Why the hate for Grado?

[antikryst]

Clears are the "clear" winner in resolution. I think you have look at Grado models that are much more expensive than the 325X in order to match it.

325X is no match for the clears yeah. i dont wanna go for the more expensive grados though since im sure they still are not comfy as they use the same headband design.

 

[dan3952]

325X is no match for the clears yeah. i dont wanna go for the more expensive grados though since im sure they still are not comfy as they use the same headband design.

I look regularly on Hifishark for used Grados. They're a want, and not a need, since I now have a single family house and don't have to worry about disturbing others. Main complaints about Grados are the foam feels scratchy and uncomfortable on your ears, and a lack of bass. Last review I read was Brent Butterworth's of the RS2x. He's about as experienced as they come.

SoundStage! Solo | SoundStageSolo.com - Grado RS2x Headphones

Reviews of headphones, earphones, and headphone amplifiers

www.soundstagesolo.com

Clear Mgs I had, were tops for dynamic impact in open back headphones. Those drivers, are mounted in a small tube, while the Grados are totally open baffle. I may have had the same experience if I had open baffle speakers. Drums, had sounded better to my ears with closed back headphones and IEMs than even the Clear Mgs. Planar Audeze LCD-Xs headphones had a mellow, laid back sound, poorer imaging, a more diffuse billowy sound stage. Focal products always reach out and grab me: they all have a small soundstage that projects straight out from the driver.

 

[killdozzer]

I really liked mine. I sold them because they were a bit brighter than I like.

 

[solid12345]

Dunno. In my opinion Hemp does not need EQ, not at all.
Music takes you attention, no need to "stare" FR or any other dump stuff.

The Hemp is my first pair of Grados and I find them a bit veiled, slightly v-shaped with a lush bass, not hearing the brightness spike people are talking about; but I’ve also read they are Grado’s warmest and off-beat pair yet. But then again being made out of hemp is unique in itself, sounds to me like the Grado boys had some fun in the lab and grew something daddy didn’t care for but still managed to get it out the door probably with some grumbling

 

[lowmagnet]

Grados were one of my first headphones, and I have to say: I've never worn worse. They don't sit still on your head, you can't even lay back without them falling off, you can't detach the cord, their construction is awful and the sound is awful. I think most of the defenders just like the Radar Riley aesthetic.

 

[GM3]

Probably said many times, but to me:

1) SR80 doesn't have 'the best' sound; many call them Gratos; as per grating. They sound ok'ish at best.

2) lack of comfort; really not very comfortable when compared to say Sennheiser or others. Headband isn't even padded... VS a senn 598 it's night and day!

3) SR80 pads are awful; doesn't sit over your ears (pads sitting on your head), pads kinda half sits on top of your ears, with the hard plastic resting on your ears..... Really horrible design, was OK 20-30 years ago maybe, but today..... Awful.

4) the worse cable in the universe ........ Doesn't bend, and when it's bent because it was in storage, you can't bend it back so it's always all crooked and twisted, and the headphones are not straight when the cable is in its natural 'straightness', so under tension when in normal position, there's never a 'right' position, always wonder if one side is rotated 360 degrees that twists the cable funny, so you turn it 360 but that doesn't fix, so you try the other and it's not better, it's just always just twisted funny, never sits right because it doesn't bend right.. bleargh!

So they're not entirely awful, but they're pretty awful by today's standards.

Couple years ago replaced the pads with some extra large pads (like on higher end grados) and added a faux-leather/foam headband from ali, helped a lot for comfort, but just can't groove with the sound. Which reminded me that they sell headphone drivers. I really wonder if purchasing drivers (say $50 for pair?) and replacing Grado drivers could transform them and make them sound good/great? Maybe also put some sockets and replace the cable... Since the SR80s were like 100 bucks at the time, can't have super great drivers in them, think there was a thread on head-fi about that.. hmmm..

 

[GXAlan]

Grado has been around for a long time since there’s clearly a group of people where the setup works for them. They are easy to drive, have a forward presence which may work with your pinna and are great for durability and repairability.

For me, the SR80e doesn’t bother me in the slightest bit for comfort and the pressure is fine and the foam works. I also have MDR-7506 and Sennheiser HD820. Take that preference as you will. My most comfortable headphone is actually the AKG K-60 from the 1960’s

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[pablolie]

I used to have a bunch of Grados... RS-1, PS-500, SR325... but now I only have the SR225. I love the SR225 I have, but wonder why it sounded *much* better than the SR325... the spec read identical, yet the SR325 was much more subdued and lower volume than the SR225 when I switched them to compare, which made me sell it... And the original RS-1 -which I also liked a lot, musical but a tad lacking in punch IMO- without serial numbers or such became a collectionist item, so I sold it for a silly amount two years ago.

My experience with the brand made me regard them as more artesan than scientific, clearly the published specs are not maintained in production based on the obvious discrepancy I experienced between the 225 (which I will always keep) and the 325. I probably lucked out with the 225 I got and which I love. But most of the time these days I listen to my Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro and a Shure SRH1540 or (cabled in-ear for long trips) a Shure 535. Away from home, the in-ear Sony XM4 are great in SQ and NC (but the microphone sucks, don't try to join business meetings with those).

 

[isostasy]

I liked this headphones.com video, I think it pretty well summarises why there is 'hate for Grado' but also explains how some people still have their reasons for liking them. Only thing I'd add is that, although G cushions do help with comfort, you're trading just peaky treble for peaky and excessively elevated treble, which I find too unpleasant to listen to.

Sorry @Resolve for always mentioning you on ASR, I don't have a YT account ... but if you want suggestions of mods to reproduce and measure: shallow cups, taped L pads, and a circle of felt is the best I've managed to come up with. I measured the depth of the rear cup as having an influence on the peak in the mid-range: as you lengthen the cup, the peak becomes broader band and lower down in the frequency spectrum. That's my current theory on why the 2kHz peak is so bad on modern Grados with the deep mushroom shaped cups. Here's my post on the SR60X review detailing the experiment. My FPC has changed a little since that post, but here's how my SR80i now measures against a HD6XX with new pads:

Disclaimers about FPCs etc. notwithstanding, you can see it's not bad. I like the way it sounds.

The 3D printed cups are the same dimensions as the original SR60/80/125/225 cups (before the 'i' series). Pads are 3rd party, they're sort of a cross between L and F pads in that they look like L pads but are a bit flatter like F pads. I don't know if the foam ring is any different to using electric tape, I just didn't want to damage the foam by applying electric tape directly to it. I'm sure more elegant solutions can be thought up; the principle is to simply have some dense material around the edge of the pad. I can send you the STL files if you want to copy it directly, however.

I've been unable to do anything with deeper pads, like G cushions, that I've been happy with. Thanks!

 

[CardiganB]

Uneven frequency response and high distortion

If you've never heard SR80e with the mesh that's plastered to the grills ripped off then you've never really heard them. Also, break-in time is absurd.

 

[A Surfer]

Break in, mechanical break-in is a myth. Psychological break in well that is a thing. The headphone does not start to sound different, you acclimate to it's sound.

 

[Somafunk]

Break in, mechanical break-in is a myth. Psychological break in well that is a thing. The headphone does not start to sound different, you acclimate to its sound.

That’s correct, you buy them when you’re 20 and after a lifetime of working construction you retire at 65 with severe hearing loss so they naturally sound good

 

[InfiniteJester]

I tried them once, when I was a teenager. The guy in the store and my friend told me that they were excellent.

They sounded like pain to me.

I didn't buy them.

My friend did.

I never understood the appeal.

 

[Mr Swing King]

One of my best friends absolutely adores Grado. Owns about 7 pairs.
I’ve tried every pair and find them all terrible.
Grado somewhat reminds me of Abyss in that the end product, the actual presentation, ends up being somewhat slapdash. The tuning happens not by a trained ear but rather through the pads that are guilty of the murderous 2k resonance that all Grados come with.

Personally I think Grados are bought mostly by folks who love the old school radio operator design. Similar to ZMF fans jonesing for the next exotic wood.
It becomes more about the design and all around narrative around the American built company than actual sound quality.

Then again who am I to say that my friend is wrong? He loves his cans and absolutely hates mine. It’s a matter of tastebuds in the end.

 

[A Surfer]

I started out with Grado, enjoyed them for sure; however, once exposed to better tuned headphones, there was no going back.

I remain shocked how, pardon the pun, tonedeaf Grado remain. Clearly their sound is generally not well received. Perhaps the company is content with the tiny market share they have?

 

[Jimbob54]

I started out with Grado, enjoyed them for sure; however, once exposed to better tuned headphones, there was no going back.

I remain shocked how, pardon the pun, tonedeaf Grado remain. Clearly their sound is generally not well received. Perhaps the company is content with the tiny market share they have?

Same here. It's very hard to listen to them now. You can eq out the sound a bit and the ones with salad bowl pads are very comfy but they just arent a safe recommendation for anybody really. If anyone must try them, get the 60s. It has no worse flaws than the rest of the range!

 

[A Surfer]

I started with the SR125, then the SR225 and finally an HF2. Never heard the 60. Might be fun to try. Would never spend money on Grado, but I would listen if someone had them handy.

 

[Miser_Audioman]

I have a 20 year old pair of SR 80s, listening to them right now, hooked up to a Schiit Heretic. They were the first pair of not cheap garbage headphones i ever had. I enjoyed them for years. They expose details in recordings, but really lack bass.
To decide what I’d like to replace them with, went with the zero:2 iem to see if the Harman curve was something I liked. I do, so looking at AKG 371.
Still i would like to see MEASUREMENTS to show just exactly what makes Grados questionable.

 

[Jimbob54]

I have a 20 year old pair of SR 80s, listening to them right now, hooked up to a Schiit Heretic. They were the first pair of not cheap garbage headphones i ever had. I enjoyed them for years. They expose details in recordings, but really lack bass.
To decide what I’d like to replace them with, went with the zero:2 iem to see if the Harman curve was something I liked. I do, so looking at AKG 371.
Still i would like to see MEASUREMENTS to show just exactly what makes Grados questionable.

Let's assume for a minute the 60s aren't so far away from the 80s.....

Grado SR60x Review (on ear headphone)

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...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[MAB]

I have a 20 year old pair of SR 80s, listening to them right now, hooked up to a Schiit Heretic. They were the first pair of not cheap garbage headphones i ever had. I enjoyed them for years. They expose details in recordings, but really lack bass.
To decide what I’d like to replace them with, went with the zero:2 iem to see if the Harman curve was something I liked. I do, so looking at AKG 371.
Still i would like to see MEASUREMENTS to show just exactly what makes Grados questionable.

They have mixed bag of measurements.

Grado SR80e/SR80 Review

The Grado SR80e/SR80 are decent open-back headphones for neutral sound but a below-average choice for everything else. They're decently comfortable and have a we...

www.rtings.com

I don't care for the sound, and even less for the fit and feel. Otherwise it seems they could be EQ'ed to my liking.
But some like the design, and for sure everybody's fit and tolerance for things clamped over ears is different!