Grado takes on the earbud with the GR8
By Paul Miller 
posted August 30th 2009 4:21AM
posted August 30th 2009 4:21AM
Read - Grado GR8 unboxing
Read - Grado GR8 product page
posted August 30th 2009 4:21AM
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Oh, the Grado earbuds are "GR8", I get it, hyuk hyuk hyuk!
Oh gr8 not that joke.
they sound pretty crappy
also the price is...
You haven't heard them. If you have, you're someone very high up in the industry. Which I doubt.
In-ear headphones are not the same as earbud headphones.
In-ear headphones go inside the ear canal. Earbuds sit inside your earlobe.
That's a mistake I see everywhere. They should at least refer it to IEM. :)
Not all in ear headphones are in ear monitors (IEM) though, calling them all IEMs is just as bad as calling them all buds.
For $300, they better have at least dual drivers with a balanced armature, or else this will be a complete joke...
Unless of course, they have the signature Grado sound..
Unless you are sennheiser, you can charge 500$ for the inear with a single-dynamic driver
Lolz, dual drivers in a thing that size.
@wwhat
Ever heard of the q-jays?
Or UE-11 pro which has four (4) drivers? Granted that UE-11 are larger in size...
And don't necessarily sound better just because they have lots of drivers.....
I wonder whether they'll be as uncomfortable as other Grados, or leak as much sound? I doubt it'll leak as much sound, but I don't know about comfort. They certainly never worried about it before. Same with bass.
Uhm, a single driver is better so long as it's able to reproduce the entire response range you're after. When you introduce a crossover, all sorts of issues develop. Unfortunately, armatures don't have a very wide response, which is why higher end IEMs based on them typically have 2 or 3 drivers. On the other hand, nobody has made a dynamic driver IEM that's not bass heavy, yet.
@Ian
I have never *ever* heard of an IEM leaking sound.
@msalivar
Absolutely correct! :)
WOW only $300 in a recession.....and here I am being a absolute idiot paying $40,000 a year on tuition when there is an in ear head phone which costs as much as a home theater system on sale at Best Buy or Sears which we all should be purchasing. What a joke.
The thing is, headphones are well known to get you sound quality as good as home theaters costing many times more. A good headphone from Sennheiser, Grado, or Beyer in the $300-$500 range will get you sound as good as a many thousand dollar home theater setup. That's some damned good value.
IEM's are a different beast from good circumaural cans (usually used for portable uses), but it's a similar dynamic. And if your needs involve a lot of traveling, it's hard to beat a good pair teamed up with a laptop outfitted with an external DAC/amp or Indigo sound card.
They would have to sound pretty impressive to justify a $300 price tag with a single driver. Doesn't even look like it comes with a carry case, not that it's a critical feature but every other IEM at this price does. I'm looking at a set of RS-1's but I think ill be sticking to my se530's(easily found for the same price) when it comes to IEMs.
Who says you need 12 drivers and built in crossovers and craziness to sound good?
This is gonna be so hard to drive by any portable players...
120 ohms...man...thats like er4s 'hard to push'
I doubt these are anywhere close in performance to Shure's SE 530's that I got for $250. Triple, balanced-armature microspeakers in each ear for the aural nirvana!
Ugh Shure :P
Anyway, while I don't particularly like the headphones you speak of, and much prefer my $100 MS1s, different people like different headphones, so I'll leave you to your opinion.
i wish i have done that!
My Grado SR80's sound out of this world. But they do it at the cost of sound leaking out due to their open design. I'm skeptical if they can make a good pair of earbuds since they are probably a lot different than Grado's typical cans from an engineering standpoint.
Grado has always had some of the most talented Audio Engineers in the business though (John and Joe)
Anyway, I'm a bit biased considering I'm sitting here with Grado HF2s on my head. But you guys who are saying it isn't worth it to upgrade to more expensive headphones >$150 or so should realize that that is your opinion. There have been Hi-Fi Hobbyists for years and Headphone Hi-Fi isn't terribly different, only cheaper. Its a hobby, and certainly less expensive and more functional than collecting silly rare baseball cards :)
Ripoff.
So high impedance (120 ohms) is not for portable players I think...
Not necessarily. They could have quite high sensitivity, especially if they are single driver.
The GR8 has 118 dB/1mW sensitivity according to the Grado website -- 120 Ohms would be fine when using iPods (if not with inexpensive players with less output).
You don't understand how ohms work for an amplifier. Higher values means EASIER to drive, not harder, and you will get better bass response as well. Also higher ohms generally means a flatter frequency response because the load is easier on the amplifier.
Sean, that isn't true... lower impedance+higher sensitivity = easier to drive.
You have never heard of grado haven't you?
they are one of the finest headphone maker in the world. I can't say anything for this new headphone but i own a pair of sr80 and 225 and they are some of the best quality/value heaphone on the market. I'd say i prefer them over sennheiser.
ugh, that was supposed to be a reply for 10minutehobo. Screw this comment system
I have.
I don't advocate using ultra cheap $5 headphones, but $300 for a pair of headphones is extravagance (no matter how good it sounds).
You can get a decent pair for $50-60, a very good one for $100, but $300 is way too much money to spend on a pair of ear plugs. I'm sure it sounds 0.0002% nicer than the cheaper ones and all, but spend your money on something useful for a change.
@10minutehobo
Let people spend their money on what they want to spend it on. You're not the first person to have the argument.
In other words, you're wrong.
Why is it that people so enjoy telling others what not to buy even when they haven't tried out the product themselves?
Ohhh, wait, how stupid of me. Arguing with audiophiles, who have more money than sense.
Never mind, never mind, go back to listen to mouse farts in some obscure track.
Meanwhile, I'll get the same quality with a freakin coat hanger connected to my speakers.
to listening for*
just in case one of you is a grammar nazi too
You realize that $300 is midrange right? They make models that go up to over $1000 and sound even better. Of course that doesn't even include the price of a good source and amp.
Yeah, like I said, more money than sense.
@10minutehobo
Stop trolling. One can actually tell difference in earphones upto $300 after which gains in sound quality are inversely proportion to the money u spend. So shut up and let people decide what they want to buy
I love my alessandro grado's but they are famous for being open air cans. They are not reputable for noisde isolation.
@ 10minutehobo- Do mind you, my Alessandro Grados ms-1 which cost about $150 aussie trumps about almost anything in the price range of $aus200 I've heard. They are considered the best bang for the buck cans in the industry from reviews. But then again, these are made from japan not US, brooklyn.
Reviews are generally pretty meaningless when dealing with audio equipment I found.
I own the MS1s as part of my collection. They are indeed good value, so the reviews mean something.
Grado is an awesome company. I have a pair of SR-125s that I absolutely love. Plus, when I caught the cable on something and ripped it out of one of the cans, they only charged like $25 to fix it.
Why all the hate? At least reserve judgement until you HEAR the headphones.
Oh I see, they'll send a free copy to all engadget readers? cool!
But still, you seriously think there's a $150 improvement of sound possible over $150 models? or even $80 models.
To you, maybe there isn't a $150 improvement. To others, probably including me, there will be.
revolink24: Of course, with your superior ears, why I bet you could hear photons moving.
10minutehobo: dude, wth? chill.