Hi everyone,

Planning to buy headphones for my iPod. My budget can
only afford the shure e2c or grado sr-60. Read that they're
really good phones, however I really need to hear from you
guys. Thank you in advance.

"nyetsky" wrote in message
news
Hi everyone,

Planning to buy headphones for my iPod. My budget can
only afford the shure e2c or grado sr-60. Read that they're
really good phones, however I really need to hear from you
guys. Thank you in advance.

I've had both. Comparing them is like comparing apples and pumpkins. Yes,
you can make pie out of either.


SR60's struck me as being almost good sounding, but grotesquely and
seemingly unredeemably uncomfortable.

E2Cs can be fitted to be very comfortable. They are a tad rolled-off at the
extremes but quite smooth in-between. If you can find a deal you might get
E3Cs for not that much more money. IME its worth the difference for the more
expensive models.

On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 22:00:08 +0800, nyetsky
wrote:

Hi everyone,

Planning to buy headphones for my iPod. My budget can
only afford the shure e2c or grado sr-60. Read that they're
really good phones, however I really need to hear from you
guys. Thank you in advance.

Hi,

I have both, and both produce terrific sounds for the money.

To me, however, the answer is entirely functional. Many say that the
Grados are uncomfortable, but I find that to be true of the Shures. I
discovered that I have narrow ear canals, so the only fitting that
works for me is the narrowest sponge. Once it's set up, the sound is
fine. But I also use my mp3 to go to and from work (I have a pair of
Sennheiser 595s for home listening), or do errands, so I have to be
able to communicate, and when my ear passages are blocked, I can't
hear what people are saying, so I yank them out, talk, and then am
left with the task of re-inserting them.

Over and over.

I bought the Grados almost by accident--they're difficult to find
here, and I live in Brooklyn, close to where they're manufactured!

I find them quite comfortable, at least in the late fall/winter. I go
through stages with my mp3 player, and one reason I started bringing
it again was to keep my ears warm--this might be a downside come
summer. I keep wearing them, however, because of the sound. It seems
as though I'm hearing familiar stuff in whole new ways with them. The
Grados sound very detailed, very alive to me. I'm no expert, but I
enjoy their midrange, and even the bass seems to have texture and
nuance that the Shures lack (though the Shure produces bass of greater
magnitude).

Of course I've been favoring the Grados of late. If I started
listening to the Shures I'd probably "rediscover" the things they
emphasize.

The Grado's open design produces disadvantages when used in public:
people nearby can hear what you're playing, and environmental noise
can be heard by the listener.

That is not true, obviously, of the Shure (though safety may be more
of an issue with them).

The Grado, for some reason, still comes with a long straight jack. So
carrying 'Pod in your pocket will cause it to stress against the
contacts. Mine, a Rio Nitrus, broke down completely, and I thought I
was going to have to replace it, but I bought some tools, took it
apart, and reseated the contacts. All is better now.

But the Shure has a better plug. A short, 9 degree jack that will hold
the player if you drop it while plugged in and which will be less
likely to stress the contacts unduly.

If you do buy the Grados, go to Radio Shack or somesuch and buy one of
the short add on "remotes" (or, if you can afford it, Apple's own for
the Ipod). The Radio Shack version is $5.00. That way when you pull
on the cord, the energy will yank it out of the extension and not
stress the internal contacts.

Grado also has a long, straight cord that's more suited for indoor
use. I keep mine tied up to about 1/2 length with plastic ties.

Both cords seem pretty strong. The Shure, I believe, uses Kevlar.
Possibly the Grado as well.

Finally, if you do buy the Shure and use the sponge fittings, you can
buy extra ones in your size in bulk on e-bay.

Good luck;-)

Andy Katz

Ps: Not to muddy things, but depending on your usage needs, you can
compromise with the Sennheiser HD 25 SPs. They retail for more, but
you can find some the Concord on ebay for about the same as the
Grados. I think the Grados are better overall, but the Sennheiser is
probably the best closed design in that price range, and the Concord
version offers a better jack, similar to the Shure (the retail version
is like the Grado, but not as insanely long;-).

A closed headphone offers some isolation, but isn't as difficult or
uncomfortable (to me at least) as the intra-aural design.

************************************************** *************
Being lied to so billionaires can wage war for profits
while indebting taxpayers for generations to come, now
that's just a tad bit bigger than not admitting you like
the big moist-moist lips of chunky trollops on your pecker.

Paghat, the Rat Girl

I've used MiniDisc portable players, not an iPod, and although I like
Grados in general, carrying around headphones that are bigger than the
player seems silly, IMHO. I only use my Grados at home.

I'd go with earbuds from Shure or other brands. A cheaper choice would
be the Sennheiser MX series. I bought my MX 300's off eBay for
practically nothing, and for music on the go, they sound and work fine.
If I want bigger and better sound, I have Grados at home.

If you really want headphones, I suggest you look at folding
headphones, like the Sennheiser PX series.

If you decide to go with Grado, look for the SR40. It's smaller than
the SR60, but uses the same hardware. I think the SR40 is discontinued.
I bought mine off eBay a few years ago, so that's probably the best
place to shop.

BTW, if you search the web and newsgroups via Google.com, you'll find
about a zillion opinions that might be useful to you. There are web
sites that specialize in ear gear also.