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
They are semi closed cans so your ears will breathe less and the earcups are somewhat tight around my average sized ear. Those are really my only issues with the headphones, everything else about them has been pretty damn good otherwise. It did take my ears about a day to stop focusing on what sounded like a slight hissing in the highs(sibilance). Now I don't even notice it.
For music(mostly rap, electronic, and rock) they are my favorite set of cans.
I did rotate the ear cushions clockwise so the headband sits slightly forward on my head. It made a world of difference for me comfort wise.
Specs Massdrop x Fostex Closed-back design 50 mm dynamic transducer Magnesium alloy construction Ebony ear cups, brilliant gloss finish Leatherette ear pads, matte black Magnetic flux density: >1 tesla Impedance: 25 ohms Sensitivity: 94 dB/mW Maximum input: 1,800 mW Frequency response: 5 – 45,000 Hz 10 ft (3 m) thick, braided Y cable 1/4 in (6.3 mm) gold-coated stereo phone plug Weight, without cable: 16 oz (450 g) Weight, with cable: 20.5 oz (582 g)
Specs
Massdrop x Fostex Closed-back design 50 mm dynamic transducer Magnesium alloy construction Ebony ear cups, brilliant gloss finish Leatherette ear pads, matte black Magnetic flux density: >1 tesla Impedance: 25 ohms Sensitivity: 94 dB/mW Maximum input: 1,800 mW Frequency response: 5 – 45,000 Hz 10 ft (3 m) thick, braided Y cable 1/4 in (6.3 mm) gold-coated stereo phone plug Weight, without cable: 16 oz (450 g) Weight, with cable: 20.5 oz (582 g)
My budget for a headphone right now is around $400-$600. This is the first time I will be investing this much on a headphone, but I will be using that for all purpose and planning to use them for a long period of time. (Finger-crossed to LOVE these)
Thank you for the recommendation on TR80. I'm going to go look into that right now. But the design of TH-X00 is, i think, really unbeatable at this price point. It just hooked me into it!
You seem to be doing three different things: making music, listening to music and gaming.
For making music you want reference headphones that won’t color to much what you are producing. For listening to music it depends on the genre and it’s often personal preference (what one thinks “sounds good”) For gaming I think a wide sound stage would be desirable and closed back headphones generally do not do that well.
A headphone that does everything well is usually expensive. The “Ether C” or the Audeze LCD-XC are closed backs that seem to do many things well. They are accurate, have good bass and a wide sound stage. But these generally run you about $1500. (And you probably wouldn’t want to use them while playing drums.)
Or you could have three different headphones: HD600 for gaming (you may also my want them for listening to music), TH-X00 for music listening and maybe a DT1770 or Focal Spirit Pro for playing drums.
P.S. The HD600 are considered a very good mid range audiophile headphone (Some even prefer it to the HD800.)
There are better options than HD600 for gaming, the K7XX would easily be a better choice. Also check out Sony MA900 (discontinued), and my personal favorite gaming headphone, the Sony XB1000 (long discontinued). Due to the huge ear pads there is a lot of air space between drivers and your ears creating ;arge sound stage despite being closed back, and the 70mm drivers create great localisation in that large air space, being a closed back is an advantage in this case due to the plenty of air space by the pads, because closed back creates better defined sound stage and easier localisation of the sounds in that air space, compared to open backs which might have an airier sound stage, but softer edges making localisation harder. Although Open back usually have better localisation than Closed back, the XB1000 is just an anomaly due to it's combo of huge ear pads and huge drivers, making closed back an advantage, it's bar none the best gaming headphone, second best is K7XX. Although MA900 modded (simple mod, open and remove foam on driver) are better than K7XX for gaming. (fyi, I do own all these headphones) and am a gamer obviously :) If you want a widely available closed back for gaming also check out the Sony MDR-Z7.
They are not taughted as isolating closed back, so if they leak then they are not going against design. For this design, the closed back design is to have back wave reflection to not lose the mids. Specifically the lower and center mids. Not to isolate.
Edit: I'll show you anyways.
Not to mention very little sound stage, ridiculous bass thats muddy boomy and overwhelming and just ridiculous sounding with no control anywhere.
I would get the HD800 if I didn't get HD600. I was too disappointed with the open-back headphone and just want to try other company's headphones, and Fostex caught my eye.
I would get several headphones if i had the budget or will to, but I just want something that would at least do the job for my purposes.
Specs
Massdrop x Fostex Closed-back design 50 mm dynamic transducer Magnesium alloy construction Ebony ear cups, brilliant gloss finish Leatherette ear pads, matte black Magnetic flux density: >1 tesla Impedance: 25 ohms Sensitivity: 94 dB/mW Maximum input: 1,800 mW Frequency response: 5 – 45,000 Hz 10 ft (3 m) thick, braided Y cable 1/4 in (6.3 mm) gold-coated stereo phone plug Weight, without cable: 16 oz (450 g) Weight, with cable: 20.5 oz (582 g)
I didn't say that that the HD600 were the best headphones for gaming. I was implying that they would be better than the Massdrop x Fostex TH-X00 as open back headphones have a wider sound stage. And he already owns the HD600. The best headphones I've used for gaming are the HD800 and the Audeze LCD-X (and I own both of them.
And I am assuming that your arguments are based on your personal experience with these headphones.
Specs
Massdrop x Fostex Closed-back design 50 mm dynamic transducer Magnesium alloy construction Ebony ear cups, brilliant gloss finish Leatherette ear pads, matte black Magnetic flux density: >1 tesla Impedance: 25 ohms Sensitivity: 94 dB/mW Maximum input: 1,800 mW Frequency response: 5 – 45,000 Hz 10 ft (3 m) thick, braided Y cable 1/4 in (6.3 mm) gold-coated stereo phone plug Weight, without cable: 16 oz (450 g) Weight, with cable: 20.5 oz (582 g)
Specs Massdrop x Fostex Closed-back design 50 mm dynamic transducer Magnesium alloy construction Ebony ear cups, brilliant gloss finish Leatherette ear pads, matte black Magnetic flux density: >1 tesla Impedance: 25 ohms Sensitivity: 94 dB/mW Maximum input: 1,800 mW Frequency response: 5 – 45,000 Hz 10 ft (3 m) thick, braided Y cable 1/4 in (6.3 mm) gold-coated stereo phone plug Weight, without cable: 16 oz (450 g) Weight, with cable: 20.5 oz (582 g)