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
Look at a known quantity, something that there is a lot press on, and a lot discussion on the audio boards, like Schiit for example. No, I do not work for them, believe me, Teac is well below their radar for competition.
They are made in the USA, their service, trial period, response shipping blah blah is all amazing. Look at the Bitfrost for a DAC $400, and a Vali2 for a nice warm tube amp $150 total $650. Or the more sophisticated Asgard 2 for the amp at $250 for a total of the $750 MD is asking. It is just one example. Yes people can find lots of negative comments out there on Schiit products, but at least there is a lot of commentary, and that can be taken against all the other positive commentary.
MD - you are off the mark on this offering. It is too much money you are asking of people for an unknown product from a company with a dubious past, or to be nice from an unknown company.
Its wrong! I feel I can say that because between my daughter and I have spent over a grand on your audio products alone. I am a fan of MD, but this ......
At least you're being honest
Schiit gear has become very popular, doesn't make it better for the money than TEAC equipment.. have you even tried using this DAC? I own the 501 and can attest to it's amazing build quality and impressive performance for the money.
I would try out the TEAC equipment before simply writing them off based on price alone.
FWIW I picked up a Panda Stack on eBay for 200 which I think is GREAT value. That being said, looks like no one is going to buy this before the drop ends, so I don't know if "MD" is to blame on this. I'm guessing to work with partners they sometimes have to price / offer what they're asking for and then using sales data to convince them how to price in the future. e.g. Focal Elex dropping $100 before the first drop finished.
In the past few years, it seems as if Teac is under new management, going back to their high quality tudio equipment days, both with these mini components, as well as the lauded coaxial series they are producing. Perhaps a little too late though, as I agree with you on their questionable past in general hifi, at least in the USA.
There's nothing warm about tubes until they distort, and that's due to the even order harmonic nature of their distortion. Otherwise, tubes don't provide any magic audio signals unless you crank them in a guitar amplifier. So, please don't get hung up on the "tube warmth" nonsense being spread in audiophoolia.
If you're gonna go cheap, at least go ifi....even if their designs are awkward.