Bilavideo
Caution: Incomplete trades.
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2008
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I'm calling this a "Stupid Grado Mod" because it's so easy, it hardly merits mention - except I found the results irresistibly good.
I got a pair of HF-2s. The previous owner had good things to say but commented negatively on the comfort of the L-Cush bowls, what I call doughnuts. He was right on the money. These b@st@rds really started to give me discomfort after about an hour of use, and I'm somebody who's pretty tolerant of on-ear phones. Fortunately, in addition to its wood/metal synergy, the HF-2 has great drivers. Some even think they're the same drivers as the GS-1000. Whether or not that's true, the bass in these babies is fantastic. I've owned all the Grados from the iGrado to the GS1k (except for the 125, 225 and RS-2). This is the first sub-thousand Grado that could handle jumbos without sounding anemic. In fact, with the doughnuts provided, the bass is so ample, it borders on overwhelming.
But who wants to pay $50 for jumbos? Here's a cheaper option that works surprisingly well. For $10, you take a pair of comfies, cut out the quarter mod (so you're not shooting sound through foam), and stack your doughnuts on top. Duh, right?
The only problem is you've now got a high-rise tube that may end up being too linear. You don't have that wide mouth for HF dispersion. What's more, you may end up with an ear/driver distance that's excessive (my chief complaint with the G-Cush jumbos). The answer? Just stretch and crush. This is what the jumbo lovers tell you to do with their thick-@$$ monsters. I'm sorry, the jumbos and I still have issues.
Doughnuts are easier to stretch and crush. There's a lot less material to put up resistance. What you end up with, if you're as vile as I am, is a stretched-out pair of doughnuts, widening the mouth a bit but not enough to prevent them from sitting on top of the comfies. You pull for width; you mash for compression. This gives you more space than you had without overdoing it. It also gives your pinnae a little room of their own.
To my sense of comfort, profile and sound, it's "just right." Like the doughnuts, you've got a tighter profile, something much less cumbersome than the jumbo helmet. On the other hand, because the pads are now circumaural, there's no comparison in terms of comfort. And because the landing gear/contact surface is narrower, there's less heat generated between cushion and skin, which is also an issue of comfort.
Best of all, there's expanded HF without sibilance and my ears are not touching the driver grill. For those who balk at cutting their own cushions, this is a $10 solution that's worth a whole lot more. It's so intuitive (and must have been attempted before) that I hesitate to throw it out there, but with the HF-2s and their rockin' bass, it's too good to hide under a bushel. My ears are in sonic heaven. It's a wonderful thing when you finally have things right where you want them. Maybe now I can go back to thinking about the music.
I got a pair of HF-2s. The previous owner had good things to say but commented negatively on the comfort of the L-Cush bowls, what I call doughnuts. He was right on the money. These b@st@rds really started to give me discomfort after about an hour of use, and I'm somebody who's pretty tolerant of on-ear phones. Fortunately, in addition to its wood/metal synergy, the HF-2 has great drivers. Some even think they're the same drivers as the GS-1000. Whether or not that's true, the bass in these babies is fantastic. I've owned all the Grados from the iGrado to the GS1k (except for the 125, 225 and RS-2). This is the first sub-thousand Grado that could handle jumbos without sounding anemic. In fact, with the doughnuts provided, the bass is so ample, it borders on overwhelming.
But who wants to pay $50 for jumbos? Here's a cheaper option that works surprisingly well. For $10, you take a pair of comfies, cut out the quarter mod (so you're not shooting sound through foam), and stack your doughnuts on top. Duh, right?
The only problem is you've now got a high-rise tube that may end up being too linear. You don't have that wide mouth for HF dispersion. What's more, you may end up with an ear/driver distance that's excessive (my chief complaint with the G-Cush jumbos). The answer? Just stretch and crush. This is what the jumbo lovers tell you to do with their thick-@$$ monsters. I'm sorry, the jumbos and I still have issues.
Doughnuts are easier to stretch and crush. There's a lot less material to put up resistance. What you end up with, if you're as vile as I am, is a stretched-out pair of doughnuts, widening the mouth a bit but not enough to prevent them from sitting on top of the comfies. You pull for width; you mash for compression. This gives you more space than you had without overdoing it. It also gives your pinnae a little room of their own.
To my sense of comfort, profile and sound, it's "just right." Like the doughnuts, you've got a tighter profile, something much less cumbersome than the jumbo helmet. On the other hand, because the pads are now circumaural, there's no comparison in terms of comfort. And because the landing gear/contact surface is narrower, there's less heat generated between cushion and skin, which is also an issue of comfort.
Best of all, there's expanded HF without sibilance and my ears are not touching the driver grill. For those who balk at cutting their own cushions, this is a $10 solution that's worth a whole lot more. It's so intuitive (and must have been attempted before) that I hesitate to throw it out there, but with the HF-2s and their rockin' bass, it's too good to hide under a bushel. My ears are in sonic heaven. It's a wonderful thing when you finally have things right where you want them. Maybe now I can go back to thinking about the music.
