Drop + Grell OAE1 Headphone Review

[solderdude]

Standard component values set the filter at 4.95kHz.
When they would have chosen the nearest (easily available) value 560uH and 2.2uF it would have been at 4.5kHz.
When they would have chosen the nearest (easily available) value 470uH and 3.3uF it would have been at 4kHz.

The 5kHz peak would not have been pleasant to listen to.

 

[Herbert Shooler]

Great work, it is a perfect match for the chord Dave and Mscaler given its performance.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

I created the dip with eq and the effect is indeed that the sound moves to the front. So what Grell says about the dip is no nonsense at least.
Edit: Only with live music really. Studio music sounds strange.

It's not about the soundstage.

 

[ergre]

It's not about the soundstage.

I thought it had a response as if the sound came from 30 degrees in the front of the dummy head instead of diffuse like Harman. What part did I not understand?

 

[beeface]

Respectfully: more like, Smell

 

[beeface]

Following Corsair's acquisition of Drop, the remaining OAE1 are being sold on Amazon for $68. Meanwhile, Grell is now selling the OAE2 and there are reviews online.

are you aware of anything else going at a clearance rate? perhaps, something good?

 

[Power Pop 23]

are you aware of anything else going at a clearance rate? perhaps, something good?

I have no experience with a 3rd party vendor at Amazon selling used samples - called 'like new' - of the Drop X Sennheiser HD58x Jubilee headphone for $125.90. They sell other gear from Corsair.

Amazon.com: Sennheiser Massdrop x HD58X : Electronics

Buy Sennheiser Massdrop x HD58X: Over-Ear Headphones - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

MASSDROP Sennheiser HD58X JUBILEE Review (Headphone)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the MASSDROP Sennheiser HD58X JUBILEE. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $170 from drop.com. Other than not being able to see through the grill and observe the drivers, the HD58X looks quite similar to Sennheiser HD650: The large...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Zekbone]

Taking into account the inherent bass shelf that doesnt need boosting, is that not the lowest bass distortion for an open back dynamic yet? Shame about the treble.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Axel Grell’s days at Sennheiser made him a legend. What the heck happened?

Voted “poor.”

 

[Maiky76]

Here are some thoughts about the EQ.
Please report your findings, positive or negative!

Notes about the EQ design:

• The average L/R is used to calculate the score.
• The resolution is 12 points per octave interpolated from the raw data (provided by @amirm)
• A Genetic Algorithm is used to optimize the EQ.
• The EQ Score is designed to MAXIMIZE the Score WHILE fitting the Harman target curve (and other constraints) with a fixed complexity.
  This will avoid weird results if one only optimizes for the Score, start your journey here or there.
  There is a presentation by S. Olive here.
  It will probably flatten the Error regression doing so, the tonal balance should be therefore more neutral.
• The EQs are starting point and may require tuning (certainly at LF and maybe at HF).
• The range around and above 10kHz is usually not EQed unless smooth enough to do so.
• I am using PEQ (PK) as from my experience the definition is more consistent across different DSP/platform implementations than shelves.
• With some HP/amp combo, the boosts and preamp gain (loss of Dynamic range) need to be carefully considered to avoid issues with, amongst other things, too low a Max SPL or damaging your device. You have beed warned.
• Not all units of the same product are made equal. The EQ is based on the measurements of a single unit. YMMV with regard to the very unit you are trying this EQ on.
• I sometimes use variations of the Harman curve for some reasons. See rational here and here
• NOTE: the score then calculated is not comparable to the scores derived from the default Harman target curve if not otherwise noted.

I have generated one EQ, the APO config file is attached.

Score no EQ: 24.3
Score with EQ: 75.3

Drop+Grell EQ Flat 96000Hz
May012026-115245

Preamp: -5 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 166.0 Hz Gain -4.81 dB Q 0.36
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 686.8 Hz Gain 2.88 dB Q 1.42
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 1498.1 Hz Gain 3.33 dB Q 1.42
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 2267.9 Hz Gain 1.08 dB Q 4.23
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 3069.3 Hz Gain -1.21 dB Q 4.24
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 4498.5 Hz Gain -8.75 dB Q 3.43
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 6531.0 Hz Gain 5.94 dB Q 1.18

 

[Joe Smith]

Junk. Just junk.

 

[solderdude]

Or ... just a different approach.
Well ... an approach already tried and abandoned before, (AKG K1000 & Stax SR Sigma)

The extreme angle thing is not a weird thought. Merely angling drivers close to the ear and not using the complete HRTF is also just a partial 'solution' to emulate speakers in front of you.
I reckon in order for this to 'work' at least crossfeed is obligatory IMO as that happens in real life with speakers.
Even with that implemented the reflections in a room are not simulated which the brain uses to determine where sounds come from.

The fact that some people like them tells me there is a market for it and seems to 'work' for some.
But just with any other headphone out there, there are people loving it, hating it or anything in between.

 

[thewas]

OEA2 seems to measure significantly better:

Source and more: https://www.soundguys.com/grell-oae2-review-155530/

 

[Jeromeof]

I have this headphone and for certain genres of music thought the frequency response works very well, specifically live recordings or music like Americana that is often mastered to sound like it is played in a concert hall.

But it still has too much bass, but IMO just using EQ in the bass region preserves (at least for me) the spatial soundstage effect that Axel was also trying to achieve. But I do think that treble peak will probably need 'personalized' EQ to a given users HRTF but is probably the main reason some users get that spatial effect while other users it just sound wrong.

But my opinion around headphones is, if you just want a single headphone, get one that is Neutral / Harman (and this would not be the one to get even with EQ) but if you want a small collection of headphones with 'interesting' tunings this is an amazing bargain - especially at that Amazon sale price.

 

[ergre]

Or ... just a different approach.
Well ... an approach already tried and abandoned before, (AKG K1000 & Stax SR Sigma)

The extreme angle thing is not a weird thought. Merely angling drivers close to the ear and not using the complete HRTF is also just a partial 'solution' to emulate speakers in front of you.
I reckon in order for this to 'work' at least crossfeed is obligatory IMO as that happens in real life with speakers.
Even with that implemented the reflections in a room are not simulated which the brain uses to determine where sounds come from.

The fact that some people like them tells me there is a market for it and seems to 'work' for some.
But just with any other headphone out there, there are people loving it, hating it or anything in between.

Yes and we have dsp to do that kind go thing now. AirPods pros even estimate your HRTF by using its depth camera to improve the effect. It is an aproach that is maybe not from this time anymore.

 

[Robbo99999]

Standard component values set the filter at 4.95kHz.
When they would have chosen the nearest (easily available) value 560uH and 2.2uF it would have been at 4.5kHz.
When they would have chosen the nearest (easily available) value 470uH and 3.3uF it would have been at 4kHz.

The 5kHz peak would not have been pleasant to listen to.

Well the peak according to GRAS is at 4.5kHz and not 5kHz though. We can kind of see that because a Q2 filter at 5kHz of your -7.5dB determination has quite a wide effect would have brought down 4.5kHz more if the peak had really been at 5kHz - so we can see that at least according to GRAS the peak was always at 4.5kHz and not 5kHz, therefore either they used a different measurement system to determine where peaks are or they just decided they didn't want to reduce energy below 4.5kHz if they could help it. For sure though according to GRAS we can see that the unfiltered headphone would have the biggest peak before passive filter at 4.5kHz and not 5kHz.

 

[solderdude]

Here's an interesting plot made by @ishcabible (SBAF) that removed the thick piece of felt in front of the driver.

Grell OAE-1 - Theory Versus Application

I love when people implement novel ideas in headphones. In a market where so many headphones are different shades of the same general target, doing something weird, even if it ends up sounding bad, is at least usually compelling in some way. However, while novelty appeals to me, that doesn't

den-fi.com

Lo and behold driver peaks at 5kHz and assume the -7.5dB filter was not bypassed so this is with the filter.
The filter attenuates 4.5kHz by -6dB b.t.w.
It seems as if the filter was designed before the felt was taped on the driver.
One can easy spot the efficiency of the felt for frequencies > 10kHz which is what the felt seems to be for. It also seems to affect frequencies above 4kHz a bit more than desirable and seems to have lowered the resonance frequency of the driver from 5kHz to 4.5kHz. Most likely the filter was designed before the felt was put on the driver and found the attenuation with the felt was good enough.

Should one want to tune the filter to 4.5kHz put a 330nF cap in parallel to the 2.2uF and you'll shave off another 1.5dB at 4.5kHz which still isn't 'enough'.
Both 4.5kHz and 5kHz fall within one ERB so might not even be an audible improvement.

 

[PBSequence]

Or ... just a different approach.
Well ... an approach already tried and abandoned before, (AKG K1000 & Stax SR Sigma)

The extreme angle thing is not a weird thought. Merely angling drivers close to the ear and not using the complete HRTF is also just a partial 'solution' to emulate speakers in front of you.
I reckon in order for this to 'work' at least crossfeed is obligatory IMO as that happens in real life with speakers.
Even with that implemented the reflections in a room are not simulated which the brain uses to determine where sounds come from.

The fact that some people like them tells me there is a market for it and seems to 'work' for some.
But just with any other headphone out there, there are people loving it, hating it or anything in between.

I think it’s important to experiment and try new approaches.

That said, I own a K1000 and I’d take it over the OAE1 every single time. Apart from the lack of bass it actually sounds ok and the soundstage is unlike any other headphones out there.

 

[PenguinMusic]

I get it
Currently, there’s a demo tour of the OAE2 on Head-Fi that I’m participating in.
I hope to get a pair soon. I’ll post a review on Head-Fi, along with some measurements (iec711 clone with kb5001 clone) comparing the OAE1 and OAE2.

It seems like the OAE2 tuning is more agreeable

Hi,

Yes, you will get it
As soon as I get it myself (should be tomorrow) and then I will keep it and send it next Monday.
I must say that I am impressed to have been chosen to test/review the headphone despite the fact I wrote I did not like the first iteration on HeadFi !

For now I am listening to the first version to try to find out the differences between both headphones...
What I think about those headphones is following.

First thing, the position on your head and thus the position of the drivers makes a really massive difference. For me, I had them a little too "high" on the ear ; lowering them made a really massive difference : more bass not in quantity but in what you "feel"...

Second thing is I think those headphones are somewhat special in their approach and so you're approch should also be somewhat different.
Listen to them. Do not try to analyse the sound. Enjoy the music.
Do you like it ? They're good for you despite what the measures say...
Me, I have to determine if I like them or not (compared to nice competitors).

Regards.

 

[mSpot]

I own a K1000 and I’d take it over the OAE1 every single time. Apart from the lack of bass it actually sounds ok and the soundstage is unlike any other headphones out there.

A number of "ear speaker" style headphones have come and gone over the years, including AKG K1000, MySphere, RAAL Requisite SR1a, Jecklin Float and perhaps others. I don't know of anything currently in production, but Apos Audio is working on a K1000 clone.

Apos x Community K1K Earspeakers

The Apos x Community K1K Earspeakers are a community-driven recreation of the legendary AKG K1000. Stay up to date on this release by signing up for updates.

apos.audio

Edit: Early production AKG K1000 (first 5000 or so) have stronger bass and became known as the "bass heavy" version of K1000. Apos is aiming to produce the bass heavy version.