Received my Drop DCA ARTC yesterday evening and spent at least 4 hours listening to them. I tried them without EQ, with and without the white 1 notch filter, and then I finally applied EQ.
Without EQ and with the white one notch filter, they do sound bright, and I could not listen to them too loud because of it. I didn't even try to listen without the one notch white filter in place with the raw frequency response. Maybe the reports of a two week period of "burn-in" for whatever reason will change that, but for now, EQ is a must. That being said, once I applied Oratory1990's Harman Target EQ settings, all of the subjective reviews and objective measurements made the world of sense. Distortion is so low, I really didn't notice how loud I was listening to them, something I haven't succumbed to since my days in the big speaker arena. These take EQ across the spectrum with ease and never sound distorted. Texture of notes and voices is most immediately apparent across the audible range. I used to feel like I got good texture from my Meze 99 Classics w/ Brainwavz Hybrid pads and Oratory EQ, but the RT's trump the Meze's on that front. Perhaps this has to do with the Plannar vs Dynamic driver differences. Something I'm guessing effects the impulse response on the RT's, which, based on the excellent subjective decay characteristics, is freaking amazing. Notes just start and stop in ways I don't get from my Meze's. I still love my Meze's in their best configuration, and I will still use them for background and casual listening while I write and edit literature, but they are outclassed by the RT's. If 100% is the goal for aural perfection, I'd say the Meze's are around 90% there, while the RT's are 97%. Build and comfort is top grade. Maybe I have a narrow head compared to the average person, but I could use a bit more clamping force. The Dummer cable (3.5mm to 1/4") feels great and I like the spring loaded connectors that attach to the cups. I haven't noticed any annoying microphonics with the provided 6' cable.
I used music from Beethoven, Bach, Gustav Holst, Nils Lofgren, Norah Jones, Santana, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Phil Collins, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, AC/DC, Michael Jackson, and others. My laptop runs Linux Mint, with EQ handled by PulseEffects, and played through DeadBeef. My DAC and amplifier are the Topping E30 and L30 respectively.
These are my EQ settings:
Type Freq. Gain Q-Factor
Filter 1: PK 70 Hz -4.4 dB 0.25
Filter 2: LS 105 Hz 5.5 dB 0.71
Filter 3: PK 152 Hz 5.0 dB 2.0
Filter 4: PK 510 Hz 1.5 dB 1.4
Filter 5: HS 2000 Hz 7.0 dB 0.71
Filter 6: PK 2250 Hz 2.5 dB 3.0
Filter 7: PK 3200 Hz -1.8 dB 5.0
Filter 8: PK 4620 Hz -2.2 dB 5.0
Filter 9: PK 5800 Hz -7.5 dB 3.0
Filter 10: HS 11000 Hz -10.0 dB 0.71
Filter 11: LS 100 Hz 6.0 dB 0.5
Filter 12: HS 7000 Hz -2.0 dB 1.0
Filter 13: HP 20 Hz 0.0 dB 1.0
First thing to note is that I don't listen to music at high SPL levels. In general, if I remove the headphones while music is still playing, you can barely hear it from 30cm away. This is why I boosted the bass with filter 11 to provide a more tactile sensation. I removed the white one notch filter, which opened up the soundstage, and applied Filter 12 to reduce the excess energy. The last filter, the High Pass filter at 20hz, was put in because I was experiencing the negative pressure or vacuuming effect on my ears that
@Maes Hughes commented on much earlier in the thread. I gets pretty painful, feeling like you're going too deep in water. That filter, which I kept playing with to find the lowest frequency I could, alleviated the problem completely. I was a swimmer in high school, and would feel the same sensation when I went below 8' in any pool for longer than 10 seconds. Hopefully this helps anyone who feels this pain when using the RT's. There is very little content below 20hz outside of electronic and organ music, so I don't think you're losing much applying my proposed filter.
With this EQ in place, on a fresh pair or RT's, the sound is addictive. The soundstage is quite large. Much larger than my Meze's and as large as a number of lesser openback designs. The bass is textured and intense, with all the slam I could want, while never mucking up any other part of the spectrum. Mids and highs sound "right". Can't give more praise than that. Even though these cost just over $800 CDN with import duties and taxes, and as they are now fresh, I could not be happier with Dan Clark and Co.'s design. Thank you,
@Dan Clark and thank you
@amirm for the platform, reviews and the personal recommendation. If this is the last pair of HP's I ever own, I can die a happy man. Sure I'd love to own a pair of your Stealth headphones, but the extra 3% to perfection is only a dream as things stand. Right now, I really don't feel like I'm missing anything, which is a great feeling.
