GRADO i Headphones for iPod - Black

These are probably the best-sounding portable phones I ever had. I thought all street phones must suck one way or another - well, not anymore.I have some high-end studio phones, such as Sennheiser HD600, Sennheiser HD280, Grado SR80. I've dabbled into music composition and sound engineering (had a small studio at home once), even into synthesizer design and construction briefly, and I've been a passionate music listener for as long as I can remember. Sound quality is important to me, and I've spent a lot of time around sound and music equipment. But listening music on the street while walking or running has always been tough because there are very few portable phones that are good enough or even decent-sounding.Well, the iGrado are "good enough". AND THEN SOME.I was very impressed with how transparent is the sound. As transparent as the HD600? No. As in-your-face-detailed like the SR80? No. But they give you good amounts of detail (tremendous amounts for portable cans) and clarity. You even get a whiff of Grado's trademark silvery sparkling high frequencies. And neither the HD600 nor the SR80 are anywhere near the portability of the iGrado, so the comparison would not be fair. I am very impressed by the amount of sound quality coming from such a compact package.Bass is pretty fat, but smooth, controlled and "oily". You hear percussion and bass guitars very prominently. If it was any bigger than this, it would be annoying. But here's the thing: you need fat bass on the street, since low frequencies are those most easily masked by noise from traffic. I had a few pairs of old Koss neckband phones a while ago, and while their high frequencies sucked, their fat bass punched a nice hole through traffic noise. That's a good idea for portable phones.Like I said, high frequencies are clear, transparent, and even a bit "sparkly". Not too strong, a bit less shiny than all my studio phones, but then what do you expect from street cans? In any case, amazing detail for this type of phones.Overall, sound is amazingly balanced. I switched quickly back and forth between these and the HD280 and, while they do have a clearly different character, overall quality was not too different. The iGrado are more deadpan and fat-sounding, the HD280 are more feisty (I guess a bit more midrange) and somewhat more detailed at the top.I see reviews criticizing their comfort. Well, I've a very big head (always having trouble finding hats or helmets my size) and these phones are very comfortable. I couldn't say they fit me like a glove, because one doesn't wear gloves on one's head, but I almost tend to forget I'm wearing them. No problem at all.Other reviews criticize sound leakage. Yes, these are open-back phones, so they do leak a good amount. However, if sound from your phones is annoying those around you, you're probably destroying your eardrums as we speak. Turn it down a few notches, or you'll be deaf after a while. By closing the back, Grado might have reduced leakage a bit, but that might have had an impact on sound quality. How big of an impact? I don't know. In any case, these are not sealed phones, which are dangerous on the street, so leakage is inevitable. Don't obsess over it, it's normal for non-sealed phones.Can't comment on durability, since I just started using them today. The wire does seem a bit flimsy, but we'll see. Anyway, if something breaks, these phones are good enough to justify doing repairs. Other phones would just go into the trash can instead.Some people don't like the design. The thing is, Grado are known for their retro style. All their phones have a WW2 nuance to their design. It's just the way they make all their stuff. It doesn't bother me.5 out of 5 so far. I'll update the review if I change my mind.

I already have a pair of in-ear monitors, but wanted something less enclosing for certain listening situations. When I found out that the iGrado uses the same transducers as the SR60i, and saw these at a bargain price here on Amazon, I decided to take the plunge. And I am glad that I did. These are a nice sounding set of 'phones!They do require some break-in, as the bass is somewhat weak when you first listen to them when new. But once they are broken in, the bass fills in. I still would like a fuller bass response, but where these headphones really shine is in the midrange--I've owned some better headphones in the past, and these by far have the most open and natural sounding midrange of anything I've owned. The highs are slightly on the bright side for my taste, but at least the highs are crystal clear and undistorted (where I've heard others break up).I may still need to give these some break-in time (they probably have 100 hours on them), but the bass is still a bit thin. Based on what I have read elsewhere, this is a signature sonic style of Grado's, so the bass may not open up further. Detail, though, is amazing--I can easily hear sounds that were previously buried deep in a mix.Comfort-wise, though, I find them to be too tight. I have not yet attempted to loosen them up in any way (for fear of cracking the headband), but based on the shape of my ears and the way they sit, my ears develop sore spots after listening at length. Fortunately I am not a habitual headphone user (I find headphones overall to be claustrophobic after a period of time), but I would have liked for these to be a bit more comfortable. Even reshaping the headband slightly would alleviate where I am feeling pressure.Overall though, they are a very clean and revealing set of headphones, and a great entry point to Grado's line of high quality headphones.

I've used headphones for about 30 years (probably 20-30 different pair), and these have to be the most uncomfortable I've ever worn. I'm not a fan of ear buds, but these headphones made many ear buds I've tried seem very comfortable. I was intrigued by the iGrado behind the head design, but after wearing them for 25-30 minutes my ears hurt, and a day later they still hurt. Im a scientist, and in my work I've taken various measurements of a number of skulls so when I say that my own head is on the slightly small side of average I feel my statement is accurate. However, even on my head, the headphones clamp so tightly that they press part of the ear hard against a portion of the temporal bone. No amount of wiggling them around relieved the discomfort.The audio quality of the headphones was on par with headphones that I'd normally group in a price range of $25-$35 (Amazon or discounted price range, not MSRP). The iGrado headphones are on the high price side of cans that are entry-level headphones but with decent sound quality. I don't see how, though, anyone could wear them for any length of time without some to extreme discomfort.

E' la terza volta che compro questa cuffia. Dopo la prima per me, le altre due erano regali. La cuffia è eccellente, con bassi articolati e sorprendenti in questa categoria, e una bella trasparenza: niente a che vedere con le solite cuffiette che si trovano in giro. La qualità del suono migliora ulteriormente dopo un certo periodo di rodaggio. E' semichiusa, quindi consente di sentire i suoni del traffico, per la nostra sicurezza. La sua particolare conformazione, con il ferretto da indossare sopra le orecchie e dietro la nuca, potrebbe dar fastidio. Ho scoperto successivamente che su Amazon.it costa molto di più che su Amazon.de, conviene acquistarla lì.

suonano davvero bene ma sono un po scomode e dopo un anno le spugne proteggi orecchie si stanno deteriorando e la guaina proteggi cavo si è rotta in un punto facendo vedere i due cavetti all'interno

These are excellent headphones. The build quality is good for the price, but the sound is truly excellent.This is my third pair of these. I broke both of the other two by catching the lead on things. This pair has come with a substantially thicker cable. I don't blame the construction of the headphones, it was my habit of wearing them to do everything from housework to DIY with them on; they were bound to get broken at some point. I have bought a pair of Sennheiser headphones to do the DIY in to save the iGrados.

Ich habe diesen Kopfhörer aufgrund eines pos. Testberichts erwählt. Bei Amzon gab es schon Hinweise das der Tragekomfort nicht gut sei. " So schlimm kann es doch nicht sein,..." dachte ich mir und bestellte einen.Amazon typ. war der Kopfhörer sehr schnell geliefert. Ausgepackt ist der erste Eindruck: billiges Plastik, er fühlt sich minderwertig an.Kopfhörer aufgesetzt: er drückt und sticht an diversen Stellen. Für Brillenträger nur ohne Brille halbwegs erträglich. Ich habe ohne Brille mit dem Kopfhörer ca. 5min Musik gehört: der Kopfhörer ist zu unbequem um Musik zu geniessen. Überall sind scharfe Kanten die man spürt, die Ohrmuschel ist schlecht gefüttert usw.Es gibt zwar Tricks das man den Kunststoffbügel warm macht und dann entsprechend verformt / weitet. Ich bezweifel allerdings das dies von abschliessenden Erfolg gekrönt ist.Klang: da sich der Klang erst nach einer bestimmten Einspielzeit voll entwickelt, hier kein Urteil.Der Kopfhörer geht wieder zurück, weil dieser schlicht unkomfortabel ist. Mir nutzt kein "top Klang", wenn die Rahmenkonstruktion es nicht zulässt, diesen zu geniessen.

Premetto che non posso fare confronti con cuffie dello stesso livello avendo sempre usato cuffiette commerciali e non sono un super esperto del suono,posso però affermare che queste cuffie sono molto soddisfacenti,i medi e gli alti sono belli presenti e cristallini sembra che vogliano schizzare fuori dai padiglioni, i bassi non sono da discoteca ma sempre frenati e presenti.per la mia breve esperienza posso solo caldamente consigliarle.