It’s widely acknowledged that the earbuds that Apple includes with the iPod basically suck. In my own experience, they have no bass response at all–and they hurt my ears. So I went shopping for headphones. My basic requirements were:
- Full-size, over-the-ear headphones
- Good sound
- Comfortable (one would think this would be automatic with full-size headphones, but alas…)
- Under $100
First, I tried a pair of Sony MDR-V150 headphones. Their sound was decent, but they pinched my ears against my glasses so badly that I could only wear them for 30 minutes or so.
I then compared two different Sennheiser HD headphones and two different Grado Labs SR headphones. The Sennheiser headphones were comfortable, but either produced blaring, muddy mids from the iPod, or couldn’t be driven by the iPod at a reasonable volume. Sennheisers are obviously intended for use with an amplified hi-fi system. The Grados, on the other hand, produced very nice sound with good volume, even from my little iPod mini.
I settled on a set of Grado SR60s, and I am digging these headphones. The best words to describe their sound is clean, accurate, and balanced. The bass is punchy, fast, and clean; it has quite a presence, but it doesn’t get in the way. The high stuff (especially cymbals, which, being a drummer, I’m picky about) sounds great and is supurbly accurate. And finally, the mids are sweet! For years, I’ve done the “V” thing when it comes to EQ: crank the bass and treble, and turn down the mids. Not with these Grados. To my ears, they sound best with a flat EQ or just a mild boost to the bass. That’s balance.
The sound is also incredibly rich. I can hear individual picks, the overtones in the bottom head of a tom-tom, and the deep but delicate tone of a bass guitar. In music I’ve listened to for years, I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before.
Wow.
Sweeeeeeeet!