Grado GH-2 loaner program

[Todd]

HI All,
 
We will be starting a GH-2 loaner program today to the first 5 people who email me at or after 12 noon MST. No early entries will be accepted.
 

Loaner Program Rules:
 
Send your name and address as well as a telephone number and your Head-Fi user name to me at todd@ttvjaudio.com. Do NOT PM me as you will not be included in the program without an email.
You will get the loaner for 1 week to use in your home with your system. After your one week is up, you must send it to the next loaner participant. Email me (todd@ttvjaudio.com) the tracking info so I can pass it on to the recipient.
You MUST write a review and post it in this loaner thread. It must be posted in the same thread as this announcement for the loaner program. Please do not post it somewhere else!
Once you have received the loaner, email me to let me know you have it and I will send the address for the next person.
Our loaner programs are USA only. We are restricted from shipping/selling outside the USA on most products.
 
I will post the 5 Head-Fi user names later today. The GH-2 will ship out tomorrow to the first recipient.
 
The GH-2 is in stock and ready to ship to anyone who wants to own one now!
 

 
 
Todd

 

[nytryder7]

Thanks for this offer Todd!

 

[JoeDoe]

Yessir! Email sent!

 

[dpump]

Email sent. Want to compare these to my GH1.

 

[ngoshawk]

Done and emailed. Thank you!

 

[dpump]

  Email sent. Want to compare these to my GH1.

Since Todd sent an email saying that Grado is now sold out of the GH2 and he won't be getting another shipment, I decided to go ahead and purchase a pair. Won't need to be in the loaner tour now.

 

[JoeDoe]

So has the loaner list been published?

 

[Todd]

Hi Folks,
 
Here is the list... nytryder should already have the GH-2 in his possession so JoeDoe should be getting them soon... we still have a few of these headphones left in stock for anyone interested.
 

nytryder7
JoeDoe
wallaby1170
ngoshawk
Ike1985
 
Todd

 

[JoeDoe]

  Hi Folks,
 
Here is the list... nytryder should already have the GH-2 in his possession so JoeDoe should be getting them soon... we still have a few of these headphones left in stock for anyone interested.
 

nytryder7
JoeDoe
wallaby1170
ngoshawk
Ike1985
 
Todd

Woohoo! Will get to do a comparo with my GH1!

 

[ngoshawk]

Excellent, and thank you!

 

[Ashah]

  HI All,
 
We will be starting a GH-2 loaner program today to the first 5 people who email me at or after 12 noon MST. No early entries will be accepted.
 

Loaner Program Rules:
 
Send your name and address as well as a telephone number and your Head-Fi user name to me at todd@ttvjaudio.com. Do NOT PM me as you will not be included in the program without an email.
You will get the loaner for 1 week to use in your home with your system. After your one week is up, you must send it to the next loaner participant. Email me (todd@ttvjaudio.com) the tracking info so I can pass it on to the recipient.
You MUST write a review and post it in this loaner thread. It must be posted in the same thread as this announcement for the loaner program. Please do not post it somewhere else!
Once you have received the loaner, email me to let me know you have it and I will send the address for the next person.
Our loaner programs are USA only. We are restricted from shipping/selling outside the USA on most products.
 
I will post the 5 Head-Fi user names later today. The GH-2 will ship out tomorrow to the first recipient.
 
The GH-2 is in stock and ready to ship to anyone who wants to own one now!
 

 
 
Todd

Sent an email if  the program is still available 

 

[nytryder7]

Grado GH2

My experience with the GH2 was an enjoyable one. They matched up very well with my system which consists of a MacBook Pro, Schiit Audio Modi 2 and Schhiit Audio Asgard 2. I have Schiit Audio's PYST USB cable running between the Mac & Modi and Stager Silver Solids RCA's to complete the connection to the Asgard.

Fit and finish were nice as is the norm for Grado with the only difference being the cocobolo wood cups on this pair was closer to a burgundy shade than the ones seen in their ads. Nonetheless, they were very good looking.

As I stated above, the GH2 played very well with my system. Listening to my iTunes files there was a nice sense of air and clarity. I felt that the instruments were not only easy to place but nothing was drowned out by other instruments. Bass was Grado sweet. Nice and tight, make you tap your foot sweet. The GH2s handled highs equally as well. I listen to jazz both vocal and instrumental with a strong attraction to piano artist. My piano tracks were a pleasure to listen to never sounding harsh or overbearing. I enjoyed my vocal tracks the most. More than once I found myself clicking on the replete button.

During my time with the Grado GH2, I couldn't find anything that they did wrong. Sorry that my music repertoire isn't more versatile so l could give you more of an insight on how they handle different genres. Hopefully this will be remedied by others who signed up for this loaner program. I'd like to thank Todd for making these available to the members here on Head-fi.

 

[JoeDoe]

Mini-review & Comparo to GH1. 
 
TL;DR: The GH's are very similar. While other Grados could be called cousins, the GH's would be brother's, possibly fraternal twins to these ears. From my older GH1 review, "While RS1 is a permanent keeper and it'll never leave, but the more 'fun' tweaks in the GH1's signature make it hard not to reach for every time I sit down at the laptop! From it's lightweight design, to it's gorgeous maple cocobolo cups, to the incredible detailed, yet enjoyable tuning, the GH1 (and GH2)  probably represent the best value in the Grado lineup that's gonna run you more than $300. If you can get your hand on one of these limited edition cans, I can't recommend it enough. Truly a wonderful product from the Brooklyn boys!
 
Listening Notes:
 

	GH1	GH2
Late in the Evening	Slightly elevated upper mids. Vocals a little more forward.	Slightly better bass texture and vocals, though not as forward, have a touch more weight.
A Good Name	Hard to tell a difference.	See left.
Washed by the Water	A hair more liveliness in the cymbals. Organ sounds great!	Slightly quicker bass and organ sounds great! Rim knocks a hair further back.
Best for Last	Vocals a little more forward.	Bass has more weight.
Grown Folks	Very hard to tell a difference.	Maybe the slightest edge taken off the top?
NaaNaaNaa	Organ is clean. Tambourine a little piercing.	Organ a little shouty, but tambourine is backed off.
Jupiter	No difference.	See left.

 
The GH2 is a great followup to it's earlier iteration. Gorgeous to look at, tuned to be exciting, but not fatiguing or abrasive. To these ears, the difference between the two could be described in the following way: the GH1's FR curve could have a slight lift in the upper mids while the GH2's lift would be in the lower mids. Neither are as aggressive up top as something like the 325 or GS1000, but neither hit as hard as anything from the PS line either. All in all, both are great headphones that outperform anything in the Prestige series and most of the Reference line. I would recommend either wholeheartedly if you only wanted one Grado.  Two thumbs up from this reviewer!

 

[Ike1985]

Can't wait to experience the famous Grado sound for the first time!

 

[wallaby1170]

First thing first, I would like to thank Todd for including me in the Grado GH2 Loaner Program.
 
My main audio setup 
 
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)
 
Desktop Amp/Settings:
HeadRoom Ultra Desktop Amp
Brightness Filter: Off
Crossfeed: Off
Gain: Low
 
Audio File Format: combination of Apple Lossless (Bandcamp) and AAC 256 kbps (iTunes)
 
Music Player: iTunes
 
Music Genres: Mostly alternative and Indie recently published on KEXP, KCRW, KUTX podcasts
 
Comfort: Above average although I wish the ear pads were made of leather or pleather.  The ear cups made my ears itch slightly during long listening sessions.  I didn't have any comfort issues with the headband.  The clamping force is just about right.  
 
Sound Signature: Initially I was disappointed with the sound signature of the GH2's.  For some reason I got it in my head the GH2's were going to have more bass and not sound as bright as the other headphones in the Grado lineup.  That plus the fact prior to listening the GH2's I was listening to the Audeze EL-8's for a couple of hours.  So when I put down the EL-8's and put on the GH2's, I was stunned by how bright and thin the GH2's sounded to the point where they were almost unbearable to listen to.  Slowly I started acclimating to the GH2's sound signature which I still think sounded too bright but it became much more tolerable, more so than the Grado 325i's I once owned.  Switching back to the Audeze EL-8's, the Grado GH2's made the EL-8's sound like switching from a FM to an AM Stereo Radio Station with the bass boosted in the audio chain.  Cymbals sounded like they had no definition.  Tambourines lacked sparkle.  
 
The drawback that I find with the Grado GH2's is the lower end of the frequency seems to lack quantity.  For example the drums at the beginning of "Smooth" by Laura Marling lack the slam factor.  The soundstage of the Grado GH2's sounded wider than what I was expecting which is a plus.  While auditioning the GH2's two songs stood out "Mantra For A Struggling Artist (Feat. Billy McCarthy)" from Andrew Joslyn and "Elegy" by Leif Vollebekk.  The violins in "Mantra For A Struggling Artist" and the piano in "Elegy" made me wish I listened to classical music more often.  Both songs sounded beautiful on the GH2's.  Then again some of the other tracks I listened to sounded jarring, especially recordings with too much compression (loudness war casualties) example "Last Kiss" by Minus the Bear and "Star Roving" by Slowdive.  On the other hand music with a lot of dynamic range sounded great, especially "One Red Thread" by Blind Pilot.  
 
The Grado GH2's are very easy to drive without a headphone amp.  During the audition session I plugged them into my iPhone SE unamped.  Surprisingly there wasn't much of a difference in sound quality between listening to the GH2's on an unamped iPhone SE and the iMac with the HeadRoom Ultra Desktop Amp that cost over $1,000!!
 
Treble heads will probably love the Grado GH2's.  Treble easily sparkles when it's there.  With the headphones that sound as bright as the GH2's I was expecting to hear a lot of sibilance like I did when I auditioned the Sennheiser HD 700's.  Surprisingly I didn't come across any tracks with sibilance even the track "Wish I Could Forget" by The Weepies.  Vocals are very clear although sometimes they don't carry enough weight because the focus leans more towards the treble and the upper midrange.  
 
Conclusion:
 
Would I buy the Grado GH2's?  Maybe?  The thing is the bass and sometimes the midrange can sound anemic at times and the treble too bright.  For the most part however the GH2's sound sparking clear, the bass never bleeds into the lower midrange.  The midrange doesn't come across too forward like it can sound sometimes on the Sennheiser 600/650.  Overall the Grado GH2's were very enjoyable to listen to.  I'm grateful and appreciative that I had the opportunity to participate in the Grado GH2 Loaner Program.  
 
Thanks again!