Drop + Grell OAE1 Headphone Review

[InfiniteJester]

They always looked like a worse version of the Aune AR5000 to me.

If you want angled drivers, just go for that.

They are much more successful in what they try to achieve.

Aune AR5000 Headphone Review

This is the review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the Aune AR5000 open back headphone. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $299. The AR5000 is incredibly nice looking. Modern yet stylistic. What's more, even though it is made out of metal, it is extremely light. So...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[dumbsuck]

View attachment 529274
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.

Be aware that at this time, when I open "https://den-fi.com/grell-oae-1-review/", it seems that a malicious malware downloader disguised as captcha seems to have been injected into the website.

 

[Bob101]

I think there's much worse for the price, but I am not a headphone man. My default is a sennheiser 650...

 

[dumbsuck]

I always thought these have very strange high midrange / low treble region (around 4-6 KHz). Kinda "overdampened" and thus unnatural sounding. So I removed the "thick piece of felt in front of the driver" few days ago completely and did not replace it with anything. Now the OAE1 sound a lot better to me. Yes, upper treble is quite hot now, but it is, in my opinion worth it, because everything below 10 KHz sounds WAY more natural now. Unfortunately, I am not getting any "in front of me" kind of magic out of these. Never did. Now they sound like ~200 Euro V-shaped headphones. Or maybe more like W-shaped, because upper midrange sounds like it has a slight boost too. Not bad, but nothing special.

 

[a13482214704]

Well, today this pair is $40 on Woot. I bought one , just to try, doesn’t matter if it suck. A large two topping pizza + appetizer delivered home costs more than that……..

 

[glssjg]

Occasionally you can pick it up for 39.99 on woot like I just did today

 

[Kremmen]

I'm in the UK and Woot doesn't deliver to the UK but I grabbed a new pair directly from Amazon for $57 yesterday (back up to $67 today) with free returns. Worth a punt to experiment with and I have plenty more headphones in my large collection so these could be an interesting addition, or I'll send them back. I'm happy to tinker with EQ too and I listen at lowish levels.

Thanks once again to Amir for his review and everyone that contributed the more useful comments here on this headphone.

 

[Ishca]

Be aware that at this time, when I open "https://den-fi.com/grell-oae-1-review/", it seems that a malicious malware downloader disguised as captcha seems to have been injected into the website.

Thank you for the heads up, this was caught and fixed!

I’ve had some people ask me if they should buy these at $40 and honestly even if you can EQ them to sound passable you unfortunately can’t EQ comfort and the driver pressing right on my temple is such a joy killer.

 

[Kremmen]

Thank you for the heads up, this was caught and fixed!

I’ve had some people ask me if they should buy these at $40 and honestly even if you can EQ them to sound passable you unfortunately can’t EQ comfort and the driver pressing right on my temple is such a joy killer.

I guess that means The Mekon would also have comfort issues with the Grells. A pity!

 

[Mrcrunch08]

I'm not sure why but this seems to work for me - yes they are bassy and a bit dark, but not as one might think.
Currently listening signature version - according to my listening tests signature version seems to have selected drivers as distortion seems to be lower.
I mean I can get them to distort but at much higher levels than the regular version - which I also own.

As for the tuning, Axel aimed for very different approach.

And as for passive components, yes it has it:
Photo from https://den-fi.com/grell-oae-1-review/
View attachment 528828


ps. I like them so much that I own 3 pairs - just for a spare. They are not perfect but somehow I like them and use it as my daily driver.
as for FR it's not by mistake, the choice was made on purpose nothing is by accident.
Open question is if it works or not, for me yes.
View attachment 528829

I have a similar experience as you as far as enjoying them but finding variation. I bought 3 for myself and also got my kids a pair each when drop started selling them for under $80. One of the three sound substantially better than the other two with a much cleaner separated sound while one is substantially worse than the others. That bad pair has the same, almost popping sound, that the old faulty driver focals had. It also only happened on the right driver. It required being played above a safe listening level and only happened with frequencies below 40hz but all three perform differently. I didn't get to hear the ones I got for my kids so I don't know how they are but I have never heard such variation in such a small sample size. There's such a huge gap in detail and audible distortion between the best pair and the worst that it makes me wonder how widespread the issue is/was. The good pair was the first pair I got and it had me questioning all the reviews claiming the oae1 lacked detail but that bad pair fits perfectly with those reviews. I really hope the oae2 doesn't have that issue given the price.

 

[Kremmen]

My Drop + Grell OAE1 headphones arrived today and after testing for a rather uncomfortable couple of hours, both the poor comfort and disappointing sound quality sealed their fate. Worth a punt at $57 plus VAT and postage to the UK though but I won't miss them at all once they're on their way back to Amazon in the US.

 

[Power Pop 23]

Available again at Woot! for $39.99

https://electronics.woot.com/offers/drop-grell-oae1-wired-open-back-headphones?

 

[yofi]

Just ordered.

For $40? On a three-pay month?

I've read the reviews of these for a while and have always wanted to try them. I have a small stable of strange and "bad" headphones and just think they're neat and fun to have. So for $40, the Grell's are finally a no-brainer for me.

Yes, please judge me.

 

[Kremmen]

Just ordered.

For $40? On a three-pay month?

I've read the reviews of these for a while and have always wanted to try them. I have a small stable of strange and "bad" headphones and just think they're neat and fun to have. So for $40, the Grell's are finally a no-brainer for me.

Yes, please judge me.

I can understand the appeal and your sentiments were mine too. Were it not for them being too tight and the itchy ear pads not extending far enough down my head to more comfortably settle around my ears, I'd have probably kept them if they were only $40, purely to experiment with and EQ etc. They are very well made too.

But for $73 in total (with UK VAT and postage) they were simply far too expensive for what was on offer. I've bought £20 headphones that sound better out of the box and if necessary, EQ'd.

I hope you enjoy them though. If you like the way they sound and fit, you'll have got a very good deal.

 

[yofi]

I can understand the appeal and your sentiments were mine too. Were it not for them being too tight and the itchy ear pads not extending far enough down my head to more comfortably settle around my ears, I'd have probably kept them if they were only $40, purely to experiment with and EQ etc. They are very well made too.

But for $73 in total (with UK VAT and postage) they were simply far too expensive for what was on offer. I've bought £20 headphones that sound better out of the box and if necessary, EQ'd.

I hope you enjoy them though.

I'm sorry to hear that. I definitely understand where you're coming from when you're paying almost double!

 

[CedarX]

I have a small stable of strange and "bad" headphones and just think they're neat and fun to have.

I do to! There is always something good to learn about bad headphones: what makes them bad, or worse; what were they trying to do and scr*#}% up so badly…???
If it’s not too much money, it’s a good “reference” to have.

 

[Selkirks]

I have a small stable of strange and "bad" headphones and just think they're neat and fun to have.

The Sundara closed back is in my collection for the same reason. I love that flawed headphone.

 

[tunwen]

Spent a few hours with the OAE2. It is the most recording-dependent headphone I have encountered.

On well-recorded (and well-mixed) symphony, live and acoustic material, the soundstage is wide and natural with neutral and precise imaging, vivid dynamics, and no in-head localization effect. In this scenario, it sounds more natural than HD800s and HD490Pro to me.

On heavily processed mixes with synthetic reverb and artificial layering (e.g. Yuki Kajiura's music), vocals recede and everything bleeds into a distant, muddy wall. Imagine stepping out to the restroom at a bar and hearing the band play from the hallway.

Your mileage will vary entirely with your music library.

 

[frogmeat69]

$43 spent, and these OEA1 phones are.... weird, lol. Can't complain since they weren't that expensive, gonna have to try some live recordings like some peeps have mentioned, see how that goes.

 

[DomDOMT]

Spent a few hours with the OAE2. It is the most recording-dependent headphone I have encountered.

On well-recorded (and well-mixed) symphony, live and acoustic material, the soundstage is wide and natural with neutral and precise imaging, vivid dynamics, and no in-head localization effect. In this scenario, it sounds more natural than HD800s and HD490Pro to me.

On heavily processed mixes with synthetic reverb and artificial layering (e.g. Yuki Kajiura's music), vocals recede and everything bleeds into a distant, muddy wall. Imagine stepping out to the restroom at a bar and hearing the band play from the hallway.

Your mileage will vary entirely with your music library.

View attachment 534948View attachment 534949

Personally tried both OAE1 and OAE2. As I still believe on angled driver concept, I jokingly said "OAE1 is for the dumbs who turn against the concept quickly and OAE2 is for enthusiasts who believes them wholely blindly with no questions even raised.” At least OAE2 kept OAE1's character with better fidelity.