kids in much the same way that cool kids trash the nerds during a passing period.
I hear you I have the Hemps on right now. After getting the comfort figured out I think they are fantastic. They make some of the best headphones for classical and jazz, but I find hemps shine best with electronic music to my ears.
I got my 325e 10 years ago, and I was not so happy with how my dac was sounding, bought and AR M2 player and boy: it was making me dancing around, especially with Rock and jazzy music. At today my 325e are still on my desk, I can’t find anything else to make me feel happy within a song. Just my favorite cans to put a smile in my head before starting my workday . 😍
Grados are awesome in the sense they present sound so differently from any other headphones. Theyre very in your face, while having wide open soundstage. Theyre so good for rock music. And the 2 year old X Drivers really made Grado a MORE all arounder compared to the sizzling previous drivers; but theyre still not perfect. But they are perfect for doing something very different but very good. They also hold up incredibly well and the comfort becomes much much better. They require some loving
I still remember 8 years ago when I demo'd an sr80e from a local audio shop, the guy there played some live violin orchestra and for me it was love at first hear. I decided to save up money from my job back then and bought a 2nd hand sr80, had it modded to have removable cables (dual 3.5mm) and it served me well until 2020 when the pandemic hit, I left the sr80e on my locker and only got it back in 2022. Love it for gaming and listening to acoustic songs.
Love my Grado SR-80x, the lightweight feel, the soundstage, the solid cable, the fast and accurate bass, I frankly wouldn’t listen to my jazz music with any other headphones. These do that genre stunningly well. Another album I adore on my Grado’s, are both Eric Clapton and Alice In Chains MTV Unplugged.
YES! I'd love to see some Grado mods be professionally measured. I LOVE my 225e's, however I also tell people asking online about them that they are a good headphone to have if you're going to have more than 2 or 3 headphones. If someone asks for an everyday all-rounder, I wouldn't say these are that. They're like a rocket launcher... Good to have in your arsenal, but you wouldn't use it in every situation.
What single headphone would you use in every situation? I wouldn't use an AB-1266 in every situation - or a Focal Utopia or a Susvara or an LCD-5. But if we're talking about a knock-around headphone you can throw in a back seat or a book bag, cheap Grados work just fine in a relatively quiet environment. Lightweight cans in hard plastic are plenty durable. You won't get sub-bass but the kick-drum bass is fine for classic rock. The lack of a filter between ear and driver does sound more natural, just the opposite of an Aeon Flux stuffed with pads until the presentation has been neutered clinical. The Grado house sound is a lot more engaging than the HD-6XX whose branded flat/neutral profile sounds aloof by comparison. People fuss about the nondetachable cable, but how often do you really detach a cable? And if we're comparing microphonics, the stress relief and Y-split in an SR-60 is a lot less microphonic than the Neumann NDH 20 and NDH 30. The vivacious treble and lush midrange are what make Grados surprisingly euphonic for less than $300. If I want more bass, I can't get sub-bass out of a Grado, but a bass shelf between 50 and 100 Hz brings in plenty.
My SR125x isn't as "vivacious" in the treble region-think my previous SR125e extended a bit better. The x in the 125 made it a tad warmer and more "normal", while still basically having the "Grado" mid-forward sound. SR125x do sound good, just a bit different than the older 125e. Given that the SR325x are supposed to be even "warmer" (i.e. more "normal"-and perhaps crowd-pleasing?), I am happy to stick with these "bad" Grados instead. Have yet to try the bowl pads or the SR225x pads on mine-have tried the bowls on an older model, forgot which (I've had several, from 60 to 125e, the latter which is the most fresh to my mind.) If I had money to spend, would buy a wooden one for the aesthetics, but dread the idea of "warm" Grados, as there are so many other brands that specialize on "warmth" and not "offending" with high upper mids and treble frequencies. (To be clear, I also own "warm" headphones and IEMs-I just do not relate Grado with an extremely laid back tonality. Perhaps the Prestige series has me confused with their "real" sound, but I do like this reviewed cheaper series quite a bit, even if I do not listen to them all the time. The gentleman above is well-informed but seems to be of the mind that headphones can be objectively good or bad based on "proper" measurements to a target. I do follow graphs myself as a very loose guide, but ultimately many models are unique and worth the experience even if the graph "determines" they "suck." I think that being rigid with what is a "good" sound could suck more in that strictly following an specific audiophile groupthink audio "target"-and worse, ridiculing those who do not adhere to the objectively "good" standards, as he frequently does in the video-may prevent us the experience of some good headphones/earphones that could be special, even when the established groupthink has deemed these "unworthy" due to "bad value", "wonky sound", etc. All in all, I definitely would always like to have at least an SR125(letter) in my collection, as they do have a sound, even fully stock, out of the box, that is interesting and musical, as well as unique among my other headphones/earphones, for better or ill. They have *their* sound, and I respect that-can be very beautiful and/or appropriately aggressive depending on tracks/music genres. No need to argue, like what you all like. :)
Grados are one of those headphones that I think people buy because of how they look, their story of being hand built by a small family company, or because an Auzzie hyped them up... (love ya Wade) But when people try them, they do experience something unique. Not much else sounds like a Grado, and to me they do come across a bit nasal sounding, but I remember when I first got mine I did love them and would defend them to the death. Nowadays I wouldn't buy one for the sound and wouldn't recommend them either for their sound, but for their story, look, and unique features, they might be something you like
Grados do sound unique. I don't care about them as a trending item. I don't care about the immigrant story stamped into every box. To me, they sound like vinyl. They have the unusual combination of open backs, zero front damping and a light footprint (till you get to the premium models). The ear-driver distance is super close. The pads on the ears allow vibrations to run through the outer ears. If you listen to acoustic music - anything but metal or EDM - there's a clarity and sparkle that's vivacious. The lack of sound isolation allows room noise to enter. If it's not too loud (or too rumbly, canceling out all the bass), your brain gets confused. Just as with the Maggies, you hear the music as coming from the room. Grados don't do a great job with music where bass, especially sub-bass, is the calling card. They don't do great with screechy metal or with music that needs a vast HD800-like soundstage. But they sound more live than an HD600 or even an Aeon X. Their flaws actually make the sound feel more like it's happening right there. And if you want more bass, you can build a bass shelf around 50 Hz that will give the bass more weight (though nothing will give you sub-bass).
There's a kind of lost secret about how to use and make them much more comfortable. It used to come on the instructions of older Grados, but it has been removed. It consists of just putting your hands on the end of the headband (just above the L/R rodblocks) and pull the cups away from each other. You do this 3 or 4 times and the clamp goes away. Just like that. I bet it would drastically change people's experience with the Grados. I have like 3 kinds of pads to use with them, each one has a different sound signature. And that is as far as I went with "modding". No need to go any further to enjoy them
I got into headphones through a pair of 2nd hand replica grados, which I did a driver/cable swap on, so no part of it remained Grado :/ i learned about the brand later, and only now that its got a DIY scene. I think Grado took the instructions off because they don't want to insult people's intellegence. You take the cup off for the first time, and bam you see what's going on.
About 10 years ago I had £500 to spend on some headphones and I booked a morning audition where I listened to eight different headphones within my price range, I ended up with Grado PS500e fitted with PS1000e pads. What made them stand out for me (as a then listener in their 50's) was the treble which I agree it can be a bit "hot" at times. In comparison, the others I listened to sounded dull and lifeless. It may be that for older listeners who lose some of the high frequencies as they get older, the Grado's are a better listening choice. They get used daily and I have had no issue with the build quality. Great video by the way.
There are tradeoffs to every headphone. While Grados can be fatiguing, and there are spikes that can certainly be annoying with certain genres and recordings, if you A/B them with other cans, many do sound dull or lifeless by comparison. It's the removal of front damping. That bareback approach is livelier, which is why Focal does the same thing, albeit with much more expensive metal drivers. DMX had a cool video about Dan Clark Audio's use of front damping filters, discussing how they allowed the user to customize the sound, basically by attenuating the treble. But, he warned, if you go too far, the result is sound that's safe but dull and lifeless. The resulting sound is too clinical. That, in a strange way, is a great argument for Grado's bareback approach. When people scoff at Audeze's embrace of EQing as the best way to get the most out of their premium headphones, nobody asks why the manufacturer has to put a sock in the cups to tame the treble. If the driver is so correctly tuned, why do you need an "attenuator"? You need it because one driver can't cover all frequencies without making compromises. A lot of headphones give you "better bass" by restraining the treble, which is what L-pads do to keep a speaker's tweeters from out-screaming the bass, but if you've only got one driver, you either restrain the treble or you boost the bass. I believe that treble-restraint makes for a more clinical sound, and I'm not a fan. A simple bass shelf lets you fill in the low end without losing the vitality of the treble.
I'm an older listener but my affection for treble was not created by loyalty to the Grados. It was in listening to the DT-1990 Pro, which turns cymbal crashes into diamonds. After the 1990, I found it hard to go back to the LCD-2/LCD2C/LCD-X - not without building a treble shelf. With Grados, a little bass shelf (50-100 Hz) comes in handy. You can also take a ballpoint pen to the back of the driver and punch some holes in the felt/paper filter on the back. I used to prefer the ballpoint method but once you do it, the Grados don't scale up on an amp. They already have the maximum bass. I prefer EQing the bass; it's reversible.
I'm listening to really old Grados right now, just to be contrary. I can see my HD600s from where I'm sitting, but I'm listening to these. And I'm enjoying it Andrew. Ya hear?
I was given a 2nd-hand pair of the original Grado SR-60 back in 1998, and to address the longevity concerns, they were still going strong when I accidentally left them in a hotel 9 years later. At one point, there was an issue with the y-split (they use a different design now), but I was able to repair that myself just fine. To me, swapping for the doughnut-shaped pads was absolutely critical. I think it’s good to remember that at the time these first came out, people were using them with things like cassette walkmans, and so the voicing resulted in something that was perceived as more neutral than it would be with modern sources. Unfortunately for these guys, the Sennheiser HD-600 came out shortly afterwards and changed everything
The only Grados I have ever broken by accident was a pair of SR-325s. That was because I carried them everywhere, without a case, and the weight of those aluminum shells overcame the glue job on one side. I simply glued them back and never had another problem. There are Grados that are closed to 40 years old and still working because they're lightweight, limber and made from materials that last as long as plastic lasts.
Yeah, no shit, I admit that Grados are bad in some ways. But after some personal issues that caused me to almost completely phase out of the hobby, the Grado GH2 were the pair of cans that restarted my passion after over two years of dormancy. I always say that each model of Grados have their own unique flare in them and the fun of listening to Grados are more or less getting used to each headphones own personality. They're more or less the trash food of the Hi-Fi world, it gets a whole lot of flak but they're just stupid fun and a guilty pleasure to listen to. I hate to admit it, but after seeing a number of headphones come and go during the years that I'm into the hobby, for some odd reason only the Grados stayed in my collection while anything except an AKG K701 went out the door in the end. And......yeah, I did ditch the chance to get an Audeze LCD-2 for a discounted display use Grado GS2000e because the latter sounds so bad that it's good. This channel was the main reason that spiked my interest in planar headphones in the first place, but a used GS2000e from nowhere still beat the crap out of any sensible reasoning in the end. It was 50% off, and it's a god damn GS2000e with an extremely bad reputation that no sensible audiophile should supposed to like. I know I'm supposed to hate it to my guts to be politically correct as an audiophile, but who am I kidding, I actually enjoyed listening to that wooden pair of cans more than I should.
Grado's (especially the Hemps) sound great - good intimacy and detail. Sound more like the balance of sound you get in actual live music without the overblown and unrealistic bass that is so common these days. They also give you a close and intimate front row like sound. And - I like their minimalism, light basic design with nothing unnecessary or overdone. Just about the sound. The only criticism I have is the lack of detachable cables.
A word on how tight they are on your head, the headband is metal and you can or might be meant to bend it to the shape of your head after bending the shape out to be wider on mine the amount of clamping pressure is nil they just sit on my ears and are incredibly comfortable despite the pads (I am using SR60Xs)
I owned a pair of SR225's for over 10 years. Being a self professed audiophile, I purchased them because they were very expensive and highly regarded by other self professed audiophiles ... so they HAD to be excellent, right? Over the first five years, I went through an additional 2 sets of very expensive replacement pads while enduring 2-3 hours a day of ear torture. When I finally reached my pain threshold, I cut a bright yellow grout sponge into two large roundish shapes and removed inner circles small enough to friction-fit each of the speakers. After that, they were like wearing nothing on my ears. Incredible, and they looked totally amazing. Unfortunately, the wiring started to wear and the left side gave up the ghost so I've since moved on to even better headphones. These Skullcandy cans rock ...
This is one of the few channels where there is nothing is in a "about" section what are these people's backgrounds doing these reviews. Given the smugness "on steroids" of some opinions it would helpful to know more about the value of the opinions of people rendering these opinions other than a TH-cam channel connected to an online store that sells headphones. It is appears to be a collection of relatively young guys listening to headphones without knowing where they are coming from in experience, background etc. I know we have become numb to this low bar it does not mean it does not exist. If there is something significant about these reviewers background it would be nice to see an "about section"
I love the way Grados look, though I found ksc75 surpassed SR60e in every way. So that's why I swapped my sr60e drivers to ksc75. It was a fun project, and now I don't dislike using them without EQ. Though I found out that part of the treble peaks are definitely because of the cup shape.
The KSC75 is what the iGrado should have been. The iGrado used inferior wire and was not open, though its grills were made to look open. I cracked one open and found that all of the pin-prick holes were simply for show. Grado has since continued the iGrado - and for good reason.
I haven't had my Grados for twenty years or so. They were the SR-125 or SR-225, my first good pair of headphones. It was the first time I had a sense of soundstage, impact and detail. But it was also like putting your tongue on the contacts of a 9v battery. There was a kind of energy that was sometimes unwelcome. Eventually, the cable started failing around the Y-splitter. And the damaged remains got lost after moving house one or two times. If only I could have replaced the cable!
I own a GS1000, i love it for classical, acoustical music in general, small formations, it's very dynamic and really makes the music live. I've changed the pads, found them not confortable after a while. And I don't care about the cable being thick and not removable.
Love the looks but I had two SR80s and they both developed a very slight clicking sound on playback and the cables failed on both of them. Maybe Grado’s higher end headphones are better but I’d avoid their lower end gear.
I bought Grado SR80 in 2006. I did not like them at all. I sold them to someone, and they absolutely loved them. Crazy how polarizing the sound is for these
I landed up purchasing a set of grado sr80x as a temporary solution while my focals were away getting repaired, They are so uncomfortable out of the box that I immediately bought a set of the larger pads as well as a set of dt990 pads which I then glued on to the larger pads resulting in a huge but very comfortable double pad. Now while they are nowhere near as good as my focals they actually surprised me as they are really quite a nice listen and for the money quite a bargain. My focals are back so the grados are used for nighttime listening now falling asleep with my focals on and potentially damaging them is not such a great idea but I fairly regularly do that with the grados with no issues. Would I recommend them for serious music listening probably not but as a backup set for casual listening they are surprisingly musical I was definitely quite surprised as I really didn’t expect them to be any good at all especially after coming from the focals clear mgs but they turned out to be a lot better than I expected so before you write them off if your looking for something in this price range try them but be prepared to change the pads and bend the metal strap this turns them into an incredibly comfortable very light and actually quite enjoyable headphone.
I'm just the opposite. While I love the Grado house sound, I'm less critical of the "build, comfort and wire" of the plastic Grados, which can be had for $250 or less. The "build" is minimalist, like that of the Koss PortaPro. It's just a delivery device that straps two drivers to your head. There's no pretense. I never found these headphones uncomfortable, just not plush. The headband is a flat wire so you can adjust its tension by simply bending or unbending the underlying wire. People complain about the the on-ear pads, but that's just on-ear pads. You have to periodically remove the headphones to give your ears a break. I'd typically do this every few hours. In the meantime, the on-ear pads made the bass more visceral, in the sense of direct contact with the outer ear. I eventually outgrew the Grados - not because they suck but because I like metal driver dynamics (like the Utopia), planars (like the LCD-5 and the Susvara) and estate (like the SR-009) better. But if you compare the price, the Grados are the better value.
I think Grado is an option when you stop looking at the graphs alone and start really investigating what sound do YOU like, not what Harman-Cardon thinks about it. As mentioned they are extremely easy to mod with simple pad swap, you can make them intimate or soundstage beast, you can make them piercing or tame, so mod possibilities are countless and eventually you can build the Grado you will love. I was very surprised when discovered that I was missing my SR80e when sold them, so I've sold my Sundara to buy SR325x did a cable mod and pads swap, and now they are the only headphones which could literally make me dance. Some music is just so alive in those and so real like a direct feed from the microphone. I know they aren't versatile but the energy they could deliver with some songs is unmatched. Would I recommend Grado as the only headphones? Probably not, but as an addition to the collection they are clear must have.
I love Brooklyn; I was born there and grew up there from the mid '50s to the mid '60s (I'm still close, just on the other side of the Hudson now; and yes, I'm old). I wish I could support Brooklyn and Grado. But no bass, strange, unpleasant treble, dollar store build quality (but they're light!), uncomfortable and beyond cheap stock pads, terrible non-detachable cable (I think it's 2023 in Brooklyn, too, isn't it?). Bottom line: No thanks. I once seriously considered the Hemp because, well, they sort of have a cool vibe, a reasonable price, they got some decent reviews, and they were from Brooklyn. But the cons were just too many. My primary listens ATM are the Arya, the ZMF Aeolus, and the Thieaudio Monarch MK II. I don't think I'm missing anything without Grados. (I'm listening to the Monarchs a lot right now since I have a broken lower right arm and putting on a full size headphone with one non-dominant hand is doable but harder then you might think.)
You shouldn't buy a headphone because it was assembled in Brooklyn nor should you trash it because it's made of modest materials. It's not that Grados have no bass. They have no sub-bass. The open back/zero damping/foam pad/mylar driver combination makes them great for some things and not-so-great for others. With bass boost or a bass shelf between 50-100 Hz, you can get all the kick-drum-level bass you need. When you make that adjustment, you don't have to crank these cans up to levels where the treble bothers you. But that's assuming you're not treble-averse to begin with. The DT-1990 Pro is a fantastic can, but not for someone who prefers the laid-back sound of a traditional Audeze or the flatter/more neutral sound of an HD600. I don't mind the non-detachable cable on the Grados any more than I minded it on the classic Beyerdynamic trio (DT-770, DT-880, DT-990). One benefit of Grado's approach is that its non-detachable cable has a lot less microphonics than a number of headphones with detachable cables (like the Neumann NDH20 and NDH30). The stress relief on the Grados helps negate a like of microphonics while a number of detachable-cable cans (especially the ones with single cables) have microphonics in abundance. I have owned a bunch of Grados (SR60, SR80, SR125, SR225, SR325, RS1, HF2, GS1000, PS1000, PS500, and that horrible iGrado). I enjoyed them all for what they were when I had them, but I moved on. I have a Susvara and a Utopia and an AB-1266 and an LCD-5 and an SR-009 and an SR-007a. I still have an SR-60 around here somewhere, which is useful for when I need a headphone but I don't care what kind of abuse I'm exposing it to.
Love the 80x's I have ( the sound when EQ'ed is amazing) and made them comfy with those geekria pads you showed.. but HATE the cord.. but I'm diy type and gearing up for the detach cord mod and bought a nice cord set ! It's going to be great. Also Have Sennheisers and out of the box are great, still need a little EQ'ing.
@@jumbocrunchhIMO my GS3000x almost rivals my Hifiman HE1000 with the right source. The bass is stronger on the Hekse but I hear more microdetail on the Grado.
I got the 325x a few months ago and, although I liked the way they sounded, I was on the verge of returning them and sticking with my Sundaras, as I found the F pads so uncomfortable after about 30 minutes listening. I also tried the official G pads, which were a great improvement but introduced a bit of sibilance. I decided to give them one last try before returning, and picked up the Geekria G pad equivalents, and these were gamechangers for me. I love how they sound with these pads. They're not quite as deep as the official G's, so I found that they eliminated the sibilance whilst improving the bass and retaining a wider sound stage, and I find them so comfortable I can wear them for hours. Other ear/head shapes may not agree! Very much a personal preference and, of course, the cable is still a pain in the arse.
I just sent a pair of SR80s back after three month of usage, because it possibly wasn't that sturdily attached, I got a loose connection on the left side. But that is just one case, not representative. And I still think about buying Grados again, I was quite happy with my SR80s, though it was a real switch on generell sound compared to my two pairs of AKGs before.
I owned a pair of Grados a while ago and I loved them. Classic Rock sounds so good on them that when I sold them I pretty much stopped listening to the genre.
I still have my SR325i (Prestige Series) and they sound great with orchestral, symphonic, female singer -music. They are tireing up your hearing a lot after max 2hrs.
I’ve loved Grados for ages. I get why people don’t like them. I understand. They look cheap, they tend to be uncomfortable and most of them have a really bizarre sound signature that isn’t for everybody. But boy, if that sound signature happens to work for you, it makes every other pair of headphones sound boring in comparison. I am constantly looking in vain for that lively midrange in every other pair of cans I listen to. They are so lively and exciting and in your face. I love their aggression and intimacy. I wish they had better bass and didn’t look so cheap, but I’ll put up with a lot for that sound. But it’s a weird sound. I get it. They have a very colored sound that’s kind of the opposite of what a lot of people buying expensive audiophile grade headphones are looking for. But that’s headphones for you, right? Everyone likes something different. I will say that, broadly speaking, their newer products (the X series) seem to be doing a great job of taming their harsher qualities and making them a little friendlier while not completely doing away with what makes them unique. The 325X in particular is one of the most well-rounded products I’ve ever heard from Grado, and noticeably less aggressive with more bass.
The drivers are little darker, probably R&D from the PS500/PS1000. Going to the salad bowl shells made the GS1000 sound a little too spacious, like Grado's version of an HD800. I didn't like the GS1000 for that reason. I missed the mids. I think a tweak somewhere between the RS1 and the GS1000 would have been golden, but it never seemed to happen. The PS1000 was designed to present the best qualities of the GS1000 but sound more like a classic Grado. That, I suspect, is why Grado's newer drivers sound like the HF2. The other tweak was simply to swap the pads. With flat pads, Grados have less treble, more bass and more thunk. That said, I don't like the flat pads. They make Grados sound too dark for me.
@@billkilpatrick3465 I’m torn honestly. On the one hand, I find my old 325i to be too harsh and lacking in bass for my tastes today, even as a Grado fan. I appreciate the versatility of the 325X with the new flat pads. I can listen to more types of music on it and it’s less fatiguing. On the other hand, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I missed the brightness and aggression of other Grados with them. I’d love a middle ground.
@@metalexile I know exactly what you're talking about. Grados have two weaknesses when it comes to bass. The first is the classic mylar driver. There's a limit to how much the driver can take before you blow it. You've got a driver material that's basically the same stuff you make into a bag of Doritos. Grado isn't the only manufacturer of dynamics that has this problem. Sennheiser had it, too, which is why it eventually went to the ring radiator used in the HD800S. Its bundt cake/toilet seat driver was specifically designed to avoid cone break-up by doing away with a cone. Focal does what Grado does - in terms of going open back and open-front, but it uses more expensive metal drivers - aluminum, magnesium and beryllium. The result are some great headphones but they're luxury-level cans that cost well over a grand, all the way to the Utopia which, until recently, was fetching five grand. The Sennheiser HD-6xx goes completely open back but it also uses velour pads, to better seal in the bass without strangling the treble with leather or sheepskin. It also attenuates the treble with front damping. Even then, Sennheiser has a bass roll-off (not quite as bad as Grado but still bad enough) along with a treble roll-off that gives rise to the "Sennheiser veil." Beyerdynamic is doing what a lot of manufacturers are doing to reduce bass loss in open-back headphones: It compromises the open-back design. While its trio - the 770, 880 and 990 - were billed as closed, semi-open and fully-open, the truth is that Beyerdynamic isn't interested in fully-open. Its version of "open" is semi-open. The shell is still a shell. It just has a lot of salt-and-pepper holes in it. As treble is more directional (line of sight) and bass is less directional (Put that sub-woofer in a corner and nobody will know where the bass is coming from), Beyerdynamic uses a pinhole/slat approach to selectively vent its shells. More of the treble is lost; more of the bass is retained. Even then, Beyerdynamic is known for its bright tuning. Sennheiser fans consider Beyerdynamic too "hot," too "sugary." Even so, Beyerdynamic headphones tend to have more bass presence than Sennheisers. This is because it uses the selectively-open back to vent treble but also reflect the bass. My experience with Beyerdynamics (from the 770 to the T1) is that they produce a V-shaped profile. The high-end has more sugar than a Sennheiser and the low-end has more bass presence and slam. But the bass it produces is closer to a mid-bass. The DT-770 and the DT-1770 do a great job of using a closed-back architecture to driver lower, produce more presence and deliver more articulate and visceral bass. The 880/990/1990/T1 versions don't extend as low as their closed-back siblings but bass retention is enough of a goal that these headphones can be quite punchy, even if that punch doesn't drive as low as a planar does. With the limits of mylar drivers, Beyerdynamic does its best to punch as hard as it can within the kick-drum level of mid-bass. There's actual bass in there, just not as deep as you'd assume. Grado doesn't do anything about this problem with its pads. It doesn't want to compromise transparency and sparkle for more bass. There's an easy fix with the cheap Grados: You do what I call the ball-point pen mod. You steam the cups to loosen the glue that holds the shells together. Then you open up the back, access the driver back and - with a ballpoint pen - puncture the damping material on the back of the driver. This ventilates the driver, really bringing out the bass. The downside is that if you overdo it, the bass will get wooly. The driver won't be as quick and articulate in the bass. Grado typically punches 2-4 holes, depending on the model. I used to do the ballpoint pen mod whenever I got a cheap Grado (SR60/SR80) but I stopped doing it because it doesn't scale. If you get a nice amplifier, you won't notice any improvement to the bass. What's more, if you do it poorly, you can blow the drivers, either by sticking a pin through them or by so aerating them too much. So, how do you harness that lost bass? On its top models, Grado uses the wooden and metal shells. These shells are "open" but they use the sides of that "cannon" to augment the bass you're hearing, even if it's not sub-bass. What can you do to make Grados more dynamic, especially the DT-325? You can pair them with a warm up. You can swap out the pads (There is now somebody making after-market pads for Grado, pads that capture more bass). You can get an amp with bass boost (like the iFi DSD Black Label) or you can simply create a bass shelf between 50 and 100 Hz. A few dB is all you need to add some very dynamic and delicious warmth without making the bass/mid-bass bloated. If you create a sensible bass shelf, your 325 will sound more dynamic and you'll even avoid some of those spikes because you won't need to crank these cans as high to get the bass slam you crave. Even then, however, you won't get sub-bass because you're limited by the mylar driver. On the other hand, depending on the genre, you may not care. Surgically boosting the bass (no higher than 100 Hz and no lower than 40 Hz) make the Grados so engaging you won't feel any need to bail.
I've had a pair of Alessandro MS-1's for it must be over 20 years. I've replaced the pads several times. I use them on my gaming pc. My only other pair is a pair of Takstar HF580 that I won when they came out. It may be just because I am so used to them, but I prefer the Grado/Alessandro's
Those are G Cushion bowl pads that Grado makes for their other headphones. Geekria makes their version of it, same way that they make their version of other brands' headphone pads. idk but Resolve makes it sounds like Geekria came up with those pads on their own.
I bought a pair of SR-125e about 3 years ago and have only used them maybe 10 times. They've been in their box for over 2 years now. I just can't wear them for more than 30 minutes. I do like how they sound but the cable is just so stiff and heavy that the weight of it always pulls the headphones down and I always end up having to replace them on my head. The clamping force isn't strong enough to make the headphones stay on your head and the pads aren't comfortable for my ears at all. I much more prefer something like the HD-58x for the equivalent price.
Grado headphones got me into this hobby many years ago. In fact I actually started importing grado sr325's from hong Kong and reselling them for a bit of extra pocket money when I was a teenager about 20 years ago. On first listen I was astounded by the detail and i was from that moment hooked on HiFi. It didn't take long for what I lived about the grados, the detail, to become super fatiguing (it could actually remind many recordings) and I moved on. But they did get me Into the hobby, and I think my story is similar to a lot of poeples. Back in the day (and maybe still today?), Nothing else for its price could open a newbies ears to a whole new world of sound than a grado could. Hearing things you've never heard before, clear as day, is the easiest way to get hooked by this hobby
Yes. It’s crazy but 20 years ago, I started with a pair of Senns and then a 325. The 325 sits by my kids’ digital piano. Not sure it is competitive in todays market.
Part of that fatigue is the mid-forward design, which is accomplished through a tight ear/driver distance. There are rings you can buy that push the driver back a little, opening up the Grados from a more intimate sound to something more spacious. That's essentially what Grado is doing with its premium cans, like the GS1000 with its salad bowl pads. I don't really like the G-pads. They're too big. The mids recede too far. They also undermine the stability of the headband, whose forks are made for flatter pads. Right now, Grado is selling its mid-fi cans with flat pads, which give greater thunk to the bass. But they do so at a cost in the treble, which is attenuated. I don't like muting the treble.
I like the retro look combined with being able to call the Grado Hemp, "my hemphones" plus they're lightweight and comfortable with the over ear pads I use. Meanwhile, on the technical side, my aging ears seem to perceive a more subjectively even response than the objective measurements indicate. IMHO they're seriously more than good enough without taking themselves too seriously.
I used to give credence to the idea that maybe Grado was popular with older ears because of hearing loss but it's really about your taste in treble. Grados have what, to some, feels like a raw sound because they don't filter the driver and the ear/driver distance is close, especially with the flat pads. This makes them mid-forward. It's why the cheap Grados have less soundstage and a more intimate presentation. Headphones that increase ear/driver distance and filter the driver tend to subdue the mids. Some headphone listeners prefer rolled-off treble. They like subdued mids and imagine they're getting more soundstage. They will even tell you this is more "refined." To me, it's less engaging. And while I'm a big fan of the classic LCD-2 and LCD2-C, I'm not surprised that HiFiMan has forced Audeze to retune. To my ears, the classic Audezes sound better if you treble shelf them. Without a treble shelf, I find myself wondering what happened to the cymbals. But the headphone that made me appreciate treble wasn't a Grado; it was the DT-1990 Pro with its speedy/detailed Tesla drivers and its appreciation (rather than aversion) of treble.
I'm treble sensitive. The Tin Hifi T3 was unlistenable. Bought sr80x expecting to hate them. Loved them. Also didn't find them uncomfortable. I don't get it either.
I've owned the original RS-1 headphone (with button) and wide pads for many years and they are still my go-to headset. I've added HiFiMan Arya Organic, Sennheiser 800s, Focal Clear, HiFiman Sundara, Sennheiser Drop HD6xx, Grado SR80 with wide pads, Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro, Apple Air Pod Pro, Apple Air Max, Sony WMX1000M4, etc. I still use the RS-1s for reference.
In making all of these cheap, easy, pandering criticisms (You mailed it in) you missed more important ones. I'm surprised you didn't point out that most of the Prestige Series Grados sound essentially the same, with the most minimal difference between them. In fact, they were originally the same headphone, with the differences arising simply from the accessorizing of features. At $649, the HP1 was too expensive for the market, so Grado came out with the HP2 and HP3 at $495 and $349. It was the beginning of a process of paring the product down to make it reach the buying public. When Joseph Grado retired, John Grado bifurcated the product line between premium Grados - like the mahogany-shelled RS-1 - and the "Prestige" Series, which was mostly plastic knock-offs. These headphones originally differed in pad size, shell size and material for the back grill. For whatever reason, John Grado switched out the original flat pads for small pads (S Pads) which are thicker and increase the distance between ear and driver. He may have been trying to attenuate the treble by having the pad cover the doughnut hole of the original flat pad. He may have also been trying to make for a more comfortable experience (Flat pads are not that comfortable). Then again, it may have simply been an issue of product availability. Whatever the reason, the John Grado era killed the flat pads and served up small pads (on the cheaper Grados) and large pads (L Pads) on the more expensive models. The L Pads were like the flat pads, but had a higher rise on the outer edge. This opened up the treble but at the cost of bass. Many people who complained about the SR-325 were doing so because they felt the treble was too hot. The simple act of cranking up the volume didn't give them enough bass; it just made the treble insufferable. We are now in the third generation, with John Grado's sons at the helm. The biggest change I can see is the darkening of drivers, a kind of R&D trickle-down from the PS1000 and its more-modestly-priced on-ear version, the PS500. The X drivers have more thunk but a reasonable criticism is that you lose some of the treble sparkle. I noticed this with both the PS1000 and the PS500 (in the premium line-up). Rock sounded better but when I listened to classical, the tonal balance shifted from violins to cellos. Grado deserves credit for its use of tone woods, though it also deserves criticism, too. Mahogany was a better choice for a shell than hard plastic, and cocobolo wood was a better choice than mahogany. Those of us who started modding Grados knew about cocobolo before Grado did. We made shells from a variety of tone woods, including East Indian rosewood. Grado was right to seize upon maple and even metals like aluminum for their speed of transmission, but is there enough cocobolo in the GS3000 to merit a $3,000 price tag? I have to wonder how much quality time you spent trashing Grados when you missed issues like the headband and assembly, which is mostly replicated all the way up the product line without any meaningful engineering. I first noticed this when I purchased the original GS1000, with its salad bowl G-pads. These were more comfortable than on-ear pads but they moved my ear away from the driver and I lost not only bass but that lush Grado midrange. It was a tradeoff designed to placate those enamored with soundstage. Grado found ways to adapt by making the PS1000 feel more intimate, even with those giant pads but one thing it didn't think about was the ergonomics of fitting a Grado with giant pads while retaining the same headband. All of the G-pad-fitted Grados have leather headbands (instead of vinyl) but the G-pads kill stability. The headphones become so loose and top-heavy that they easily fall off the head. Audeze had a similar problem but it did something about it. As the headband expanded laterally, its relatively vertical forks would end up stretched laterally, making it easy for the headphones to topple. Audeze's initial reaction was to make the clamp force that much more rigorous. Eventually, Audeze simply redesigned the headband to incorporate the reality of this lateral expansion. It has also worked on making their heavy cups lighter and has changed the material and thickness of the pads. Grado hasn't done that, so all of its large-cup, G-pad headphones are unstable. Of course, you wouldn't discuss this because you were "just talking about the Prestige series." Your focus was limited to how much you hate on-ear headphones while you mused about why anybody would ever wear one. Well, that was the traditional design. And while circumaural has overtaken the market, it has a bigger footprint and there are actually some good reasons for on-ear headphones. On-ear headphones have a sonic tradeoff. You lose soundstage but having the cushions lie on your ears allows the outer ear, with all its cartilage, to be physically impacted by the vibrations going through the pads. For Grados, which use sonically-transparent foam for the pads, it's nice to feel that physical impact. Of course, on-ear headphones introduce pressure on the ears, which can cause the ears to ache, which is why circumaural headphones are more popular. That's true of all on-ear headphones, not just Grados. But while you did point out that Grados are lighter than most headphones (which makes them surprisingly durable even while looking cheap and flimsy), you failed to note that the wire in the headband is easily bendable, allowing easy adjustment to the clamping force. You can't do that with a Focal or a Sennheiser or an Audeze. And before you say, "But those headphones aren't on-ear," let me say that just because a headphone isn't on-ear, that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. There are plenty of circumaural headphones that introduce a clamping force that is also uncomfortable. While I found the HD600 to be a fairly comfortable headphone, the HD650, HD660 and HD660S are snug to the point of feeling tight. Some of the Focals are pretty tight. I own the AB-1266 and there are times when I think the vice architecture isn't just a matter of looks. I would have liked to have seen you talk more about how Grado, especially the SR-325x, just happens to pop up on "best headphones" websites that operate like a headphone QVC. I don't, for a moment, think that the SR-325x is the best headphone Grado makes, let alone the best headphone on the planet. That seems like some guerrilla marketing in a world where headphone advice and shilling are so easily interchangeable. In a world full of entertaining headphone analysts, whose names start and stop with a single letter - and who seem to love and hate headphones the way Roger Ebert loved and hated movies in line with which directors he wanted to interview - I usually find your reviews more helpful, honest and informed. I can't say that here. I think you simply mailed it in. You took several criticisms of Grado -criticisms that have bounced around for years - and turned someone else's homework in as yours. I think you should have spent more time and come up with more nuanced, insightful and novel points. I think if you weren't going to put the time in, you shouldn't have put out the video. This just seems like you felt the need to cover Grado and did it with the least effort you could summon.
To be honest, I've got a few nice headphones and IEM's from Final, Audio Technica, etc. And I've got SR60e from Grado. And despite I adore my Final B3, I enjoy ATH sound etc., for some reason I've got the most pleasure while listening music on SR60e. And I'm almost not able to took them off because... because... because they are like cocaine. I've no idea what kind of voodoo is hidden within them. They might not be technically the best, but they deliver most fun. That is also why I've just ordered GW100x.
I guess you are not that much of a Grado fan boy since you got those cheapest crap but it kind of make sense since up you go with Grado they are same crap just bigger scam
I absolutely love my pad swapped base Grados for playing keys and listening to spacey/reverb-y music. For punch I use Koss Porta Pro with stock pads. They are like night and day.
I bought the RS1’s about 18 years ago after getting wrapped up in all the hype, and comparisons with very expensive Stax earspeakers. I liked the look back then, but everything else was wrong. The scratchy ear pads that were torture for my ears. The horrible cable that I always managed to catch and tug on. The total absence of many bass frequencies! At the time I applauded the treble and detail retrieval, but I was kidding myself. Luckily I made money when I sold them and am in heaven now with Meze 109 Pro’s.
The 990 was also criticized for having too much sizzle, but when the 1990 Pro came out, a lot of jaws dropped (and mouths were later shut) because the 1990 has exquisite detail, especially in the treble. The 990 has since been redeemed and it doesn't hurt that its "open" back is largely a closed back with a shutter-inspired design. It uses some part of its shell to put more thunk into its bass. It has velour pads, where Grado sticks to sonically transparent (but bass-bleeding) foam pads. This can be offset by simply using a bass shelf between 50 and 100 Hz.
80x and dekoni pads, i reach for them as often as my other cans. it’s not about better or not. it’s about do i enjoy the music, and with my grados, i sure do.
The biggest problem I had was those earcups would swivel 360 and twist that non-removable cable and cause a short. I decided 18 years ago to wait to replace them until there was a model sold with a removable cable. Still haven't replaced them.
I like my grados for watching movies, they make dialog fairly clear during heavy action scenes. They are also nice for listening to drum music especially stuff with a lot of cymbals.
For unknown reasons, over the ear headphones cause me headaches. The light on ear Grados are the only headphones that were comfortable for me. But, and this took me a long time to come to understand, I have a sensitivity to high tones (think trumpets) and the Grados came to torture me. I didn’t know for years the Grados had these characteristics (this was nearly 20 years ago). FWIW, the wooden ones are less torturous.
I hope you cover the RS2X and RS1X at some point. I bought the Hemps and I think they're a tasteful deviation from neutral. Super punchy and physical sound. Loads of fun to listen to
Excellent Video, I recently bought the 325x after owning the SR60i for last 9 years. I continue to love them and how they sound as other headphones which target the harman curve, sound boring to me. Just my own opinion!
The worst thing about Grados is their pads quickly deteriorate and leave black dust on your head. The second worst thing is they start you down a 20+ year path of spending thousands on headphones and other audio gear. I'll probably never buy another Grado but also never sell my PS500e.
It has got a peak at about 4 khz rather than 2 khz. I equalize them by lowering the 4 khz region by 3.8 db and the 2 khz region by 1 db. I elevate the 20 khz and 60 khz regions by 0.5 db. With this equalization, given that they retain their unique and wonderful dynamics, they become as addicive as tobacco or coffee. You do not like them straight away, but once you're used to them, even the roughness of they pads becomes really addictive. Anyway, these need the aforementioned equalization in order to shine. One might argue, why bother equalizing a headphone when you can get a neutral one in the first place? Two reasons: timbre and dynamics. I also have the Hifiman Arya and the Sennheiser HD800s. They are marvellous with their soundstage and everything, but I still haven't found a headphone that does timbre and dynamics like my sr325is.
imo Grado sound is very preferential; either you love it, or you hate it, because it's very different from a lot of the other headphones out there. At least that's my experience based on the 325x and RS1X. The trade off of the cables, the QC, and comfort are pretty bad. Personally I wouldn't recommend Grados to friends unless they want to try out their house sound (i.e. want to try something different) or like you said, they wanna dip their toes into the DIY modding community. Supposedly the ZMF pads and the adapter helps quite a lot of the comfort issues (since it turns it into a over ear rather than on-ear); that + their pilot pad might help address all of the comfort issues honestly, if you're willing to invest more money into it. Been on my list of things to try out since I actually do like listening to the Grado sound time to time
The SR 60s were my first "Quality" headphone back in the late 90's. I had nothing to compare them too but Headroom said they were the best option under $100 so who was I to argue? Many, many years later and many HPs later, I know Grados have their faults but dammit, nostalgia can make you do funny things. I picked up the SR125x awhile ago and I also picked up the Dekoni "Shipabo" style pads for them. With the stock pads on just forget it. I couldn't even wear them long enough to make a judgement on sound. With the Dekoni pads on, well they are a set of cans that I can enjoy listening to at times. Not a daily by any means but every once in awhile with the right amp(the Nitsch Piety is a nice dance partner)they can give me a few hours of enjoyment. Yes the cable is an abomination(will probably be my next mod), and the build does not inspire confidence, but I will say that I do not regret buying them at all.
The pads are one area where Grado has been mailing it in for decades. The original HP1 had paper drivers. Foamy flat pads allowed for a crispier treble and their minimal distance from the ear allowed for a lush midrange. But with the open backs and the foamy pads, a lot of bass would be lost. At the time, most music defined bass as kick-drum bass so it made perfect sense to go bareback. You could get a livelier top end without sacrificing too much of the bottom end. A similar tradeoff is associated with the classic etymotic er4p, which is one of the clearest IEMs ever made, but with a notoriously bland bass. Nobody rocks out to the er4p but if you want clarity, that one is a dandy. Grado should have done more with the pads. Dekoni's focus on this critical area has been awesome. You can take any headphone and really change the presentation by clever pad-swapping. Grado's limited experiments with pads (flat pads, small pads, large pads, salad bowls) only considered shape, not material. Grado rightly assumed that leather and sheepskin would kill the clarity but didn't put enough thought into thicker foams and hybrids. With respect to the cable, most original cables suck. That includes the lamp cord on the HD6XX and HD800, the weird cables on the Susvara and Abyss Diana, and the heavy, cumbersome telephone wire used by the Focal Utopia. For weight and flexibility, Beyerdynamic and Dan Clark Audio make vinyl-covered cables that at least don't feel weird or heavy or nutty. My favorite cables are after-market cables, with relatively little weight and a nice mixture of flexibility and good looks. But if he was going to beat up on Grado's cables, why go after the Prestige series? Most of their cables are less weighty than the 10-connector cables on Grado's more expensive cans.
I've had the SR80e for a while now. I don't dislike it, but I don't use it much anymore since I've expanded my headphone collection. I didn't consider modding them until now, and that does sound like fun! Maybe I'll tinker with it sometime.
Modding is great fun. Grados are the easiest headphones to pad swap. If you steam the cups, you can pry them apart to get to the drivers. Modders recable. They put ticky-tacky on the back of the driver to reduce vibrations. You can replace the cups with different tone woods or aluminum. You can also go cup free. Some replace the plastic forks with aluminum ones. The headband on the classic Grados used to just be a piece of vinyl (Now there's foam padding) but it's not hard to swap that out for leather. Cocobolo is a great tone wood. An even better one is Indian rosewood.
I disliked how grados feel at first but after wearing them for a few weeks I didn't mind how they feel anymore😅 And it's great because I can wear them for many hours because I can wear my glasses over them (just slide them up a bit). Yet, my hd6xx is more comfortable but after around 4h my glasses dig into my head a lot - and because of that, I can actually withstand my grados for longer. But for comfort imo IEMs are unbeatable which may be quite an unpopular opinion
Grados have to be modded to be able to be used, as soon as I took them out the box I knew I had to replace the cable as the stock cable even on Xs is trash and far too heavy for how light the headphones are, On ear is just not comfortable and would rather have open back IEMs than on ear headphones. thankfully I managed to get an open box 325x for £120 off.
I heard the SR80e and I liked at times, and it did get sharp at some points. I have the GW100 and they are far better, Grado DSPed the hell out of it and it was great. I would be curious to see it measured. Also, for comfort, the Dekoni and Nyczaj pad options with leather and cloth are a huge improvement.
I don't like most original cables - not the ones on the Focal Clear or Utopia, not the ones on the Susvara, not the ones on the Abyss Diana. They're always stiff or janky. Beyerdynamic and Dan Clark Audio make acceptably-benign cables, cables I don't have to think about. But the best cables are after-market cables.
@@soulfulfool his stubborness kind of adds to the charm though. I can imagine an angry old Gipetto up in his attic "you no a like my wooden head-a-fonia, fuck you, leave"
I think if you're interested in Grados but are really off put by their peaks in the treble, do consider the Hemps and the sr325X. They have some VERY nice tuning that is unlike the ones shown in this videos. Imagine an HD 650 with soundstage. Really WIDE soundstage.
When audiophiles go to hell (have you checked your credit card bills lately?!), we will be made to wear and listen to the cheapest Grados for eternity. To make things even more hellish, the only allowed playlist is a never ending 20 minutes loop of obscure, derivative 90's lo-fi indie rock.
I was introduced to Grado when I was allowed to wear the original SR60. Not any revision, THE OGs. And they sounded great. Super detailed, great bass (especially for the time), and no real 2K peak. So, I got SR80e. And they had the 2K peak. Can someone explain WHO is responsible for this deliberate tuning?
What kind of pads did your SR-80e have? There was a time when the lower Grados were distinguished by their pads. The SR60 had the small pads. The SR80 had large pads, which were designed to create more sparkle and enlarge the sound stage. The L pads have since been discontinued. Now, Grado sells the 60, 80 and 125 with flat pads. This has increased their bass thunk. I used to buy SR60s, do a pinch mod on the small pads and rip off the front dust guard to increase their sparkle. I'd also use a ballpoint pen to vent the driver backs. With some, I replaced the plastic outer shells with various tone woods, the best of which was Indian rosewood.
Owning several Fostex , AKG and Beyer headphones, I don't find the Grado bright at all. But hey, all ears are different. Also, don't forget that your upper register gets worse as you age so added high-end might be preferable for some older listeners or people with some hearing damage (pretty much everyone). But Grado's are weird. I put them on and hate the sound, but after 30 minutes I see myself clicking trough my music library differently, loving the sound.
I still have a soft spot for Grados, even if I don't listen to them anymore. Grado SR80 was my first open-back headphone, and it was a revelation vs. everything I'd owned before that. The SR80 was my only headphone for ~8 years and served me well, which is why I'm hesitant to throw them under the bus after I realized the Koss KSC75 sounds better for $15 :P
I bought some SR80 10+ years ago. They were my entry point into open back headphones. I initially liked them, but that changed after I bought a set of V-Moda m100. I’ve since moved on from the m100 and still have the SR80 but find them unlistenable.
My son has the m100 and uses them for gaming. My current daily driver headphone is the LCD-X.
I went back and purchased the SR60x, SR80x, SR225x andSR325x to review them but sold them off because I'm just in a different part of the ocean now. I have the LCD-5, the Susvara, the Utopia and the AB-1266. I also have a Qutest and a Ferrum Oor/Hypsos combo. I don't have any need for cheap Grados, but none of the stuff I have now would be something I could just toss in the car or a book bag. None of it would show up to my door for $300 or less.
Same. But I'm not sure why people think the KSC75s sound better. They sound fine, I guess.
I heard about the ksc75 - tried and immediately returned them. I think they are awful sounding - but i love the koss kph30i
I have a Timless, a Z1R, a Mentor and a Mest MK2. Still love my 325x. They're amazing, mid-focused goddess and perfect for Rock/Metal/Jazz. Their unique presentation is awesome, they're the "front of the stage" equivalent of headphones and no one does it like Grado. Anyone who's been to any respectable concert will understand that feeling.
To this day, they have one of the best imaging that i've ever came across in any IEM/headphone, if not the best. Transients? TOTL fast and that's another unique Grado trait. And honestly, resolution/definition leaves nothing to be desired, of course it won't be TOTL and that's not even their intention given their presentation, but it's really far from being bad on that department. They're a niche product and not for everyone, but there's a reason why they're still around after all these years.
And sorry but that KSC75 comparison is just pathetic.
I’m a mixing engineer and I have a pair of Grado GS1000s. They are really great for finding problems in the mix quick (especially the sibilant range)
I go between checking mixes on the Grados and the HEDDphone because they show totally different sides to a mix
I have noticed even though grados are low impedance they really do sound a lot better with a good headphone amp/DAC in general
I've been a Grado fan since 1993. I've owned the SR60, SR125, SR325i, and my current Grado Hemp. It certainly is a niche product and I don't think people buy them for absolute tonal accuracy or crystal clear resolution. What they do have, especially the Reference series, is a unique balance of warmth and "dynamicism", as I like to call it.
The company itself tunes everything by ear. They don't measure their headphones at all, so it might be fair to say that you might find a bit more variation in them than with most manufacturer's headphones. And yes, pad-swapping can change the sound characteristic. And the cables they use have never been my favorite. I hate them actually. And they can certainly clamp down on your ears but it's nothing that a little headband bending can't fix. Ergonomically, they're a mixed bag of parts and nostalga but there just something about that Grado sound! It's a love/hate thing but when my ears get tired of my IEMs, I put on my Hemp and just enjoy the musicality of it.
If anyone (audiophiles mostly) is curious about owning a pair, may I suggest starting with the 325x. If you really want to splurge, start with either the RS2 or RS1. And most importantly, don't expect end-game quality. Just free your mind of audiophile nervosa mentalities and just enjoy the music they produce. There's a reason why they have been around since 1953!
Yep. They're lively. To me, they feel natural and live, with all the good and bad that entails. If people want more bass, they could just boost the bass or create a bass-shelf. They're not the best headphones money can buy. I wouldn't trade my LCD-5 or my Susvara or my AB-1266 or my Stax SR-009 for a pair of Grados, but none of those headphones can be purchased for a few hundred dollars and none of them would I run without an amp. I remember buying a pair of SR-60s that had flecks of paint on them because the former owner wore them while painting a house. Nothing wrong with that.
They havent been around since 1953. Company has...maybe. Headphones themselves have 30 year old history
@wind016 That person is totally deaf by the end of the tuning, 325i finishes whatever hearing he got left. I have the 325i and they won't let me return it LOL! there is nothing I could do with it to help it, pads, EQ, everything. It's good for 10 mins and I am tapping out.
I have a Timless, a Z1R and a Mest MK2. Still love my 325x. They're amazing, mid-focused goddess and perfect for Rock/Metal/Jazz. Their unique presentation is awesome, they're the "front of the stage" equivalent of headphones and no one does it like Grado. To this day, they have one of the best imaging that i've ever came across in any IEM/headphone, if not the best. Transients? TOTL fast and that's another unique Grado trait. And honestly, resolution/definition leaves nothing to be desired.
How can people possibly hate Grado?
I have a 325X and yes, the niche product is a perfect description. It is a fashion statment and a usable headphone too. Like an anti-Beats hp or resto-mod car. I really appreciate the outdated design and comfort with the different but enjoyable sound.
we can talk comfort only with G-cushions otherwise is hell
Granted, there's something cool about the 325x, with its leather headband and aluminum shells, but the best thing about it is the bareback approach. There's no front damping. The result is a lively, sparkly top end. Now, the original 325 used L-Pads, which weren't flat pads and they weren't G-Pads. They looked like radial tires and ended up being an awkward hybrid between on-ear and around-ear pads. They made your ears ache more than the S-pads. I find the flat pads less comfortable than the S-pads but they do garner better bass. You have to take breaks or your ears will ache, though there are lots of around-the-ear cans that leave your skull feeling like you stuck it in a vise.
If you want to enjoy the sparkle but with more bass (no sub-bass; mylar pads can't produce that), create a bass shell between 50 and 100 Hz. Just a few decibels up and the bass is plentiful. It's kick-drum bass, not knuckles to the floor, but for most genres, that's more than enough.
@wind016So you’re basically saying extra treble and extra bass ruins your hearing lol ok.
I simply called Grado after dealing with comfort issues. They told me to put some dish liquid soap on the parts of the pads that touch your ears, let them settle for a few minutes. Fully rinse and let air dry. I can wear them pretty much all day now.
I can imagine they are nice and plush like sponges now should i get SR 60x and sell my HD 560s headphones?
I’ve been using grados since the late 90’s. I have owned every model of the rs1. I have also owned several models of rs2. Along with hemp, gs3000, ps500, ps2000, gs1000, hf1 and 2, Cocabola (sp?) limited edition, along with sr60, 80, 225? And latest 325. Probably others. I also own audeze lc5 (model?), Dan Clarke expanse, a bunch of senns, focal utopias, and the latest rossin phones. I am also a professional musician. I have to say that the grados hold their own with the best of them. Intimate and dynamic with lush midrange and incredible dynamic prowess. Just sayin’.
Nobody liked your comment so let me be the first to tell you you're not alone. I've owned the SR60, SR80, SR125, SR225, SR325, RS1, HF2, GS1000, PS1000, PS500. I've also owned the Audeze LCD2C, LCD-X, LCD-4z and currently own the LCD-5. I also own the STAX SR-009 and the SR-007a, along with the HiFiMan Susvara and the Focal Utopia. I sold off my HD600/650/660S/660S2 and HD800, along with my Beyerdynamic DT770, 880, 990, 1990, 1770 and T1 and my STAX L300 and L700. They're all great headphones. Each has its strengths and charms.
I have literally A/B'ed all of these headphones against Grado's cheapest cans and I'm always surprised when Grado holds its own against headphones that are 10-30X their price. I'm not saying Grados are flawless or that they're the only way to fly. I'm glad my appreciation for them didn't prevent me from discovering great moments with other cans. But when I run into posers who trash these headphones because they're fronting for other audio snobs, I have to laugh.
If people hate Grado's cables, how do they not hate the big lumpy cables on the Focal Clear and Utopia? How did they give the Sennheiser HD800 a pass? How did they not have the same hate for the janky cables of the Susvara and the Abyss Diana?
If they hate that cheap plastic look of Grado's least expensive cans, how did they not freak out when they tried out the Stax L300/L500/L700?
If they can't stand the treble on a Grado, how do dry-hump the treble on the DT-1990 Pro?
If their souls are in torment over the non-detachable cable, how did they not scream, "I'm melting! I'm melting" when they ran across the DT-770, DT-880 and the DT-990?
@@billkilpatrick3465probably because the sound compensate these flows….😅😅😅
I've used my pair of Grado RS2e that I got used 12 years ago for $300 close to daily. I actually haven't kept up with headphones much since I got them, but it's funny that the sentiment of Grados changed so drastically from the time I was keeping up with it. The internet enthusiasts used to love Grados now it seems they hate them? I can't say I've ever tried a pair of headphones that wowed me as much as Grados, off the top of my head AKG K701, Sennheiser HD598, HD600, HD650... they all just sounded so, bland? Also I use the G-cush on mine and I can hardly tell there's anything sitting on my head. I think the leather band breaks in after a lot of time and conforms to your head.
So you had many headphones. Than perhaps you can help. I am an audiophile and loudspeaker guy for a long time, but have always wanted a natural sounding high end headphones. I heard some Stax models like the 404. For speakers I love my Apogee Duetta Signatures, but only with Conrad Johnson tube amps and a good tube dac. I like a fast but natural sound, not too bright, more analogue, but enough detail. There are sooo many headphones. Under 1000,- (used is also okay) what would u guys suggest? Grado ps1000? Hifiman Ayre Stealth? A good Stax? Audio Technica Apos ..50..? Ultrasone edition 5, 9, 11? I am lost.
What would u suggest? Thanks!
The Grado Sr225X and SR325X are fantastic headphones, especially for classical and jazz. Yes, undoubtedly there are some improvements that Grado might make, but I am a very happy Grado headphone user for 20+ years.
I'm a huge Grado fan, my 325x are my main driver. The sound is unbelievably good, and the soundstage+Imaging are very good. It's DEFINITELY niche though. Wouldn't recommend to everyone, but if you try it and love it you might just be part of the Grado fandom.
Hearing you talk about the upper mids and treble sounds so delicious. It looks like i need to try these things out, i love bright headphones.
22 years ago I got my 125s. Plugged into a Best Buy A/V receiver they sounded spectacular in the day. I got an extension cord so I could sit farther away. Eventually they faded into the dustbin, replaced with AKGs and iPods, etc. But the thrill of open back I'll never forget.
Polarizing for many aside, they most certainly have secured a loyal following and especially among audiophiles and high end listeners who are not necessarily headphone arena centric. Regardless of measurements and my leaning towards a different sound signature for most cans, still dig my 11 year old Soviet styled 325’s and that energized signature sound for certain applications or music. Would love to see them provide different pad options.
When I put them up against my Stax SR-009, the 009 wins, but I'm still blown away that an SR-60 can even fight that fight and lose. There's something about the open-back, zero-front-damping, sonically-transparent pad approach that is better than people think, especially those who "know" without ever having heard these headphone or given them a chance. If I had to criticize Grados and Grado Labs, I could write a book, but I find it annoying that the criticisms are always the same ones, with little attempt to dig any deeper. These headphones are being dismissed by the cool kids in much the same way that cool kids trash the nerds during a passing period.
@wind016 LOL. Yup, everyone has different ears, tunings and experiences. Glad there’s so much out there now to choose from.
I personally own the hemps, and find them hard to beat sound wise. I like the stock pads more. Great bass, highs smooth, mids luscious. Forward mids.
I hear you I have the Hemps on right now. After getting the comfort figured out I think they are fantastic. They make some of the best headphones for classical and jazz, but I find hemps shine best with electronic music to my ears.
@@ekolite8224 Yes hemps are the best Grado for EDM.
I got my 325e 10 years ago, and I was not so happy with how my dac was sounding, bought and AR M2 player and boy: it was making me dancing around, especially with Rock and jazzy music. At today my 325e are still on my desk, I can’t find anything else to make me feel happy within a song. Just my favorite cans to put a smile in my head before starting my workday . 😍
Grados are awesome in the sense they present sound so differently from any other headphones. Theyre very in your face, while having wide open soundstage. Theyre so good for rock music. And the 2 year old X Drivers really made Grado a MORE all arounder compared to the sizzling previous drivers; but theyre still not perfect. But they are perfect for doing something very different but very good. They also hold up incredibly well and the comfort becomes much much better. They require some loving
I still remember 8 years ago when I demo'd an sr80e from a local audio shop, the guy there played some live violin orchestra and for me it was love at first hear.
I decided to save up money from my job back then and bought a 2nd hand sr80, had it modded to have removable cables (dual 3.5mm) and it served me well until 2020 when the pandemic hit, I left the sr80e on my locker and only got it back in 2022. Love it for gaming and listening to acoustic songs.
Love my Grado SR-80x, the lightweight feel, the soundstage, the solid cable, the fast and accurate bass, I frankly wouldn’t listen to my jazz music with any other headphones. These do that genre stunningly well. Another album I adore on my Grado’s, are both Eric Clapton and Alice In Chains MTV Unplugged.
Yes! I love listening to the AiC MTV'S Unplugged with my 325x, especially Rooster.
YES! I'd love to see some Grado mods be professionally measured. I LOVE my 225e's, however I also tell people asking online about them that they are a good headphone to have if you're going to have more than 2 or 3 headphones. If someone asks for an everyday all-rounder, I wouldn't say these are that. They're like a rocket launcher... Good to have in your arsenal, but you wouldn't use it in every situation.
What single headphone would you use in every situation? I wouldn't use an AB-1266 in every situation - or a Focal Utopia or a Susvara or an LCD-5. But if we're talking about a knock-around headphone you can throw in a back seat or a book bag, cheap Grados work just fine in a relatively quiet environment. Lightweight cans in hard plastic are plenty durable. You won't get sub-bass but the kick-drum bass is fine for classic rock. The lack of a filter between ear and driver does sound more natural, just the opposite of an Aeon Flux stuffed with pads until the presentation has been neutered clinical. The Grado house sound is a lot more engaging than the HD-6XX whose branded flat/neutral profile sounds aloof by comparison. People fuss about the nondetachable cable, but how often do you really detach a cable? And if we're comparing microphonics, the stress relief and Y-split in an SR-60 is a lot less microphonic than the Neumann NDH 20 and NDH 30. The vivacious treble and lush midrange are what make Grados surprisingly euphonic for less than $300. If I want more bass, I can't get sub-bass out of a Grado, but a bass shelf between 50 and 100 Hz brings in plenty.
My SR125x isn't as "vivacious" in the treble region-think my previous SR125e extended a bit better. The x in the 125 made it a tad warmer and more "normal", while still basically having the "Grado" mid-forward sound. SR125x do sound good, just a bit different than the older 125e. Given that the SR325x are supposed to be even "warmer" (i.e. more "normal"-and perhaps crowd-pleasing?), I am happy to stick with these "bad" Grados instead.
Have yet to try the bowl pads or the SR225x pads on mine-have tried the bowls on an older model, forgot which (I've had several, from 60 to 125e, the latter which is the most fresh to my mind.) If I had money to spend, would buy a wooden one for the aesthetics, but dread the idea of "warm" Grados, as there are so many other brands that specialize on "warmth" and not "offending" with high upper mids and treble frequencies.
(To be clear, I also own "warm" headphones and IEMs-I just do not relate Grado with an extremely laid back tonality. Perhaps the Prestige series has me confused with their "real" sound, but I do like this reviewed cheaper series quite a bit, even if I do not listen to them all the time.
The gentleman above is well-informed but seems to be of the mind that headphones can be objectively good or bad based on "proper" measurements to a target. I do follow graphs myself as a very loose guide, but ultimately many models are unique and worth the experience even if the graph "determines" they "suck." I think that being rigid with what is a "good" sound could suck more in that strictly following an specific audiophile groupthink audio "target"-and worse, ridiculing those who do not adhere to the objectively "good" standards, as he frequently does in the video-may prevent us the experience of some good headphones/earphones that could be special, even when the established groupthink has deemed these "unworthy" due to "bad value", "wonky sound", etc.
All in all, I definitely would always like to have at least an SR125(letter) in my collection, as they do have a sound, even fully stock, out of the box, that is interesting and musical, as well as unique among my other headphones/earphones, for better or ill. They have *their* sound, and I respect that-can be very beautiful and/or appropriately aggressive depending on tracks/music genres.
No need to argue, like what you all like. :)
Grados are one of those headphones that I think people buy because of how they look, their story of being hand built by a small family company, or because an Auzzie hyped them up... (love ya Wade)
But when people try them, they do experience something unique. Not much else sounds like a Grado, and to me they do come across a bit nasal sounding, but I remember when I first got mine I did love them and would defend them to the death. Nowadays I wouldn't buy one for the sound and wouldn't recommend them either for their sound, but for their story, look, and unique features, they might be something you like
Grados do sound unique. I don't care about them as a trending item. I don't care about the immigrant story stamped into every box. To me, they sound like vinyl. They have the unusual combination of open backs, zero front damping and a light footprint (till you get to the premium models). The ear-driver distance is super close. The pads on the ears allow vibrations to run through the outer ears. If you listen to acoustic music - anything but metal or EDM - there's a clarity and sparkle that's vivacious. The lack of sound isolation allows room noise to enter. If it's not too loud (or too rumbly, canceling out all the bass), your brain gets confused. Just as with the Maggies, you hear the music as coming from the room.
Grados don't do a great job with music where bass, especially sub-bass, is the calling card. They don't do great with screechy metal or with music that needs a vast HD800-like soundstage. But they sound more live than an HD600 or even an Aeon X. Their flaws actually make the sound feel more like it's happening right there. And if you want more bass, you can build a bass shelf around 50 Hz that will give the bass more weight (though nothing will give you sub-bass).
There's a kind of lost secret about how to use and make them much more comfortable. It used to come on the instructions of older Grados, but it has been removed.
It consists of just putting your hands on the end of the headband (just above the L/R rodblocks) and pull the cups away from each other. You do this 3 or 4 times and the clamp goes away. Just like that. I bet it would drastically change people's experience with the Grados.
I have like 3 kinds of pads to use with them, each one has a different sound signature. And that is as far as I went with "modding". No need to go any further to enjoy them
@wind016funnily enough, they used to add padding too! Now they don’t give padding or advice.
I got into headphones through a pair of 2nd hand replica grados, which I did a driver/cable swap on, so no part of it remained Grado :/ i learned about the brand later, and only now that its got a DIY scene. I think Grado took the instructions off because they don't want to insult people's intellegence. You take the cup off for the first time, and bam you see what's going on.
About 10 years ago I had £500 to spend on some headphones and I booked a morning audition where I listened to eight different headphones within my price range, I ended up with Grado PS500e fitted with PS1000e pads. What made them stand out for me (as a then listener in their 50's) was the treble which I agree it can be a bit "hot" at times. In comparison, the others I listened to sounded dull and lifeless. It may be that for older listeners who lose some of the high frequencies as they get older, the Grado's are a better listening choice. They get used daily and I have had no issue with the build quality. Great video by the way.
There are tradeoffs to every headphone. While Grados can be fatiguing, and there are spikes that can certainly be annoying with certain genres and recordings, if you A/B them with other cans, many do sound dull or lifeless by comparison. It's the removal of front damping. That bareback approach is livelier, which is why Focal does the same thing, albeit with much more expensive metal drivers.
DMX had a cool video about Dan Clark Audio's use of front damping filters, discussing how they allowed the user to customize the sound, basically by attenuating the treble. But, he warned, if you go too far, the result is sound that's safe but dull and lifeless. The resulting sound is too clinical. That, in a strange way, is a great argument for Grado's bareback approach.
When people scoff at Audeze's embrace of EQing as the best way to get the most out of their premium headphones, nobody asks why the manufacturer has to put a sock in the cups to tame the treble. If the driver is so correctly tuned, why do you need an "attenuator"? You need it because one driver can't cover all frequencies without making compromises.
A lot of headphones give you "better bass" by restraining the treble, which is what L-pads do to keep a speaker's tweeters from out-screaming the bass, but if you've only got one driver, you either restrain the treble or you boost the bass. I believe that treble-restraint makes for a more clinical sound, and I'm not a fan. A simple bass shelf lets you fill in the low end without losing the vitality of the treble.
I'm an older listener but my affection for treble was not created by loyalty to the Grados. It was in listening to the DT-1990 Pro, which turns cymbal crashes into diamonds. After the 1990, I found it hard to go back to the LCD-2/LCD2C/LCD-X - not without building a treble shelf. With Grados, a little bass shelf (50-100 Hz) comes in handy. You can also take a ballpoint pen to the back of the driver and punch some holes in the felt/paper filter on the back. I used to prefer the ballpoint method but once you do it, the Grados don't scale up on an amp. They already have the maximum bass. I prefer EQing the bass; it's reversible.
I'm listening to really old Grados right now, just to be contrary. I can see my HD600s from where I'm sitting, but I'm listening to these. And I'm enjoying it Andrew. Ya hear?
I was given a 2nd-hand pair of the original Grado SR-60 back in 1998, and to address the longevity concerns, they were still going strong when I accidentally left them in a hotel 9 years later. At one point, there was an issue with the y-split (they use a different design now), but I was able to repair that myself just fine. To me, swapping for the doughnut-shaped pads was absolutely critical. I think it’s good to remember that at the time these first came out, people were using them with things like cassette walkmans, and so the voicing resulted in something that was perceived as more neutral than it would be with modern sources. Unfortunately for these guys, the Sennheiser HD-600 came out shortly afterwards and changed everything
I still have my pair of SR60's that I bought in 1994. Also, my PS-500's, RS-1's, Hemp-phones, and GS-3000's. 🙂
The only Grados I have ever broken by accident was a pair of SR-325s. That was because I carried them everywhere, without a case, and the weight of those aluminum shells overcame the glue job on one side. I simply glued them back and never had another problem. There are Grados that are closed to 40 years old and still working because they're lightweight, limber and made from materials that last as long as plastic lasts.
The Grado SR225x have been my favorite headphones for almost ten years. The Grado 325X are a close second.
How would you compare the two? I’ve had the 225 for several years. Been thinking about picking up a 325.
Yeah, no shit, I admit that Grados are bad in some ways.
But after some personal issues that caused me to almost completely phase out of the hobby, the Grado GH2 were the pair of cans that restarted my passion after over two years of dormancy.
I always say that each model of Grados have their own unique flare in them and the fun of listening to Grados are more or less getting used to each headphones own personality.
They're more or less the trash food of the Hi-Fi world, it gets a whole lot of flak but they're just stupid fun and a guilty pleasure to listen to.
I hate to admit it, but after seeing a number of headphones come and go during the years that I'm into the hobby, for some odd reason only the Grados stayed in my collection while anything except an AKG K701 went out the door in the end.
And......yeah, I did ditch the chance to get an Audeze LCD-2 for a discounted display use Grado GS2000e because the latter sounds so bad that it's good.
This channel was the main reason that spiked my interest in planar headphones in the first place, but a used GS2000e from nowhere still beat the crap out of any sensible reasoning in the end.
It was 50% off, and it's a god damn GS2000e with an extremely bad reputation that no sensible audiophile should supposed to like.
I know I'm supposed to hate it to my guts to be politically correct as an audiophile, but who am I kidding, I actually enjoyed listening to that wooden pair of cans more than I should.
Grado's (especially the Hemps) sound great - good intimacy and detail. Sound more like the balance of sound you get in actual live music without the overblown and unrealistic bass that is so common these days. They also give you a close and intimate front row like sound.
And - I like their minimalism, light basic design with nothing unnecessary or overdone. Just about the sound. The only criticism I have is the lack of detachable cables.
I agree and wish the cables weren't quite so bulky.
I love my RS1X. The sound, for me, is crisp and agile.
Hey I personally have the Grado Heritage GH 1 and would be interested on some reviews
Your EV RE20 mic sounds great for voice. Interesting review.
Agree! I really enjoy the sound of his videos
A word on how tight they are on your head, the headband is metal and you can or might be meant to bend it to the shape of your head after bending the shape out to be wider on mine the amount of clamping pressure is nil they just sit on my ears and are incredibly comfortable despite the pads (I am using SR60Xs)
I owned a pair of SR225's for over 10 years. Being a self professed audiophile, I purchased them because they were very expensive and highly regarded by other self professed audiophiles ... so they HAD to be excellent, right? Over the first five years, I went through an additional 2 sets of very expensive replacement pads while enduring 2-3 hours a day of ear torture. When I finally reached my pain threshold, I cut a bright yellow grout sponge into two large roundish shapes and removed inner circles small enough to friction-fit each of the speakers. After that, they were like wearing nothing on my ears. Incredible, and they looked totally amazing. Unfortunately, the wiring started to wear and the left side gave up the ghost so I've since moved on to even better headphones. These Skullcandy cans rock ...
This is one of the few channels where there is nothing is in a "about" section what are these people's backgrounds doing these reviews. Given the smugness "on steroids" of some opinions it would helpful to know more about the value of the opinions of people rendering these opinions other than a TH-cam channel connected to an online store that sells headphones. It is appears to be a collection of relatively young guys listening to headphones without knowing where they are coming from in experience, background etc. I know we have become numb to this low bar it does not mean it does not exist. If there is something significant about these reviewers background it would be nice to see an "about section"
Had mine for 10 years and still going strong. Reliability = 100%. Even took them to Afghanistan and back.
I love the way Grados look, though I found ksc75 surpassed SR60e in every way.
So that's why I swapped my sr60e drivers to ksc75.
It was a fun project, and now I don't dislike using them without EQ.
Though I found out that part of the treble peaks are definitely because of the cup shape.
The KSC75 is what the iGrado should have been. The iGrado used inferior wire and was not open, though its grills were made to look open. I cracked one open and found that all of the pin-prick holes were simply for show. Grado has since continued the iGrado - and for good reason.
It's a metal headband. If it's squeezing your head too tight, just bend them out a bit.
I haven't had my Grados for twenty years or so. They were the SR-125 or SR-225, my first good pair of headphones. It was the first time I had a sense of soundstage, impact and detail. But it was also like putting your tongue on the contacts of a 9v battery. There was a kind of energy that was sometimes unwelcome.
Eventually, the cable started failing around the Y-splitter. And the damaged remains got lost after moving house one or two times. If only I could have replaced the cable!
I own a GS1000, i love it for classical, acoustical music in general, small formations, it's very dynamic and really makes the music live. I've changed the pads, found them not confortable after a while. And I don't care about the cable being thick and not removable.
Love the looks but I had two SR80s and they both developed a very slight clicking sound on playback and the cables failed on both of them. Maybe Grado’s higher end headphones are better but I’d avoid their lower end gear.
I bought Grado SR80 in 2006. I did not like them at all. I sold them to someone, and they absolutely loved them. Crazy how polarizing the sound is for these
We need more Grado reviews.
I landed up purchasing a set of grado sr80x as a temporary solution while my focals were away getting repaired, They are so uncomfortable out of the box that I immediately bought a set of the larger pads as well as a set of dt990 pads which I then glued on to the larger pads resulting in a huge but very comfortable double pad. Now while they are nowhere near as good as my focals they actually surprised me as they are really quite a nice listen and for the money quite a bargain. My focals are back so the grados are used for nighttime listening now falling asleep with my focals on and potentially damaging them is not such a great idea but I fairly regularly do that with the grados with no issues. Would I recommend them for serious music listening probably not but as a backup set for casual listening they are surprisingly musical I was definitely quite surprised as I really didn’t expect them to be any good at all especially after coming from the focals clear mgs but they turned out to be a lot better than I expected so before you write them off if your looking for something in this price range try them but be prepared to change the pads and bend the metal strap this turns them into an incredibly comfortable very light and actually quite enjoyable headphone.
Love the grado sound. That’s all I can say about grado. The build, comfort and that stupid attach wire kills it for me.
I'm just the opposite. While I love the Grado house sound, I'm less critical of the "build, comfort and wire" of the plastic Grados, which can be had for $250 or less. The "build" is minimalist, like that of the Koss PortaPro. It's just a delivery device that straps two drivers to your head. There's no pretense. I never found these headphones uncomfortable, just not plush. The headband is a flat wire so you can adjust its tension by simply bending or unbending the underlying wire. People complain about the the on-ear pads, but that's just on-ear pads. You have to periodically remove the headphones to give your ears a break. I'd typically do this every few hours. In the meantime, the on-ear pads made the bass more visceral, in the sense of direct contact with the outer ear. I eventually outgrew the Grados - not because they suck but because I like metal driver dynamics (like the Utopia), planars (like the LCD-5 and the Susvara) and estate (like the SR-009) better. But if you compare the price, the Grados are the better value.
I moded my sr325e's with a lovely padded leather headband, leather pads and removable cables, yes it was expensive, but they are now amazing 😅😅😅
I think Grado is an option when you stop looking at the graphs alone and start really investigating what sound do YOU like, not what Harman-Cardon thinks about it. As mentioned they are extremely easy to mod with simple pad swap, you can make them intimate or soundstage beast, you can make them piercing or tame, so mod possibilities are countless and eventually you can build the Grado you will love.
I was very surprised when discovered that I was missing my SR80e when sold them, so I've sold my Sundara to buy SR325x did a cable mod and pads swap, and now they are the only headphones which could literally make me dance. Some music is just so alive in those and so real like a direct feed from the microphone. I know they aren't versatile but the energy they could deliver with some songs is unmatched.
Would I recommend Grado as the only headphones? Probably not, but as an addition to the collection they are clear must have.
I love Brooklyn; I was born there and grew up there from the mid '50s to the mid '60s (I'm still close, just on the other side of the Hudson now; and yes, I'm old). I wish I could support Brooklyn and Grado. But no bass, strange, unpleasant treble, dollar store build quality (but they're light!), uncomfortable and beyond cheap stock pads, terrible non-detachable cable (I think it's 2023 in Brooklyn, too, isn't it?). Bottom line: No thanks. I once seriously considered the Hemp because, well, they sort of have a cool vibe, a reasonable price, they got some decent reviews, and they were from Brooklyn. But the cons were just too many. My primary listens ATM are the Arya, the ZMF Aeolus, and the Thieaudio Monarch MK II. I don't think I'm missing anything without Grados. (I'm listening to the Monarchs a lot right now since I have a broken lower right arm and putting on a full size headphone with one non-dominant hand is doable but harder then you might think.)
get well soon dude
Sounds like you need an ultra-light headphone to be able to place on your head one handed while you rehab... you should try Grados!!!
You shouldn't buy a headphone because it was assembled in Brooklyn nor should you trash it because it's made of modest materials. It's not that Grados have no bass. They have no sub-bass. The open back/zero damping/foam pad/mylar driver combination makes them great for some things and not-so-great for others. With bass boost or a bass shelf between 50-100 Hz, you can get all the kick-drum-level bass you need. When you make that adjustment, you don't have to crank these cans up to levels where the treble bothers you. But that's assuming you're not treble-averse to begin with. The DT-1990 Pro is a fantastic can, but not for someone who prefers the laid-back sound of a traditional Audeze or the flatter/more neutral sound of an HD600.
I don't mind the non-detachable cable on the Grados any more than I minded it on the classic Beyerdynamic trio (DT-770, DT-880, DT-990). One benefit of Grado's approach is that its non-detachable cable has a lot less microphonics than a number of headphones with detachable cables (like the Neumann NDH20 and NDH30). The stress relief on the Grados helps negate a like of microphonics while a number of detachable-cable cans (especially the ones with single cables) have microphonics in abundance.
I have owned a bunch of Grados (SR60, SR80, SR125, SR225, SR325, RS1, HF2, GS1000, PS1000, PS500, and that horrible iGrado). I enjoyed them all for what they were when I had them, but I moved on. I have a Susvara and a Utopia and an AB-1266 and an LCD-5 and an SR-009 and an SR-007a. I still have an SR-60 around here somewhere, which is useful for when I need a headphone but I don't care what kind of abuse I'm exposing it to.
Love the 80x's I have ( the sound when EQ'ed is amazing) and made them comfy with those geekria pads you showed.. but HATE the cord.. but I'm diy type and gearing up for the detach cord mod and bought a nice cord set ! It's going to be great. Also Have Sennheisers and out of the box are great, still need a little EQ'ing.
I don't always EQ because I don't always want to fuss with it, but I've yet to find a headphone whose sound couldn't be improved with EQ.
@@billkilpatrick3465 Yeah.. got some DT770 250 ohm and terrible without eq. might not even keep them !
i loved my Grados so much. I will buy again, just have to chose one.
What I love about the Grado Sound is the fast responsive drivers and good micro detail (in regards to the RS1X, and RS2X)
true, the higher end ones don't have the issues he mentioned.
@@jumbocrunchhIMO my GS3000x almost rivals my Hifiman HE1000 with the right source. The bass is stronger on the Hekse but I hear more microdetail on the Grado.
I got the 325x a few months ago and, although I liked the way they sounded, I was on the verge of returning them and sticking with my Sundaras, as I found the F pads so uncomfortable after about 30 minutes listening. I also tried the official G pads, which were a great improvement but introduced a bit of sibilance. I decided to give them one last try before returning, and picked up the Geekria G pad equivalents, and these were gamechangers for me. I love how they sound with these pads. They're not quite as deep as the official G's, so I found that they eliminated the sibilance whilst improving the bass and retaining a wider sound stage, and I find them so comfortable I can wear them for hours. Other ear/head shapes may not agree! Very much a personal preference and, of course, the cable is still a pain in the arse.
I just sent a pair of SR80s back after three month of usage, because it possibly wasn't that sturdily attached, I got a loose connection on the left side. But that is just one case, not representative. And I still think about buying Grados again, I was quite happy with my SR80s, though it was a real switch on generell sound compared to my two pairs of AKGs before.
I owned a pair of Grados a while ago and I loved them. Classic Rock sounds so good on them that when I sold them I pretty much stopped listening to the genre.
ur supposed to bend the headband to fit the size of your head, so that they just barely hover over your ear. that way they feel like clouds
I still have my SR325i (Prestige Series) and they sound great with orchestral, symphonic, female singer -music. They are tireing up your hearing a lot after max 2hrs.
I’ve loved Grados for ages. I get why people don’t like them. I understand. They look cheap, they tend to be uncomfortable and most of them have a really bizarre sound signature that isn’t for everybody.
But boy, if that sound signature happens to work for you, it makes every other pair of headphones sound boring in comparison. I am constantly looking in vain for that lively midrange in every other pair of cans I listen to. They are so lively and exciting and in your face. I love their aggression and intimacy. I wish they had better bass and didn’t look so cheap, but I’ll put up with a lot for that sound.
But it’s a weird sound. I get it. They have a very colored sound that’s kind of the opposite of what a lot of people buying expensive audiophile grade headphones are looking for. But that’s headphones for you, right? Everyone likes something different.
I will say that, broadly speaking, their newer products (the X series) seem to be doing a great job of taming their harsher qualities and making them a little friendlier while not completely doing away with what makes them unique. The 325X in particular is one of the most well-rounded products I’ve ever heard from Grado, and noticeably less aggressive with more bass.
The drivers are little darker, probably R&D from the PS500/PS1000. Going to the salad bowl shells made the GS1000 sound a little too spacious, like Grado's version of an HD800. I didn't like the GS1000 for that reason. I missed the mids. I think a tweak somewhere between the RS1 and the GS1000 would have been golden, but it never seemed to happen. The PS1000 was designed to present the best qualities of the GS1000 but sound more like a classic Grado. That, I suspect, is why Grado's newer drivers sound like the HF2. The other tweak was simply to swap the pads. With flat pads, Grados have less treble, more bass and more thunk. That said, I don't like the flat pads. They make Grados sound too dark for me.
@@billkilpatrick3465 I’m torn honestly. On the one hand, I find my old 325i to be too harsh and lacking in bass for my tastes today, even as a Grado fan. I appreciate the versatility of the 325X with the new flat pads. I can listen to more types of music on it and it’s less fatiguing. On the other hand, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I missed the brightness and aggression of other Grados with them. I’d love a middle ground.
@@metalexile I know exactly what you're talking about. Grados have two weaknesses when it comes to bass. The first is the classic mylar driver. There's a limit to how much the driver can take before you blow it. You've got a driver material that's basically the same stuff you make into a bag of Doritos.
Grado isn't the only manufacturer of dynamics that has this problem. Sennheiser had it, too, which is why it eventually went to the ring radiator used in the HD800S. Its bundt cake/toilet seat driver was specifically designed to avoid cone break-up by doing away with a cone.
Focal does what Grado does - in terms of going open back and open-front, but it uses more expensive metal drivers - aluminum, magnesium and beryllium. The result are some great headphones but they're luxury-level cans that cost well over a grand, all the way to the Utopia which, until recently, was fetching five grand.
The Sennheiser HD-6xx goes completely open back but it also uses velour pads, to better seal in the bass without strangling the treble with leather or sheepskin. It also attenuates the treble with front damping. Even then, Sennheiser has a bass roll-off (not quite as bad as Grado but still bad enough) along with a treble roll-off that gives rise to the "Sennheiser veil."
Beyerdynamic is doing what a lot of manufacturers are doing to reduce bass loss in open-back headphones: It compromises the open-back design. While its trio - the 770, 880 and 990 - were billed as closed, semi-open and fully-open, the truth is that Beyerdynamic isn't interested in fully-open. Its version of "open" is semi-open. The shell is still a shell. It just has a lot of salt-and-pepper holes in it. As treble is more directional (line of sight) and bass is less directional (Put that sub-woofer in a corner and nobody will know where the bass is coming from), Beyerdynamic uses a pinhole/slat approach to selectively vent its shells. More of the treble is lost; more of the bass is retained. Even then, Beyerdynamic is known for its bright tuning. Sennheiser fans consider Beyerdynamic too "hot," too "sugary." Even so, Beyerdynamic headphones tend to have more bass presence than Sennheisers. This is because it uses the selectively-open back to vent treble but also reflect the bass.
My experience with Beyerdynamics (from the 770 to the T1) is that they produce a V-shaped profile. The high-end has more sugar than a Sennheiser and the low-end has more bass presence and slam. But the bass it produces is closer to a mid-bass. The DT-770 and the DT-1770 do a great job of using a closed-back architecture to driver lower, produce more presence and deliver more articulate and visceral bass. The 880/990/1990/T1 versions don't extend as low as their closed-back siblings but bass retention is enough of a goal that these headphones can be quite punchy, even if that punch doesn't drive as low as a planar does. With the limits of mylar drivers, Beyerdynamic does its best to punch as hard as it can within the kick-drum level of mid-bass. There's actual bass in there, just not as deep as you'd assume.
Grado doesn't do anything about this problem with its pads. It doesn't want to compromise transparency and sparkle for more bass. There's an easy fix with the cheap Grados: You do what I call the ball-point pen mod. You steam the cups to loosen the glue that holds the shells together. Then you open up the back, access the driver back and - with a ballpoint pen - puncture the damping material on the back of the driver. This ventilates the driver, really bringing out the bass. The downside is that if you overdo it, the bass will get wooly. The driver won't be as quick and articulate in the bass. Grado typically punches 2-4 holes, depending on the model.
I used to do the ballpoint pen mod whenever I got a cheap Grado (SR60/SR80) but I stopped doing it because it doesn't scale. If you get a nice amplifier, you won't notice any improvement to the bass. What's more, if you do it poorly, you can blow the drivers, either by sticking a pin through them or by so aerating them too much.
So, how do you harness that lost bass? On its top models, Grado uses the wooden and metal shells. These shells are "open" but they use the sides of that "cannon" to augment the bass you're hearing, even if it's not sub-bass.
What can you do to make Grados more dynamic, especially the DT-325? You can pair them with a warm up. You can swap out the pads (There is now somebody making after-market pads for Grado, pads that capture more bass). You can get an amp with bass boost (like the iFi DSD Black Label) or you can simply create a bass shelf between 50 and 100 Hz. A few dB is all you need to add some very dynamic and delicious warmth without making the bass/mid-bass bloated.
If you create a sensible bass shelf, your 325 will sound more dynamic and you'll even avoid some of those spikes because you won't need to crank these cans as high to get the bass slam you crave. Even then, however, you won't get sub-bass because you're limited by the mylar driver. On the other hand, depending on the genre, you may not care. Surgically boosting the bass (no higher than 100 Hz and no lower than 40 Hz) make the Grados so engaging you won't feel any need to bail.
I've had a pair of Alessandro MS-1's for it must be over 20 years. I've replaced the pads several times. I use them on my gaming pc. My only other pair is a pair of Takstar HF580 that I won when they came out. It may be just because I am so used to them, but I prefer the Grado/Alessandro's
Those are G Cushion bowl pads that Grado makes for their other headphones. Geekria makes their version of it, same way that they make their version of other brands' headphone pads. idk but Resolve makes it sounds like Geekria came up with those pads on their own.
I bought a pair of SR-125e about 3 years ago and have only used them maybe 10 times. They've been in their box for over 2 years now. I just can't wear them for more than 30 minutes. I do like how they sound but the cable is just so stiff and heavy that the weight of it always pulls the headphones down and I always end up having to replace them on my head. The clamping force isn't strong enough to make the headphones stay on your head and the pads aren't comfortable for my ears at all. I much more prefer something like the HD-58x for the equivalent price.
Grado headphones got me into this hobby many years ago. In fact I actually started importing grado sr325's from hong Kong and reselling them for a bit of extra pocket money when I was a teenager about 20 years ago. On first listen I was astounded by the detail and i was from that moment hooked on HiFi. It didn't take long for what I lived about the grados, the detail, to become super fatiguing (it could actually remind many recordings) and I moved on. But they did get me Into the hobby, and I think my story is similar to a lot of poeples. Back in the day (and maybe still today?), Nothing else for its price could open a newbies ears to a whole new world of sound than a grado could. Hearing things you've never heard before, clear as day, is the easiest way to get hooked by this hobby
Yes. It’s crazy but 20 years ago, I started with a pair of Senns and then a 325. The 325 sits by my kids’ digital piano. Not sure it is competitive in todays market.
Part of that fatigue is the mid-forward design, which is accomplished through a tight ear/driver distance. There are rings you can buy that push the driver back a little, opening up the Grados from a more intimate sound to something more spacious. That's essentially what Grado is doing with its premium cans, like the GS1000 with its salad bowl pads. I don't really like the G-pads. They're too big. The mids recede too far. They also undermine the stability of the headband, whose forks are made for flatter pads. Right now, Grado is selling its mid-fi cans with flat pads, which give greater thunk to the bass. But they do so at a cost in the treble, which is attenuated. I don't like muting the treble.
I like the retro look combined with being able to call the Grado Hemp, "my hemphones" plus they're lightweight and comfortable with the over ear pads I use. Meanwhile, on the technical side, my aging ears seem to perceive a more subjectively even response than the objective measurements indicate. IMHO they're seriously more than good enough without taking themselves too seriously.
I used to give credence to the idea that maybe Grado was popular with older ears because of hearing loss but it's really about your taste in treble. Grados have what, to some, feels like a raw sound because they don't filter the driver and the ear/driver distance is close, especially with the flat pads. This makes them mid-forward. It's why the cheap Grados have less soundstage and a more intimate presentation. Headphones that increase ear/driver distance and filter the driver tend to subdue the mids. Some headphone listeners prefer rolled-off treble. They like subdued mids and imagine they're getting more soundstage. They will even tell you this is more "refined." To me, it's less engaging. And while I'm a big fan of the classic LCD-2 and LCD2-C, I'm not surprised that HiFiMan has forced Audeze to retune. To my ears, the classic Audezes sound better if you treble shelf them. Without a treble shelf, I find myself wondering what happened to the cymbals. But the headphone that made me appreciate treble wasn't a Grado; it was the DT-1990 Pro with its speedy/detailed Tesla drivers and its appreciation (rather than aversion) of treble.
I once thought about getting the GRADO Hemp "Limited Edition" but for $470 and it being an on-ear NFW!
I don't think it can just be called V-shaped, maybe at least a M or a W or something. MM-shaped?
mmm shaped
Mediocre shaped😂
I'm treble sensitive. The Tin Hifi T3 was unlistenable. Bought sr80x expecting to hate them. Loved them. Also didn't find them uncomfortable. I don't get it either.
Love my Grado rs-1 my most musical headphones for listening to music. And listening to music is what it is all about.
I've owned the original RS-1 headphone (with button) and wide pads for many years and they are still my go-to headset. I've added HiFiMan Arya Organic, Sennheiser 800s, Focal Clear, HiFiman Sundara, Sennheiser Drop HD6xx, Grado SR80 with wide pads, Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro, Apple Air Pod Pro, Apple Air Max, Sony WMX1000M4, etc. I still use the RS-1s for reference.
In making all of these cheap, easy, pandering criticisms (You mailed it in) you missed more important ones. I'm surprised you didn't point out that most of the Prestige Series Grados sound essentially the same, with the most minimal difference between them. In fact, they were originally the same headphone, with the differences arising simply from the accessorizing of features.
At $649, the HP1 was too expensive for the market, so Grado came out with the HP2 and HP3 at $495 and $349. It was the beginning of a process of paring the product down to make it reach the buying public. When Joseph Grado retired, John Grado bifurcated the product line between premium Grados - like the mahogany-shelled RS-1 - and the "Prestige" Series, which was mostly plastic knock-offs. These headphones originally differed in pad size, shell size and material for the back grill.
For whatever reason, John Grado switched out the original flat pads for small pads (S Pads) which are thicker and increase the distance between ear and driver. He may have been trying to attenuate the treble by having the pad cover the doughnut hole of the original flat pad. He may have also been trying to make for a more comfortable experience (Flat pads are not that comfortable). Then again, it may have simply been an issue of product availability.
Whatever the reason, the John Grado era killed the flat pads and served up small pads (on the cheaper Grados) and large pads (L Pads) on the more expensive models. The L Pads were like the flat pads, but had a higher rise on the outer edge. This opened up the treble but at the cost of bass. Many people who complained about the SR-325 were doing so because they felt the treble was too hot. The simple act of cranking up the volume didn't give them enough bass; it just made the treble insufferable.
We are now in the third generation, with John Grado's sons at the helm. The biggest change I can see is the darkening of drivers, a kind of R&D trickle-down from the PS1000 and its more-modestly-priced on-ear version, the PS500. The X drivers have more thunk but a reasonable criticism is that you lose some of the treble sparkle. I noticed this with both the PS1000 and the PS500 (in the premium line-up). Rock sounded better but when I listened to classical, the tonal balance shifted from violins to cellos.
Grado deserves credit for its use of tone woods, though it also deserves criticism, too. Mahogany was a better choice for a shell than hard plastic, and cocobolo wood was a better choice than mahogany. Those of us who started modding Grados knew about cocobolo before Grado did. We made shells from a variety of tone woods, including East Indian rosewood. Grado was right to seize upon maple and even metals like aluminum for their speed of transmission, but is there enough cocobolo in the GS3000 to merit a $3,000 price tag?
I have to wonder how much quality time you spent trashing Grados when you missed issues like the headband and assembly, which is mostly replicated all the way up the product line without any meaningful engineering. I first noticed this when I purchased the original GS1000, with its salad bowl G-pads. These were more comfortable than on-ear pads but they moved my ear away from the driver and I lost not only bass but that lush Grado midrange. It was a tradeoff designed to placate those enamored with soundstage.
Grado found ways to adapt by making the PS1000 feel more intimate, even with those giant pads but one thing it didn't think about was the ergonomics of fitting a Grado with giant pads while retaining the same headband. All of the G-pad-fitted Grados have leather headbands (instead of vinyl) but the G-pads kill stability. The headphones become so loose and top-heavy that they easily fall off the head.
Audeze had a similar problem but it did something about it. As the headband expanded laterally, its relatively vertical forks would end up stretched laterally, making it easy for the headphones to topple. Audeze's initial reaction was to make the clamp force that much more rigorous. Eventually, Audeze simply redesigned the headband to incorporate the reality of this lateral expansion. It has also worked on making their heavy cups lighter and has changed the material and thickness of the pads.
Grado hasn't done that, so all of its large-cup, G-pad headphones are unstable. Of course, you wouldn't discuss this because you were "just talking about the Prestige series." Your focus was limited to how much you hate on-ear headphones while you mused about why anybody would ever wear one. Well, that was the traditional design. And while circumaural has overtaken the market, it has a bigger footprint and there are actually some good reasons for on-ear headphones.
On-ear headphones have a sonic tradeoff. You lose soundstage but having the cushions lie on your ears allows the outer ear, with all its cartilage, to be physically impacted by the vibrations going through the pads. For Grados, which use sonically-transparent foam for the pads, it's nice to feel that physical impact.
Of course, on-ear headphones introduce pressure on the ears, which can cause the ears to ache, which is why circumaural headphones are more popular. That's true of all on-ear headphones, not just Grados. But while you did point out that Grados are lighter than most headphones (which makes them surprisingly durable even while looking cheap and flimsy), you failed to note that the wire in the headband is easily bendable, allowing easy adjustment to the clamping force. You can't do that with a Focal or a Sennheiser or an Audeze.
And before you say, "But those headphones aren't on-ear," let me say that just because a headphone isn't on-ear, that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. There are plenty of circumaural headphones that introduce a clamping force that is also uncomfortable. While I found the HD600 to be a fairly comfortable headphone, the HD650, HD660 and HD660S are snug to the point of feeling tight. Some of the Focals are pretty tight. I own the AB-1266 and there are times when I think the vice architecture isn't just a matter of looks.
I would have liked to have seen you talk more about how Grado, especially the SR-325x, just happens to pop up on "best headphones" websites that operate like a headphone QVC. I don't, for a moment, think that the SR-325x is the best headphone Grado makes, let alone the best headphone on the planet. That seems like some guerrilla marketing in a world where headphone advice and shilling are so easily interchangeable.
In a world full of entertaining headphone analysts, whose names start and stop with a single letter - and who seem to love and hate headphones the way Roger Ebert loved and hated movies in line with which directors he wanted to interview - I usually find your reviews more helpful, honest and informed.
I can't say that here. I think you simply mailed it in. You took several criticisms of Grado -criticisms that have bounced around for years - and turned someone else's homework in as yours. I think you should have spent more time and come up with more nuanced, insightful and novel points. I think if you weren't going to put the time in, you shouldn't have put out the video. This just seems like you felt the need to cover Grado and did it with the least effort you could summon.
Brilliant comment.
To be honest, I've got a few nice headphones and IEM's from Final, Audio Technica, etc. And I've got SR60e from Grado. And despite I adore my Final B3, I enjoy ATH sound etc., for some reason I've got the most pleasure while listening music on SR60e. And I'm almost not able to took them off because... because... because they are like cocaine. I've no idea what kind of voodoo is hidden within them. They might not be technically the best, but they deliver most fun. That is also why I've just ordered GW100x.
I guess you are not that much of a Grado fan boy since you got those cheapest crap but it kind of make sense since up you go with Grado they are same crap just bigger scam
Damn, the balls you must have for reviewing Grados.
The cult is gonna try to get you.
Great video as always couldn't agree more.
I absolutely love my pad swapped base Grados for playing keys and listening to spacey/reverb-y music. For punch I use Koss Porta Pro with stock pads. They are like night and day.
I bought the RS1’s about 18 years ago after getting wrapped up in all the hype, and comparisons with very expensive Stax earspeakers. I liked the look back then, but everything else was wrong. The scratchy ear pads that were torture for my ears. The horrible cable that I always managed to catch and tug on. The total absence of many bass frequencies! At the time I applauded the treble and detail retrieval, but I was kidding myself. Luckily I made money when I sold them and am in heaven now with Meze 109 Pro’s.
I didn't come to appreciate my Grados until I started to suffer hearing loss that tapers around 2k.
Kinda offtopic question, but does anyone know a title of the background song?
Grado's have the best treble along with the beyer 990 imho
The 990 was also criticized for having too much sizzle, but when the 1990 Pro came out, a lot of jaws dropped (and mouths were later shut) because the 1990 has exquisite detail, especially in the treble. The 990 has since been redeemed and it doesn't hurt that its "open" back is largely a closed back with a shutter-inspired design. It uses some part of its shell to put more thunk into its bass. It has velour pads, where Grado sticks to sonically transparent (but bass-bleeding) foam pads. This can be offset by simply using a bass shelf between 50 and 100 Hz.
80x and dekoni pads, i reach for them as often as my other cans. it’s not about better or not. it’s about do i enjoy the music, and with my grados, i sure do.
The biggest problem I had was those earcups would swivel 360 and twist that non-removable cable and cause a short. I decided 18 years ago to wait to replace them until there was a model sold with a removable cable. Still haven't replaced them.
the gw100x's have a detachable cable. That's because they're bluetooth mainly, but still
I like my grados for watching movies, they make dialog fairly clear during heavy action scenes. They are also nice for listening to drum music especially stuff with a lot of cymbals.
For unknown reasons, over the ear headphones cause me headaches. The light on ear Grados are the only headphones that were comfortable for me. But, and this took me a long time to come to understand, I have a sensitivity to high tones (think trumpets) and the Grados came to torture me. I didn’t know for years the Grados had these characteristics (this was nearly 20 years ago). FWIW, the wooden ones are less torturous.
Just Great review! Sentimental aspect is important for some.
I hope you cover the RS2X and RS1X at some point. I bought the Hemps and I think they're a tasteful deviation from neutral. Super punchy and physical sound. Loads of fun to listen to
Excellent Video, I recently bought the 325x after owning the SR60i for last 9 years. I continue to love them and how they sound as other headphones which target the harman curve, sound boring to me. Just my own opinion!
The worst thing about Grados is their pads quickly deteriorate and leave black dust on your head. The second worst thing is they start you down a 20+ year path of spending thousands on headphones and other audio gear. I'll probably never buy another Grado but also never sell my PS500e.
They are a gateway in to the hobby. Sr80e got me in to the hobby.
It has got a peak at about 4 khz rather than 2 khz. I equalize them by lowering the 4 khz region by 3.8 db and the 2 khz region by 1 db. I elevate the 20 khz and 60 khz regions by 0.5 db. With this equalization, given that they retain their unique and wonderful dynamics, they become as addicive as tobacco or coffee. You do not like them straight away, but once you're used to them, even the roughness of they pads becomes really addictive. Anyway, these need the aforementioned equalization in order to shine. One might argue, why bother equalizing a headphone when you can get a neutral one in the first place? Two reasons: timbre and dynamics. I also have the Hifiman Arya and the Sennheiser HD800s. They are marvellous with their soundstage and everything, but I still haven't found a headphone that does timbre and dynamics like my sr325is.
I own the Grado Hemp headphones. I plan to spend the entire day listening to them this coming Thursday.
imo Grado sound is very preferential; either you love it, or you hate it, because it's very different from a lot of the other headphones out there.
At least that's my experience based on the 325x and RS1X.
The trade off of the cables, the QC, and comfort are pretty bad. Personally I wouldn't recommend Grados to friends unless they want to try out their house sound (i.e. want to try something different) or like you said, they wanna dip their toes into the DIY modding community.
Supposedly the ZMF pads and the adapter helps quite a lot of the comfort issues (since it turns it into a over ear rather than on-ear); that + their pilot pad might help address all of the comfort issues honestly, if you're willing to invest more money into it. Been on my list of things to try out since I actually do like listening to the Grado sound time to time
Thanks, a little message for support
I love grados for folk and live music when listen without an amp.
The SR 60s were my first "Quality" headphone back in the late 90's. I had nothing to compare them too but Headroom said they were the best option under $100 so who was I to argue? Many, many years later and many HPs later, I know Grados have their faults but dammit, nostalgia can make you do funny things. I picked up the SR125x awhile ago and I also picked up the Dekoni "Shipabo" style pads for them. With the stock pads on just forget it. I couldn't even wear them long enough to make a judgement on sound. With the Dekoni pads on, well they are a set of cans that I can enjoy listening to at times. Not a daily by any means but every once in awhile with the right amp(the Nitsch Piety is a nice dance partner)they can give me a few hours of enjoyment.
Yes the cable is an abomination(will probably be my next mod), and the build does not inspire confidence, but I will say that I do not regret buying them at all.
The pads are one area where Grado has been mailing it in for decades. The original HP1 had paper drivers. Foamy flat pads allowed for a crispier treble and their minimal distance from the ear allowed for a lush midrange. But with the open backs and the foamy pads, a lot of bass would be lost. At the time, most music defined bass as kick-drum bass so it made perfect sense to go bareback. You could get a livelier top end without sacrificing too much of the bottom end.
A similar tradeoff is associated with the classic etymotic er4p, which is one of the clearest IEMs ever made, but with a notoriously bland bass. Nobody rocks out to the er4p but if you want clarity, that one is a dandy.
Grado should have done more with the pads. Dekoni's focus on this critical area has been awesome. You can take any headphone and really change the presentation by clever pad-swapping. Grado's limited experiments with pads (flat pads, small pads, large pads, salad bowls) only considered shape, not material. Grado rightly assumed that leather and sheepskin would kill the clarity but didn't put enough thought into thicker foams and hybrids.
With respect to the cable, most original cables suck. That includes the lamp cord on the HD6XX and HD800, the weird cables on the Susvara and Abyss Diana, and the heavy, cumbersome telephone wire used by the Focal Utopia. For weight and flexibility, Beyerdynamic and Dan Clark Audio make vinyl-covered cables that at least don't feel weird or heavy or nutty. My favorite cables are after-market cables, with relatively little weight and a nice mixture of flexibility and good looks.
But if he was going to beat up on Grado's cables, why go after the Prestige series? Most of their cables are less weighty than the 10-connector cables on Grado's more expensive cans.
They have a bendable headband! adjust them!
This is gonna be entertaining!🍿
I've had the SR80e for a while now. I don't dislike it, but I don't use it much anymore since I've expanded my headphone collection. I didn't consider modding them until now, and that does sound like fun! Maybe I'll tinker with it sometime.
Modding is great fun. Grados are the easiest headphones to pad swap. If you steam the cups, you can pry them apart to get to the drivers. Modders recable. They put ticky-tacky on the back of the driver to reduce vibrations. You can replace the cups with different tone woods or aluminum. You can also go cup free. Some replace the plastic forks with aluminum ones. The headband on the classic Grados used to just be a piece of vinyl (Now there's foam padding) but it's not hard to swap that out for leather. Cocobolo is a great tone wood. An even better one is Indian rosewood.
I disliked how grados feel at first but after wearing them for a few weeks I didn't mind how they feel anymore😅 And it's great because I can wear them for many hours because I can wear my glasses over them (just slide them up a bit). Yet, my hd6xx is more comfortable but after around 4h my glasses dig into my head a lot - and because of that, I can actually withstand my grados for longer. But for comfort imo IEMs are unbeatable which may be quite an unpopular opinion
I wish IEMs worked for my ears, my right canal is very small and even smaller nozzles with small tips build up a lot of uncomfortable pressure
Grados have to be modded to be able to be used, as soon as I took them out the box I knew I had to replace the cable as the stock cable even on Xs is trash and far too heavy for how light the headphones are, On ear is just not comfortable and would rather have open back IEMs than on ear headphones. thankfully I managed to get an open box 325x for £120 off.
What's that pink stereo in the background?
I heard the SR80e and I liked at times, and it did get sharp at some points. I have the GW100 and they are far better, Grado DSPed the hell out of it and it was great. I would be curious to see it measured.
Also, for comfort, the Dekoni and Nyczaj pad options with leather and cloth are a huge improvement.
Once the cable of the X series relaxes, it becomes one of the best behaved cables I have ever dealt with... But still not detachable. Dang
it never will until John is alive he is like stubborn child
I don't like most original cables - not the ones on the Focal Clear or Utopia, not the ones on the Susvara, not the ones on the Abyss Diana. They're always stiff or janky. Beyerdynamic and Dan Clark Audio make acceptably-benign cables, cables I don't have to think about. But the best cables are after-market cables.
@@soulfulfool his stubborness kind of adds to the charm though. I can imagine an angry old Gipetto up in his attic "you no a like my wooden head-a-fonia, fuck you, leave"
I think if you're interested in Grados but are really off put by their peaks in the treble, do consider the Hemps and the sr325X. They have some VERY nice tuning that is unlike the ones shown in this videos. Imagine an HD 650 with soundstage. Really WIDE soundstage.
I like Grado, especially the RS2e, but my favorite headphone of all time is the Sennheiser HD 600.
When audiophiles go to hell (have you checked your credit card bills lately?!), we will be made to wear and listen to the cheapest Grados for eternity. To make things even more hellish, the only allowed playlist is a never ending 20 minutes loop of obscure, derivative 90's lo-fi indie rock.
God bless HD600... Sold my 125e bc of 2k peak and spunch bob pads.
Im fully in agreement with you regarding Grado's
I was introduced to Grado when I was allowed to wear the original SR60. Not any revision, THE OGs. And they sounded great. Super detailed, great bass (especially for the time), and no real 2K peak. So, I got SR80e. And they had the 2K peak.
Can someone explain WHO is responsible for this deliberate tuning?
Shame you didn't get an OG SR-80 instead.
Personally I think the OG 60 and 80 were the best tuned models of their class.
@@mahoslash Yes, but it is too late now. Better give money to any new headphone, vote with your wallet.
What kind of pads did your SR-80e have? There was a time when the lower Grados were distinguished by their pads. The SR60 had the small pads. The SR80 had large pads, which were designed to create more sparkle and enlarge the sound stage. The L pads have since been discontinued. Now, Grado sells the 60, 80 and 125 with flat pads. This has increased their bass thunk. I used to buy SR60s, do a pinch mod on the small pads and rip off the front dust guard to increase their sparkle. I'd also use a ballpoint pen to vent the driver backs. With some, I replaced the plastic outer shells with various tone woods, the best of which was Indian rosewood.
Owning several Fostex , AKG and Beyer headphones, I don't find the Grado bright at all. But hey, all ears are different. Also, don't forget that your upper register gets worse as you age so added high-end might be preferable for some older listeners or people with some hearing damage (pretty much everyone). But Grado's are weird. I put them on and hate the sound, but after 30 minutes I see myself clicking trough my music library differently, loving the sound.