Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] Good Studio Hearphones
From: Florin Andrei (florin_AT_andrei.myip.org)
Date: Fri Jul 23 2004 - 00:59:33 EEST
On Wed, 2004-07-21 at 11:15, Ryan Underwood wrote:
> Anyone have opinions on the Grado SR60? I am really happy with them for
> the price. Probably not "pro" quality, but above and beyond anything I
> ever bought at a retail store. A bonus is that they don't require
> separate headphone amplifier, which is nice for portable use...
Excellent phones in the $50-$100 range. No, they don't compare with the
$300+ superstars, but then you get what you pay for and, in the case of
SR60, a bit more than what you pay.
I've heard about people who use them with portables on the street! :-)
The retro World War II look makes them less of a target for muggers and
thieves (they believe you're wearing cheap ass turn-of-the-other-century
phone-company-standard-issue cans). Some say they're ugly, but i
actually kinda like the style, in the way Harley-Davidson fans like to
wear Nazi helmets.
I don't recall whether they have as sturdy a cable as the SR125 with
which i'm more familiar, but if they do, then that's another plus for
wearing them in difficult places (outdoors, or in an unruly studio):
that solid piece of copper rope will rather yank the amplifier out of
the rack (or rip your head apart from your shoulders) if you trip on it
rather than giving up and breaking apart.
That, sadly, is not the case with high-end cans such as Sennheiser
HD580/600. On the flip side, the HD's thin cable does not abuse a slim
device such as an iPod (especially a mini iPod which is known to have
issues with the output connector), while the Grado will do that with a
vengeance.
The brightness (too much treble response) which is a common issue with
any Grado is less of a problem with SR60, if my memory serves me (i
think the SR60 have a kind of sharp, crackling, hard and lifeless treble
response but not much overemphasized), but on the flip side the SR60 are
rough and lack the ample space of the higher models.
Again, i'm making comparisons agains highest-end phones, because the
SR60 are pretty damn good when compared to other sub-$100 cans.
In any case, for the price range, you'll be hard pressed to find better
phones. But if i were to buy phones in that price range, i'd rather eat
plain bread and drink plain water for a while and save money for the
SR80 (or go full vegan for a while longer and reach the $200 threshold
where a lot of oportunities open up; not to mention the health benefits
of the diet).
But then again, i'm a transparency/accuracy nutcase, so...
-- Florin Andrei
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