No, not even in it's price range. At about $100, both Sennheiser and Audio-Technica have MUCH better open-air headphones that are made for music, not MP-3 players. Grados are hard to find in the US generally(sadly). If the budget demands about $50 try
http://www.sonystyle.com and see what they have available "refurbished". These can be one's people decided they didn't want, had a factory defect (which has been repaired) etc., and they sell for about 1/2 price(or far less if they're "last year's model"). I've seen $250 headphones sell for $35 there, but you never know what they'll have. I "stole" a pair of Sennheiser S-6000's ($600 MSRP) for $100 because they were "display, shopworn, last-year's". They sound just as good with the "chrome" numbers rubbed off, and they sound VERY good. Not a "sealed type" but not a open-type either. Definately quieter than open-backs , but cooler and more comfortable than like Koss Pro 4AA's. I think A-T may have some open-backs at about $60 street-price, but I haven't listened to them. I wanted some openback headphones for my video work and I tried the HD238's,and was very dissapointed in them. Loud is their biggest quality. I'm using some $20 Denon's I got from a surplus place, because the design of them, they only fit some shapes of heads (like mine). They had been $80, and they sound good on music too, but that small design flaw....
by Jam Hint » 08 Apr 2011 08:26 
