Customer Reviews

Grado RS2i Reference Series On-Ear Headphones

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

By paying $500, it may seem like you should get the top of the line of a companies headphone. With the Grado RS-2, you nearly do. The RS-1 sells for $200 more but the difference is minimal. Most people who listen to them side by side would probably choose to save the extra money......unless money is no object.

These headphones are classy from the getgo. They arrive in a wooden box. They are made of real mahogony wood. The wood is treated not just for great looks (which it has) but for performance. The headband is real leather.

The sound?

Outstanding!

The highs are great, the midranges are tremendous and the bass is realistic and tight. They, in my opinion, outperform all other competitors. Those who cannot afford this much for a headphone may wish to consider a less expensive model from Grado. The SR-80, which sells for $95, is probably the best buy of the entire line. But if you can afford these, they are worth the investment

After reading the other reviews I expected the RS2's to hurt. When I put them on I realized that the only uncomfortable part of these cans is the pads. I used the pads from my SR125's and now the RS2's are comfortable.

The sound that this headphone produces is amazing. Now music has a new dynamic range. All it takes is one listen from these headphones and you have to own a pair.

Look, I know I'm stepping into the lion's mouth with this one, but these headphones just aren't comfortible enough to be considered spectacular. OBVIOUSLY the sound is great, but a feature that is almost important as sound, when it comes to headphones, is comfort. After all, music is meant to be listened to through speakers, so if you're willing to strap those speakers onto your head, you'd better be able to deal with them on your head for an extended period of time.

I can draw an interesting analogy to the Playstation 3 here. People have been saying, for example, that with the PS3, Sony has put technology first and gameplay second. Likewise, Grado has - beyond denial - put sound first and the actual "headphone-ness" of the headphones second. I normally wouldn't have a problem with that if the headphones weren't distractingly UNCOMFORTIBLE, but the RS-2s are. The speaker is rock hard, and is pushed right into your ear. Additionally, unless your ears are circular (which, last time I checked, not many people's are), the earcups simply are NOT MADE TO FIT YOUR EARS. They are made to ACCOMODATE THE SPEAKER IN THE HEADPHONE. Add to that the foam earpads, and I found myself rather disenchanted. Put shortly, RS-2 simply feels unnatural on your head.

There are a thousand articles testifying to Grado's sound, and I'm not going to disagree with them. But when you get headphones, let's be honest, you're looking for more than great sound. Polk's LSi9's (by way of example) have great sound, but I'm not considering strapping them to my head. Likewise, Grado's have great sound - the bass is smooth, the highs are great, and the soundstage is rather large. But they just don't feel like a real headphone to me, and with many other comfortible, slightly less expensive, and virtually identical sounding high-end models out there, I'd advise looking in another direction.

Let me begin by prefacing this review with the simple fact that I'm a complete audio snob when it comes to sound quality, regardless of price or brand. I have an amazing two channel small tower speaker system in my bedroom, I can put in a mellow cd and fall asleep while getting lost in the sound than I can with a large dose of Xanax plus ambien. That setup is a pair of Totem Acoustic Forest speakers, a Musical Fidelity A3.2 integrated amp, A3 CD transport, Tri-Vista 21 DAC, Headroom Reference series balanced single ended triode tube headphone amplifier, all wired up with Nordost Blue Heaven 2 interconnects and speaker cables, with a Nordost Moonglow digital coaxial cable connecting transport to DAC. I have a pretty wide variety of earphones & headphones, as well as much higher end audio systems in my listening room, tv room and two of my cars.

I've owned Grado RS1, Etymotic ER-35 in-ear canal 'phones with earpieces custom made for my ears by an audiologist, a set of Astro Gaming A40 simulated surround 'phones with an A40 amp for gaming, as well as a Tritton AX-Pro 8 driver pair of true surround 'phones I use for gaming and watching movies at night when I don't want to disturb my wife.

The Grado RS2i headphones sound worlds better than my bedroom system, which cost roughly $12,000, and they don't embarrass themselves when compared to my listening room setup, which features a $60,000 retail set of Focal/JMLab speakers.

Their primary strength is the midrange...from high frequency mids down to 100hz midbass they absolutely shine. The treble frequencies are silken, no sibilants or harshness whatsoever even at higher than average listening volume. The bass response is very tight and accurate, extending down into the 40-50hz range...the bass response is NOT heavy and loud. A kickdrum sounds like it would if someone were playing a kit in your room, upright bass is reproduced to the point you can hear the player release the string before the note starts...rather than unrealistic boosted bass tones the Grados give you warmth and accuracy, though some people, namely those who enjoy pounding bass tones and want headphones to listen to rap or bass heavy dance music on should avoid these and check out the dr dre beats 'phones with the light-up "B" on the side of them - I apologize that I can't remember the brand name or model name of his $400 pair, but they produce massive midbass all the way down to sub bass, if that happens to be your thing. It just isn't Grado's thing, though the RS1/RS1i and GS1000's have a good bit more low bass punch and loudness...I personally prefer the balance on the RS2's, and talked about the RS2i's enough that my wife surprised me with a set of them around two weeks after I auditioned them at home, on loan from my local audiophile grade shop.

I really don't want to say this, as it seems to imply some sort of fault with the RS2i, but I can't presently think of a better way to make my point, so I'll go with it...these 'phones are an absolute steal at $495. I paid $2500 for my Etymotics, and the RS2i sound every bit as good, in their own way...it's kind of tough to compare ear canal 'phones against on ear sets.

If you're in the market for an excellent pair of headphones, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you don't audition these. You can find a local dealer on Grado.com, or you could order them here on amazon and return them if they aren't your cup of tea. A couple of caveats if you do order them online or buy them in a shop that doesn't have a pair opened and hooked up to audition - these *must* be broken in, or you'll have no idea what they actually sound like. 3-5 days of playing your tv through them or just playing random music through them for the same period of time will work. It takes some time for the drivers in them to loosen to the point that they sound as they should, which is the case with any higher end speakers or headphones.

Happy listening!

I purchased the Grado RS2 phones expecting them to hurt my ears. After weeks of use, I find I have no comfort issues with my RS2's whatsoever.

And I'm one of those people who finds it very painful to have anything pushing on, over, or especially in my ear(like canal phones).

No problems here. I comes down to this: people have differen't sized ears. Mine are normal to small sized and fit inside the RS2 earpieces nicely.

*****Big ears don't fit!.....Charley don't surf!******

PS. If you can spare the extra coin, I would advise you buy the RS1's instead. Better bass.

My RS2's came w\o the center ear piece and the wood verbage is a little different. It's OK though as I actually prefer the look w\o the center piece anyway. (alessandro music series pro looks the same as the new RS2 looks)

I have bought neither the RS1 nor the RS2 yet, but listening to them (classical music & jazz) using an iPod, with Apple lossless files, and a Grado headphone amp, I was struck by how much better the RS1 was compared to the RS2. Anyone considering the use of such sound sources should check the RS1 out before committing to the RS2. If you splash out this kind of money, you might as well do it right...

Beats Studio By Dre is just the latest trending headphones. Those headphones are more suited to rap music.

$300+ headphones should not limit you to what genre of music you should listen to.

I use these headphones to mix my production on and I'll say that 90% of my mixes sound near perfect once I'm done.