The Grado HF-2 Review/Comparison Thread - Page 24

ordered 5/19 ??!!! wwoooww that did take a LONNNNG time.
I should get mine by christmas then !! I estimate I should get approx. #440-450

Received #165 yesterday, and I ordered on 5/18. These are some awesome headphones! I'm very impressed.

what bothers me a bit is I got #123 and order # 5587 and someone with order # 5619 got HF #82. How can he have been like 40 orders after me and gotten a vastly lower serial? I think the batches are by order but the can # is just whatever Todd grabs from the huge freight box. So who knows.

exactly. i'm not too bothered by it though. my # is still lower than 100.

how do people wear grados with bowl pads? ouch. I thought flat pads were uncomfortable, but I'd take cushioned sandpaper over cartiledge just shoved up against the metal grills. The only thing the pads do is keep the bass in. maybe my ears are shaped weird though I've had this problem before.

Could it be possible that someone who ordered before you and should've gotten HF#82 cancelled their order and then Order No. 5619 came in?

Just hypothesizing

I found the bowls really uncomfortable too, wearing them hurt my ears within five minutes. After some washing and wearing them a lot its much more comfortable - no pain anymore.

Yah, the new bowls can be a bit stiff. Wash them.

I thought I had become accustomed to the bowls, but it's the other way around, the new ones are hell on the tops of my ears, but the old ones from my -225s feel great.

HF-2 #129 was received on 7/20/2009. After about 26 hours of use, I'd say the sonic match the HF-2 make with a Mapletree Audio Design Ear+ Purist HD is as perfect as I've yet heard in the 5 and a half years that I've been pursuing headphone audio with some earnestness. The spectral balance is such that, for all of the music in my long-term rotation that I've had a chance to use with the HF-2 so far, at the volume where a favorite musical voice is optimized for sound quality, no other voice in any other portion of the acoustic spectrum sounds out-of-balance, neither too much, nor too little. I also really enjoy the chromatic/harmonic structure of the sound with this combination. It's really beautiful to hear. It really is an excellent all-arounder combination as well. From classical orchestral, classical chamber, solo piano, human vocals, instrumental and electronic jazz, ambient, downtempo, techno, rock, metal, goth, dance/trance and on through experimental and art electronica this combination has been optimizing my listening experience. For Trance, the bass is the largest and most massive bass that I've ever heard, while still maintaining a beautiful transparency. For acoustic instrumental, the textures and timbres are convincingly realistic and present sounding. Human voice is spookily lifelike and present-sounding. The dynamic range displays each voice, from the faintest through the strongest, as a fully articulated, and whole voice without distortion or unnatural timbral emphasis. The soundstage is wide, and respectably deep, with plenty of aerial perspective cues to the depth of sonic events into the soundscape so that there is no lack of credible soundstage depth. But listening with this combination of equipment is not characterized by hearing all of these aspects of the sound. The listening is characterized by hearing, with great clarity, lifelike presence and moving beauty all of the voices in favorite pieces of music - together - as organically whole works of musical expression. All of the sonic quality is heard as a more moving and involving articulation of each musical expression - by the composer, by each performer, and even by the recording and production contributors. The sound brings the listener closer to the very human and heartfelt statements made by all of the people involved in bringing the musical recording into existence.

I've been finding the HF-2, coupled with this competent tube amp, to be bringing value and richness to my listening well in excess of the relatively modest prices of these already high-value pieces of listening gear.

I wanted to thank the folks who brought us Head-Fiers the HF-2: Todd ("The Vinyl Junkie") Green, John("Mr. Grado Labs Himself") Grado, and Jude ("Head-Fi's Founder and Fearless Leader") Mansilla, each for their roles and contributions in the collaboration, conception, creation and delivery of these really fine phones for the high-value, modest price at which they were offered. I, for one, receive the grace involved in the efforts and offer from all of the participants as a rich gift. I thought it was very cool to read on the HF-2 (pizza) box, handwritten: "Happy Listening" (signed) "John Grado", and now especially so in light of ALL of the REALLY happy listening that I'm going to be doing with these phones for a good long time to come.

You mention the soundstage as being wide with good depth, can you put this finding in context with other cans?. The reason i ask is that the 225 , 80 and 60i i have do not have much of a soundstage at all and the RS-2 i heard didnt have much either.

Glad you're enjoying them. Any chance that I could persuade you to give the HF-2's a listen with your KICAS amp? I've been planning on using mine with the KICAS and was wondering whether it will pair well with the Grados.

I'm not expecting the same type of magic that the Mapletree is said to have with them, but I'm hoping they're still a decent pairing...

Thanks for the review, that was exactly what I wanted to hear. My EAR+ is ready & waiting for my HF2 to arrive .

I knew I should have ordered them.

I will waiting for The HF-3 because I am not sure HF2 still to order now.