Which headphones of Drop's currently avialable?
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. Beyerdyanmic 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
Personally, I am not at all a fan of rating systems; i.e. 7/10, 4/5 stars, etc. Readers put so much focus into that final score, disregarding the reviewers experiences and feedback located within the review. Video game sites are a great place to view that sort of reaction. A game gets a 7.5 out of 10 and readers disregard it as a waste of time and money when in reality it's a quality product and gobs of fun, but slightly flawed. It's also a challenge to decide what will take off a star, or half a point, or whatever your rating system runs on because its just so subjective. Like @Armaegis I'm somewhat skeptical of reviews, especially on sites like Amazon or AliExpress. They're often so drastically skewed towards one opinion or another (love it or hate it) without anything in between, and lack the sort of details that give you an impression of what the product is actually like to own and use on a routine basis. I try to find someone with similar tastes and follow their reviews if possible. Mind you, I have odd tastes and love quite a few earphones that are considered subpar (Sony XBA-2 and NarMoo W1M to name a couple).
I still consider myself pretty green when it comes to this hobby so when I review I like to spend at minimum two weeks with a product. The first week goes towards using them as as my primary earphone or headphone. That allows me to get a good handle on what they are like to live with. Are they comfortable? Does they display odd quirks that were not readily apparent during the initial unboxing? Do I actually want to spend all that time listening to them or am I forcing myself to because I must? Once I've become accustomed to the sort of experience I would expect to have as an owner, then I start listening critically, taking notes, comparing to other products in my collection, and thinking about what sort of overall feedback I'll give.
I'm also a huge fan of images in reviews. They add quite a bit to the experience giving me a visual indication of the overall fit, finish, and build quality. I'm also a sucker for a pretty face, heh. When I'm not in the midst of reviewing something, I often have 4-5 earphones with me at any time. When one is in use, I'm enjoying the unique design queues of the rest.
So what all this rambling comes down to is; 1. I like the review to be laid out in a logical and neat manner, separating each aspect of the review into it's own distinct section. 2. Images are a must for me to be able to piece together everything I've read and to fully understand the writer's experiences. 3. A review must have both positives and negatives, even if the reviewer truthfully thinks the product is essentially perfect. To me it shows serious thought about the product and that the reviewer is considering the experiences their readers may have it theirs is the review that spawn a purchase.
If you made it this far, congratulations. Here is a picture of the Havi B3 Pro 1.