Which headphones of Drop's currently available?
I have some rewards points to burn but there's no obviously good options on Drop right now for headphones Contenders Ultrasone - maybe? I don't own any Ultrasones, so curious. Looks like garbage travel headphone which could be useful also. Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro. - Maybe? I have the DT 880 Good price point, really uncomfortable headphones but could be interesting to try the upgraded version. E-MU - strong contender but $400 is a bad price point for what it is. Which of the above would you choose and why? Nothing else on Drop is relevant to my interests, because Already own 6xx 820 800 s Ether cx Garbage / Consumer grade Meze 99 - garbage bass canons, hard pass No gaming headphones obviously Sennheiser wireless - no to wireless/bluetooth Hifiman - I have 2 of drop hifimans and they make really bad cheap shit on Drop, hard pass on HE-R7DX Aeon - I own the closed, Drop refuses to address #padgate so no reason to buy open Beyerdynamic 177x - wireless, nope Too similar 8x / 560s...
Mar 28, 2024
Also, I'm not sure if someone could give me a direct comparison here, but how does the DACmini compare to the Sound Blaster ZXR sound card? That is what I use in my computer. It uses a Burr-Brown DAC and a 80mW TI TPA6120 amp.
Thank you!
As for the devices themselves, the DACmini CX is *way* better than the ones your pals mentioned. Even at it's normal $800 price, all the reviewers say it punches well above it's weight. Getting a device like this for $400 is completely insane. Either your pals think you have lousy ears or else they just don't know any better.
Whoever told you it's not worth it, ask them how much they've listened to equipment of this caliber. Now, there's nothing wrong with the items they mentioned, they are perfectly good for being what they are... but what they are is not close to being in the same class as the CX. Their price vs. the CX's normal $800 price gives a better comparison of value than this $400 sale price does.
Edit: I asked them why they say that, and this is what they had to say. Cutting parts of their post here. "The dac mini cx has been around for a while, and centrancce has always been secretive about the internals. If memory serves me right, it is based around a Asahi Kasei AK4396 DAC chip, which is now beginning to show its age." "It's a perfectly solid dac/amp, but significantly overpriced at its MSRP of $800, and still modestly overpriced when you consider what you can get for $400 -- there are other better choices out there with more features and value." Also someone else mentioned that the AKM4396 DAC chip used in the Modi is the same one as the Centrance, so it partially isn't an upgrade if I went with the Modi (though the amp would probably be an upgrade).
I'm not doubting what you're saying at all (see first sentence of paragraph below), I'm merely repeating what they said, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Please.
Order placed! Hmm, does Paypal always charge right away? I wanted to help out so we get closer to the 50 mark and get word from CEntrance, but as soon as I placed the order Paypal immediately took the balance out of my account and charged my credit card the remainder. I could cancel at any time yes (it's only an authorization) but it will take like 5 days for me to be refunded. I thought my balance would stay untouched until they charge me.
Thank you so much for your help guys!
As for his advice re: getting better cans: There are better cans than the DT990... but there are better cans than *anything* unless you wanna spend a couple grand. And the 990's are nothing to sneeze it. It's not like they're some wimpy throw-away headphones. They are good headphones, especially for certain kinds of music and for people who like certain traits in sound. So, as long as you like them, don't let him pooh-pooh what you've got. Now, I imagine that after a while you might want to get another pair of cans... but that doesn't mean you'll ditch the 990's. You might, or you might keep them and get a different kind that complements what the 990's do. Either way, if you get a cheap amp and cheap dac, then you'll not only be shopping for headphones, you'll also soon be shopping for amps and dacs too. If you get the CX, you'll have a dac/amp that is top notch, one you will not need to replace. (You may later choose to get something to complement it, but it won't be because the CX isn't good enough, but maybe just because you wanna try something tube-y for example.)
Bottom line: No matter what headphones you have, you'll always find others you want to try. So changing headphones now won't actually solve anything. But getting the DACmini will solve your amp problem *and* your dac problem for years to come. And during those years, you won't have wonder if whatever cans you have need a better amp or a better dac. The CX will let you check those 2 boxes off your list so you won't have to worry about them for a long time.
I just wanted to make sure I'm getting the absolute best bang for my buck. I don't mind shelling out extra money for this kind of investment if it's worth it. Count me in.
It's like when you see car guys talk about cars. The professional car testers will go on and on about how some $90,000 high performance car is unbelievably good... but then some random guy will claim that's BS because he can get a Camaro or Mustang for less than half that much that's got more horsepower... when of course horsepower won't tell you how fast you can actually drive the car on a twisty road or how well planted the car feels while you're doing it. It's the same basic thing you're running into on amazon and reddit: the problem is spec-shoppers who think they know what's a bargain and what isn't, when in reality they don't know what they're talking about... all they know how to do is compare horsepower numbers.
Now, when you look at *real* reviews of the stuff they're recommending to you, what you'll find is that real reviewers will say that those items are actually quite good at their price points... but that they are not even close to being in the same league with what's on offer here.
Also, 4 more to 50! Should we contact CEntrance and ask them directly if they are doing the variable mod for free if we reach 50 again?
One guy here said he was in *if* it clicked over to make the Var-Out free... and a couple people propped him, so maybe he's not the only one. Hopefully, they're watching and will figure out that once it gets near 50 they should jump in to see, knowing that they can bail if it doesn't happen.
As for your next headphones, you can spend *lots* of time on headfi,org learning way more stuff than you ever wanted to know...