Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsLive your music with Grado
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2018
These bring a depth and liveliness to music that other cans just don't. They aren't what I'd consider reference headphones. They aren't neutral or perfectly accurate sound reproducers. What they are is fun to listen to. They color the sound in such a way as to grab your attention and hold it without becoming fatiguing to the ear. Through these, you don't simply hear the music; through these, you experience it.
Their detail and transparency, notably in the vocal and guitar mid-range, is incredible. If there's a song out there which you find to have incomprehensible lyrics, there's a good chance each syllable will be clear as a bell through these. Sometimes I swear I can hear the singer's lips and tongue move! I've noticed the percussive sound of fingers striking piano keys. Guitar solos are soaring and beautiful, not a note or strum to be missed. The highs are smooth and extended, with a natural sparkle not at all piercing to my ears, and pleasantly rolled off, lending unexpected warmth to these otherwise bright headphones. The decay of cymbals, piano keys, djembes, and any reverb is truly awe inspiring, which is a big part of what makes them so engrossing. Transient response is excellent. There is no harshness to these whatsoever. One aspect of their sound signature is a steep bass roll-off below 100hz. The mid-bass is punchy and forward, if somewhat looser than the deeper mids, accentuating kick drums, toms, and bass guitars nicely without being bloated.
The lack of sub-bass response does place hip-hop and other bass heavy genres out of the Grado wheelhouse. Most everything else absolutely shines. A quest for the best headphones for rock and metal led me to Grado, and I find them to be just that, but I quickly found them to be capable of so much more. With these cans, a decent DAC, and amp you can truly hear the nuance you've never noticed buried in tracks you've heard a thousand times. The soundstage is intimate and realistic, giving you a front row seat feeling with stellar imaging and separation that doesn't feel artificial.
The first album I spun was a vinyl copy of Slayer's Reign In Blood. The guitars growl and rasp with a well defined presence, while the transient response makes every snare hit a rifle shot punctuating machine gunning bass drums and tom toms, yet none of it overwhelms the vocals, which are clear and clean. Picture Tom Araya as a gleaming skull screaming in the fiery depths. Even his bass guitar is brought forward, which is great, because it's often obscured by the rest of the instruments.
The second album I went with was Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos. Where Slayer revealed all the attack and speed these phones possess, Tori uncovered their sublime openness and tonal sweetness. The width and depth of the soundstage becomes apparent with such accoustic recordings, yet the front-row intimacy remains. Her piano is very present and grounded, and, for lack of a better descriptor, very musical (as in not clinical and uninspired). The slow, boomy bass drums and deep bass guitar come through with strength and clarity, and despite their thick reverb, they sound neither bloated nor thin and they decay into silence. Best of all, her voice sounds so airy, lush, full, beautiful, and alive that you'd think she was some sort of goddess gracing your living room.
As for the comfort and build quality, I just want to point out that they are hand made, and like all quality hand made items, they have quirks which actually add to their appeal rather than diminish it. They come with a character all their own. You have to love their Spartan, vintage appearance, with their metallic silver paint, chrome grills, and copper drivers alongside the leather headband. These particular cans are fairly hefty from the aluminum cups, but the clamping pressure, which isn't too high, keeps them secure. The foam cushions seem to grip your ears a little, too. The headband is clad in soft, high grain leather, but there isn't much in the way of padding there. The top of my head began to get a little sore after a few hours. Since they sit on your ears, you can always move them around if they become uncomfortable. The pads themselves certainly don't look comfortable, but they aren't bad at all. They aren't what I'd call plush, but they stay cool and confirm to your ears well. I have to rest my glasses on them, though, because leaving them behind my ears is instantly painful. The adjustment mechanism looks iffy, but it's easy to use and seems to work just fine. The cable is very thick (it has double the conductors of most) and splits at a chunky plastic splitter and connects to both cups, so it gets in the way a bit more than the single sided cables you may be used to, and the overall length is only about five feet, so you can't stray far from your amp. I just look at it like this: where other headphones are so comfortable you forget you're wearing them, Grados are as comfortable as they can be and still deliver their awesome sound. Where other headphones are laid back and accurate and will relax and lull you, Grados will wake you up, energize you, and make you take notice.
Since they are an open headphone, you won't want to use them in overly noisy environments or around people who could potentially be annoyed by your music. They really don't attenuate sound in either direction, but that's what gives them their sound and as an added bonus keeps your ears cool and comfortable.
Anyway, after having read all this, if you're still on the fence about these uncompromising and unabashedly musical cans, I think we both know you should hop down into Grado-land and start living your music instead of just listening to it.
