[Todd]

HI All,

On Monday June 15th, we will be sending out a loaner Hemp Headphone from Grado Labs. We have had lots of questions about how it sounds and so we are giving you a chance to express your thoughts on it while using it in your own system for a week.

Loaner rules - same as always. STRICT limit of 10 people signing up!

Loaner Program Rules:

Send your name and address, telephone number and your Head-Fi user name to me (Todd) 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 post the review here first and feel free to post it somewhere else if you like!

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 look forward to hearing from you!

Todd

 

[adydula]

email sent
Alex

 

[Philimon]

email sent
Phil

 

[sphinxx]

Email sent.
Quan

 

[tutetibiimperes]

Email sent

 

[musiclvr]

Email sent. I’m excited to see the reviews come in on this one!

 

[Todd]

Hi All,

Here is the list of loaner participants. The headphones are headed out today! Please play by the rules and keep them for 1 week and ship them in a timely manner. I also look forward to seeing your impressions of the Hemp headphone here in this loaner thread.

Grado Hemp Loaner Program

• Elira
• @Slim1970
• Sphinx
• Alex
• Senndo
• Tutetibiimperes
• musiclvr
• Philimon
• Harry Manback

 

[musiclvr]

Very cool! Thank you for the opportunity Todd!

 

[tutetibiimperes]

Hi All,

Here is the list of loaner participants. The headphones are headed out today! Please play by the rules and keep them for 1 week and ship them in a timely manner. I also look forward to seeing your impressions of the Hemp headphone here in this loaner thread.

Grado Hemp Loaner Program

• Elira
• @Slim1970
• Sphinx
• Alex
• Senndo
• Tutetibiimperes
• musiclvr
• Philimon
• ksorota

Is that the order they’ll be shipped in? Just wanted to get an idea of when I’ll be receiving them. Thank you for doing this!

 

[Todd]

Hi All,

Yes this is the order in which they will be shipped. I added 1 more today and thus I have 10 participants. Thanks for all who signed up. I look forward to your impressions.

The hemp headphones were received by Elira today so it begins!

Todd

 

[elira]

First of all I would like to thank Todd for doing these tours, they are a great opportunity to get to know a piece of gear. Also a disclaimer, I'm a Grado fan, so my opinion might be biased.

Most of you might already know about Grado, they have been making headphones for a long time and they have kept the same design. Grados are as simple as it gets, they have a cylindrical chamber with a driver on it, pads made of some kind of sponge, and a steel headband covered in vinyl or leather.

From the SR60e to the top of the line PS2000e they share the same base sound signature, a little lean on the low end region, very clear mids and a somewhat pronounced treble. It's a sound signature that some love while others hate. But one of their most notable characteristics is how open they sound, they have zero isolation from the outside and when you play music in them the acoustics of the headphones mix with the acoustics of the room in a very natural way. It's like not wearing headphones. Something to consider is that Grados have some defects too, most notably that they don't like to be played loud, with most of them if you go loud they become harsh with too much treble. The attached wire is another controversial thing, some people like it (like me), some others say it's a garden hose, but it's a very flexible cable with very low microphonics.

Now let's go to specifics regarding the Grado Hemp, as their name indicates they are made of hemp, specifically hemp wood. There are three main things that make a Grado different from the others, cup/chamber material, driver size, and pads. In this case the cup/chamber is made of hemp wood with a ring of maple that holds the driver. The idea being that the chamber material makes the sound waves resonate differently, for this Grado has to tune the driver specifically for the type of wood being used. Hemp wood is made by bonding hemp plants, so it has a nice looking "grain" and feels very smooth.

The driver size is similar to other small Grados, and by comparing it with other Grados it looks the same, so not sure if it has something special. Something that is different is the pads, they use what Grado is calling F pads, which look like the old pads Grado used years ago, They are thinner than the L pads, they are flat and have a bigger contact area than the L pads. As with other Grado pads the material is not the same on the entire pad, they have a harder material on the top and bottom, and a softer one in the middle. This flatter pad affects the sound and comfort, the sound is more direct as it removes the air gap that other Grado pads create, and given the limited amount of padding the clamp pressure has to be adjusted to prevent them from squishing your ears.

Now let's talk about sound, most Grados have two issues sound wise, lack of low end and harsh treble, some Grados from the PS series have more low end, but the treble is still harsh. Now you might be asking why do I love Grados if they are harsh and lack low end, and the answer is that those things can be excused because the sound is so natural, clear and energetic that one forgives the defects. So going back to the Grado Hemp, somehow Grado increased the low end and smoothed out the treble, it's like a fixed Grado. Mids are still amazing, low end is good, and even though the treble is accentuated it's smooth. I compared them to the PS500, SR325is and HF3, and between them and the Hemp, I prefer the Hemp. I hope someone from the tour can compare them to other Grados.

So in conclusion one of the best Grados I've ever heard.

 

[ParaLoganGrado]

@Todd -- are there any slots still open? I would love to participate. I think I got the last leg of the HF3 Loaner

 

[Joaquin Dinero]

I pre-ordered a set of these the day I first saw the announcement. Overall I generally agree with @elira assessment. They seem like an incremental upgrade to the 325e, with a little fuller sound and more bass. I haven't heard any of the other Reference series to compare.

 

[audiobomber]

I haven't heard any of the other Reference series to compare.

Just a little correction, the Hemp is from the Limited Series, not Reference. I would be interested to see, or better yet hear, a comparison with the GH4.

 

[JoeDoe]

@Todd -- are there any slots still open? I would love to participate. I think I got the last leg of the HF3 Loaner

Would love to get in as well!