This is a review and detailed measurements of the Grado SR60x on ear, open back headphone. It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs US $99 on Amazon.
The classic look of Grado is paradoxically timeless:
It takes me back to 1990s when I started to manage the signal processing team at Microsoft all of whom were using Grados. It feels plasticky to be sure but other than foam rotting, they hold up well.
They are pretty light:
They pinch the top of ear though so I could not wear them for more than a few minutes. Strange as I don't remember this when I wore them three decades back. Wonder if we develop more pain receptors in our ears as we get older!
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
Fitment on the fixture worked on first try which surprised the heck out of me given the fact that these are on ear headphones. But please heed the above warnings regarding accuracy of measurements especially in higher frequencies.
Grado SR60x Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response:
Now that is a simple story: very little bass (expected) and large bump in lower treble (not expected). I can see this accentuating spatial qualities and detail and hence selling to folks. Here is the relative curve for equalization:
Gross equalization should be easy.
Distortion is very high:
As note though, we get luck with the peak around 4 kHz as we would be pulling that peak down a lot anyway.
Impedance is on the low to medium side:
Zooming in, we see the sins of the headphone:
We see the same two peaks in frequency response indicating resonances in the headphone/driver.
Group delay is messy in the same region:
Edit: here is the updated sensitivity:
Note that I measure sensitivity at 425 Hz. With the large peaks in 2 to 4 kHz, it is likely to sound louder than this graph indicates.
Grado SR60e Listening Tests and Equalization
I was listening to my every day Dan Clark Stealth when I switched over to Grado mid-song. Immediate impression was oh, there are more highs here. But not in a super obnoxious way if the peaking was at higher frequencies. A bit more listening though and the sharpness starts to get to you so equalization is mandatory:
The improvement with the two notch filters was dramatic. It took the edge off the sound but still left enough for it to have good spatial qualities. Bass boost was tricky as it is definitely needed but crank up the volume and the drivers start to generate static/crackle. Fortunately it gradually comes over and for average listening you can push it that much.
With all of this in place, I enjoyed listening to the SR60x. Yes, the highs were still a bit artificial and edgy if I can call them that. But there was also something about this open back headphone that surprises at times with how it sounds.
Conclusions
If there ever was a company that built whatever it wanted and didn't care what people thought, is probably Grado. They still build these by hand (?) in New York to whatever metric they think sounds good. Well, first impressions are that but it only last a minute of two. Use the above EQ and you quickly learn a lesson in what balanced tonality is (with EQ) and not (without EQ).
I can't recommend the Grado SR60x without EQ. With EQ, it is good and can have slightly above attribute at times.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The classic look of Grado is paradoxically timeless:
It takes me back to 1990s when I started to manage the signal processing team at Microsoft all of whom were using Grados. It feels plasticky to be sure but other than foam rotting, they hold up well.
They are pretty light:
They pinch the top of ear though so I could not wear them for more than a few minutes. Strange as I don't remember this when I wore them three decades back. Wonder if we develop more pain receptors in our ears as we get older!
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
Fitment on the fixture worked on first try which surprised the heck out of me given the fact that these are on ear headphones. But please heed the above warnings regarding accuracy of measurements especially in higher frequencies.
Grado SR60x Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response:
Now that is a simple story: very little bass (expected) and large bump in lower treble (not expected). I can see this accentuating spatial qualities and detail and hence selling to folks. Here is the relative curve for equalization:
Gross equalization should be easy.
Distortion is very high:
As note though, we get luck with the peak around 4 kHz as we would be pulling that peak down a lot anyway.
Impedance is on the low to medium side:
Zooming in, we see the sins of the headphone:
We see the same two peaks in frequency response indicating resonances in the headphone/driver.
Group delay is messy in the same region:
Edit: here is the updated sensitivity:
Note that I measure sensitivity at 425 Hz. With the large peaks in 2 to 4 kHz, it is likely to sound louder than this graph indicates.
Grado SR60e Listening Tests and Equalization
I was listening to my every day Dan Clark Stealth when I switched over to Grado mid-song. Immediate impression was oh, there are more highs here. But not in a super obnoxious way if the peaking was at higher frequencies. A bit more listening though and the sharpness starts to get to you so equalization is mandatory:
The improvement with the two notch filters was dramatic. It took the edge off the sound but still left enough for it to have good spatial qualities. Bass boost was tricky as it is definitely needed but crank up the volume and the drivers start to generate static/crackle. Fortunately it gradually comes over and for average listening you can push it that much.
With all of this in place, I enjoyed listening to the SR60x. Yes, the highs were still a bit artificial and edgy if I can call them that. But there was also something about this open back headphone that surprises at times with how it sounds.
Conclusions
If there ever was a company that built whatever it wanted and didn't care what people thought, is probably Grado. They still build these by hand (?) in New York to whatever metric they think sounds good. Well, first impressions are that but it only last a minute of two. Use the above EQ and you quickly learn a lesson in what balanced tonality is (with EQ) and not (without EQ).
I can't recommend the Grado SR60x without EQ. With EQ, it is good and can have slightly above attribute at times.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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