gdgt

The SR60 is a reasonable choice for your first "decent" headphone. You should be able to get them for something like $70. I was not a lover of headphones, but these headphones were the beginning of the process that changed my mind. You normally turn to headphones when courtesy demands them or when you need a shelter from external aural assault. These headphones are OK for the former but are completely unsuitable for the latter use.

While I dinged the SR60's sound quality a bit, that is in comparison to the best headphones that I have listened to or own. The SR60s will probably sound better than the computer speakers on your desk. When viewed in that light, they are a bargain. That is my experience - YMMV.

If you despise sweaty ear syndrome, as I do, then headsets that completely cover the ear are only bearable for two or three hours at a time - at the very most. I can wear the SR60s all day with practically no discomfort - not that I would want to wear any headphone all day if given a choice. While not a factor for me, the relatively light weight of the SR60 may be a plus for some.

The SR60s do gently compress your ear. I wear wire frame glasses, and do not suffer any discomfort specific to my glasses and the SR60s. However, if you wear glasses with a heavy frame, I can't say with certainty that you won't experience some discomfort.

I no longer own these headphones, but will probably replace the SR225 with these when the 225s eventually fail.

Open design headphones are not intended to provide noise isolation. Thus, I will no longer score headphones with an open design for noise isolation; and will remove those scores from old reviews.

I like these headphones enough to own two - one for home and one for the office; and, if the SR60s at work were stolen, I would replace them with another SR60. This is not true for the home where I have moved on to the Sennheiser HD-650 (for classical and jazz), and am saving for the Grado SR-225i for everything else.