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Drop + MrSpeakers Ether CX Closed Headphones

$699

~~$900~~

overview

specs

reviews191

photos84

q&a44

discussions1.3K

01 / 16

... / HEADPHONES / CLOSED BACK HEADPHONES / DROP

Drop + MrSpeakers Ether CX Closed Headphones

Name: Drop + MrSpeakers Ether CX Closed Headphones
Brand: Drop
SKU: drop-mrspeakers-ether-cx-closed-headphones
Price: 699 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.492147 (191 reviews)

191

$699

~~$900~~

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Frequently bought together:

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xDuoo TA-30 Tube DAC/Amp

overview

specs

reviews191

photos84

q&a44

discussions1.3K

Customer Reviews

4.5

(191 reviews)

(125)

(45)

(14)

(4)

(3)

87% would recommend to a friend

By Feature

Build Quality

4.4

(16)

Sound

4.8

(16)

Comfort

4.8

(16)

Music GenresPopular among reviewers

ActivitiesPopular among reviewers

tehenlim

Nov 7, 2025

Activities:Critical Listening, Gaming

Music Genres:Classical, Jazz

Verified Buyer

Neutral and open sounding closed back headphones

Highly detailed and comfortable closed back headphones that sound relatively open and neutral. The lack of bass may irritate some, so be prepared to do some work on EQ-ing this to your liking. I didn't have any problems with seal even though I wear spectacles (as reported by some other users). My new pair came with discoloured and aged rubber on the headband slider clamps, which suggests that this stock has been sitting in a warehouse for a while. If you can get it on offer, it's still a very viable headphone. I prefer this over my Aeon Flow closed.

Recommends this product? Yes

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zep483

666

Aug 22, 2025

Activities:Critical Listening

Music Genres:Classical, Country, Metal, Pop, Rock

Verified Buyer

these are for particular people

Loads of detail, not loads of bass. If you can deal with mostly mids and treble, you're good. Bass is implied. Wish the pads were leather and not jp faux.

Recommends this product? Yes

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Benanna42

Jul 12, 2025

Activities:Critical Listening, Movies & TV

Music Genres:Classical, Country, Electronic, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop, R&B, Rock, World

Verified Buyer

Remove tuning pads

This is an excellent headphone once you remove the stock tuning pads. The bag of tuning pads that come in the box, go in the trash. Scan most forums and reviews and you will see mixed reviews with some flat out hating this headphone. Remove black stock pads and Timbre, openness, treble clarity, mid bass impact and roundness shoot up. I still put a 3db low shelf PEQ on it and it’s just about perfect. I believe this and having enough power are the two biggest issues that come up and why it’s so mixed. I use a DX9 that puts out about 8 watts a channel and provides plenty of muscle. Great pairing!

Recommends this product? Yes

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Evtedian

Feb 28, 2025

Verified Buyer

Great headphones... for specific purposes

These headphones are great for any activity where you need extreme resolution and detail. The noise floor seems non-existent, and the driver appears to be very high quality, which makes very low sounds actually audible when lesser headphones would struggle to present those sounds at all, unless you really turn up the volume. This, combined with the closed-back design (which does offer pretty decent natural sound isolation), makes any recording sound like you’re in the recording studio because the sound is so clean. The sound profile is very neutral, although it appears to be somewhat light in the lower mid-range frequencies. I did not do any scientific testing on this, so this is only my personal impression. But this might just indicate that I’m not completely used to a VERY neutral frequency response. I remember hearing a YouTuber say that these headphones are really intended for audio mastering or any other activity where you need to hear every minute detail, and based on my experience, I’d have to agree. I won’t be using these much for mastering, but I do play keyboard in a cover band, and I frequently have to do critical listening of popular songs so I can figure out what notes are being played by the keyboardist on a recording. These headphones are much better for this purpose than my previous Sennheiser HD 595, so when it comes to this activity, I’m a very happy buyer. Now for the negatives. If you want to do casual listening for enjoyment, I’m not sure I’d recommend these. The soundstage is pretty decent for closed-backs, but it’s still not a cavernous concert hall-like presentation. And that’s ok, but this, combined with the extremely neutral sound profile makes the sound of a song sound flat or dead. Again, this is great for studio purposes, but I think many people, maybe even most people, will prefer headphones that are a bit more fun. If you have a source device with good EQ, then you can make the sound “open up” with a little tweaking, like I’ve done. Also supplied in the package are “tuning pads”, which are meant to go right on the speakers of the headphones, and these pads will change the sound profile. I highly recommend experimenting with these, as they essentially act as a natural EQ. The denser the pad, the more bass response there is, and less harsh high frequencies. Speaking of bass response, I have glasses. Dan Clark advises that you probably shouldn’t wear glasses in a normal position with these headphones. This is because the arms of the glasses disrupt the seal of the cups around your ears, and it leads to a reduced bass response. I can confirm this is absolutely true. If you let the arms of your glasses rest on top of the cups, you won’t have this problem. It will just feel a little funny to wear your glasses like this. I find it to be annoying but mostly acceptable. I might just use contact lenses if I’m going to be using these headphones for a significant amount of time. More on comfort. These are pretty comfortable. They feel somewhat hefty, compared to my Sennheisers, but they still aren’t THAT heavy, so it doesn’t hurt to have them on your head for an extended period. The head strap is just a piece of leather, but it appears high quality, and it’s pretty comfortable when it’s resting on your head, probably in part because it applies even pressure. It’s a comfortable but snug feeling all around, including the feel of the cups. The build quality seems quite good. They don’t feel like they’d break easily. And the cable that comes with it is professional grade for a recording studio. The cable is thick, and the connectors are robust and a joy to use when attaching or detaching from the headphones (I never thought I’d say that about headphone cables, but there you have it). The main connector is an XLR type, for balanced audio I believe, and an adapter cable comes with it that has both a 3.5mm connector and a 1/4in connector, so right out of the box, you have three ways of connecting to your audio source device. I’d heartily recommend these for the right person, especially when they’re on sale, but not for everyone. EDIT: After about 2-3 weeks more of getting used to the Ether CX, I have to say, I was wrong about casual listening. Even though there are headphones that are more "fun sounding", the extreme detail, accurate representation, and clear separation of the instruments make these headphones special and exciting in their own way. I previously just barely gave 5 stars for the sound quality, but now I feel the need to add stars beyond the 5-star limit. That's not an option, so this little edit in my review will have to suffice. Seriously stunning audio. I can't wait to get home from work to do more listening. And that's the highest endorsement I could possibly give.

(Edited)

Recommends this product? Yes

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MaverickAH

761

Apr 10, 2025

EvtedianIt’s not about getting used to them. It’s about getting the hours on them in order for that driver to fully burn in. Once you get above 350 hours, they really start to shine. They’re the best closed backs that I own. They’ve probably saved me a ton of money because I don’t feel the need to search for better. The clarity they provide is amazing.

Bish

Jan 15, 2025

Activities:Casual Listening, Critical Listening, Movies & TV

Music Genres:Classical, Jazz, Metal, Rock

Verified Buyer

Excellent detail

Great detail, extremely accurate and neutral. Build quality seems good overall, though some parts feel like they'd be easy to damage (ear cups, wire headband support). Headband position slips / has to be readjusted frequently. Included cable is good. Filters/tuning pads are fun.

Recommends this product? Yes

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Enjoyer

Aug 5, 2024

Activities:Casual Listening, Critical Listening, Gaming, Movies & TV

Music Genres:Classical, Electronic, Hip-hop, Jazz, Metal, Pop, R&B, Rock, World

Verified Buyer

Great introduction to expensive high-end headphones and planar magnetics

If you started with the HD 6XXs (650s) and want to take the next step, these are what to get, especially if they are on sale.

Build quality is excellent, and the comfort is great overall, but bigger pads will remove the last bit of possible discomfort. (Pads in the photo are the ZMF Universe Lambskins) Sound quality is great, but it is a flat frequency response, it is also very revealing (picking up on little details that are low on other headphones). Dynamics suffer partiality because of this and the entirety of the bass frequency response being flat up into the mids. If you want to make these headphones "FUN" without EQ use the two notch white felt inserts and get the previously mentioned pads. Both will elevate the bass and the pads help to improve the dynamics a little. They still don't have as much impact as the 6XXs (650s) but it is a good improvement. Even with these changes though if the music wasn't made well its not going to magically sound good. It works for all genres but it depends how its produced. For example, metal double bass can vary in how good it sounds, if its located in the mid bass you will hear it but there will be a lack of impact (ESPECIALLY IN THE STOCK CONFIGURATION). Alternatively if it is located below that you will feel it a bit more but won't be as precise or fast. The Ether C Flow improve on the previously mentioned short falls but for nearly double the price of these not new I can't recommend them over the CX's. They isolate well and are one of the best closed backs, and definitely at the top of the closed back planar magnetic list just below its successor and some other DCA products like the E3. Lastly these are harder to drive compared to the 6XXs (650s) despite being 30 Ohms compared to 300 Ohms. These will not run, or at least well, off a low power dongle. They need power.

Recommends this product? Yes

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Just632

129

Keyboard Club Member

Dec 5, 2023

Verified Buyer

Endgame headphones

Amazing for what you get for the price. A great deal and retail of $900, even better if you can grab it for $600 like I did

Recommends this product? Yes

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Aure23

Oct 10, 2023

Activities:Casual Listening, Gaming

Music Genres:Electronic, Metal, Pop, Rock

Verified Buyer

Excellent for Casual Listening

I have only experienced a handful of headphones but these have excellent customizable features with the padding, increasing bass or reducing treble. The mids on these are perhaps the best I've ever listened to, and add some color to the sound experience without losing the accuracy of vocals or string instruments. As far as casual listening to podcasts or gaming, it's a pleasant experience and would recommend to anyone who is looking to get into higher end audio at this price range.

Recommends this product? Yes

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Abqslim

Sep 24, 2023

Activities:Critical Listening

Music Genres:Jazz, Rock

Verified Buyer

My favorite headphones, so far.

These cans are light and comfortable to wear for extended periods. Generally, I would prefer an open back headphone, but I really enjoy the isolation these ear goggles provide. The pair I own now are a replacement for a previous set that I purchased. On the first pair, a teeny-tiny screw that holds the right cable connector in place on the headphone cup came loose. I couldn't find an Allen wrench small enough to fit the screw anywhere, not even in a jewelry parts store. Ultimately, my inability to repair the headphones proved not to be a problem as Drop replaced them under manufacturers' warranty. I just finished listening to the Sly & Robbie DUB album and these headphones did an excellent job of reproducing the crack of the snare drum. The Ether CX may not have the greatest bass response, but I enjoy the sound overall. I just added a tube preamp to my headphone stack and these headphones respond well to that signal.

Recommends this product? Yes

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ShutUpImThinking

Jul 5, 2023

Activities:Casual Listening, Critical Listening, Movies & TV

Music Genres:Classical, Country, Electronic, Hip-hop, Jazz, Metal, Pop, R&B, Rock, World

Verified Buyer

A light and comfy headphone that is very clear!

I'm not expert what so ever, so here's the review for normal people: I solely bought these for the office space because of the closed back. I have for years been on the lookout for the right CB headphones for the office space and after having been on a journey that looks something like Sony 7509 -> Dekoni Blue -> DT 1990 Pro, I can finally say that I'm happy! For reference I use ZMF Aeolus and HD660s at home and lovee them both.

Recommends this product? Yes

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