They're SO good... but also bad?? - Grado Hemp REVIEW 

Hey buddy, I hope you are doing OK. I'm sad to hear you had and incident that required an ambulance. If you need anything, I'm sure myself and the community can chip in if we can. Thanks for being such a calming part of my life. I appreciate everything your content does for us. ❤️

Anybody remember Grado's global partner company Alessandro? The MS1 in particular is essentially a sr80/125 but tuned slightly more neutral/warm. I found my old MS1i sitting in my closet the other day and honestly I'm blown away with how great they sound!

I have been sharing with you and Josh for a couple of years now that the Grado RS2e was one of the best efficient open back headphones I’ve ever heard. The Hemp and the 325X gets you almost there! Truth be told I have a 325E also, and the RS2e Sounds like a smoother and more refined step up from it.

Way late to this party, but thanks a million for the review! My set of these just arrived 3 days ago and I can't stop listening or smiling! Bang on review with regards to how these sound and what you get too. I hope you're doing better and managed to snag a set.

I love my Grado SR325e. Adore them. I tried those Geekria pads, and they changed the sound enough that I felt that, on balance, they did more harm than good. Grados have a certain character that suffered badly with the pad change. If you speak to the guys at Grado, they'll tell you that the pads are integral to the sound of each headphone, and changing them will have a negative influence. That was my experience.

Woah woah woah... An ambulance? Well that was unexpected Also thank you for the recommendation

Great review - honest, concise, and critical. I think your’e spot on about these being the most “audiophile” headphone. Also, they have a very tactile quality that is very reminiscent of speakers. Good points all around, mate!

Great to see the Hemps getting some love! I think they really deliver the Grado house sound in a more fun and interesting way. Have to absolutely agree with you on them being the true audiophile headphone! It’s why Steve Gutenberg loves his Grados.

Totally agree with DMS. I went to the headphone shop and tried these along with the ZMF Caldera, ZMF Aeolus, Hifiman Arya (non-stealth), Meze 109 Pro and Focal Elear. And these are the ones I can't get out of my mind. I need one.

Just ordered the pads from your link, thanks!

I just bought the RS-1X and your description fits them as well. I'm very happy with them despite the drawbacks

I bought a pair of these Grado Hemp headphones. Sounds great, but I went ahead and added the larger pads and OMG, what a difference! These are the best sounding Grados I have heard (only with the larger pads you recommended). Great video! Thanks for posting!

If you do get these, it might be worth looking into getting metal gimbals and rod blocks from Shipibo audio. They make the Hemps feel like the best built headphone I own and improve the comfort as well.

Just bought the hemps and they really do sound great. I currently own mass drop he4xx and grado Rs1 and I think the hemps has them both beat- love the sound of these guys

Thanks for this review.

I purchased the Hemp several months ago and I enjoy them quite a bit when I'm in an on-ear headphone listening mood but most of the things you said were pretty accurate. The pads that come with it are just OK but getting the larger G-cush ones that you have do make a tremendous difference but for me, it makes the mid-bass a bit bloaty so I got the L-cush pads instead which you find on most Grado headphones. They're a nice in-between pad and a decent compromise for comfort and less bloat. Also, while all Grados can be driven from low output devices like phones, I find that it's best to feed them decent power from a dedicated amp because it really gives the music some heft and blows up the sound stage and depth of the music. But yeah, the Hemp is a 100% "audiophil-y" set of headphones. When it fits right (for the moment), are comfortable over a period of time, and are being fed power from a dedicated source, it's pure magic. I know that's a sad cliché but man, it's so true.

Hey, I just discovered this channel. Got the Hemps about a year ago but... I didn't buy them. No, I didn't steal them from a friend either. Headphone Guru had a contest and lucky me, I was the winner. The Guru liked them too, so much that I detected some angst on his part when it came time for him to part with them. I agree with this review. The pads limit how long they're comfortable and the cable sucks. So I very much appreciate your steering us to where we can go to correct them and especially, your confirmation that it's a significant upgrade. I listen to the Hemps through a variety of gear. A Little dot Mklll tube headphone amp and/or my LG ThinQ G7 Cell Phone and/or my FiiO X5 DAP with the FiiO E12A Mont Blanc IEM Special Edition Portable Headphone Amp, Titanium. Yes I have too much gear and yes I am a speaker guy who places music ahead of accuracy. Both of course are ideal but as Satchmo used to say, "if it ain't got that swing, it don't mean a thing."

Can concur with the Vever G Cush pads, I put them on and haven’t taken them off, a headphone I will never sell. Ironically listening to them at 4 in the morning with a BTR5 when I saw this. Oh Dekoni suede headband cover is a must.

Great review

Got my Hemps back at the end of April and there is only one way I can describe the way they sound, fun. Though I do prefer the sound of the stock pads vs the G cush but man are the G cush comfy in comparison. Currently use these far more often than the rest of my headphones.

I like the Grado "signature" ..... They are excellent for Concert ("Classical") Music especially Opera selections......A well recorded and tightly engineered live recording really allows the Grados' Detail and Wide Soundstage qualities to shine.

I blind purchased a pair of SR325i back in 2007. Still love them. I’ve had to replace the gimbal and ear pads a few times, but they still sound fantastic

The Hemps arrived today. I used to have the HD650/6xx and i really need to say that the Hemps soundwise are like a perfectionists take on the weaknesses of the 650s. Imaging is really good, even tho i still have to wait for the recommended pads. The Bass is really really fun, the highs are more present than on the 650s as well. Would recommend these to everyone who wants to get a pair of warm sounding headphones, without losing clarity to some extent

I like sacrificed features and even conform for sound too.

I just replaced my original SR 225 FLAT pads with the ( expensive) G pads. An improvement similar to what you describe. My new Sundara is better but not like I expected when listening on a Sony A55. Sound definitely outshines the build.

I respect DMS because he has integrity. He's not a gullible true believer but he's also not a snob. He tells it like it is, which is to say he calls out the good, the bad and the ugly. If Grado lovers sometimes overlook the flaws, anti-Grado snobs also overlook what's actually great about this brand. As with everything, there are tradeoffs. I love that he got the connection to speakers. The late great Joseph Grado cut his teeth on needle cartridges but looked for a side gig when CDs threaten to bury vinyl. He flirted with speakers but must have realized that the shipping and storage would make an HQ in Brooklyn a non-starter. Instead, he turned to headphones as tiny speakers. The whole open-back/open-front/foam-pad design is basically a minimalist attempt to give a second life to vinyl. It's a one-trick pony but what a pony! Well done, DMS.

I bought the 325X, but the Hemp was intriguing. And I have been mastering with SR80e cans. I am home recording, mind, but the Grados work.

I've high hopes for these. I bought a set 20 minute ago because I found a deal and loved my old SR125s. Based on this review I just also ordered some new pads. I guess the point of Grado cans is the same as the point of old school Klipsch horn speakers. You make a lot of sacrifices on perceived quality and reference-y reproduction to get a unique sound that some people enjoy.

It's always a good day when he uploads

Damn, hope you're doing alright. Ambulance bills are rough. I keep a card in my wallet that, paraphrased, says something to the effect of "if I need an ambulance, just let me die". I refuse to pay thousands on thousands of dollars for a ride to the hospital, on principle.

Great review, DMS ... I love my Hemps! I use the same size pads and oh, my ... my music just sounds sooooo good! They just suck me in and get me lost in my music. Great job, Grado!

I much prefer their reference series. They go easier on the high end, while keeping that punch! Still has size and leakage flaws, but perfect sound for me!

I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on new RS1X given it got mixed with hemp & cocobolo not to mention new driver.

I have a Loxjie P20 with NOS Russian tubes. This headphone sounds fantastic with this amp.

I personally love grade headphones, these look pretty good.

I have these and am blown away both by how fun they are to listen to and how atrociously horrible the attached stock cable is (it weights as much as the cans). I was able to mod them to have a detachable cable with this mod: www.beautifulaudio.biz/grado-cable-adapter and now I reach for them first almost every day! They are a blast to listen to, and with the cable mod and pad swap they are comfortable and easy to use as well. Silvian at Beautiful Audio communicated well about the mod, and helped me get just the right parts; I'm thrilled with the result, and it only took an afternoon to accomplish.

I love my sr80e's! I'm new to the Grado experience, but for the build quality $420 is just too steep for me.

Everyone says that surely Grado's will break . I've had them for years and have never heard of any breaking... I toss my SR325s in a drawer and they are fine .

So many good reviews that I am considering buying this as a fun alternative to my real headphones (ZMF Aeolus, Focal Elex, Sennheiser HD700 and 6XX). I can (probably) live with the many downsides since these won't be my primary headphones. But you should've spent more time on the horrible stock non-detachable cable, which looks like the power cord on an industrial jackhammer, if only because potential buyers should not be taken unawares. Seriously, who makes a permanently attached cable on a $400 headphone today? I generally can't abide Z, but, boy, is he right on this.

Great video😍 #MomApproved❤️

Yooo I loved this video! I'd love to see you compare it vs Sundaras? Especially about the sound stage? I'm looking for awesome sound stage with budget. What say you? Im so sorry about the ambulance bill. Ain't nobody should deal with having to deal with something that required ambulance situation PLUS the f*ing bill. what's wrong with america?

DMS giving these stamp of approval? Holy smokes, now I am a believer… your video, no lie, sparked me to go watch Z’s review on these and I literally purchased them WHILE watching his review…. Cuz, there are several prominent headphones on which you and Zeos depart in your opinions strikingly - so having you BOTH like them sonically (and hate the attached garden hose cables, though you luckily tested a modded pair)… it was a sign from the audiophile gods that I had to buy them 😂

I kinda wish the GS1000 pads were more of a cylindrical shape than a conical one, just picture it as the same diameter but it has a ring on the outside that goes around your ear and not on your ear.

Thanks. I also saw a recent video by Z on chinese clones. Basic conclusion seemed to be : get a chinese clone with much better built parts (no cheap plastic) and put in a high quality grado driver and have the best of both.

I hope the ambulance bill didn't put you back too much. Much love, and God bless

Hey DMS - could you link the service you used to get the cables user replaceable for the Grado?

Hopefully you are ok and the ambulance is a past memory ... I have the same hitch I would like to scratch about those Grados without the money available to act on that ... damn !

I have several Grado's, Hemp and Rs2e being my favorites. All the issues are easily fixed with 2 parts from shipibo.audio, awesome aluminum rod black and gimbals and recently the best sounding and comfortable hand made pads. I used to swear by the flat Gpads innyhjs video until 2 weeks ago when I received the shipibo pads. They are amazing.

the smokey effect in the intro lmaooo

Hello friend, how will this model compare to the Grado GH3, better or worse? Thank you.

It's nice you had those modded with detachable cables, because their normal cable is one of the deal breaker parts of the Grado line for me. It's so thick and cumbersome. It really is like the cord from a vacuum that is built to wind up when not in use. I think their usual "sound" is one that is good at low volume, not so good at louder levels. The default pads are trash. Honestly, I don't care how good they sound. I will always have a problem getting past their build.

This is the second time they released it, right? I got the first edition of them and damn they are nice. I fucking HATE the pads on them though. I was going to get custom leather wrapped pads for them and call it a day.

heyo! Garbongo here! I got the detachable cable mods from Beautiful Audio (www.beautifulaudio.biz/grado-cable-adapter), and I ordered some pads (from www.shipibo.audio/) while DMS had my pair, I intend to do more build mods to these till Im satisfied!

OMG did you have to do the twisty thing? I felt that in my teeth and down my back!

I played d2 with you on Friday sorry to hear about the ambulance headphone guy

How did you convert them to detachable cable ? Is there a good video for it

"They're SO good... but also bad??" Couldn't have described Grados any better, LOL. Currently have a 325x and I love it for Rock and older stuff along these lines, pretty good for most 80's stuff too. I don't like the older ones though, waaaay too much treble.

Where can you get the adaptors at to make the wire detachable?

The 325s haven't stopped surprising me. Spooky cans. Guess I'm biased but actually I can't be fucked with any other brand.

I'd like to try some Grados but I can't afford these...how do you like the SR-225e?

I suggest going to rtings.com and look up the factual test results of these headphones. They rated a 7.5 and were given acknowledgement for their great mid-range and decent soundstaging. The frequency response looks like it measures decently well against the Harman curve except the bass is curving downward -5db @ 40 hz. It's not a bad score, and may sound better than the score suggests depending on the taste of the listener. Particularly, if you like the Harman curve as Z I know does which is obvious by how much he raved about the JBL Studio series and bought every set of the series, including multiples of some. I have the JBL Studio, I'm not a huge fan, personally.

Background music sounds like it’s from hotline Miami

Hi DMS, any chance your friend would be willing to do the cable mod for a fee?

Are they suitable for electronic music ? Thx

Zeos likes it...DMS likes. Even if it is Grado Everybody buy buy buy. Edit Oh no you didn't DMS...Ohm Walsh speakers on your ears. Buy buy buy

Where did you get those titles in the background?

Where can you contact the person who made the cable mod?

1:13 What Grad REALLY mean, when they say "Grado sound signature".

In europe are outrageously expensive… next trip to US i will buy them overthere in local currency and put on my neck at customs desk, re-entering EU ;-)

I went back to the flat pads i did go to TTVJ pads they are better but still flats. The sound is better with the flats. You can pick up the wire adaptor from www.beautifulaudio.biz/grado-cable-adapter

I see you kph30i modded those pads >.>

I was very skeptical about getting new cushions but I bought them anyway to prove a point and I don't get it. You lose everything that makes the hemp great. They just start sounding like generic boring headphones. The stock cushions makes that special closed in sound that still manages tk travel all around you while it plays

I love the 1940s headphone look…

Using an aftermarket headband, Yaxi pads, and a detachable cable mod (the stock cable is like a vacuum power cord) these are great portables. DO NOT buy these unless you want to try your hand at modding.

I think Zeos review is echoing your concerns .

ok ill pay good money for that mod!!! how do I do it or can I pay the guy who did that to do it to mine?

Sold out, you're a good salesman.

Ohm and Grado are both Brooklyn companies. Maybe there's something in the water, along with everything else that's in the water in Brooklyn.

I think I understand the objections of people who don't like the build quality. And I can't really criticize what matters to another person. But not only have never had a mechanical failure or breakage with a Grado or hifiman, I have found the simple and consistent and highly easily instantly fixable rod and gimbal assembly and headphone design more than reassuring. If an end cap on the gimbal rod falls off, I have extras here. Or Rich Grado will send me what I need either for nothing or for the nominal cost. and the repair lasts somewhere between 51 seconds and five minutes. Snap it back into place, let it easily find its listening position on my big head, and back to the music with no anxiety about having to send an exotic planar mechanism back to China, or the like. I can see someone being offended by what they think is cheap. I think of them as no bullshit, purely functional, instantly DIY repairable, and that they modestly serve the purpose of a great value for dollar reproducer of an uncannily live feeling musical event. Everyone of the Grado sonic quirks is consistent, in my experience, with the way live music in a real room on my ears. Other top-of-the-line cans may provide a silky and powerful and harmonically rich replica or depiction of the musical event, Grado, particularly the wooden chamber dudes like the RS1X and the GS 3000 in either if it's incarnations, always feel like wormholes or hyper dimensional portals directly into the recordings studio or concert venue. If they lack anything like the whistling of the nostril hair of the second oboe in the Iceland symphony Orchestra… And they don't typically, on many pieces of music they have bested the more expensive Focal Utopia and Meze elite (and definitely the pleasant but muddy Empyrean, purely and simply on the basis of delineating musical notes, their boundaries with respect to adjacent instruments, maintaining timbre and harmonic structure despite musical complexity. and they give the weight and gal of a hole ensemble or orchestra at a very high-level. Their fun as hell. And there's not many audile true believer headphones which we can describe as fun. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, and I suspect some grumble about them because they consider a more elaborate and massive assembly to be necessary on aesthetic and engineering grounds. but while I've sold multiple flagship headphones to be able to afford other ones, I have rarely ever sold Guido. Although I have gifted them to friends I thought would appreciate them. I've never owned fewer than three pair, from reference through professional. .

Yeeahh

Really every Grado hemp squeezing Like on video when moving the pads?

To be fair you can throw these pads on an sr60 and they have the same effect

Man the vagueness in the praise is on par with Zeos. Medical debt is just an inhumane practice.

I don't think any grado I've owned has squeaked like these new ones... bizarre. I have a 325x coming so we'll see.

I would love to know which I should buy between this and the Zeus if I could only have one?

Don't agree on the pads, to me the flat original ones are essential for the sound signature and it gets worse with the bigger ones, especially bass. But that might of course be a matter of taste. Love them with the LD MK3.

Grado gh2 are the same or better

Glad you're not reviewing it with the stock cable...... those are focking nightmare

So, it might be a little bit of a gamble, but earphonediylabs.com claims to have authentic Grado Hemp drivers for ~$70. I've had good luck ordering from them before, and one could also order the metal cup and headband kit from them for $50. Including shipping, it would be about $150 for something that might be pretty close to the authentic Hemp sound.

After all those specs, hypes etc. etc. etc. everything should end up with a simple question - "Do I like it or not?.." 👍

5am be like..😶

It takes almost nothing to completely change the sound of grado headphones. Even having your hand too close to the back of them completely changes the signature. I guess it's because they are basically just drivers suspended in air, but I have never seen anything like it before.

"ambulance bill" come to europe man....come to europe...

The default Grado wire is the only reason I don't have one. Having a wire that is heavier than the headset itself always feels like I have a boat anchor attached to my head. Is there a video on how to do the removable wire mod?

Ever tried them with real Grado G-pads?

I sold Grado for so many years. The look is so steam punk. It is just outright cool! Comfort is total garbage. You need to mod it for sure. If you don't, don't buy these. Also you have to put up with the Marconi radio look. An amazing sounding headphone with personality. They thoroughly piss you off on why it is built so poorly? But put in the right place, they are magic. You should hate these. Really! But how and why did I sell so many of these things. Personality and character. Grado is because you love the journey of the music. I agree with Doug here. You love the speaker. But ultimately, there is definitely easier to live with, and these are for your emotions, not your rationale. Emotionally a 500% recommendation. Rationale recommendation, you're joking right? You buy Grados because you love what they do and put up with their foibles. It is it! Me? I can't get a set of these as that part of my ship had sailed, but boy oh boy Joe Grado Labs made gold, no platinum from a turd build. Now that is science that works like magic. Never change Grado. For the love of the music. Love Grado always.

amazing... its $420

this is Hippies

Of course, they're out of stock. How much do they normally cost? They don't look like they could cost any more than $100.

I'm having a hard time with mine. I want to like it by my ears! they bleed!