Selection Guide

iI just received my Grado SR 80is to use with my Bithead amp at work. I work iin a cubicle setting where there are others around but perfectly acceptable to be wearing headphones all day. That said, these cans emit so much external noise that I cannot easily wear these at work. When I listen to my iiPod at only half volume, my coworker asked me to "turn it down".

These headphones may be a good purchase in isolated environments but I cannot imagine wearing them in any sort of public setting (i.e. bus, train, plane, office, library, etc.).

Regarding sound quality, I have only listened for about 10 hours so not enough time to burn them in. Straight out of the box, I was not blown away. Still finding my Shure SE315 ear buds to sound superior on all levels through the amp, but again this is before burn in for the Grados so perhaps not truly fair comparison. I will be sending these back in and perhaps moving on to try AKGs.

Surprisingly, found these to be more comfortable than I was expecting.

Source: iPod Classic, HiFiMan EF2A

Best mids I have ever heard. The SR80i may not be as crystal clear as those monitoring headphones, e.g. Audio Technica M40 or Shure SRH440, but the warm, boosted yet detailed mids make human voice and violin/cello sound just awesome.

If you think the bass of Koss Porta Pro is not there, or the Beyerdynamic DT440 is not clear enouth, please forget about Grados; otherwise, you won't bear the cost of missing it.

Testing:
mp3
Audio from both iPod and PC
Amped and unamped
Tracks: Weird Al Yankovic ( Pancreas and Trapped in the Drive-thru )
Cake ( Pentagram )
Patricia Barber ( Touch of Trash )

First let me say that the ability of an iPod to drive these headphones surprised me. Even though I had to increase the volume to 3/4 full to get the detail I wanted.

BASS:
One of the great aspects of the SR 80 is the ability to represent the bass frequencies without having to stimulate the drivers much. You will appreciate the bass of this phone unless you plan on using it in very busy environments. In which case go with a closed phone.

BASS IMPACT:
Arguably the most attractive aspect of the sound for this price point. I have always enjoyed the way Grado Labs modifies the bass impact with their headphones. I mean look at the frequency response graphs. The bass is completely rolled off, but your ears will certainly disagree. If you want more bass impact and you are looking at these cans I say go for it. A+

MIDS:
The mids are present and not entirely washed away. Vocals were a tad distant for my taste. A slight increase in the mid frequencies can be heard using an amp, but it is nothing to be excited about.

HIGHS:
The highs are nicely represented out of both an iPod and PC. With amplification you can hear a kind amount of brightness. Cymbals are not represented well by these phones.

SOUNDSTAGE:
These phones have a very immediate sound stage especially using an ipod. What can you expect from an ear pad phone. Not much to discuss here other than the sound stage is somewhat level.

COMFORT:
Unless you expand the headband, wear a headband to move the top of the ear pad off of the top of your ears you are going to have sore ears. The headband is also thin with a nice stiff metal rod in it so the top of your head will also be sore. They are a light weight phone which is nice. Another positive side of their comfort is they do not clamp your head like many new closed headphones. I did finally find a position for these phones that made them very comfortable for hours on end.

DURABILITY:
The weakest part of these phones is the ear pad material. It is very cheap foam that typically decays over time. Not as bad as say Shure's SRH 440 and below, but not very high quality. The replacements are inexpensive and there are a couple options out there for you.

CONSENSUS:
Not for Jazz!
These cans are appropriately placed into their price point. They sound surprising nice for an on ear phone. The bass and bass impact are great, the mids and highs are fine, and they can respond lightly to amplification. I give them a "Try It!" if you are just getting into the $100 bracket.