DJGammaRabbit t1_jeft2or wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:19 PM

Reply to comment by mistersprinkles1983 in Some cheap headphones are so good it's almost ridiculous. Buy the HE400SE and SHR840A. by mistersprinkles1983

This is where I'm at, cycling between sr80x, 325x, gw100x and any other brand that's supposedly way better for the same cost. I emailed Grado asking very specific questions about the GW100 sound and all I got back was "the GW100 is very, very good" 😂. I'd be happy with any of these. Public transit not an issue but I do want to ride my bike with these, cables or not, I'm that guy lol. The 325 I probably wouldn't take outside.

mistersprinkles1983 OP t1_jeftmvk wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:23 PM

Ya Grado is a strange company... All you have to do is look at their headphones. They look like they sound awful, but they don't sound awful. Very strange indeed. The 325 can best be described like this:

SR 60: YesSR 80: Yes, and then someSR 125: Even more Gradoey goodnessSR 225: Gradoey goodness with graveySR 325: Extra tasty crispy Gradoey goodness, and they painted it silver so it looks more expensive.

Every step you take up from the SR 60 just sounds like a better SR60 all the way up to the 325. Again, Grado is frickin weird. I don't know of any other company that has 5 of the same headphone, literally, looks and all, where each step up is just (It's like the cheaper one, but with peanuts).

So, if you got the 325, your reaction, almost guaranteed would be "This is better". Not, "This is different" or "ooh I like XYZ"... just "This is Grado-er than the other Grado"

I WILL say that, if the GW100 is the wireless grado, that's a stupid product if I ever saw a stupid product. Bluetooth- so highly mobile... and open back? So "Take them on the subway train and annoy absolutely everyone with your k-pop"? I don't get it.

DJGammaRabbit t1_jefuwlf wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:31 PM

Those are perfect descriptions. The GW was made just to fit in lol.

mistersprinkles1983 OP t1_jefvm8v wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:36 PM

Ya definitely don't buy the GW that's just a batshit crazy product. So I take it you're looking for an all-rounder right? Because you only have the Grados now so I'm guessing whatever else you get needs to be well rounded? I really think you should check out the PM3 you know.. The more I think about it I think you're really not going to be disappointed with those and if you factor everything in they're cost effective, punch above their price, and are a really truly decent and very well made headphone. You should listen to them. They scratch that planar itch very well. Inarguably superior to 400SE IMO (at 3x the price mind you)

DJGammaRabbit t1_jefxnqm wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:50 PM

My SR80 were stolen from me ten years ago by a drug addict friend from HS. He came in to use the washroom, took a little long and when he left my pills and headphones were gone =(

I used the SR80 for every genre and even tried mixing with them which they were terrible for.

I used to press them to my head to get more bass (I even wore grass cutting ear protection over them to squeeze to my head, my poor elf ears) and when I did they were almost excellent. Whereas other boomy cheap headphones had boominess what they didn't have was control and authority down to 20hz. I want a new headphone to have the same clarity effect where in first listen you're like alright, what the fuuuuck. They sounded like a purity, like hearing an angels voice. Since I've never heard anything as good I look at each other headphone and think they can't be as good unless a higher Grado 😂.

One song that comes to mind is floyds hey you. That guitar intro just rang into my brain with such a metallic, clear and separated twang, I could taste the strings. Really made school bus rides enjoyable. I also lost 135lbs by biking with them. I put toilet paper under the pads to catch the sweat and had the cable stretching out from a backpack. I probably looked like a time-travelling radio operator ghost buster. I'll look at the PM3 but I am kinda sold on Grado already.

mistersprinkles1983 OP t1_jefuggo wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:28 PM

One thing I do really want to stress is that the fun of collecting headphones is in the differences and getting to the point where you decide "These are for pop" "These are for techno" "These are for jazz" and you have a good rotation going. If you get any other grado below their "premium" line it's just going to be a slightly better version of the same. It will obsolete your current grados so you never use them again. Wouldn't it be more fun to buy something that was totally different and sounded totally different to add some variety to your life? Just saying.

DJGammaRabbit t1_jefvk8x wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:36 PM

On my budget, no, and I trust Grado enough to throw money at them. I've got $200 ATM and another $200 will take another month. I started looking at headphones like 8 months ago and bought cheap Marley IEMs for the time being. I had $500 for the 325x and it slowly dwindled into groceries. I'm not sure if my phone even has BT 5.0.