GRADO Heritage Series Open Air Headphone GH4 Limited Editions

Simply beautiful.

Grado doesn't cater to those who don't differentiate special effects from music. These, perhaps more than any of the other smaller Grado models, deliver the sound and texture of real instruments played together or alone by real people in an actual place. For rock or hip-hop, or other electric/electronic music, you hear what the recording and mastering engineer heard. You don't have the bass bumped up like on some mass-market brands, the equivalent of pouring salt and corn syrup into food. Sone people say Grado phones "lack bass". Most models don't, in fact, emphasize the bass, but few people realize that there is very little actual music occurring below 50hz on most recordings. The bass is natural, quick, snappy, and you can actually hear what note is being played. Grado inspires tremendous brand loyalty - I have owned most models, including the top of the line, and I have never heard a single pair of cans with a greater "you are there and this is happening" factor. If you want the illusion of trunk-rattling subwoofer bass, go elsewhere - if you want 99.99% of the music that was recorded, go in with open ears, and you'll hear what makes countless sound engineers, major artists (Billy Joel, James Taylor, Aerosmith, John Mayer, members of Phish - their drummer uses them for live and recording monitors - among others), and 60 years worth of music lovers turn to Grado "instruments". The GH4 are my favorite of the smaller models...though you can spend $100 on their simplest phones and get the same feel....but you get more than your money's worth whichever model you buy.

Phantastik!!