I know that in America both pronunciations are widely used.
An American accent coach from whom I’ve taken a few lessons told me that she uses both. If you’re in America feel free to use either.
;=)
That’s good news, Dean. I have one more reason to go to the States now! 
Just came to mind:
Once I heard someone say something to this effect: “you took us for granite”.
I was like “what the hell, granite? What’s that supposed to mean?”.
Turned out, the words “granite” and “granted” are nigh homophones in AmE! :))) I was damn near dumbfounded!
The upshot is you’ll have to be on the alert for this idiosyncrasy of AmE, because it leads to some words sounding the same.
Hi Dean,
That’s a funny story. But I don’t think ‘granite’ and ‘granted’ are typically pronounced identically. At the very least, the final syllable will sound different – even if it’s only a little bit different. So, you should be able to identify that difference in most cases, provided you’re listening closely.
I can understand how ‘granted’ might be mistaken for ‘granite’ if you’re not used to American pronunciation tendencies.
Oh, I see
It must be too subtle for me then, because the difference was lost on me.
I must admit I can’t tell apart some vowels/consonants with a good degree of accuracy, like “th” and “f”.
:))