[paulf]

Hi,

I have just bought an Onkyo 875 amp to go with my PS3. I mainly will be using it for films and games (not music).

I am thinking of buying Grado 325 headphones. Are these worth the extra cash over the 225's? Also, there may be long stints of PS3 abuse - are the Grado's as uncomfortable as people suggest?

One issue I am very confused about is at what stage you need a headphone amp. Does the above setup warrant it?

Any help appreciated.

Paul

[Shockabuku]

Well I can't comment on the difference between those cans, as I haven't heard them, but I do own a pair of Alessandro MS2is (amongst others) and a couple of amps . The standard "bowl" pads you get with Grado's are pretty uncomfortable imho. I replaced mine with some Sennheiser HD414 pads (the yellow ones), and they sound great & are much more comfortable.

Regarding an amp...obviously if you're happy using the 1/4" headphone socket on your Onkyo, then that will certainly work. If you wanted to try out a dedicated headphone amp, you'd be looking to run stereo RCA pre-outs from your Onkyo into the new amp, and plugging your headphones into that. YMMV with regards to how much benefit a dedicated headphone amp will provide. My personal experience suggests most hifi & av amps tend to have headphone outputs as an afterthought, but I've also found that a decent DAC makes a lot more difference than a headphone amp.

In short...try out the Grados with some different pads, and see how you like the sound straight out of the Onkyo headphone socket. If you want to improve on the sq, then it's a whole can of worms as to what dac/amp etc you can look at .

[Shockabuku]

Oh, it's probably worth adding...I don't find my Grado's particularly good at creating a believable soundstage with games & films. They're superb with music, but I much prefer a closed headphone for games & films. Maybe take a look at Beyers or something like that? If you have Grado 325 budget to play with, I can highly recommend some Headphile modded Beyer 770/80's, woodied and recabled. I have some and, whilst their bass can be overblown for some types of music, they are brilliant movie & gaming headphones, and also superb for electronica type music. Well worth some research....website is HERE.

[paulf]

Thanks for your response. I will look into this a bit more!

[Reano]

Regarding your questions:-

1) Comfort - Yes there are more comfortable headphones but I have used my Grado's for 8 hours none stop (when gaming and simultaneously listening to music) and have no problems. The band at the top can be adjusted in or out so that they hardly even touch you ears.

For long sessions I find them lighter and more comforable than say my Sennheiser 650's. So I have no issue at all with the comfort (but yes you can get softer pads).

2) Headphone Amp. Grado's are one of the most efficient pro/overear headphones and so can work reasonable well without an amp (even ipods can drive them). So no you don't really need an amp in that set up.

3) Cost. Well not sure about the differences in price vs sound as I haven't heard either. I went form Grado 80 -> RS1 and now use the 'flat' earpads

4) For standard driven headphones these are the best Ive heard (so far) I hear the Sony r10 and the like blow these away tho....

So if you were me I always go with the best I can afford.... You live once experience all you can while you can.