Drop + THX Panda Review (headphone)

[danweast]

I feared this would be the case- just for the avoidance of doubt though, this is with them wired but presumably active, so the THX amp modules are driving them?

Is there an option to use them passive at all?

This is them passive, so a 3.5mm cable plugged in. But passive is the instance where the channel balance issues occur. That's the big audiophile selling point of these, and it got screwed up.

 

[PeteL]

I feared this would be the case- just for the avoidance of doubt though, this is with them wired but presumably active, so the THX amp modules are driving them?

Is there an option to use them passive at all?

A 28 ohms input impedance would be odd for an amplified design.

 

[elliott]

I think you answered your own question- it was indeed just hype.

So it looks to me like if you want wireless headphones, go Bose QCor go home (based on reviews on here to date)

I don't feel so bad. I paid 200usd and at that price, they just went to the woodshop where headphones eventually go to die, but the sound isolation is good enough to use to muffle some power tools.

I really hope I don't have to go Bose just for some good sounding BT cans. I'm old enough to have some bad memories of that brand.

 

[Jimbob54]

This is them passive, so a 3.5mm cable plugged in. But passive is the instance where the channel balance issues occur. That's the big audiophile selling point of these, and it got screwed up.

Ah right- yes, just looked it up- cant feed the internal amps a line level signal, it switches off the amps with the 3.5mm connected. Think someone already pointed out that there is a software update with DSP for the wireless mode- one can only hope that applies something like the right EQ to drag these back to normality.

Poor showing regardless.

 

[Jimbob54]

A 28 ohms input impedance would be odd for an amplified design.

Yup- just looked up the details on how it operates wired vs wireless

 

[Schackmannen]

I have a pair of these and I honestly like them a lot. Previously I used a pair of Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC, but the biggest problem with them (and most wireless headphones I assume) is that they simply couldn't play loud enough. And I don't mean unable to play loud enough to cause hearing damage, but unable play louder than normal conversation level if you're listening to songs that were made before the loudness war. With these headphones I haven't gotten close to maxing out the volume no matter what I play. Another thing I find great about these is that they have great sound isolation without the use of ANC, although it's very seal dependent as I notice a large drop in isolation when I'm wearing my glasses, which might explain the difficulty in measuring them. Also you can now use the app SoundID for EQ, although as far as I can tell you can't make your own profile. Instead you can do an A/B test with different kinds of music where the app makes changes to the sound that you vote on before coming up with a final correction. In my case it boosted the bass and the highs which made a big improvement.

 

[Nango]

I have to just ask....

What does "Drop" mean, is this a brand, a company or what..???

It's another word for today's opportunism.

 

[Vini darko]

Another hype train derailed and sent to the scrap heep

 

[Anmol]

additionally i found that at one point topping L30 being sold on drop at even further discounted price was post Amir review + subsequent issues concerning electrical safety - most of that drop stock at that time was with serial numbers claimed to be affected by electrical safety issues. while drop was willing to refund when questioned on safety aspects with reference to this forum postings - the intent of making a quick buck regardless of buyer safety was concerning and lacking moral bearings. may be i am asking for too much... it was discounted so what if it shocks someone or blows a ear or two... or not.

 

[dorirod]

Wow, they really had a good hype going with this set. Congrats to whomever orchestrated that "marketing" campaign. Even had me thinking about it for a while. Good thing I've long stopped buying from [Mass)Drop.

 

[AdamG]

OK enough off topic talk. Back on topic. No more discussion about Drop in this thread please.

As a reminder this thread is a detailed review of the Drop + THX Panda Review (headphone).

 

[antdroid]

This unit was pretty hard for me to measure consistently too but it also seemed I had channel imbalance as well. Gray lines are various Right ch measurements and blue lines are various Left ch measurements.

The Panda was one of those headphones I had high hopes for but it sounded pretty bad in my opinion. This one sounded rather low-quality to me, which is surprising since it is a planar. This may be due to mid bass hump and extra treble energy. Not a fan of the headband either. It was one of the more uncomfortable headphones to wear.

I didn't like it with EQing to my preference target either. Drop and Sonarworks did release an EQ profile for it recently, but I didn't get to try it before I sent the Drop loaner off to another person.

 

[AdamG]

Understandable, but company ethics contribute heavily to one's decision to purchase a product.
The topic should be respected but it's not a negligible point. Nonetheless sure, let's stay objective.

I think you understood the spirit of the message. You are more than welcome to open a new thread to discuss Drop till you drop!

 

[Jason]

About the SoundID app: As described above it takes you through a series of sound tests to establish PEQ settings. It then allows you to adjust the resulting PEQ curve by adding more points or updating the existing ones. I was able to make these sound pretty good by using the automatically generated curve, adding some more bass and countering the 1-2khz dip similar to Amir. This resulted in a very decent sound for me. Note the user interface in the SoundID app is not user friendly at all...

As bluetooth headphones they can sound pretty good but the biggest issue is the dependence on the seal when worn. I find the passive isolation fails horribly when used on public transport. The background noise leaks in and kills any bass that is normally present in a quiet room. In this regard I vastly prefer ANC.

Note the headphones also work as USB / DAC device when connected to a PC via the USB-C connector. In this scenario they use the internal THX amps as per bluetooth.

Also, I find these very comfortable so that bit is pretty subjective.

 

[Helicopter]

Thanks again for reviewing the superior Bose QC 35 ii Amir. I considered the Drop THX Panda when I was shopping for travel headphones but, because of the review, went with Bose instead. And of course I had to get the Focal Celestee too because they look cool... and I had to get the other Bose NC 700 because my wife wants headphones and thought they were prettier (probably just too feminine for me to borrow really) than QC 35 ii.

I dodged a bullet on this Panda. I wonder why Drop didn't just get Panda right. Did they fail to execute on their goals, or did they set the wrong goals?

 

[AndreaT]

Another Lemon (and an expensive one) unmasked. Thank you Amir

 

[elliott]

I don't know about a lemon. I think there are probably people out there that don't like ANC (I will say they isolate very well), don't want any branding on their gear, want USB-C charging, want that little mic boom. Like I said in a previous post I got them way below retail and for a woodshop set of cans with loud tools their not bad. I wouldn't pay anywhere near retail and will probably sell them, but there are more expensive cans out there that probably sound worse and cost more.

 

[Helicopter]

I don't know about a lemon. I think there are probably people out there that don't like ANC (I will say they isolate very well), don't want any branding on their gear, want USB-C charging, want that little mic boom. Like I said in a previous post I got them way below retail and for a woodshop set of cans with loud tools their not bad. I wouldn't pay anywhere near retail and will probably sell them, but there are more expensive cans out there that probably sound worse and cost more.

Oh yeah, you can definitely do worse.

 

[markanini]

It's based on the very well tuned Oppo PM3. I've seen multiple users report that this new model is a regression in sound quality and Amirs measurements confirm it.

 

[GWolfman]

Thanks for the review!

i was thinking to buy this headphone a few months ago due to hype on how good these sound, since it is online shop and cant get a listen, decided against it. dodged a few hundred loss. thanks Amir.

You're not alone. Glad I had enough sense to tame the trigger finger (and not just once).