There are copious headphones in the market with prices ranging from practically $9.99 (or lower) to $3000.00. Unless you truly divulge yourself in the world of high-end headphones, you won’t believe the enthusiasm and craftsmanship that goes into designing and refining some of the elite models, at least most of the time. The thing about pricey headphones is usually not the physical aspect of the product, but more about the research and technologies that went into designing something of this magnitude (from a price perspective). With that said, Grado’s RS1 headphones is an all rounder product with a superb exterior and a hybridization of technologies that make the RS1 standout. Still though, is the price tag justifiable? Read on and find out…

Credit: Headphone

The exterior of the Grado RS1 headphones is exuberant with handcrafted mahogany earpieces that are made using an intricate curing process. The inner area of the earpieces is based on an open-air configuration that outlines the actual earpiece with comfortable edges instead of a standard cup design. At the beginning, it may take some time getting used to, but after a while, it shouldn’t be an issue. You can also resize the headphones via the two sliders towards of the top of each earpiece. And to further justify the value of the hefty price tag, Grado uses leather for the headband, which makes it durable as well as comfortable. With that said, one of the initial problems with Grado’s RS1 headphones is that they come with a 1/4" plug, which means that RS1 headphones aren’t compatible the standard devices that majority of us use on a regular basis. Thankfully, you can purchase a converter to convert the 1/4" plug into the 1/8" that’s commonly used with devices such as MP3 players and sound cards.

As far the features and specifications are concerned, they are definitely above average, but one thing that really stands out is the open-air configuration of the earpieces, or simply put, the cups are open-backed. What this should do, according to Grado, is deliver smooth, coherent sound with detailed dynamics.

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