Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions$399
$399
Drop + Grell OAE1 Signature Headphones
$349
01 / 21
Drop + Grell OAE1 Signature Headphones
bookmark_border
PRE-ORDER
$349
REGULAR
This product is in the works!
We’re working hard to make something you’ll love. Learn more about how our products come to life in Drop Studio.
·
Free Returns in USA
●
Members who purchase earn
1,047
Drop Rewards
Product Description
The ultimate acoustic experience? The natural one: where sound reaches your ears through the open air, from a source right in front of you. It’s not a difficult concept to wrap your head around. In the history of headphone design, however, it’s proven difficult to wrap it around your head. Until now. Meet the Drop + grell OAE1 Signature: a groundbreaking pair of headphones with game-changing driver geometry and an ultra-expansive soundstage.
search
close
Sort by: Newest
keyboard_arrow_downHoffmanMyster
2964
Community
May 9, 2024
Stickied
Locked
The Drop + grell OAE1 Signature headphones are finally here, and we couldn’t be more excited!
It has been a long journey to get to this point. Together with Axel, we’ve shown the headphones at a number of shows, received feedback from trusted ears such as Jude Mansila of Head-fi.org, and tweaked the tuning along the way.
The OAE1 Signature are collectors items and limited to 1,000 units in total. All Signature headphones are individually measured before leaving the factory and the measurements are included inside the package. The Signature version also comes with two high quality cables, a carrying case, and as the name says—the headphones have Axel’s signature on them.
The headphones come with a 2-year warranty and our 30 day return policy applies to OAE1 Signature as well.
One goal with this launch was to minimize the wait time until the OAE1 Signature arrives. The headphones are in production and expected to arrive to our warehouse mid-June, and ship shortly thereafter to everyone. We look forward to getting these into your hands!
Edit to add: All orders, including international, will be shipping free! If you already purchased and paid for shipping, that cost will be refunded to you automatically.
(Edited)
SirIppo
7
May 10, 2024
I already preorder but I was wondering are the headphones gonna be numbered like 1/1000 ect? I'm very excited getting these soon.
Artismo
466
May 10, 2024
These are beautiful looking headphones. These would look lovely on cam while streaming, on an office desk connected to your personal rig, or at home on your headphone stand beckoning you to just put them on. They definitely have a unique and boutique-ish look, the design cues speak to studio beautiful and collector’s item -premium but not unapproachable.
I really hope the sound quality and performance match this visual attention to detail. At least it is a headphone worth having in your arsenal for its novelty and piece of audio history. I think that a lot of people don’t think of audio longterm in terms of legacy. The fact that a man with a reputation and history of designing, tuning, and having a hand in some legendary cans, has been in the industry for literal decades, and then culminating his expertise and experience into this crescendo of audio has significant merit. I don’t expect it to be perfect for me or others but I definitely see it as a meaningful piece of audio and audio history.
Evshrug
3825
Keyboard Club Member
May 10, 2024
ArtismoI think it’s cool that his wife and daughters helped him too. It’s the start of a family business.
Artismo
466
May 10, 2024
EvshrugDefinitely respect and recognition due to the Grell family in their entirety -especially Katrin and daughter- for their contributions and design.
Je_Saist
164
May 9, 2024
Part of me wants to get these... the other part of me kind of... just can't justify them.
Den-Fi-Kyle
7
May 9, 2024
I bought a pair to review, but in case anyone was wondering how these measures compared to the HD560S and HD650’s 5128 measurements, Listener did the hard work to trace Jude’s measurement:
(Edited)
Den-Fi-Kyle
7
May 9, 2024
I believe these measurements are averaged from several 5128s, of which include Jude’s 5128. With the price of 5128s, there aren’t very many different units around—I believe these would be an average of Jude’s, Headphone.com, and possibly Soundguys’. An average makes more sense than a single unit because it’s been shown different units do measure differently so this will be closer to the “average” expected unit.
For what it’s worth, this measurement is pretty close to what I remember hearing at CanJam—too much bass, too much upper mids, dipped center midrange that make them sound “pinched nose.” I didn’t like it at all, but it was a level of dislike so severe that I wanted to try it at home to see if it gets better, like I did with the Yamaha YH-5000SE and Abyss Diana TC.
But I purchased this unit because the pads are apparently different from the unit I tried so my CanJam impressions can be considered invalid. I’ve also had experience with quite a few other very open headphones like the AKG K1000, Jecklin Float, MySphere 3.1, Peerless PMB85DA, RAAL SR1a, Sony MA900, Sony PFR-V1, and TakeT H2+ and would like to see how this compares in presentation.
As someone that both is off the deep end in subjective tweaks but also is very interested in measurements, I do think measurements, or at least measurements of midrange (bass and treble can vary a lot on different heads), give a fairly reliable expectation of what a person will hear, but that is an entirely separate factor from preference. I have some preferences that are deviant from any target, such as the Sony MDR-R10 being one of my favorite headphones despite measuring pretty terribly, but the measurement is the measurement. I won’t make excuses for it measuring “poorly” because individual preference is an entirely separate matter from being able to recommend it to the average reader. I’ve yet to hear any headphone of the probably 400-500+ I’ve heard that straight up disagree with measurements, but because of that, I’ve been able to trust my ears better in finding reasons I like certain deviations in measurements. It’s helped me a lot in reviewing because I’m forced to look past my own preferences and try to understand what the average person is more likely to enjoy.
Evshrug
3825
Keyboard Club Member
May 9, 2024
Den-Fi-KyleFor what it’s worth, I do think measurements are a useful tool (and I’m not looking for a fight, lol, we’re all enjoying the same hobby, right?). Especially for a designer or modder to track the changes they make on their headphones during production. It’s just that I’m cautioning Joe (Or Julie? J?) public that headphones measurements aren’t as one-dimensional as a thermometer or yardstick.
For half a decade, my preferred sound signature was near the AKG K712 Pro and HD 800S, but after my “holy grail” phase ended my preferences started broadening out. Some headphones seem more situationally limited than others, and some be seen people absolutely fall in love with a headphone that fills a certain niché. At this point, it’s very rare for me to severely dislike a headphone, but also I’m rarely tempted to want to own new headphones. In the few cases where I don’t like a headphone, I’ve seen enough people who do that I feel comfortable saying “if you love this, you’ll probably also like this or that.” Being able to see or at least take a guess that someone else might love what you’re hearing is one of the hardest but most valuable skills for a reviewer: if you’re saying you’ve learned how to do that, then I commend you!
Yaderb11
237
May 9, 2024
Put some review units out. Hell I'll take one for the team. Send one my way. I'll pay for it if I like it. You have dropped the ball far too many times. I'm interested but cautious.
Evshrug
3825
Keyboard Club Member
May 9, 2024
humidityJust posted one... it was really long, so I'm spinning off the listening notes and testing into comments, but leaving the summaries in the main comment.
Evshrug
3825
Keyboard Club Member
May 10, 2024
humidityAlso, here’s a link to my day-1 impressions (raw, stream of consciousness):
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/axel-grell-headphone.967413/post-18075011
d0ct0rd1g1tal
0
May 9, 2024
I'd love to hear someone explain how the cable configurations make any sense whatsoever.
3-pole input to 8-pole output for single-ended or 5-pole input to 4-pole output for balanced. What is the logic here?
For balanced you'd want 3-pole connectors at each ear: +, - per ear with a common ground. The only way you could do that is with a single 4.4mm connector on both ends. This "balanced" cable is just discarding the ground? Okay fine, that's acceptable, better than trying to cram a huge 4.4mm female connector in an ear cup I guess.
So why do I need 4-poles going to each cup when using single-ended? Why not just route to a single sided input for this as well? 3-pole to 4-pole makes way more sense than 3-pole to 8-pole (2x trrs) doesn't it? Am I missing something?
Evshrug
3825
Keyboard Club Member
May 9, 2024
d0ct0rd1g1talBoth ear cups have a TRRS connection. Single ended needs a common ground (TRS, 3 pole), balanced does not (TRRS, only needs 4 pole).
WordsandMusic
296
May 10, 2024
I have the Focal Clear, which I adore, but these look really interesting and $349 was too good to pass up. Fingers crossed.
Showing 26 of 60
Recent Activity
Drop Refurbished
Like-new products you can trustDrop Rewards
Get $5 for every 500 points you earn! Learn more
Drop Keyboard Club
Become a member and expand your keycap collectionCollaborate With Us
For Brands & DesignersFollow Drop