GermanMAESTRO GMP 8.35 Mobile Headphones Reviews | Drop

Free Standard Shipping in the US on orders over $99

Showing 1 of 27 reviews about:

GermanMAESTRO GMP 8.35 Mobile Headphones

Nov 9, 2018

Verified Buyer

I've been living with the German Maestro GMP 8.35 Mobile headphones for 2 months now. I really love, love, love these headphones. Their sound signature is very studio-like. They're like having a pair of super HD 25's. Passive noise isolation is pretty good. Efficiency is above average & the frequency response is fairly flat across a wide range. They eerily sound like they could be in the Sennheiser family of headphones. They have the same wonderful midrange of the HD 25's but with greater extension on both ends of the frequency range with much better efficiency & a bigger soundstage. They are even more bulletproof & make for great travel companions. Because of their "studio" performance, I trust what I am hearing from them no matter what the genre of music. With the stock pads, the sound is ever so slightly on the warm side making them a very listenable pair of headphones. Negatives? Some may find them uncomfortable due to the clamping force. Personally, I find them to be fine & they have only gotten better as they have loosened up a bit over time. They also don't wear well off the head since the cups don't fold flat. I would also say that when compared to better, more expensive headphones, they lose some micro detail in the bass & treble. In summary, these are great all-around performers. They just don't do much of anything wrong. Their efficiency is as good as an IEM. A separate amp is not necessary. What I have found is that since the cord is detachable, pairing them with a .5m cable & a Bluewave GET is an absolutely wonderful combo! UPDATE!!! It is now 13 months after I wrote my original review which means that I've now owned these for a total of 15 months. I'm writing this update because I finally decided to make a change to them based on some suspicions I had & I think that everyone who owns them or is thinking of owning deserves to know. First things first, these cans are truly bulletproof! It's one set of headphones that I own (along with an og set of Senn HD 25's) that I don't worry about having a carrying case for. Just throw them in a bag & go! Not only are they durable as heck, they still look like they were just taken out of the box so they also wear well. The only negative I've experienced is that their grip is firm & it might be uncomfortable for some after an hour or two. They can also be sweat monsters if you live where there's high temps & humidity. Now on to the update. As good as they sounded, I always suspected that the stock pads were choking some their performance. The stock pads are on the thin side of things & they also cover part of the drivers. The earpads definitely keep your ears closer to the driver & to compensate, the integrated foam on the earpad is fairly thick & dense. Also my stock pads do not look like the provided pics. They look & feel like they were made from Dekoni foam tips. Very spongy & grippy. I always felt that I was being robbed of some treble performance. I was definitely losing some isolation since I wear glasses & wasn't getting a full seal. Anyway, I took advantage of BF & bought some Brainwavz Round Pads in Sheepskin Leather. Upon installation, the effect was immediate! The plushness of the leather allows for a better seal. The integrated foam is thinner & less dense & the thickness of the pads keep your ears further away from the drivers. The bigger earpad opening does not block any of the drivers. The results of all of this are better isolation, better bass & treble extension. The soundstage has greatly improved in both width & depth. Image separation has also improved especially in the treble. The little bit of "sparkle" that was missing is now there. The warmth is still there but now it's tempered with a little bit more energy in the upper mids & treble. Highly recommended! UPDATE 12/17/19 After spending some more time with the Brainwavz pads, they definitely open up the soundstage in a positive manner. The only negative for me is that while treble is extended some may find it to be a slightly aggressive. I certainly do! The foam on the original pads is much, much thicker than what's on the Brainwavz & I think that they aided in quelling some of the highs. I've ordered some foam tuning pads (2mm & 4mm) but they won't be here for a few weeks (China). Hopefully these will attenuate the little bit of brashness I'm detecting (I can be treble sensitive). UPDATE 1/9/20 The tuning pads arrived a couple of weeks ago. I installed the 2mm pads & they fit perfectly. They did exactly what I hoped they would do & brought the treble back into line. It wasn't that it was actually offensive before. It was just that it could get a bit aggressive when the volume was turned up. I'm now getting a smoother response. It's cutting just a touch more of air than I'd prefer but the pads do allow me to turn the volume up without any of the fatigue that I was experiencing without them after about an hour or so & turning up the volume does give you back some of that air. Installing the pads do require you to raise the volume a notch or two but because these cans have iem-like efficiency, it's not a big deal. Even without the changes, I really like these headphones. With the changes, they impress even more & I rank them slightly ahead of the HD 58X. In fact, they make for a killer combo if you're interested in a budget friendly set of open/closed headphones for indoor/outdoor use. I think that you'd have to spend significantly more to beat them on a real world level. BTW...… I've tried pairing the GMP 8.35 Mobile, a cheap 12" 3.5mm cord & a Radsone Earstudio ES100 with great results. UPDATE 8/4/20 This is probably going to be my last update regarding these headphones. These are one of the headphones that permanently stay out next to my main listening rig. With stock pads, they can serve well as studio monitors. The cup diameter is 100mm & the Brainwavz Round Pads are a perfect fit. As I said above, if you swap in the Brainwavz, you will need to add in some 90mm wide, 2mm thick tuning pads. Now the Brainwavz have a depth of 30mm which, in my opinion, is just a touch too deep. Dekoni pads designed for the Beyerdynamic DT Series have a diameter of 102mm & a depth of 25mm will also fit nicely. The depth on the Dekoni's are better to me but because the price premium on the Dekoni's is so much higher, I can live with the Brainwavz. I'll have more to say on these when I write my Panda review.

(Edited)

Recommends this product? Yes

Was this helpful?

tbjs

483

Sep 4, 2020

MaverickAHI feel like I know your entire life story. I...just...get you, man!

Sep 4, 2020

eddiezr

112

Apr 3, 2021

MaverickAHMy only question about these can was how do they compare to the HD 58x, and now I know in as exact and complete a manner as is humanly possible! Great work, Batman! 🎧💯✔ Am I correct to summarize your review thusly: If they're modified as per your extensive experience has directed then they're *slightly* better than the 58x, with the greatest advantage being their superior rugged build quality, yes? I may opt for these if I ever lose my intense affection for my outrageously inexpensive, astonishingly competent Koss Porta Pros, even with their treacherous tendency to rip out scalp hairs caught in their sliding metal headstrap. Their lightness, compact portability, surprisingly wide, full & clear near-audiophile signature, and better-than-expected bass response make them irresistible. To me. And they look so neat, especially the limited edition model with the brass colored metal headstrap, which I own. Nyaah! 😜 Anyhoo, thanx for the obsessively complete review and updates. These are now on my short list of likely contenders. "Round up the usual suspects..."

(Edited)

Apr 3, 2021

Vote

MaverickAH

755

Apr 3, 2021

eddiezrWhat I would say is that for me, the 58X is a more midrange forward headphone while the GMP 8.35 has a more balanced presentation. I think the the GMP 8.35 also soundstages a bit better despite being a closed back because of this. The 58X does do detail better & is a shockingly good value for what it does do well but I find myself preferring the overall tonal balance of the GMP 8.35 by just a bit. When you add in the fact that they're almost indestructible & can serve in multiple applications, I give them the nod. I still think that they're a killer open/closed combo for those on a tight budget.

Apr 3, 2021

eddiezr

112

Apr 3, 2021

MaverickAHAgain, I appreciate your cogent, rational assessment of these headphones. Thanks to your precise review I can confidently assume to know what they're likely to sound and feel like to me, and it all seems good. My only question concerns how you've described the HD 58X's as having a more forward midrange than the GMP 8.35. My sense of the 58X is that it has a gentle U shaped signature with its nicely emphasized lower bass and extended sub bass as well as a slightly accentuated high end above 8K. The mids ARE forward compared to many other consumer grade headphones, but the rich bass and slightly boosted highs creates the impression of a *slightly* recessed mids and lower highs. It's a variation on what is commonly referred to as the Sennheiser "veil," but considerably less apparent than with other HD models. Make sense? In short, I REALLY like my HD 58X with their enhanced sub bass, crisp but refined treble, and "forward" mids. But I'm open to variety. ✌😀

Apr 3, 2021

Vote

MaverickAH

755

Apr 4, 2021

eddiezrI don't know about them being slightly U shaped. The FR graphs don't bear that out & it's not what I hear from them. Vocalist have always seemed just a little too up front to me. The 58X has always been a bit perplexing to me. While their upper midrange & treble can often exhibit qualities of a more expensive headphone & vocal definition is excellent, there's always been something, on some material, that left me with an uneasy feeling. It took me a long time to identify it. Their overall presentation is very up front but I seem to hear some tonal imbalances in the lower midrange. I have listened to them in quite a while so I'm going to have to break them out & revisit them to get a better handle on what I was hearing.

Apr 4, 2021

Vote

eddiezr

112

Apr 4, 2021

MaverickAHI completely understand your skepticism with my description of the 58X's mids as it's more so my personal impression as opposed to their actual empirical performance. For example, the mids in my old trusty Sony MDR 7506s seem to me more forward, more neutrally balanced although, of course, overall those cans are less defined, detailed and full. They're fine for my cellphone. Perhaps that's the reason I wasn't too impressed with the HE 800 S. It certainly is a refined, clear, precise sound with mids perhaps properly balanced with the bass & trebles, but they just struck me as severely dry, clinical and, um, cold. Or more accurately, cool. It's a joyless experience. Now, the Focal Clear, on the other hand, offers a similarly balanced signature with the mids equally prominent as the bass & treble but with wonderfully detailed, full and natural vocal reproduction and more importantly, a warmer, more refined or "elegant" upper end. Not clinical and ruthless but revealing and musical. It appears to me that the Clear are confidently accomplishing what Sennheiser generally are striving for. Also, the Focal Clear create the amazing impression that one's listening to full size loudspeakers as opposed to puny headphones. The 800s definitely never let you forget you've got cans on your skull. Neither do the 58Xs, but there's a more dynamic, more robust, more fun sound pounding your eardrums. I think. 😉 P.S. With regards to the 58X's wonky lower midrange, I agree. I usually use an equalizer of some kind and notch out a bit of those lower mids, 150 - 300Hz down approx 3 dbs. That cleans up the congestion although I do lose a bit of bass from male vocals. A minor concession.

Apr 4, 2021

Vote

MaverickAH

755

Jul 17, 2022

MaverickAHUPDATE 7/17/22 I didn’t envision doing another update on these headphones but I feel that it’s necessary to inform others either owning or interested. First, they’ve continued to perform flawlessly. They’re still my cost to performance champion. Yes, I do have better performing headphones but when I factor in how much more they cost and how close these come to them in many aspects, these are wonderful especially when you realize how durable they are. Secondly, I’ve discovered that my foam pad filter modification is not necessarily the best thing for them. It’s adequate but not the best because it does attenuate the higher frequencies a bit too much and foam degrades over time requiring replacement. On intuition and a whim, I purchased a set of ZMF Acoustic Titan Mesh: Radial Vented filters. They are well made & don’t require replacement. Best of all is sonically, they’re perfect with no negative downsides. They attenuate the upper mids just the right amount without affecting soundstage or spatial characteristics. So for an additional $20 (ZMF) plus $24 (Brainwavz) I think that you can bring out the best in these making them a better than good option for anyone needing a reasonably priced all-around closed back.

Jul 17, 2022

Vote

See More Reviews