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
Balanced I/O. Intended for microphone cables carrying extremely low-level signals, balanced I/O offers no benefit for line-level signals or headphone output where cable-induced noise is insignificant relative to source noise. It's just for show.
Hybrid operation. Adding a superfluous tube stage to a line-level signal path? At best there is no audible impact and the tube is just for show. At worst the circuit emphasizes tube colorations.
What is not a marketing gimmick? A Class A output stage. Class A operation greatly simplifies low distortion audio circuit design and power supply regulation, with real improvements in audio reproduction. The tradeoff is greater heat dissipation and idling power draw.
The beauty of headphones is that their low power requirements compared with passive speakers make Class A amplification (tube or transistor) possible in a small cost-effective design.
So how about a Massdrop designed Class A unit, without wasting money on balanced I/O or tubes? Maybe something along the lines of a discounted, customized Schiit Asgard 2?