[DoYouRight]

exactly.

Anyway, I don't think it is a "shaved" 325 shell I think it is a PS-1 shell and from the 2009 impressions thread it might have some kin to those cans as well. Here is the pic of the PS1 compared to the HF2

You decide?
If anything they just moved the mesh out a bit on the HF-2 when they put the wood inside. -_-

I ordered on the 15th I really hope I get them before June 30th thats a lonnngg time

Pictures made the wait so much harder!

 

[tintin47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMarchingMule /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm wondering now whether it would be logical to have these three Grados in the end: SR225, HF-2, RS1i. What say those who have heard at least two of those models listed? Thanks in advance.

If I had to guess, I would say that you would/should end up with the RS1 and the HF2. The 225 sounds very much like the rs-1 in terms of sound sig, but slightly worse in every way. Less extension, harsher highs, more boomy bass, less detail, less refinement, less impact, slower attack... For that reason, I couldn't really see owning both of them.

The HF2 on the other hand will probably have a different sound sig (slightly. it will still be a grado) and will have the collectors edition thing going for it etc, so it will probably be a worthy complement to the RS-1.

 

[yongwang73186]

Man they look great Ive been lurking around here for a while, but never really felt the urge to become a member, until this showed up. wonder how they will stack up to my SR125?

 

[subtle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoYouRight /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyway, I don't think it is a "shaved" 325 shell I think it is a PS-1 shell

Aside from the fact that they are both aluminum and round, they don't look anything alike IMO.

 

[Faust2D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by subtle /img/forum/go_quote.gif Aside from the fact that they are both aluminum and round, they don't look anything alike IMO.

Whatever they are that wooden chamber plus aluminum cup got to give them a different sound character. But they do look similar with engraving and mate finish.

 

[vcoheda]

looks like there is a lot less metal on the HF2 than the PS1.

 

[Grimspoon]

Looking between the pic of the PS-1 and my RS1, the PS-1 cups looks like the metal equivalent of the RS1 cups.

I could be wrong though. In any case, the HF-2 doesn't really match up visually with the PS-1. I'd be more inclined to believe they're machined RS1 cups.

For the cost, I could imagine that they took the effort to make unique cups just for the HF-2.

 

[MadMan007]

How long is the cable on the HF2? Someone who got one at CanJam please answer

I am anxiously awaiting initial impressions and reviews from those folks.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMan007 /img/forum/go_quote.gif How long is the cable on the HF2? Someone who got one at CanJam please answer I am anxiously awaiting initial impressions and reviews from those folks.

Six feet.

I am burning in these HF-2 finally, which got about 24 hours of burn-in at CanJam. After listening to them on my Woo WA6 for a while today, my vote is that these are a must own Grado IF you cannot afford an APS V3 cabled RS-1 for the extra detail and soundstage (or a woodied re-cabled HF-1). You'll spend about the same as a used RS-2 for them, and enjoy them more.

With bowls the HF-2 have the rich inviting mids of the RS-2 without sounding as dull/rolled off or too forward like the RS-2. They have the bass of an RS-1 with flats and it's not overblown like the PS-1000 or PS-1, and the bass is also better than my old SR-325i. The bass detail needs work, and I suspect burn-in will help there - there is still a slight "bass cloud" over the music, since these are so fresh I think. The vocals are beautiful with these, and the re are no glaring colorations that I would like to banish yet with a re-cable or mods.

I had posted that at CanJam that I liked the HF-2 probably as much as a stock RS-1 but said that didn't have enough time to compare. But here at home my APS V3 RS-1 do have more extension, detail and transparency (with flats) than the HF-2. The soundstage is still smaller than the RS-1 as well, despite flats on the RS-1. I was not as impressed with my RS-2 or SR-325i when I had them as I am with these fresh HF-2 right now, although I thought the woodied recabled HF-1 with flats were closer to the RS-1 than any other Grado (Blutarsky now has those in partial trade for his Stax O2 Mk1).

I can imagine just how much better the micro-detail and transparency on these HF-2 would be if I have them re-cabled like all my other headphones, but I am planning to leave them stock for a while first.

 

[kg21]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Six feet. I am burning in these HF-2 finally, which got about 24 hours of burn-in at CanJam. After listening to them on my Woo WA6 for a while today, my vote is that these are a must own Grado IF you cannot afford an APS V3 cabled RS-1 for the extra detail and soundstage (or a woodied re-cabled HF-1). You'll spend about the same as a used RS-2 for them, and enjoy them more. With bowls the HF-2 have the rich inviting mids of the RS-2 without sounding as dull/rolled off or too forward like the RS-2. They have the bass of an RS-1 with flats and it's not overblown like the PS-1000 or PS-1, and the bass is also better than my old SR-325i. The bass detail needs work, and I suspect burn-in will help there - there is still a slight "bass cloud" over the music, since these are so fresh I think. The vocals are beautiful with these, and the re are no glaring colorations that I would like to banish yet with a re-cable or mods. I had posted that at CanJam that I liked the HF-2 probably as much as a stock RS-1 but said that didn't have enough time to compare. But here at home my APS V3 RS-1 do have more extension, detail and transparency (with flats) than the HF-2. The soundstage is still smaller than the RS-1 as well, despite flats on the RS-1. I was not as impressed with my RS-2 or SR-325i when I had them as I am with these fresh HF-2 right now, although I thought the woodied recabled HF-1 with flats were closer to the RS-1 than any other Grado (Blutarsky now has those in partial trade for his Stax O2 Mk1). I can imagine just how much better the micro-detail and transparency on these HF-2 would be if I have them re-cabled like all my other headphones, but I am planning to leave them stock for a while first.

thanks for the info, have you had a chance to try the hf2 with flats?

 

[kugino]

hpa - thanks for the thoughts. the aps v3-recabled rs-1 are indeed fantastic...and balanced, even more so (someone buy mine FS!

) i'm in the minority group that believes the rs-1 and hf-1 both sound better with bowls than flats...i think the flats muddy up the bass and since those two headphones do not need help in those areas, i like how bowls retain better mids and highs than with the flats.

that being said, i suspect that i'll prefer the bowls on the hf-2 over the flats...but regardless, i look forward to testing this myself soon

june will indeed be a good month, with the hf-2 and the new iphone coming out.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kg21 /img/forum/go_quote.gif thanks for the info, have you had a chance to try the hf2 with flats?

Not yet - I have several pairs of flats to put on them, but I can't get the HD800 off my head now. I self-hypnotized myself into not being able to lift my arms to my head and pull them off.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino /img/forum/go_quote.gif hpa - thanks for the thoughts. the aps v3-recabled rs-1 are indeed fantastic...and balanced, even more so (someone buy mine FS! ) i'm in the minority group that believes the rs-1 and hf-1 both sound better with bowls than flats...i think the flats muddy up the bass and since those two headphones do not need help in those areas, i like how bowls retain better mids and highs than with the flats. that being said, i suspect that i'll prefer the bowls on the hf-2 over the flats...but regardless, i look forward to testing this myself soon june will indeed be a good month, with the hf-2 and the new iphone coming out.

I did a review of the APS V3 cabled HF-1 and RS-2 vs HP-1000 a while back, and found that the HF-1 sounded good with bowls and flats depending on the music - bowls for classical, flats for rock, either one for jazz and acoustic/vocals. I did not like rock music on the HF-1 with bowls, and I did not like classical much with flats. The RS-2 sounded muddy and congested with flats with any kind of music. REVIEW: Grado HF-1 and RS-2 both re-cabled with APureSound v3 cable, with stock HP-2 sprinkled in for good measure... - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Since then I have the RS-1 and find they also sound good with bowls or flats, depending on the genre. But unlike the HF-1 and RS-2, the APS re-cabled RS-1 are even more versatile with either pads - meaning I can listen to everything with bowls, and everything with flats.

WHILE I WAS TYPING THIS - I pulled the HD800 off my head with a blast of will power, and I was listening to the HF-2 with the flats to get my impressions, and they actually sound pretty good with the flats! Diana Krall Live in Paris has me up on stage with her, but there is no mud or congestion like I feared from having tried this with the RS-2 in the past.

 

[parhelictriangle]

Glad to hear you can pull off the HD800s and still enjoy the HF2s without a few days worth of readjusting and disappointment.

I feel better about my purchase already!

 

[roy_jones]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Six feet. I am burning in these HF-2 finally, which got about 24 hours of burn-in at CanJam. After listening to them on my Woo WA6 for a while today, my vote is that these are a must own Grado IF you cannot afford an APS V3 cabled RS-1 for the extra detail and soundstage (or a woodied re-cabled HF-1). You'll spend about the same as a used RS-2 for them, and enjoy them more. With bowls the HF-2 have the rich inviting mids of the RS-2 without sounding as dull/rolled off or too forward like the RS-2. They have the bass of an RS-1 with flats and it's not overblown like the PS-1000 or PS-1, and the bass is also better than my old SR-325i. The bass detail needs work, and I suspect burn-in will help there - there is still a slight "bass cloud" over the music, since these are so fresh I think. The vocals are beautiful with these, and the re are no glaring colorations that I would like to banish yet with a re-cable or mods. I had posted that at CanJam that I liked the HF-2 probably as much as a stock RS-1 but said that didn't have enough time to compare. But here at home my APS V3 RS-1 do have more extension, detail and transparency (with flats) than the HF-2. The soundstage is still smaller than the RS-1 as well, despite flats on the RS-1. I was not as impressed with my RS-2 or SR-325i when I had them as I am with these fresh HF-2 right now, although I thought the woodied recabled HF-1 with flats were closer to the RS-1 than any other Grado (Blutarsky now has those in partial trade for his Stax O2 Mk1). I can imagine just how much better the micro-detail and transparency on these HF-2 would be if I have them re-cabled like all my other headphones, but I am planning to leave them stock for a while first.

After waiting with baited breath for early HF-2 reviews during CanJam, this is the first review that I feel starts to paint a clearer picture of where these cans fall in the greater Grado lineup. Thanks-

In terms of your impressions, the only thing that surprised me a bit was the comments comparing the woodied/re-cabled HF-1's to the RS-1.

Personally, I didn't find that the modded HF-1's were that close to the RS-1, and in fact I ended up feeling that the modded HF-1's were one of the poorer values in the Grado lineup from a cost/performance perspective.

I'm not surprised to hear that the HF-2's have a greater bass emphasis than a stock RS-1. Also, I remember that my HF-1's bass tightened up quite a bit with burn in, so hopefully you'll find the same thing with the HF-2's. From your description, it sounds like they do share the same familial sound signature. I definitely heard the "bass cloud" that you mentioned with my fresh HF-1's.

My dilemma is whether to look for a used pair of RS-1's or to go for a pair of HF-2's. I will probably wait to hear more reviews that compare the two, but as I'd anticipated, it's likely to be a tough decision, with both cans being in the same ball park in terms of overall quality.

I could see myself liking the bass of the HF-2's, but I fear that they might lack refinement compared to the RS-1.

 

[tdogzthmn]

They look dope. I wish I could try them!