The only person/company I know of that does that is Drew over at Moon Audio. But I am sure there are many others.
1 Like
some reputable Grado modders like https://wabisabiheadphones.wordpress.com/ may be able to help
1 Like
I believe Shipibo does detachable cable mods, but he is in Europe.
Itās also worth noting that hemp wood it a composite wood, meaning it could kind of crumble if you try to cut or drill it.
I would recommend doing the āpig tailā detachable cable by cutting the stock cable about 1-2in from the cups and attaching 3.5mm female connectors to the remaining bit of wire.
2 Likes
Right on, i just sent my hemps to a buddy to mod them, since most cables have the requirements for a balance cable to my understanding he will modify the stock cable and make it balanced. I have no problems with the stock cable to be honest in terms of being heavy etc but all my devices perform waaaay better balanced so hes doing me a favor and terminating it to 4.4.
1 Like
Also i just had a few days with these before sending them to be modded balanced, but so far they sounded quite promising. Forgot to put my thoughts here, itās fairly balanced and fun so far with indeed great bass. Gritty but good mids. A sound signature that iāve never experienced for sure, pretty interesting so far. Will be happy to listen to them more once they are back and i can play them on my gear more properly.
4 Likes
I agree that they sound like nothing else. That alone makes them fun.
Wow, Grado just updated their entire Prestige series lineup.
All of Gradoās less expensive headphones now appear to have the driver from the Hemp (38 ohms rather than 32 in the rest of the line), they added padding to the headband, and the cables are now a mesh threading instead of the rubber.
Hereās Gradoās official store.
This new āxā series seems like a pretty nice upgrade over the āeā series. It doesnāt cover every item on peopleās wishlists (ie. the cables still arenāt detachable), but a Hemp driver, a better headband, and a better cable - is pretty nice.
They run from the $99 SR60x to the $295 SR325x.
Theyāll probably upgrade the more expensive headphones in the coming months.
3 Likes
Take my money grado, when you make an rs2x
On the gradolabs website, it says the drivers are still 32 ohms
The have always been a bit inconsistent with the technical specs from the gradolabs website to 4ourears.
I have a feeling that the actual announcement if the āxā series was a rad rushed since a German website posted an article about it a few days ago before the official announcement. If you look closely you can see some of the pictures are the same as the old ones but with the āeā photoshoped to an āxā. They probably just havenāt had the time to properly update and check all the specs on the gradolabs website.
1 Like
Thanks. As a hemp owner, do you feel like the Hempās distinct sound mainly comes from the pads, the new drivers or the hemp material?
Iām going to say the new drivers most of all, but the pads have a great influence on the tuning.
Iāll be able to give you a better answer in a few days after Iāve compared the Hemps to the GH-2 that I recently got (with both F-cush and L-cush pads on both).
I donāt think the wood is as important with Grados as it is with something like the Fostex family of headphones. It still make some difference, but not so much that Iād credit it solely for the Hempās sound.
1 Like
Iām loving the hemps, swapped the gimbals to shipibo and they feel so much more premium.
The biggest problem now is the cable.
Iām thinking of doing the āpig tailā method as i donāt feel comfortable opening up these headphones.
Does anyone have experience doing this with 2 pin connectors? I think using these would be pretty slick as theyāre compact
Any other ideas?
Ultimately i would like to use 2,5mm balanced TR connectors so i can use my other cables.
Welcome to the forum and Iām glad youāre enjoying the Hemps.
I would say a 2.5mm female would be the best idea for the pigtail type detachable cable mod. Itās common, plenty small, and probably easier to solder than a 2-pin.
Someone else will be able to help you with any soldering questions. Maybe you could make a thread in the DIY audio section.
Whereās a good place to buy some 2.5mm balanced female connectors to do the detachable mod?
1 Like
No wonder the stock pads hurt his ears, he didnāt adjust the clamp at all. I find the F-cush pads to be amongst the most comfortable of all the Grado style pads Iāve tried after adjusting the clamp, especially with the Shipibo parts to help better adjust where the pad rests.
Also I really donāt get why everyone seems so just dismiss the F-cush pads. Zeos said he only really tried them for an hour or so, Andrew pretty much ignored them, and DMS said they sound bad.
+++++++This part is just a rant+++++++
Also DMS mentions his ears touched the driver. WHY ARE YOU NOT PUTTING THE PADS ON YOUR EARS! You are supposed to line the back edge of the pad up with the back edge of your ear (roughly). This places the driver just about directly over your ear hole and ensures that the only thing touching your ear is the pad. If your ear is touching the mesh on the driver, then the driver is sitting way to far back. Amongst Grado fans, this is well known to mess up the sound, especially the lower mids and bass (Iām betting this is where the ābaseless shrill headphones for deff old menā crap came from) as well as destroying the soundstage. Why is it so hard for people to wear the on-ear headphones as on-ear headphones?
+++++++OK, rant over+++++++
I understand if you find them uncomfortable (as long as you at least TRYED to wear them right) and I understand if you donāt like how they sound (as long as you at least TRYED to wear them right), but it seems that the reviewers are just flagrantly disregarding the intended sound. The only review I know of on YouTube that keeps the stock pads is Steve Gutenburg. Like, they all hear the capabilities of this headphone, but canāt abide the comfort or tuning so they throw the big pads on that kill the āGrado peakā and say itās so much better, even if those pads loose a lot of what makes the Hemps such a great headphone imo. I guess Iām just pissed off because no is actually really reviewing the Hemps as much as they are the Geekria G-cush pads.
Reading back over this, I really sound like Iām saying āGoddammit! You fuckers are enjoying my favorite toy WRONG! You have to play with this way and ONLY this way!ā
Please ignore me. Iām just a crochety ass zoomer.
8 Likes
Here are my modded Hemps. MMCX mod and Sennheiser 500 pads. I did the MMCX mod without removing the driver. I have like 4 different pairs of Grado pads and this mod sounds the best. And obviously they are super comfy now.
4 Likes
How are those pads attached?