Massdrop Blue Box - Final Audio Design Grab Bag Discussions | Drop

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Massdrop Blue Box - Final Audio Design Grab Bag

Dec 22, 2015

For the record, good clean power rewards the listener with good clean reproduction!
After receiving my gift, I immediately plugged it into my McIntosh MHA100 using only the amp part; low gain, autoformer set to 8-40 ohm impedance. Listening to a DVR recording of Adele Live from New York; her comeback after 4 years away and a vocal chord operation. Using the M9XX as the DAC over optical from the DVR.
Having just listened to the concert earlier, some songs with my HiFiMan HE-1000, some with my MrSpeakers Ether, I'm now listening to it fed as cited above using my newly delivered FAD Heaven V. Now, while it won't be confused with the former two headphones just cited, it certainly holds its own, and is not 'shamed' by the former two! There is absolutely no degree of 'suck' to it. Quite the opposite.
Stock, tips. Good comfy fit. Great soundstage (probably its best attribute), clarity, full bodiedness. As I am always critical of everything I own... It has more emphasis in the upper presence / lower treble and recessed the octaves centered around 500 & 1K than most my headphones, or that I normally prefer. But nothing objectionable. Just different than what I'd normally buy after auditioning; which of course could not be the case here. And these are fresh outta the packaging. I expect the hot spots in the frequency response to tame, bass and body to ease and everything to evolve. Another great offering by Massdrop!
I have enormous skepticism the V is that far off from the IV. For someone to come on here and blast the headphones as 'really bad' seems to be driven more by some 'ax grinding' than 'grinding sound' of the headphone. My recommendation is to take an opinion from someone who has been doing nothing but calling for a whambulance for the past few pages because the drop wasn't/isn't executed as he would want, with a grain of salt; and not representative of what these (mine), or those (the harsh critic's), can do.
What I'll believe is ... it can be a listener having a real dislike for the frequency response these have vs. what the listener prefers. That's very valid. Doesn't make these 'really bad'! they're not.
I was happy with the FAD Sonorous VI drop at its price. And I'm certainly happy with the grab I got out of the bag at this price. I've been made a FAD fan. Never heard of them before a few months ago.
p.s. Using the phone-as-source with the Neuron Player yields really good results for me too. Playing with an EQ reinforces my initial observation of this headphone's frequency response. Recessed around the 1K range; emphasized immediately above presence. Which is usually not my preference. And IMO could be what's behind the strong polarization shared earlier. But using the Neutron player's great EQ, I can dial-in a really great sound from these.

Dec 22, 2015

Sparky14

Dec 22, 2015

m8omanAgreed m8oman - I'm sure people who were already concerned about handling of the drop, and then got the lowest prize will be negatively biased from the start - I would be as well.
Similarly, people who got lucky in the drop will be positively biased towards the IEMs. As for mine (V aging) - great sound and comfort. Cord microfonics noise is annoying - but seems to be directly related to the cord hanging vertically down from the cylinders. Rotating 180* (cord up) greatly reduces the problem.

Dec 22, 2015

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andypak01

430

Dec 23, 2015

m8omanI can see how it could have appeared to some people from your perspective. I make enough money to not have to be emotionally invested in a purchase to bad mouth a $170 spending. I basically got what I paid. I am just iterating how Heaven IV sounds to my ears. I do, however, have an issue when I get no explanation as to why final service received is different from offering. All I wanted to know is why they won't say anything about FI-BA-SS.

Dec 23, 2015

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