Grado HF-2 thread

[drp]

FYI the new cables are so much larger in diameter because they now have 8 wires inside them. No clue why, but they use 4 blue for ground (2 to each cup) and 2-white/2-red for the signal wires. Pretty bizzare since I've generally been told all this does is increase the capacitance of the cable although I suppose in theory it lowers the resistance.

Damn. Wondering just how well an 1/8" Neutrik plug is going to fare. Are the strands fairly small gauge in a thicker housing? Guess I could taper to single strands for the solder joints(?). Or, I guess I could buy an amp with a 1/4" jack. I do have two adapters hanging around somewhere, but dislikes dem.

[n_maher]

Damn. Wondering just how well an 1/8" Neutrik plug is going to fare. Are the strands fairly small gauge in a thicker housing? Guess I could taper to single strands for the solder joints(?). Or, I guess I could buy an amp with a 1/4" jack. I do have two adapters hanging around somewhere, but dislikes dem.

It's going to be a challenge to get the little Neutriks to work, I'd guess the wires are all 24ga. I'll try to grab the calipers later tonight and post what the o.d. of the cable is but it's fat.

[drp]

Thanks, Nate. When I reterminated the HF-1, I had to drill out the back of the housing a bit for the outer cable (3/16") to slide through. Looks like the inside diameter of the plug housing is ~9/32". Reads as if I may need to start snooping around for something with a larger barrel diameter, or just borrow your Menace.... 8~)

[Currawong]

Are they worth re-cabling balanced? Are they going to be a huge PITA to re-cable into a 4-pin XLR? I gained a new hate for Zu after doing my HD-600s.

[n_maher]

Are they worth re-cabling balanced?

Don't know about the recable part.

Are they going to be a huge PITA to re-cable into a 4-pin XLR? I gained a new hate for Zu after doing my HD-600s.

I'd say if I can do it in a hotel room with little more than a pair of scissors and a soldering iron it's not that much of a PITA.

[grawk]

Don't know about the recable part.

I'd say if I can do it in a hotel room with little more than a pair of scissors and a soldering iron it's not that much of a PITA.

I had the hit of the show because of that hack job

[JBLoudG20]

Hey Dan,

Since you've owned the VTG-

How well do you think the HF2 would compliment it?

[grawk]

Uhm, that's hard to say. The HF2 is significantly better, and less closed, but it's also more open . It's also got that amazing grado comfort

[Currawong]

I'm good at stripping wire with scissors. When I was a kid, that's all I had to use.

[JBLoudG20]

Uhm, that's hard to say. The HF2 is significantly better, and less closed, but it's also more open . It's also got that amazing grado comfort

Well, I knew about the obvious differences

Thanks for your thoughts.

[grawk]

It's been a LONG time since I had them, as you know The things the VTG does well, the HF2 doesn't do at all, so in that way, they're complementary.

[JBLoudG20]

It's been a LONG time since I had them, as you know The things the VTG does well, the HF2 doesn't do at all, so in that way, they're complementary.

That is really what I was thinking. Well more toward what the VTG lacks, the Grado house sound has covered very well. I absolutely adore the VTG for female vocal stuff, but a rockout headphone it is not.

I'm really leaning toward picking up a pair, at this point.

[Nenso]

Hey guys, I haven't posted here in a while but I was lured back here by the HF-2.

I just spent some time reading the whole thread, so I am thinking of jumping on the bandwagon to use it with my Pico; however, I wasn't sure if I needed another Grado.

Some people say they don't sound like Grados at all yet others keep saying "It's still a Grado."

I already have the SR325 (first generation), SR60 and MS-1 so would this complement them or be an improvement?

I believe I still have some time to think this over before preorders end, so please give me some insight.

[Fungi]

Well you've read different opinions... if you can't place some weight on those based on previous opinions of those people, then you have no other way to tell but to listen for yourself. Don't know why you have those 3 Grados in particular (esp. SR-60+MS-1) but the HF-2 is better unless you like that type of Grado treble.a

[penger]

Or you can get the 30 day trial like many have recommended and return them if you don't like them.

[Nenso]

I'm in Canada, so 30 day trial is probably out of the question due to the tariffs/shipping I would have to pay.

I bought MS-1 as my first open headphone, then a SR325 as an upgrade, and sometime ago, a friend randomly gifted me his SR60s.

Heh, that's why I have both the MS-1s and SR60.

I dislike my SR325's harsh treble. Although it is very detailed with bowls, it is very fatiguing and unbearable. Does the HF-2 have a similar harshness found with some of the Grados?

I really wish I could hear them before buying, but I don't think I have such a luxury.

[morphsci]

No harshness IMO. They sounded to me most like a less bassy PS-1. Some people likened them to HP-1000s but they still sound more like John and not Joe Grado can to me.

[blessingx]

The HF2s are very much Grados sonically if you consider all other Grados Grados. Certainly the GS1K deviates far more than HF2.

I'd focus on what you prefer about the 325 over the MS1 (or if you've heard the 225 and HF1). There are darker cans in the series and the 325 is on the other side of that characteristic, but like a great deal of the comments about the HF1, the differences of the HF2 are exaggerated. Many are commenting over on the other site about the HF2s being more balanced than the RS1s, which wasn't my experience on a variety of gear at CJ.

Course you also have the similar sounding to each other ATs, so you know the drill.

[Dusty Chalk]

It would probably cost you nothing to buy them, try them, then resell them.

[grawk]

I think that it'll be awhile before the resale could be for full value. I think nenso should just pass on this, and wait until he can hear them, then pay double in 18 months.

[falkon]

Are they worth re-cabling balanced? Are they going to be a huge PITA to re-cable into a 4-pin XLR? I gained a new hate for Zu after doing my HD-600s.

What little I could dig up:

I really could not tell much difference, in meet conditions, between the balanced and single-ended HF-2s.

[atothex]

I also listened to balanced vs single-ended and thought the difference was huge.

I'm dead serious, despite the smiley.

[grawk]

I didn't compare, honestly.

[recstar24]

Finally got a chance to hear the Grado HF-2 today at absorbine's when Beely brought his set to the meeting. Not only that, he was nice enough to loan them to me as well. Listened a bit at Mike's on the Zana, and my first thought was "whoa, this sounds pretty much like a PS-1", or as what Jim calls them, baby ps-1's.

Fired them up a bit on the moth this evening, and I am really really really impressed. I can't get over how much they remind me of the PS-1's, but the bass is not as big, which to my ears is a good thing. I have always listened to and preferred bowls on the PS-1's, but even then the bass can get a bit overbearing. With the HF-2 I found it to share the same fullness in the mids but slightly lesser bass which I find to be more balanced. The top end has a nice sparkle on top without the sizzle that plagues some of the John grados, and I do feel it has a similar cohesiveness, a liquidity that runs from bottom to top with a nice full sound, very enjoyable.

Other than the slightly less bass quantity, I found that the HF-2 did NOT have the upper midrange glare, what I call "shout" that I have heard on practically every John Grado can, including the post vintage RS-1's, PS-1, and GS1000. On first impression I find them even more balanced than the PS-1, the PS-1 was to me the most balanced and refined John Grado can though the bass being a bit too heavy and the upper midrange shout still present. The HF-2 to my ears doesn't have those 2 issues hence why I find them more balanced. I would be curious to hear the PS-1000's as Todd as described the HF-2 as a baby ps1000. All impressions are with bowls - the flats make them sound very weird to me, more closed in, the bass becomes muddy and congested, just like how the PS-1 sounds to my ears on flats, somewhat unlistenable to me past 5 minutes. Also it has been maybe a couple of months since I have had PS-1's in house so take the acoustic memory effect into...effect.

Build quality - at least on Billy's pair the glue on the rim of the inner wooden chamber to the outer aluminum chamber is done pretty nicely. I was surpised to see that the whole inner chamber, even the part that is within the outer enclosure, is wood, and it appears the aluminum is braced around a wooden chamber. Interesting. I wish the etching of the letters was maybe a bit deeper, but I don't feel like playing the les garten card either.

I am happy with my order with Todd, and I shall continue to bother Todd about shipment with a call tomorrow. I would also like to thank Billy for loaning them out to me, he probably was getting annoyed by how often I bug him about them:palm:

[Iron_Dreamer]

PS1000 = more bass bloat than the PS1 = bleh!