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
Yes, they are heavy!
Yes, they are uncomfortable!
On the plus side, the leather band would support the weight rather than the metal band across the top.
But the metal band clamps the head so tight that little weight is on top of your head where the leather strap might be of help.
I'm guessing with long-term listening my head will be significantly narrower and my ears will slid down and be located on the sides of my neck.
Did I mention they are heavy?
Sound:
OK, out of the box they significantly better the HD600, but we kind of expected that, didn't we?
Not tipped up treble in an attempt to produce 'fake' detail.
No artificial bass boost.
I'd say flat and fairly natural sounding.
Currently driving them with an Audio-GD Master 11 DAC/Headphone Amp.
Did I mention they are heavy?
After a couple more hours of listening and about 8 hours playing music at a bit louder than my normal listening levels into the arm of the heavily upholstered couch to help with any breaking I will add the following.
These are WARM and even DARK sounding cans. Even in comparison to the HD600.
VERY WARM even in comparison the the HD600 which not a treble ear abuser by any means (hello, HD800)..
WARM and DARK enough that I just might be in the market for an after-market balanced cable with silver wire?
Maybe.
Plus side is, should I ever get used to them, listener fatigue will likely not be a problem. Oh wait, I forgot the fact that they are HEAVY and squeeze my head.
Overall, great cans though. Worth way more than the $700+ tax, shipping, etc they sold for.
Of special not is that they are REALLY efficient, and not just in a 'play them on your iPhone' way. My DAC/Headphone amp is a killer (8 watts) so I have to dial it down to about 2/3 the volume level I would normally play the HD600 and then keep dialing down when crescendos hit them. But even at VERY low volume levels, nothing is lost! Most speakers and headphones lose some part ot the spectrum when played softly, especially with classical music. Not these cans. EVERYTHING is there, just at lower sound levels.
OK, who makes a decent silver balanced headphone cable for these things?
Yes, I'm keeping them.
At least until Massdrop offers the HiFiMan HE-1000 v2 at 50% off list! :-)
Will do that if I decide to keep them.
Going to see if the 'warm and dark' charicter can be helped with an after-market balanced silver cable and if not may off them for a MUCH more expensive HE-1000 v.2 which I have had in-house but for a very short time a few months ago when they were first released.
That said, the Kennerton Vali is certainly worth the $700+ tax, excessive shipping charges and the 'we bill your card and you sit and wait' that Massdrop gets for it.