# Grado Labs SR80i Review



## whitedragon551 (Oct 3, 2009)

Id consider headphones a form of home audio so here is my review on the Grado Labs SR80i headphones.

*Company Name:* Grado Labs

*Company Website:* Grado Labs, Inc.

*Headphone Model:* Prestige Series SR80i

*Frequency Range:* 20Hz-20KHz

*Headphone Style (Open, Closed, etc.):* Open

*Impedance:* 32 Ohms

*Sensitivity:* 98


*Pros: *Very light weight, comfortable, long durable cord, and huge modding community.

*Cons:* Seems overall construction was sacrificed to increase driver quality. Cord may be too long for some.


Rating scale is based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 being the worst, 3 being neutral, and 5 being the best.

*Describing Sound: *Describing Sound A Glossary - Head-Fi.org Community

*Audio Quality:* 4 out of 5

*Comfort:* 4 out of 5

*Design:* 3 out of 5

*Isolation:* 1 out of 5

*Value:* 4 out of 5

*Overall Rating:* 4 out of 5

*Songs that were used to test (320KBPS MP3 converted from FLAC):*

StoneSour- Looking Through The Glass
Adele- Set Fire To The Rain
The Eagles- Hotel California (Live)
Alecia Keys- No One
Chesky Audiophile Collection- Sweet Georgia Brown



Stone Sours Looking Through The Glass was very clear throughout. I heard breathes from the artist I didn’t know where there. The low end of the frequency spectrum blends nicely with the highs. Near the end of the track the artist has a rasp in his voice, which was obvious with these set of headphones.


Adeles Set Fire To the Rain starts right up with the Piano. Bass and Midbass are obvious within about 30 seconds. They aren’t overpowering to any of the other frequencies, but they aren’t absent either. Highs again are not harsh or overpowering to the rest of the track. Again a very detailed track.


The Eagles Hotel California (Live) uses a Congo drum instead of a traditional drum set. When compared to the music video the sound stage is about as close as can be when compared to actual stage positions. Around the 6 minute mark only instruments are playing. You can clearly hear the guitar on the left side and the maracas on the right.


Alecia Keys No One starts out with a bass heavy beat. During this 15 second intro the headphones seemed slightly muddy in their presentation. The bass in this track is overpowering. The singer’s voice was still very clear throughout even with the muddied low end.


Throughout Sweet Georgia Brown you can hear the music pan from the left to right. The headphones feel very open and airy and have a nice sound stage. You can easily hear the background cymbals. Piano notes are crisp and clear. I didn’t experience any harshness when the saxophone was playing.


Overall these are very good headphones for the price. They weigh in at online retailers right around the $100 mark up to about $150 depending on where you make your purchase. Their light weight makes them portable however, if your going to be in a busy location or loud area these are probably not ideal. There is a good amount of sound leak.

Full review with images:
Grado Labs SR80i Review | PC-Babble


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