HF-1 burning and upgrade questions.

[granodemostasa]

1. Okay...so i've been burning this thing for about 80ish hours. How much longer do you think it needs (honestly, i've stopped noticing major changes after about 50 hours)?
2. is this driver capable of better resolution? what i mean is that i know it can sound better and blow me away with a new wooden cup...but what i didn't get from the meet is whether it is capable of more details (since such things arn't noticable in a room of 30 talking people). if so, what is the level of the included grado cable (for example, is the improvement like that between an equinox v. stock on senn, or more subtle?).
Thanks.

 

[mypasswordis]

Holy crap, you've been burning them for 80 hours???

I don't think you'd notice much of a change after half an hour...

 

[en480c4]

Re: #1
I listened to them right out of the box and thought they sounded good. I let them play while I was away at work a couple of days, and then listened to them from then on... I'd say the bass extension improved, and the treble smoothed out some. I'd say I didn't notice anything in the stock configuration changing after 20 hours that I could attribute to the headphones.
Re: #2
After woodying my HF-1's, I don't notice the "one-note bass" a lot of people mention when discussing the HF-1's. The low end definitely gained resolution to my ears. The treble smoothed out a bit as well... no loss in detail but a little less treble "sparkle." I'm not sure about the cable issue... I've long-considered upgrading the cable, but I really like what I'm hearing now and I'm only hesitant because I don't want it to change for the worse.
HTH,
Ian

 

[granodemostasa]

thanks. i've stopped letting it burn in as i wasn't picking any new things up (the only real difference is noticed in music i first listened to on saturday v. today).

 

[skyline889]

Mine have about 100 hours on them now, 60 of them burn-in, and I can definitely say they've smoothed out, the highs out of the box were never what you could call harsh, but they have become slightly more laidback and the bass has tightened up a lot. I am also considering upgrading the cable since the joints on mine are quite sloppy near the Y connector, idk maybe I'm just being obsessive

. Who does recables now? I know Larry does but I don't want the wooden cups...yet.

Edit: 420 hit of the day

.

 

[granodemostasa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline889 Mine have about 100 hours on them now, 60 of them burn-in, and I can definitely say they've smoothed out, the highs out of the box were never what you could call harsh, but they have become slightly more laidback and the bass has tightened up a lot. I am also considering upgrading the cable since the joints on mine are quite sloppy near the Y connector, idk maybe I'm just being obsessive . Who does recables now? I know Larry does but I don't want the wooden cups...yet. Edit: 420 hit of the day .

so many hits...so little posts!
I was thinkng along the lines of Moon Audio's black dragon or blue dragon headphone cables (my Blue Dragon V2 senn cable is quite an amazing cable)... but i'm not sure if they are willing or have ever done grados before.

 

[skyline889]

I saw a pair of PS-1s recabled and balanced with Black Dragons on their website but they did not list pricing, so one can only guess what it must be

. Is the Blue Dragon stiff like the Black? I had a pair of Black Dragon SA3000s and they were way too stiff for portable use, and even somtimes home use.

 

[granodemostasa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyline889 I saw a pair of PS-1s recabled and balanced with Black Dragons on their website but they did not list pricing, so one can only guess what it must be . Is the Blue Dragon stiff like the Black? I had a pair of Black Dragon SA3000s and they were way too stiff for portable use, and even somtimes home use.

you got me on that one, kitaoji has my Senns right now... might want to give her a PM to make sure... but from what i remember the blue dragon is about the same as the stock cable on the HF-1, but it is a little microphonic due to the material they use on the outer part of the cable.
someone previously mentoined that headphile won't do RS1 recables or mods because of the fear of breaking the wood-which is why i'm worried about being able to get a recable without having to get new wooden cups.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by granodemostasa 1. Okay...so i've been burning this thing for about 80ish hours. How much longer do you think it needs (honestly, i've stopped noticing major changes after about 50 hours)? 2. is this driver capable of better resolution? what i mean is that i know it can sound better and blow me away with a new wooden cup...but what i didn't get from the meet is whether it is capable of more details (since such things arn't noticable in a room of 30 talking people). if so, what is the level of the included grado cable (for example, is the improvement like that between an equinox v. stock on senn, or more subtle?). Thanks.

IMHO they dont need that much burn in time. IMHO out of the box they sound very good. Although Mids were a little aggressive and bass doesn't extend much prior to ~60 hours.

IMHO the HF1 is not a detail monster. I found the MS2 reveals more and is a "faster" more snappy sounding can. It IS however detailed enough to expose differences in source. My old CD deck is noticebly more deep and spatious sounding than even my best PCDP, and my T43 laptop.

 

[matt8268]

The headphile mod (which upgrades the cable) makes the HF-1 cleaner, more detailed. Like a veil is lifted from the music. I find it very detailed, actually, and I own Etymotics!

My advice has always been that you must love the HF-1 before you Headphile upgrade it. It will make it even better, but it's just too much to spend if you don't already really like the headphone. It improves them, but the sound signature is still HF-1.

I never noticed any burn-in differences. If I do hear differences, I can never tell if it's burn-in, or just me adjusting to the headphone or having a bad or good "ear day".

 

[granodemostasa]

yes, the lack of details was the first thing i noticed when i plugged it in on friday... But to answer your question: yes, i do love the HF1's sound signiture, it's my favorite of the grado headphones (i don't have a tube amp), and i simply think it can be made better...
at this point, i'm not sure what is causing the improvements: the better wooden cup for sure is doing some things... but how much the of headphile's improvement is due to the cable and how much to the wooden cup is what i'm trying to figure out.
But as long as i'm thinking modding: the liberator thing from Europe looks interesting, so do the new beagle bowls and maybe taking a cue from the GS1000 and modding the HF1 with wider wooden cups....