[majo123]

I got a pair of F’s from them for about £22 less than a year ago. To have more than doubled the price is pretty shameless

I thought I had seen them cheaper at the beginning of issue....

 

[dinkostinko]

As others have said the Grado pad uses 3 different grades of foam.
The cheap ones don’t.
The picture below is of a cheap pad on the left and a pad from earphonediy labs.
This pad uses 3 different types of foam or stiffer foam .
You can buy 3 pairs for the price of OG Grado pads.

makes sense! thanks for the photos

 

[joseph69]

100% the case, I only purchase original Grado pads.

+1

 

[544322]

100% the case, I only purchase original Grado pads. As @Gippy states, major differences with aftermarket G cushions. Compare to a Grado G pad and they pretty much all fall short. Listen for yourself to know.

The Geekria "G" pads look like Gs but are way closer to the ear. They are very comfy but they sound more like an F pad or Shipibo pads. That doesn't have to be bad but do not expect the knock-off G-pads to sound like the original ones.

 

[JaquesGelee]

My last diy Grado for now. Enjoy music

 

[TheRealDz]

My last diy Grado for now. Enjoy music

1) Which drivers did you use?

2) How do they sound???

 

[jlaseter]

The Geekria "G" pads look like Gs but are way closer to the ear. They are very comfy but they sound more like an F pad or Shipibo pads. That doesn't have to be bad but do not expect the knock-off G-pads to sound like the original ones.

Agreed. I've found in general that the closer a pad puts the driver to your ear, the stronger the bass. The official Grado G pads will tend to suck out bass, so headphones that ship with them tend to have stronger bass frequencies to compensate.

I did a pad comparison of 7 Grado headphones, each with Grado G pads, knockoff (non-layered) G pads which sit closer to the ear (as the Geekria mentioned do), and an interesting large Geekria "flat" the size of a G pad.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/com...igurations-grado-others.964840/#post-17138899

I preferred the official G pads almost universally, unless looking for more bass at the expense of soundstage.

 

[JaquesGelee]

1) Which drivers did you use?

2) How do they sound???

1) 37 Ohm 40mm DD like Hemp.

2) With F Pads approximately like the Hemp.

 

[Luckyleo]

Hey now!

Just wanted to throw my thoughts about "pad rolling" with Grados. I currently have 8 different Grados ranging from SR80 to GS3000X. I've spent a lot of money on 3rd party pads of all variants (G, F, L,). When all is said and done, I've come to the conclusion that for ME, it's best when I stick to genuine Grado pads AND use the pad style that came with each individual headphone from the factory. I know many of you (most of you??) may disagree with me, but I keep coming back to the factory standards. I feel like I'm getting the most out each headphone as Grado intended.......

YMMV!

Leo

 

[Sinister Whisperz]

1) 37 Ohm 40mm DD like Hemp.

2) With F Pads approximately like the Hemp.

Are the drivers from EDL? I'm debating doing a diy build but I'm not sure of aftermarket driver quality/sound.

 

[ESL-1]

Hey now!

Just wanted to throw my thoughts about "pad rolling" with Grados. I currently have 8 different Grados ranging from SR80 to GS3000X. I've spent a lot of money on 3rd party pads of all variants (G, F, L,). When all is said and done, I've come to the conclusion that for ME, it's best when I stick to genuine Grado pads AND use the pad style that came with each individual headphone from the factory. I know many of you (most of you??) may disagree with me, but I keep coming back to the factory standards. I feel like I'm getting the most out each headphone as Grado intended.......

YMMV!

Leo

I totally agree with your assessment, every bit of it......

 

[hammersrocco]

Agreed. I've found in general that the closer a pad puts the driver to your ear, the stronger the bass. The official Grado G pads will tend to suck out bass, so headphones that ship with them tend to have stronger bass frequencies to compensate.

I did a pad comparison of 7 Grado headphones, each with Grado G pads, knockoff (non-layered) G pads which sit closer to the ear (as the Geekria mentioned do), and an interesting large Geekria "flat" the size of a G pad.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/com...igurations-grado-others.964840/#post-17138899

I preferred the official G pads almost universally, unless looking for more bass at the expense of soundstage.

Thanks for that post - gives me an entry for my follow up - tried a different type of Geekrias - the ones that kind of look like Grado's L Cushions... and definitely a degradation - wen't back to the ones I bought first, open, no cup shape. So, it is a combination of factors IMHO

- Closeness to the ear
- AND open cushions

So my next move is to go for Grado's F Cushions - thinking it will be worthwhile. Sure, if I do that I will have spent in cushions half the price of the sr80x in cushions, but given the experience, is worth it - otherwise it would mean I wasted the price of the sr80x - NOW, I am using them! Not a waste anymore

v

 

[Shane D]

100% the case, I only purchase original Grado pads. As @Gippy states, major differences with aftermarket G cushions. Compare to a Grado G pad and they pretty much all fall short. Listen for yourself to know.

Pretty much agree with one exception: Beautiful Audio pads.

I hated the L-pads as they hurt my right ear, for some reason.
The knock off G-cush are very comfortable, but sounded weird.
I bought the Shipibo's which I don't care for. They are stiff enough that they keep the drivers too far from my ears. And they cost a lot more than the G-Cush pads. If you are looking at the Shipibo, just spend a bit more and get the BA pads.

The G-cush pads look like crap. They look like B-model pads. If I had paid $2.5K (in Canadian bucks) and got a GS/PS headphone with these pads, I would have been less than impressed.
They are very stiff and keep the drivers away from your ears, but not as badly as the Shipibo's. However the headphones will fall off my head very easily as there is no tight fit. And I have bent the headband repeatedly.
The sound does seem "bigger" as the sound kind of bounces around in the big cup. And it does reduce bass noticeably. After comparing the Hemp's with the G-Cush against the GH2's with BA pads, for a short time, my initial reactions are: The GH2 combo sounds deeper and bassier. The Hemp's sounded more open and had more high end. That was both out of a Violectric V220. With this setup, the GH2's needed just a touch more volume to even up.
Just for giggles I plugged the Hemp combo into my iFi Pro iCAN with a jolt of bass boost. Very nice!

Just as a last note, when I used the F-pads for a few hours they started to hurt my ear. Kind of like the L-Cush used to, but more of the ear?

Just my Grado rambling as I am in the middle of a Grado week that includes two headphones, three sets of pads and four amps.

 

[jlaseter]

Thanks for that post - gives me an entry for my follow up - tried a different type of Geekrias - the ones that kind of look like Grado's L Cushions... and definitely a degradation - wen't back to the ones I bought first, open, no cup shape. So, it is a combination of factors IMHO

- Closeness to the ear
- AND open cushions

So my next move is to go for Grado's F Cushions - thinking it will be worthwhile. Sure, if I do that I will have spent in cushions half the price of the sr80x in cushions, but given the experience, is worth it - otherwise it would mean I wasted the price of the sr80x - NOW, I am using them! Not a waste anymore

v

Glad you found the F's to your liking!

I probably need to grab a set, as some of the images I've seen show them to be distinct from the TTVJ flats I bought around 10 or so years ago. Or perhaps at least closer to the TTVJ deluxe I picked up more recently (no "dimples" and the denser part of the foam is the other side of the pad).

 

[iFi audio]

Just for giggles I plugged the Hemp combo into my iFi Pro iCAN with a jolt of bass boost. Very nice!

Thanks and enjoy