Verdict
By their passive , hard - wired nature the Grado Reference Series Hemp are something of a one - trick jigger – but what a illusion it is .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Grado introduced its Reference Series Hemp wired open - backed over - ear phone as a limit edition back in 2020 .
But while this is a company that ’s determined to do thing its own way , it ’s not forgetful to market place forces – and so the popularity of the limited edition has led to this : an un - limited edition .
The Reference Series Hemp are now on general , ongoing sale – because as far as hemp is concerned , it seems , it ’s impossible to have too much of a good thing .
Availability
The Grado Reference Series Hemp are on cut-rate sale priced at £ 479 . In America they cost $ 420 ( part for the LOLs , presumptively ) , while in Australia they go for AU$799 .
This is approach serious money for a pair of cable over - spike headphone , but of course the Reference Series Hemp are n’t your only selection . So there take to be a bit more about them than simply some relatively alien materials …
Design
As with every pair ofover - auricle headphones , design basically put out to creating a frame from which to advert a span of speaker drivers above your ear . And with every pair of Grado over - ear headphones , design really does n’t extend much further than that .
The inter-group communication point of the Reference Series Hemp are familiar frommany Grado theoretical account . The headband is a metal strip , grudgingly enshroud with leather and padded about as minimally as is possible . The earpads are level foam items – and it ’s not the hunky-dory grade of froth you ever encountered , either .
This hanger arrangement load a circumstances of the headphones ’ modest 218 grand weight onto the top of the user ’s ears and is a big part of the understanding the Hemp become uncomfortable a little more promptly than many competing designs .
Adjusting the headband make out via a twosome of friction pole adjusters , which I am confident is the most agricultural method of adapt primed in the whole of headphone - country . A mere yoke arrangement grant just a little drive of the earpads proportional to your ear , while at the back of the hangman’s halter - and - maple wooden loudspeaker system housing ( which is the most care - grab aspect of the fashion these earpiece are designed ) is an open metal meshing .
Features
These are peaceful , hard - wire headphone of the old school – and therefore feature are reasonably thin on the ground .
Sound is delivered by a brace of 4 mm full - range dynamic gadget driver capable , according to Grado , of make a frequency response of 13Hz – 28kHz . Each hemp - and - maplewood driver lodging is hard - wired using the heavy , braided eight - core cable conversant from any number ofGrado modelsfrom the recent(ish ) past – it ’s bulky , prone to twist around in on itself , and not remotely helpful when it comes to prevent your listening distance neat and healthy .
It ’s deserving noting that it ’s really effective when it comes to doing the business organization , though , so I probably should n’t be so snippy about it . And Grado has done the sensitive thing in that it ’s terminated the cable in a 3.5 mm jack and provided a 6.3 millimeter adapter in the packaging .
antecedently , Grado used a 6.3 mm resultant , which meant providing a heavy and unwieldy 3.5 mm adapter – which in turn made the cable television more recalcitrant than ever .
Sound Quality
It does n’t take much of a leap of imagination on my part to suppose that you ’re considering spending this sort of money on wired headphones because you have a high - quality source of music or two you wish to exploit . You ’re not just going to plug them flat into your laptop computer , surely ?
Actually , a laptop computer is all right – as long as there ’s a good DAC / phone amp in line between it and the Grado headphones . Arranged this direction , and with a nice big 16 - bit/96kHz FLAC file of Loveless by My Bloody Valentine performing , the Reference Series Hemp are a aboveboard pleasure to listen to .
At every point of the frequency stove , the Grado are naturalistic and convincing in their tonality – and they bring out a remarkable amount of detail at the same prison term . No matter if it ’s a fleeting , scarcely - there occurrent at the edge or the back of the soundstage , it ’s identified and given the appropriate amount of weight .
And that soundstage itself is being machinate , the right way defined , and confidently described – even in busy or dim recordings ( and this one is most surely heavy ) , the Hemp put down each individual strand of a recording out with substantial positiveness .
The journey from the top of the frequency range to the bottom is n’t perfectly smooth – these headphones , in the established Grado personal manner , push the midrange forward just slenderly . But that ’s a trait rather than a fault , and when the midrange in interrogation communicates with such directness and articulacy , it ’s the opposite of a bad matter .
Below there , low oftenness perforate with real conclusion , and are just as detailed – especially where texture is concerned – as everything that happens above them . The top of the frequency mountain chain , meanwhile , is likewise substantial , and likewise detailed – there ’s right bite and attack to treble sounds , but they never jeopardize to get unruly . And that ’s unfeigned even if you like to listen at very high volumes .
You wo n’t , though , unless there ’s no one anywhere near you . The Grado Reference Series Hemp ’s open - backed contour think of they ’re almost as loud to be on the outside of as they are when you ’re inside .
The onset and decay of individual phone is observed keenly . And this layer of control at the bottom conclusion , where the commencement / check of bass sounds is so well curb , means that rhythmic saying is very nice , and even the skew-whiff tempos present no significant challenge .
All this talk of sky - in high spirits detail spirit level should make it obvious that the Hemp do very right work with the consonant mutation and underage dynamical geological fault evident in official document or interpreter . But they ’re equally practiced when it come to the cock-a-hoop dynamical variable where bulk and/or intensity are concerned . There a plenty of them during the course of the My Bloody Valentine record album , and the Grado traverse each one with purpose , able-bodied to put significant distance between the easy and the emphatic .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
If you ’re listening alone ( so their leaky nature is n’t an issue ) , the Grado Reference Series Hemp are , on a pound - for - pound sign basis , among the most straightforwardly enjoyable headphones around
Perceived time value is negligible , they do n’t stay as easy as they should for as long as they should , and the cable they ’re attached to has a mind of its own
Final Thoughts
I knew there had to be more to hemp as a material for headphones than some cheap and obvious puns – and for once I was good . The properties of hemp , when combine with maple , seem to ensue in a greater common sense of space and air than plenty of other materials can muster – even other Wood . I am , though , convince that the fact they cost $ 420 in America is no conjunction …
Trusted Score
How we test
We examine every bent of earphone we review thoroughly over an extended flow of clock time . We utilise industry standard tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always assure you what we come up . We never , ever , accept money to look back a Cartesian product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance
FAQs
There are 3.5 mm and 6.3 millimetre ending usable with the Hemp headphones .
