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
Do you like to have you mind blown? If so, I implore you to save up for a USB DAC/Amp for your MacBook. I have a FiiO X3, which works as both a USB DAC/Amp and portable music player. I can't recommend it highly enough if you'd like a device that'll greatly improve your sound quality at home and on-the-go. Head to Amazon-dot-com and search for "B00VR5JHVK". But blah blah blah, any USB DAC/Amp will do—there are lots of affordable options that will all make you a very happy camper.
A simple explanation of how it works: It bypasses your laptop's inferior digital-to-analog (DAC) converter via a USB cable, runs your audio file through a much better digital-to-analog conversion, adds some juice to the analog signal (amplification), and then this impressively decoded and amped signal arrives in your earholes, which will finally understand just how capable your new IEMs are. Basically it makes your music sound way better and is totally worth the price of admission. Just plugging nice headphones into a laptop's audio-out is sort of like trying to rally a Subaru WRX with some $50 tires you got at Walmart.
And a recommendation, specifically for your MacBook: Vox is a very simple program that plays lossless audio files. Try pairing your favorite tunes in a lossless format (.FLAC files being the most common) with the USB DAC/Amp that I just convinced you to buy and you'll seriously be like, "Oh god, I thought these sounded good from my laptop's headphone jack?!"
That's all. Cheers!
For those who say that the RE-00 wasn't very good, I say give them a shot. Properly power them and use high quality files that were mixed well and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised as what they bring to the table for $35. I wasn't very impressed with them either until I got them burned in somewhat and played with equalizer settings to see what they're capable of.