If you’re in the market for a limited edition Grado with gorgeous handmade craftsmanship and a fun and exciting sound signature, you can’t go wrong with the White Headphone. It’s great for pretty much anything you could listen to, but definitely excels where massive amounts of detail and crystal-clear imaging are a must. Comfort is another area where these headphones divide opinions. At 340g, they’re not heavy, and there’s enough in the way of adjustment to cope with a wide variety of heads. But not everyone will get along with the new foam earpads. Even as long-term Grado users, it takes us a while to get used to them due to their thinness and overall shape, but it’s worth persisting. A few days of acclimatisation makes us more kindly disposed towards them, particularly as the new earpads cause a subtle shift to the balance of the SR325x’s sound, making them a less demanding listen. The Grado White was a bold and neutral beast. The last generation PS500 was one of my favorite headphones of all time. I cannot talk about the Hemp materials itself very much, this is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone infuse it with Maple, Grado claims it has amazing dampening effects and that it results in a full-bodied sound. But, Grado…can I tell you something?

If I were grading the RS 2, I’d give it a “V” for vividness. When I listened to music through these ’phones, I sometimes had the uncanny sense that my brain had been magically hard-wired straight into the mixing console. The glory of this headphone is its pure, ultra-lucid midrange sound, which sweetly melts upward into silky smooth, finely textured highs. Bass is taut, dynamically alive, and offers a good measure of natural warmth, but is somewhat reticent relative to the mids and highs. This is a highly detailed headphone, though never in a showy, “hey-look-at-me” sense; instead, small textural and transient details just happen—without undo effort, drama, or sonic histrionics. The bass particularly feels tight and precise, landing with emphasis. And this articulate bass easily compliments the organic warm lows. Rest assured, bass and drums never sounded so fun and intoxicating, and the White Headphone turns every listening session into a mesmerizing timesink. Look, nobody loves woodies more than me and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Woody headphones make me weak. I don’t know why, but, as I always say, when that sunlight in the morning or late evening hits anything wooden on my desk, it glows almost majestic-like. And that is the stuff of dreams for me.

Dolce & Gabbana

You could measure the White Headphone’s soundstage in miles and you’d still come up short. There’s space and depth aplenty here, with real definition to the sound that will put you in the midst of your favorite recordings. Every insturment and vocalist has their own finite point of origin, with minimal overlap or confusion. All in all, this is a sound as clean as it is articulate. Whether you’ll like this brand of forwardness is a pure preference thing, but it is one of Grado’s signature moves. Size-wise, the Grado SR60e appear quite similar to headphones like Beats Solo 2. They’re on-ear, so not huge. However, these are not portable in the traditional sense.

Grado offers a wide range of headphones across various price points. The Prestige Series, including models like the SR60e or SR80e, offers excellent value for beginners stepping into the high-quality audio ecosystem. For audiophiles seeking unparalleled audio performance, the Professional and Reference series, with models like the PS500e or RS2e, represent a significant but worthy investment. We find the SR80 lightweight enough to get away with the SR80e’s non-padded headband, but that’s not to say the SR80x’s padding isn’t welcome; it certainly helps maintain a less burdensome listening experience, especially during those multi-hour sessions. And while the headband slider is pretty basic, it’s fit for purpose to allow for a reasonable degree of head adjustment. The one thing you’ll notice about the PS2000e’s sound reproduction is its ability to go deep into bass registers and high into upper echelon’s of frequency range without any kind of discernible impact to detail and definition. Nothing gets hot or distorted and their ability to scale with volume while maintaining their quality of reproduction is a feat of engineering. In fact, the discerning listener might even find the limits of their own headphone amplifiers.The White Headphone comes in a special swanky box. It holds the headphones, a 1/4 inch stereo adapter, and a sheet of paper that tells the story of the Grado family. The Grado SR60e’s construction is pretty basic too. Using a static headband and no folding mechanism, there’s very little to go wrong, but they don’t feel like they could take too much rough treatment. What keeps them together are two rods of steel that look a bit like the stuff used to make coat hangers. The metal that makes up the skeleton of the headband is extremely skinny too, only taking up a tiny part of the padding that rests on your head. Style matters in headphones. Looks are a big part of them these days, and portability means a lot to people wanting to wear a pair to and from work. The Grado SR60e have a very distinctive look, but it’s more ‘1940s fighter pilot’ than that of the young person swaggering down the street – a look most headphones seem to adopt these days. So what about the harshness issue complained about in the Grado SR60 and SR60i? Is it gone? Not entirely. After a first listen we decided to run the SR60e in for a couple of days as there was clear mid-range harshness. We’re not big believers in ‘burning in’ suddenly radically changing the character of a headphone, but it can alter dynamic drivers somewhat. Some open headphones can be used in the office because they manage to avoid leaking out sound too much, but do so with the Grado SR60e and the person sitting next to you would be quite justified in raiding the stationary cupboard and pelting you with everything they can find. They’re very leaky indeed.

Grado is renowned for its wired headphones, which are favored by audiophiles due to their superior sound quality. However, the company has made strides in the wireless market with models like the GW100, offering the signature Grado sound without the constraints of a cable. I want beautiful, bold, and also good sounding design in my headphone. In this case, the fusion of Hemp and Maple looks a bit like Zebrawood, which is my absolute favorite visual appearance for a woodie headphone.

Comfort Factor

Grado did a great thing here. If I had a vividly subjective gripe, I’d want it to be shiny and lacquered. Beyond that, I don’t see any faults with the wood elements of this headphone. In raw purity, the headphone is not going to please the accurate and neutral, or clinical enthusiasts. Again, that is because the headphone is on the warm and musical side of the spectrum.