Grado SR80x: Are They Worth The Hype?
After hearing all the hype I thought I’d visit Camp Grado for a much needed listening vacation to check out the hallowed SR80x’s first hand.
I tested this pair of Grado SR80x’s with an iFi ZEN 2 Dac (power match and true bass activated), connected to a MacBook Air streaming TIDAL.
For those who don’t know, Grado are a family-run headphone company based in Brooklyn, New York. They’ve been making headphones by hand since the 1970’s.
I didn’t really visit Camp Grado, but if such a place existed I’d be straight down there (in case the Grado guys are thinking about investing some of their headphone millions into a theme park).
The first thing that strikes you when opening the box is a sense of impending discomfort. The SR80x’s look like they’re going to be uncomfortable. It’s something about the plastic ear cups and the skimpy headband that screams: ‘brace yourself’.
But in reality, they’re fine. The Grado’s are a comfortable fit, even during longer listening sessions. They don’t grip your skull, rather they sit gently on your head with just the right amount of pressure.
The SR80x’s are open back, so they leak sound — which means that everyone around you will be able to hear what you’re listening to. Take this into consideration when you’re choosing open or closed back headphones.
Listening to Jimmy Webb’s masterclass in songwriting and production ‘Wichita Lineman’, the Grado’s come into their own. They’re warm and kick out a nice wide sound stage. The mandolin during the intro is so close you can feel it tickle your eardrums, Billy Joel’s voice is breathy and detailed, and the orchestra style picked bassline coming through with brazen detail.
Listening to Ian Brown’s awesome ‘Dolphins Were Monkeys’ the synths are mega-rich and luxurious, the kick drum pounding and full with Brown’s vocals cutting through definitively — watch out for that squelchy Roland 303 during the chorus outro that you’d probably not heard until listening on the SR80x’s — nice.
Space and Depth.
Separation with the Grado’s is decent — even a 320kbps Spotify stream sounds good. When plugged directly into a phone (thanks to the 38ohms impedance), they’re still loud enough, but do yourself a favour and pair them with a budget DAC like the Audioquest Dragonfly Black or the iFi Zen DAC for example — and it’ll really bring the SR80x’s to life.
What about without a DAC?
Plugging the SR80x’s straight into a phone yields a better result than you might think. As previously mentioned, the 38ohm rating means they’re effectively ‘phone friendly’ and we still get decent separation and bottom end, with a nice fullness to the sound.
At this price point 99% of the headphones on the market will present a fairly muddy, bass heavy sound — instrument separation is where the Grado’s take it to the next level.
The Grado SR80x’s are a full, detailed and well rounded listen, and at less than £100/€149 they cannot currently be beaten.
If you can stump up the extra cash for the next model up, the SR325x’s offer superior sound and build quality — as well as being a bit more comfy for longer listening periods.
