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
Empire Ears was on our radar back in 2016, when a couple of community members pinged me and said that Jack was such a great guy and I should really check out their line-up because so many of the models/Gods sounded great.
The overall balance in the original Olympus product line was impressive. Some of the community favorites were the Spartan, Apollo, Athena, & Zeus. A lot of care was taken with the mids and to deliver a linear sound with all of the music and nothing masked.
At 2016 RMAF, I snapped this pic of Jack…with wings:
Speaking of tuning, I asked Dean Vang about his approach to tuning earlier this year at their new facility in Georgia:
After spending time with Zeus, I marvel at how much information the 14 drivers deliver to the brain. Some of it must be attributed to how sensitive they are (how little power/signal is needed get all these drivers moving) combined with the lack of dampers. There is a direct connection from the drivers to your eardrum. It’s hard for me to do complex work while listening to these, the detail is distracting and something to get used to. (Years ago I read ClieOS’ massive earbud comparison thread on Head-Fi.org and he said he liked some earbuds that were not as detailed so he could get some work done at times, ha! I understand.)
When it comes to a top-of-the-line (TOTL) item…you want it to deliver a special experience, to do something extraordinary. The middle of the Zeus presentation has a 3-dimensional quality and a level of resolution that I find very addictive.
Audiophile Ambrosia Same drivers, same crossovers, new construction. · 14 Knowles drivers (6 high, 6 mid, 2 low) per ear! · 7-way Crossover circuit · No dampers · Air/Treble · Holographic headstage · Tons of sonic information- extremely sensitive system IMPROVED Durability · ABS shell & Faceplate · stainless steel nozzle · wax guard · recessed socket for improved cable strain relief & less contamination
EMPIRE EARS…It’s a Family Affair Dean- Engineer/Co-Founder Catherine- CEO/Co-Founder Jack- VP of Sales Victor- Operations Manager Lauren- Shipping/Logistics Richard- Graphic Arts Kay- Technician Made in Georgia
I’ve dreamt for a long time of being able to bring Zeus to our community on Massdrop. Luckily, Jack dreamt with me…many thanks to Empire Ears for making this happen!
MAM Module https://empireears.com/products/adel-mam-module
B1 Module https://empireears.com/products/copy-of-titanium-silver-cable-60
To date, there are no measurements or pre-production photos, which seem to indicate that this drop is in the preliminary planning phase and nothing concrete has been created yet.
This is very concerning because the translation from design to prototyping to mass production is where (many) "unforeseen" delays crop up.
If the design hasn't even been prototyped close to 1 month later, then how would we know that the drop would (1) deliver what we purchased and (2) be on time?
Could you reassure us with pics and measurements, please?
Thank you. :)