Grado took the headphone world by storm in 2020 with their limited edition Hemp headphones. As the name suggests, the headphones are made from hemp and maple wood, combining the warmth of a wooden audio cabinet with premium materials. Now in 2024, Grado has made the Hemp a permanent fixture in their product line, offering them at a reasonable price: $469 in the US (up from a previous price of $420) and £439 in the UK. Of course, this isn't cheap, and is much more expensive than previous Grado models such as the lovely SR325x that I've reviewed in the past. I've been playing with the Hemps for the past few weeks to see if they're worth the high price tag.
The Hemps' design is quintessential Grado. When it comes to headphones, their unique design language runs through them from the more affordable choices to the pricier top-of-the-line options. They look more post-war than 2024, and they feature all of the brand's aesthetic choices. That's true for everything from thinner ear pads to stitched leather (or vinyl in the case of Grado UK) headbands with barely any padding. These choices allow the Hemps to sit securely on your head, rather than clamping down on your skull. They're comfortable for long periods of time, especially thanks to their ridiculously light weight of 218g, but you'll need a snug fit to get the benefits.
If you've never used Grado before, it takes some time to get used to the thinness across the headband and around the ear cups. It can be uncomfortable if not worn correctly. I would have liked Grado to opt for softer ear pads, especially at this price point. Additionally, the coiled cable is disproportionately thick, making the little jack on the end seem small. It can get in the way a bit when you're engrossed in your favorite tunes, but at least it's braided.
Isn't this pattern really beautiful?
While everything else about the Hemps design feels pretty primitive and basic, the maple and hemp used on the ear cups is not. The combination of woods used creates this intricate, almost marbled pattern that feels sublime. Run your finger over it and you can actually feel the grain. It's not something you experience every day. The maple and hemp blend is a harder wood than the more commonly found oak, which helps the Hemps give the audio a lot more detail and width. It feels different to other headphones that use metal, resulting in a more natural presentation.
Additionally, the Hemps are easy to drive, with an impedance of 38 ohms, which means you could, in theory, pair them with any available headphone jack on your phone or PC. This works perfectly, but you'll be better off connecting them to a dedicated DAC that will give you a wider sound and capture more detail. Maybe just the top end and lower sub-bass levels, but with a good DAC and quality recording you'll get the best out of the Hemps.
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The Hemps feature an open-back design, like all Grado headphones, which means they let out as much noise as they let in, but they also have the added bonus of offering great imaging and unparalleled width. However, this means they're only suitable for use in a quiet room at home – perfect for digging into your favourite tracks, but not for commuting.
Now, the bottom line is the sound. The Hemps are unlike any headphones I have ever tested. They sound natural, wide and just plain great, whether it's a busy recording like Let's Groove by Earth, Wind and Fire or a more intimate recording like May You Never by John Martyn. The Hemps deliver the richest, most detailed audio, especially when paired with a quality recording and a great DAC or DAP like the Chord Mojo 2 or the mid-range FiiO M11S.
As with the SR325x, the bass is strong and perhaps more pronounced than with other Grados. It's deep, has plenty of extension and feels meaty where it needs to be on tracks like Rush's YYZ and the aforementioned Let's Groove. With this in mind, the Hemps' bass isn't overwhelmingly overbearing; it's reassuringly meaty, but not so much that it overwhelms the high levels of energy and detail on offer across the frequency range.
The ear pads, like other Grado headphones, are a bit thin and crispy.
With this in mind, their midrange presentation and handling of vocals is impressive. More intimate tracks like John Martyn (May You Never), Jack Johnson (Washing Dishes), James Taylor (I Was A Fool To Care) and Jimmy Buffett (Son Of A Son Of A Sailor) reveal a warmth and roundness to the Hemps' sound that is different and perhaps better than other Grado options I've used in the past. Every little guitar inflection in these tracks was captured perfectly, and on the Buffett track, Hemps was also able to demonstrate a great breadth with a little ship's bell in the distance in the intro to the song. It was presented with the utmost clarity. The percussion on Gloria Estefan's Get On Your Feet was also crisp and detailed. Sometimes percussion can get a little lost on busy tracks, but that certainly wasn't the case with the Hemps.
The same is true for the top-end presentation, with tracks such as Steely Dan's Do It Again giving the Hemps the opportunity to show off its fantastic detail. I don't think I've ever heard the competing percussion intro to this particular Dan track handled so expertly; on some headphones it can be a bit of a nightmare given how busy it is, but the Hemps handled it with ease. The same can be said for the cymbal rides in the instrumental section of Rush's Working Man; while they can sound harsh at times, they come through clearly and smoothly on the Hemps.
The Hemp tribe's physique is also quite slim.
Regardless of which frequency range you focus on, however, the Hemps delivers the best, widest audio I've ever heard. Steven Wilson's Impossible Tightrope is a great track for headphones, featuring hypnotic organ work, thumping drums, and occasionally ragged strings. The track is notoriously busy, and some of the headphones I tested sounded too narrow to give the song the breathing space it needed. As is becoming a theme with Hemps, Impossible Tightrope was mastered with plenty of breathing space given to the individual elements of the track, including SW's vocals. This also helped to showcase how excellent the imaging of the Hemps is, with sounds coming from all angles, not just from the left and right.
All of this combines to make the Hemps a great pair of gaming headphones as well. Mounted on a Chord Mojo 2 on my desktop, plugged it into my PC and fired up a few rounds of CS2, the power of the Hemps was immediately apparent. With a high level of detail and an incredibly wide soundstage, it's spacious enough to hear footsteps with incredible accuracy, while heavy gunfire and grenade explosions are wonderfully immersive with the headphones' powerful bass.
Switching over to Forza Motorsport, its wide soundstage and excellent imaging made racing against other AI and people online a joy. It helped me position my car alongside others for overtaking, and worked with the game's proximity arrows to give me an idea of my opponents' exact location on the circuit. This also worked in a few races of Assetto Corsa, but this time in conjunction with the top-down radar mod I installed a while back.
Rush's Working Man is a real pleasure to listen to with these headphones.
So where does all this leave us? Quite simply. The Hemps are a very good pair of open-back headphones. They're rich, detailed and wide-ranging, and the combination of maple and hemp dramatically enhances their appeal. They look great too, making the Hemps fairly unique among headphones. However, whether you like Grado's cliched marmite-like design or find it terribly uncomfortable is up to you. After all, £439/$469 is a lot of money to spend on headphones, so you want the best. From my perspective, the Hemps come pretty close, if not to every listener, in terms of style and comfort.
