Like I said you guys may just tell me to stick to what I got since I don't *need* to replace them and I'm not a collector. I will say the Hemp ones tickle me for uh certain reasons
just try to repair your sr325 gold you're gonna ended up much happier i guess or try the hemp one who knows maybe your taste a bit evolving from all those time with the goldie
Yeah, fix your SR325i AND get the Hemp. You will probably not lose a lot of money if you decide to sell the Hemp since it just came out. Used prices will be relatively high for a while.
Yeah, fix your SR325i AND get the Hemp. You will probably not lose a lot of money if you decide to sell the Hemp since it just came out. Used prices will be relatively high for a while.
I'll admit... I'm "this" close to trying some Hemp's. My 45th birthday is just over a month away and I'd hate to be without cans while getting the 325i serviced.
I'll admit... I'm "this" close to trying some Hemp's. My 45th birthday is just over a month away and I'd hate to be without cans while getting the 325i serviced.
I'll admit... I'm "this" close to trying some Hemp's. My 45th birthday is just over a month away and I'd hate to be without cans while getting the 325i serviced.
Old school head-fier here but haven't been around much for a while. Just recently found out the HF3 was a thing (not sure how I didn't even notice it from afar, but it happened). I snagged a complete pair from Audiogon this week which arrived yesterday. Found enough joy in my setups that I felt I could focus my energy on other hobbies/kids for a while. When I found out they existed it only made sense to grab a pair to keep the set complete.
So at the same time as the package was being delivered our CEO announced we're not returning to the office until at least early next year. That gave me reason to run up to the office and grab my HF-1s. I haven't had the two together in 5 years since switching jobs and even that was pretty short. That gave me the opportunity to listen to them all side by side. On first listen to the HF3s I remembered quickly how not Grado the HF2s sound. The HF3s are punchier, brighter (by quite a lot), faster, but have clearly more of a treble forward sound and bass light compared to the HF2s. The HF-1s are relatively in-between. But I was also comparing against different ages of pads and in the case of the HF-1 a completely different pad. I find with Grados you can slightly vary the sound by switching pads out or even as they age things change.
So that gave me four options. The stock Grado pads on the HF3s, the almost dead L-cush Grado pads on the HF2s, EARZONKs on the HF-1, and the "Gerod s-small" pads that I randomly ordered to replace the aging HF2 pads. The Gerod and Earzonks seem the same. Both are single foam L-cush shaped pads with a little less angle into the driver. (Not sure how this review is turning into a pad thing, but here we are.) So I switched and swapped headphones and pads. And found a setup that seemed to pull the best out of each headphone. That was the fresh L-cush from the HF3s on the HF2s (made them slightly brighter while still being super smooth). The EARZONKs stayed on the HF-1s (I feel they bring the harshness down a tad but leave everything else pretty much the same). And the HF3s now have the Gerod pads (they're PM-3 level of analytical and close in bass response which is crazy. It's really slick sounding at moderate volume levels). So that setup gave me three headphones which are similar ish but quite different in some aspects. I think overall the HF2 is still the smoothest of the three and has the widest sound stage (it's also very heavy weight wise... who knew). The HF-1 is sort of an in-between across the board. It's super lightweight but lack a little bit of thump while keeping the rest of the house sound. The HF3 is super tight and crispy (in a good way).
Another interesting thing is that the HF3 is significantly more efficient. It takes a decent knob turn to match perceived volume when switching to that headphone from the other two. I can't find official specs on the HF-1 or HF2 but I'd imagine it's a decent amount lower. I had no idea the new Grado drivers had that much more sensitivity. Overall though I think the HF2 is still the best at the low levels I usually listen throughout the day. It's just smoother and has bumps in the right places at a low volume level. The HF3 excels at moderate levels though. Crank it up a little bit and they are a very fast and tight sounding headphone. The HF-1s do both things fairly well but lack a bit of the low bass the others don't seem to have a problem with. It's there, just a bit less.
Hopefully you sort of enjoyed my random quips about the three Grado Head-Fi (or Head-F1) headphones. I'll continue to enjoy all three of them in various ways alongside my other stuff. Like the rest of this massive thread I find Grado headphones are pretty great in their own right. I've heard a lot of the other super high end stuff and have always decided they're just not enough better to justify the price increase and any cheaper don't hold up.
Sorry to get off the Grado Hemp train, but I've got some input that I think I can finally put into words to describe what I like so much about Grado cans (GH2 especially) vs others. I've had a couple glasses of 90 proof tonight, but I think it still applies.
This is the song that made it stand out the most to me (I've ordered a few of their vinyls lately and been listening to this band more than any other the past few months in lockdown so am pretty familiar with them):
So I've been listening with my Audeze LCD-2 Closed Back headphones over the GH2 the past two weeks. They are amazing headphones and I can't ding much off them objectively. To me the strongest points in their favor vs the GH-2 (and my GW-100 which are admittedly inaccurate frequency response wise) are the almost nearly flat to my ears frequency response. They don't have a noticeable bump in the upper midrage or lower treble that Grado's seem to be known for and that I have grown used to. The bass extension is fantastically deep and never over emphasised. They are so fast that the decay of instruments seem to be an exact replica of how they are played in the studio. But where they lack (and why I always revert back to my GH2s with a smile) is a completely subjective feature: realism.
At 2:10 in the linked video, the song changes key slightly lower. With the Audeze (my guess is due to being closed back -- I've yet to hear an open back planar so keep that in mind) it sounds on paper the same. But what it lacks is the emotional shift that grabs you by the balls and tells you "hey, we're going somewhere else for a minute - buckle in..." The song takes a turn not only in key, but in emotion. I hate that it's such a subjective descriptor and is not great for comparing headphones or speakers, but something about the two elicits different responses and the Grado has a more pleasing emotion response. There is some improv that elicits a feeling of almost panic and urgency I can't "feel" as much with the LCD-2 Closed, even though I know it is objectively the same. If I had to put it on paper it would have something to do with space. I'm able to notice the changes in distance when the sax has to step back from the mic(s) a bit.
I'm not sure if it has to do with dynamics because the Grados are more sensitive (I've got at least 1w on tap for each channel so wouldn't think that's a big cause), or in general just open back cans sound better? I've yet to hear a closed back that could sufficiently mask the reflections from the driver to the enclosure. It might be that claimed artificial boost in the upper mids that a lot of people claim ruin Grados for them. Either way, there is SOMETHING about them that brings an eerie, lifelike presentation I can't stay away from for too long! If I'm listening to a new artist or album, I usually grab the GH-2s first. I'll admit the bass is kind of sloppy and "flubby" sounding if I'm being objective. But that's really only noticeable if you're looking for it and comparing against something as lightning fast as a planar. Maybe there is some characteristic that stands out I can't identify yet, but there's my rant for the evening. Check out "Mammal Hands" that I linked above. I promise, if you like any sort of acoustic / piano / sax / jazz fusion music that they're worth a solid listen or three!
Well my 325e arrived today and I've only had a short time with them but so far I really like them. They are as lively as I was expecting and I did have to go up about 3dB or so on the bass but they handled it just fine with no distortion at all. I'm coming to the realization that I do like a brighter sound from time to time and these fit that perfectly for me. I can listen to these at a lower volume than I normally do and I don't feel like I'm missing anything like with some other headphones. Anyways, so far so good and I'm looking forward to sitting back and just listening to them for a while tonight.
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