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
iBasso also updates their product every few months. They recently had an update. And there are more choices when it comes to software compared to fiio.
If I buy a piece of device that is dedicated to playing music. At a PREMIUM price, it should set itself apart from the competition by offering features in addition to the sound and power it can handle... Bluetooth is a luxury, and this is luxury pricing. I'd love to be able to pair my bluetooth cans (UE9000, Velodyne vFree, Jaybirds) and my bluetooth speakers (I have UE Boombox, UE Boom, and UE Miniboom.. yeah I'm a UE fan) and pairing with my phone leaves much to be desired because I can't fit my music collection on my phone like I do with my DAPS.
Do I need to delve further into why it works for me? Hope that helps.
I don't just use bluetooth headphones occasionally.. I would pair these up with my bluetooth speakers from UE.. I think that would make the value worth it because I hate pairing with my phone (not enough memory, cant play flac, and usually have to use Pandora/Spotify)
I would be inclined to put money on if you could distinguish the difference in a Double-Blind A/B/X test between a hard-wired connection and the Apt-X BT wireless connection. You *might* be able to distinguish a slight difference on some particular instruments and songs, but for 95% of commercial recordings, it's a non-issue IMHO. I would have loved if my DX90 had Apt-X Bluetooth as well!
By the way, the DX90 can drive the 600-ohm impedance Beyerdynamic T1 headphones directly with excellent results. You will need the volume up in the 225-245 region, and your battery will drain a bit faster than with IEMs, but you get beautiful sound.
TBH, I would like to see this drop at $300 flat or maybe $309, considering the other deals that have already been mentioned. HTH. - BB