[johanchandy]

Tonight I did a pretty long A/B comparison of the Hemp vs the HD700. I am not sure I can keep both in the long term because tonewise to me they sound to be in the same ballpark; if you like the Hemp you'll probably like the HD700 and vice versa (assuming good gear match). They are like within 25% of each other soundwise IMO. Most of the material I compared centered around female vocalists, electronic music, rock, and metal.

They both sounded excellent, but here are my takeaways using Musical Fidelity MX-DAC and Liquid Platinum w/ stock tubes
- Hemp sounded significantly more "congested" than HD700
- HD700 had overall more convincing mids than Hemp, though the hd700 soundstage and air may have biased me on this
- HD700 had more extended treble, but also had more instances of being too bright at high volumes - although this was very rare for both headphones with my gear setup
- HD700 soundstage sounded both much wider, deeper, and more convincing than Hemp; hemp smaller, more intimate but still believable. This is a huge differentiator between the two.
- Hemp sound was more immediate, HD700 had more reverb
- Bass was relatively similar between the two
- HD700 sounded significantly more polished, Hemp more raw
- HD700 had significantly more air than Hemp
- HD700 was significantly more comfortable to wear than Hemp
- But, Hemp's shorter cord and smaller size was a bit easier to manage than HD700
- It was easier to forget I was wearing headphones with HD700
- To be frank, in almost every instance I overall preferred the sound of the HD700
- There is no doubt Hemp looks nicer

The hd700 sounds like the best grado ever lol

 

[ruinedx]

The hd700 sounds like the best grado ever lol

It really sounds like Hemp on steroids TBH

But its also more picky with gear like the more expensive grados

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Top 3 ways to make hated headphone:
* Headphone sounds bad with / sensitive to popular bad-sounding amps/DACs, which the market is flooded with; therefore the "value specs" group hates it
* Headphone does not have enough "status power" because its not the top / most expensive model; therefore the "status" group hates it
* Headphone doesn't have a flat frequency response, which certain people then dismiss immediately without hearing to appear more audiophile-ish educated; therefore the "judge by FR only" group whose gear caters to this type of flat headphone hates it

Result:
* This only leaves the group that buys stuff to experiment and actually listen to, which is the minority; and of course not all of them are going to like it, either, due to personal preference

Yes 100% agree.
I notice on Head-Fi.org a lot of people go straight for a top tier headphone (most probably taking most of their budget) and then attach it to a cheap DAC and cheap headphone amp. Just look at the For Sale Ads where there are far more high end headphones for sale than high end DAC's, Headphone Amps and as for high end turntables....well they are non existent.
Then they write bad reviews blaming the headphone.
What they are not realising is the high-end headphone is showing up all the flaws of the cheap equipment.
The other very important issue is synergy of all the equipment coming together as one. Thats why from my experience buying a complete hifi system from one company is normally a safe bet.

 

[jay2406]

Does the Euphoria have a low impedance option? I searched for a low impedance tube amp for my Grado's and it has been really nice. Bob 55 has a very nice Woo amp with high and low impedance options.

This off their website; According to Feliks Audio, the Euforia's unique design allows for exceptional sound quality with a broad range of headphones, powerful enough to drive even demanding low impedance headphones (<32 ohm) including planar magnetics

It has handled everything I have thrown at it pretty well.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

This off their website; According to Feliks Audio, the Euforia's unique design allows for exceptional sound quality with a broad range of headphones, powerful enough to drive even demanding low impedance headphones (<32 ohm) including planar magnetics

It has handled everything I have thrown at it pretty well.

Would love to know if using the Euforia masks any of the detail I get from using my GS3000e's direct from my Hugo 2 and whether using the Euforia would benefit the GS3000e from the larger increase on power and current and using the Hugo 2 just as a DAC compared to direct from the Hugo 2 !

When I tried the Beyer A2 Amp and the Vioelectric V280 both with the Hugo 2 and my Chord QBD76 DAC (use for my speaker system linked to my Chord Blu MK1) with my Beyer T5P Gen 2's and when I had a pair of HD800S's earlier this year (didn't have the GS3000e's then) the sound from the amps heavily masked the sound a lot when compared direct from the Hugo 2. I lost a lot of the treble, midrange and bass detail. So I immediately sold both of these amps.

So I am wondering if using a much higher end headphone amp would give me better results connected to the Hugo 2 or QBD76.

Or whether to spend the extra money and buy a Chord TT2 or Dave for my GS3000e's and sell my Hugo 2 and QBD76 ?

The total Chord route may be a better overall sound quality as there are less interconnects and electronic circuitry to go through to reach the headphones.

Another option is to have made a resistance conversion box made and use my Chord Mezzo 140 amp from my speaker system for my GS3000e's (although the Mezzo 140 may be just too powerful for the GS3000e's and also very inefficient with the large amount of resistance required to protect the headphones). I used the HiFiMan HE6's from my Mezzo 140's (via HiFiMan conversion box) and the sound was very good. If it wasn't for the crazy weight of the HE6's (also the biggest disadvantage to the Abyss 1266 and Audeze LCD's) I would most have probably kept them.

 

[jay2406]

Would love to know if using the Euforia masks any of the detail I get from using my GS3000e's direct from my Hugo 2 and whether using the Euforia would benefit the GS3000e from the larger increase on power and current and using the Hugo 2 just as a DAC compared to direct from the Hugo 2 !

When I tried the Beyer A2 Amp and the Vioelectric V280 both with the Hugo 2 and my Chord QBD76 DAC (use for my speaker system linked to my Chord Blu MK1) with my Beyer T5P Gen 2's and when I had a pair of HD800S's earlier this year (didn't have the GS3000e's then) the sound from the amps heavily masked the sound a lot when compared direct from the Hugo 2. I lost a lot of the treble, midrange and bass detail. So I immediately sold both of these amps.

So I am wondering if using a much higher end headphone amp would give me better results connected to the Hugo 2 or QBD76.

Or whether to spend the extra money and buy a Chord TT2 or Dave for my GS3000e's and sell my Hugo 2 and QBD76 ?

The total Chord route may be a better overall sound quality as there are less interconnects and electronic circuitry to go through to reach the headphones.

Another option is to have made a resistance conversion box made and use my Chord Mezzo 140 amp from my speaker system for my GS3000e's (although the Mezzo 140 may be just too powerful for the GS3000e's and also very inefficient with the large amount of resistance required to protect the headphones). I used the HiFiMan HE6's from my Mezzo 140's (via HiFiMan conversion box) and the sound was very good. If it wasn't for the crazy weight of the HE6's (also the biggest disadvantage to the Abyss 1266 and Audeze LCD's) I would most have probably kept them.

When I first got the Euforia I had the GS2000e and Empyrean. With the Empyrean I didn't think it was a great match as depending on the tubes it slows down the speed of guitars and softens the entire image compared to my Mac mini 2018 which just sounds faster with more detail but a 2d/flat sound compared to the more 3d sound of the euforia. I am currently thinking about selling it and trying a HUGO 2 as I think it will bring out the details and make the empyrean a more exciting and immediate listen. With the GS2000e depending on tubes it would really affect bass level and width of the sound, the detail was still there just softened.

 

[johanchandy]

Can't get over how beautiful these are, pictures don't do it justice. The hemp cups have this kind of rock like marble effect where certain areas shine slightly in the light. I love the quirky buttons as well haha

 

[ruinedx]

Can't get over how beautiful these are, pictures don't do it justice. The hemp cups have this kind of rock like marble effect where certain areas shine slightly in the light. I love the quirky buttons as well haha

Yep hemp is one of best looking headphones period. I think the look is cooler than any of grado other headphones by far. Cocobolo on gs3000e very appealing but hemp look still nicer imo.

I also think the hd820 look awesome as well, but for different reasons with a totally different vibe. Hemp is more organic chic, hd820 more sci-fi space tech.

 

[johanchandy]

Yep hemp is one of best looking headphones period. I think the look is cooler than any of grado other headphones by far. Cocobolo on gs3000e very appealing but hemp look still nicer imo.

I also think the hd820 look awesome as well, but for different reasons with a totally different vibe. Hemp is more organic chic, hd820 more sci-fi space tech.

Agreed! I love how the hd820 looks, very space age and premium looking. I find the Empyrean to be quite nice and premium looking as well.

 

[ruinedx]

Agreed! I love how the hd820 looks, very space age and premium looking. I find the Empyrean to be quite nice and premium looking as well.

Empyrean not bad but the mesh look remind me a little too much of HD600 mesh.

 

[Shane D]

This off their website; According to Feliks Audio, the Euforia's unique design allows for exceptional sound quality with a broad range of headphones, powerful enough to drive even demanding low impedance headphones (<32 ohm) including planar magnetics

It has handled everything I have thrown at it pretty well.

I see that they do not list output impedance and do not have a high/low switch. While it will work with Grado's, it will likely not be an ideal match. Most tube amps are not meant to be used with very efficient headphones.

 

[GarageBoy]

The euforia is a 6080 otl - the output impedance is going to be high

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/otl...dance-matching-question.702109/#post-10202227

 

[ruinedx]

Well, I've decided. Hemp is leaving the collection. It was a fantastic headphone that looked beautiful, but sounded too similar to my HD700 and ultimately not as good as it on my particular gear setup for my preferences. I struggle to find a use case for it as a result. I guess that means I need to check out of the thread!

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

When I first got the Euforia I had the GS2000e and Empyrean. With the Empyrean I didn't think it was a great match as depending on the tubes it slows down the speed of guitars and softens the entire image compared to my Mac mini 2018 which just sounds faster with more detail but a 2d/flat sound compared to the more 3d sound of the euforia. I am currently thinking about selling it and trying a HUGO 2 as I think it will bring out the details and make the empyrean a more exciting and immediate listen. With the GS2000e depending on tubes it would really affect bass level and width of the sound, the detail was still there just softened.

I found the Empyrean very boring, too dark and lifeless for all music genres both direct from the Hugo 2 and from a Beyer A2 and Violectric V280 using both the Hugo 2 just as a DAC and my Chord QBD76 (balanced into the V280).
Was also the same with the Senn HD800S's and my Beyer T5P Gen 2's yet the T5P's direct from the Hugo 2 was far superior (even out of the Mojo it was superior).
My GS3000e's direct from the Hugo 2 beat them all. I didn't have my GS3000e's when I had the A2 and V280. But from the results of the other two headphones, al the A2 and V280 did was vail the sound compared to direct from the Hugo 2.!

 

[elvergun]

I'm switching back and forth between the L and the G pads and I'm finding that salad bowls are not as bad as I thought (with the RS2e).

I did flatten them out a little by putting them under a couple of books for a few hours. Some of the bass is reduced, but the highs are now not as sharp. Also, the sound stage is much improved. I like how things sound with both pads.