SR80s sound rich and detailed, and are easily driven from an iPod Shuffle
Written: Mar 25 '05
Product Rating:
Pros: Phenomenal sound for the price. Probably the best headphones you can buy for under $100.
Cons: Foam pads are inexcusably discomforting. You will need a rest after less than two hours.
The Bottom Line: These headphones sound phenomenal after 30 hours or more of break-in time. My experience is that they work fine without an amplifier. A little bulky for portability, but worth it.
eriklanigan's Full Review: Grado SR80 Professional Headphones
Having gained much knowledge from these reviews before I made my purchase, I feel obligated to contribute to them now that I have my new Grado SR80s. I have had them for about a week and have enjoyed them very much. They are the best headphones I have ever listened to, although I should point out that my experience is limited to the Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor headphones.
I took the advice of the forums and reviewers and broke/burned them in for at least 30 hours before listening critically. I connected them to my PowerBook and made a looping playlist in iTunes of music I thought ran the whole sound spectrum. I let the headphones play at just SLIGHTLY louder than a normal listening volume (which for me is very low--I like to save my hearing) overnight with those songs. Over the next day and the next night, I followed the advice of other headphone reviewers and fed the headphones with pink noise and sine wave sweeps, as well as a little white noise and brown noise. (It is amazing how little information exists on how to do this--I was mostly guessing at what noises and volumes were appropriate.) To generate the sounds, I used an excellent Mac program called AudioTest (www.katsurashareware.com), and exported 30-second sound clips to iTunes for looping. I can say that after 30 hours or so of burning in, the difference in sound from the time I took them out of the box was phenomenal. I'm sure that with more use they will sound even better (remember--I have only had these a week).
I have heard many reviewers complain of the discomfort caused by the foam earpads which sit on a persons ears, and I have to say I agree with them. The foam pads, which seem soft when you first put them on, eventually apply so much pressure on your ears that you feel you must take them off to rest. As I write this, I have been wearing the headphones for about two hours and am now really starting to notice the slight pain. Given the many years these headphones have been on the market, it seems inexcusable of Grado to continue to manufacture these 'phones with such painful pads, ruining what would otherwise be a wonderfully enjoyable listening experience.
Discomfort aside, these headphones are a joy to listen to, and reveal many more details than my Sony MDR-7506 ever did. The highs, mids, and lows are so rich and full and well-balanced as to rival any pair of speakers a person could buy for under $1000 (I assume). I find I no longer use the Equalizer or the Sound Enhancer in iTunes as I previously did with the Sonys. I can just sit back and enjoy the music as the sound engineer intended, which is great, considering that the iPod Shuffle I use these with lacks any adjustments besides volume.
I have read reviews that say a person must use an amplifier with these headphones to eliminate distortion. While I have never used a headphone amplifier, I can say that these headphones sound superb and are PLENTY loud when driven from the headphone jacks of either my PowerBook G4 or my new iPod Shuffle. (Incidentally, I have read on PCWorld's website that the Shuffle has a higher volume and lower distortion ratio than any of Apple's other iPods, which may explain why I can drive them at almost the same volume I use to drive my Apple Earbuds.) These big retro-cans certainly don't match the white pureness of the Shuffle, but they don't look too bad either--especially not when you double the black cord around your neck to eliminate cord dangle when wearing the Shuffle on a lanyard. It can be a pretty nice system for around the house and in the car, even if you wouldn't want to be seen walking down the street like this. (Or maybe you would, if you like to draw lots of attention.)
In conclusion, while my only frame of reference are the $90 Sony MDR-7506 (the long-time standard for broadcast radio and TV monitoring, from what I understand), I can say these headphones outperform them dramatically and are probably the best headphones a person can buy for under $100. (Try http://headphone.com. They have a 30-day money-back guarantee.)
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