Which pair of Grado headphones for monitoring?

[jeffh]

I'm looking at Grado headphones as an upgrade to my Shure SRH840's, but their product lines are absolutely baffling. Which ones are best for precision monitoring?

Ideally not costing more than $500(US), but for the right headphones, I may be willing to go higher.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

any reason you are going for grado's ?? if they are for tracking, mixing etc, then i might think to avoid

[V0RT3X]

Might be worth auditioning a pair of Sennheiser HD650 headphones. Make sure when you audition your using a powerful enough amp to really hear how good they are.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Might be worth auditioning a pair of Sennheiser HD650 headphones. Make sure when you audition your using a powerful enough amp to really hear how good they are.

as far as i remember, the 650's have a bit of a hyped bass response.

[Ciberithm]

Grados are great headphones, but I wouldn't use them for mixing. They are considerably brighter in the upper midrange then my mixing headphones. They can make a bad mix sound good, so you might end up with a bad mix and not know it.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Grados are great headphones, but I wouldn't use them for mixing. They are considerably brighter in the upper midrange then my mixing headphones. They can make a bad mix sound good, so you might end up with a bad mix and not know it.

this is what i found. i had sr325i's for a few years, and i didn't realise how fatigued i would get using them. what would happen is that, during a mix, i would start to get desensitised to all the treble. this led to a lot of unnecessary boosting to counter. coming back to a mix a few days later was an unpleasant experience

add to that, that i found them uncomfortable to work with for extended periods of time. the 325's were quite heavy, but i also found the cups to be very shallow. my ears would touch the grille and get pretty hot after a while

the other thing to mention is that they are open cans. totally useless for tracking, and not great for anyone around you either

ended up selling them, and replacing with krk kns-8400. really happy with them. very comfortable, very balanced sounding. it's funny, 'cause i weighed them up against the shure set

for listening pleasure, it would be a different thread. i would recommend the krk's at the price, but the new focal cans look to be the one's to beat. would love a pair

[jeffh]

any reason you are going for grado's ?? if they are for tracking, mixing etc, then i might think to avoid

Well, I was eyeing Grado because they have that "hand-crafted by headphone artisans / ultra-exclusive boutique-quality" douche-baggery. I also looked at Audeze, but I can't help but think that they're not $1800 worth of better than my current $200 headphones

But also I was looking at Grado because if I'm going to spend $500+ on a pair of headphones that have a < $50 BOM, I would like for them to be made in a country that enforces strict environmental laws for electronics manufacture. The Sennheiser HD650's appear be made in Ireland(which is acceptable), but how much better than my SRH840's are they?

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

any reason you are going for grado's ?? if they are for tracking, mixing etc, then i might think to avoid

Well, I was eyeing Grado because they have that "hand-crafted by headphone artisans / ultra-exclusive boutique-quality" douche-baggery. I also looked at Audeze, but I can't help but think that they're not $1800 worth of better than my current $200 headphones

But also I was looking at Grado because if I'm going to spend $500+ on a pair of headphones that have a < $50 BOM, I would like for them to be made in a country that enforces strict environmental laws for electronics manufacture. The Sennheiser HD650's appear be made in Ireland(which is acceptable), but how much better than my SRH840's are they?

check out headfi [dot] o r g to find out more about good cans from real enthusiasts. CAUTION !! it's quite the rabbit-hole

you do end up with a real case of diminishing returns at the higher end of things. that last $1000 won't get you as much as the first.
the 840's are great cans from what i heard, though they have been superseded by other shure models

with certain cans e.g the senn 650's, you need good amping to really open them up. so, how they perform will depend on your audio interface. they are also 'open', so no good for tracking or if you are sharing space with others.

[V0RT3X]

One of the nice things about the Audeze cans is that they don't need "burn in" due to their different design

[jeffh]

Thanks guys for steering me away from Grado, it looks like I'll start my headphone search anew... (or just be content with the ones I have)

[audientronic]

Have to second or third the opinion that Grados are great but they kill your ears. I have the Beyerdynamics DT880 Pro and am pretty happy, although they squeeze my head a bit. They are only 200.

[jeffh]

Yeah, I actually wound up going with Shure SRH1840s, as much as I didn't want to go that route... Mostly because I'd already bought my Apogee One, which I didn't realize didn't have a line-out, so a headphone amp + Sennheiser HD650s (with their massive impedance) were out of the question unless I returned the Apogee One and got something else with a line-out.

The SRH1840s were a pretty worthy upgrade to my SRH840s, and they're easily driven by the One's built-in headphone amp. I am now able to hear everything I was doing wrong previously, and am surely destined for a record deal soon

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Yeah, I actually wound up going with Shure SRH1840s, as much as I didn't want to go that route... Mostly because I'd already bought my Apogee One, which I didn't realize didn't have a line-out, so a headphone amp + Sennheiser HD650s (with their massive impedance) were out of the question unless I returned the Apogee One and got something else with a line-out.

The SRH1840s were a pretty worthy upgrade to my SRH840s, and they're easily driven by the One's built-in headphone amp. I am now able to hear everything I was doing wrong previously, and am surely destined for a record deal soon

great stuff. sounds like a good choice

[ritzysheens]

Unfotrunatly I think Grado are some of the most uncomfortable headphones I've ever used. I have larger ears and wear glasses, and could only use my SR350 for 45 minutes without pain. I'm a big fan of the Ultrasone now.

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

for flat response, does anyone like any of the monoprice headphones? on their website, it looks like they're selling $80 phones for $20. i've heard great things about monoprice mics, so am wondering if the headphones are a great deal as well.