[KneelJung]

I'm seriously considering biting the bullet and getting a pair of these but there seems to be a school of thought out there that describes them as laid back.
 
But if the bass is better and tighter than the 225's wouldnt that translate into more dynamics from the percussion and make the music feel livelier; and the mids are supposed to be better than the 225 too, so is it the rolled off highs?
 
Or are they likely to sound as fun as the music they are given to present?

 

[rhythmdevils]

I think the terms are being taken out of context and that's leading to confusion.  When someone says something is "laidback" it's important to know in comparison to what.    You might think you are leaning all the way back in your lazyboy, until you find the extreme button that lets you take it back even farther.  The HF2 certainly doesn't have rolled off highs if your baseline is neutral, which is usually the case.  They have more rolled off highs than other grados, but grados have rather large spikes in treble.  The HF2 has less treble than other grados, but still more than neutral, so they're still a fun headphone.  I think the midrange is also "laidback" in that it is recessed a bit in comparison with the bass and highs.  I sold the HF2 because despite it sounding really good in almost every way, when I got the volume to that the mids were loud enough to feel present the treble was too loud.  (I find that I adjust volume for the mids).  
 
 

 

[KneelJung]

Thanks for the response rhythm. You've prompted another question though, in what sense are the mids recessed? is it a matter of context again. Do the mids just sound recessed relative to other Grado's. I decided against committing to a pair of d2000's because of their recessed mids. In the case of the Denon's though, volume couldnt really compenate Which I guess it couldnt for you either.