Grado - SR80 (original)

For sure! Enjoy those grados though I had the sr80 og and thought they were very fun. If you’re finding them uncomfortable you can always try a comfort strap from Capra audio. I’ve had them on basically everything

I owned two Grado’s, sr80i and sr325 and used both as all day, listen while working headphones. I’m convinced they contributed to my development of tinnitus. They were fatiguing to the point of pain and ringing. Returned the 325, gave away the sr80i. YMMV but they’re not for me.

New? Ft1 pro, the regular Ft1 is good but not "big ass easy to drive planar magnetic that come with both 3.5 and 4.4 cables. For about 200 But year on year, used grado sr60, 80, 125, and 225's. Used pristine 125e's are like 50 bucks everywhere and they're just a fabulous set of cans, and durable as hell.. But new, its the Ft1 pro, no contest. Or iems. Moondrop kadenz are just astonishing for 200 bucks. But the simgot em6l are also amazing for 100.

Grado SR80i Edit: I think I pretty much always cared. Had a lot of headphones growing up. But it was the grado that make realized how much I cared and started looking more carefully into what I was buying.

The Grado SR80 were the pair for me that really opened my ears.

226s would be overkill. The SR80 series is a great set of headphones.

Grado SR series. They're open-back. You can hear everything.

I have yet to find anything better than my slightly modded Grado S80's :-)

You didn't mention a price range, but if PortaPros are your benchmark I'm assuming you're not looking to spend a ton of money. I would recommend the Grado SR80. They sound fantastic, are built pretty solid, and cost about a hundred bucks or so.

I currently use a 30+ year old pair of open back wired Grado Labs SR 80 headphones to stream classical music on Apple Music and Spotify from my IPhone 16 pro through a portable DAC amplifier connected to the headphones. The headphones are still in great condition and sound much better with lossless music than my Bose sound canceling ones or IPod second generation pros. However I wonder if I could get significantly better lossless sound with more expensive wired headphones of no more than $250 or should I stand pat? I could probably find recommendations from Consumer Reports or the NY Times Wirecutter. However I have been impressed by the number of knowledgeable audiophiles on this subreddit channel. Could some of you give me some recommendations with reasons for those choices? I suspect that my question has been answered before on Reddit. If it has been answered recently I apologize and request that someone provide me with a link to that question and responses. Thank you.

Yes! I usually only play with headphones in the $200 and under range. I actually don't remember when I last paid more than $100 for a pair recently. I pretty much like anything from koss, I haven't tried the porta pros or kph-40 yet. The kph-30 and ktx-pros are good but the ksc-75 are still my favorite. ktx-pros are a little more warm and basey very similar to the kph-30. I never had a pair of mdr-7506 but I still have a pair of V6, but I don't know if you can still buy them. They're great for pop. I also tried some used Grado sr80s and I didn't like them as much as I'd hoped. They sounded really bland, like little to no base and midrange. Still like grado as a company and think they're worth trying again especially if I find a demo setup. I want to save up for some berrdynamic dt-770 or dt-990. I remember trying them in microcenter once and loving the sound.