Drop + Sennheiser HD 8XX

In conclusion, I think the 8XX can only be the poor man's 800S. It is by itself not a bad headphone, but given the high expectation of the Sennheiser brand and the success of the previous 6XX collaboration, the comparison is fair. Though I've never listened to the 800S, all my instincts say that Drop has done it a disservice. I understand the anticipation and the hype that the product had as I was there from the announcement.

After looking at the Drop HD8xx for awhile, I was drunk enough and my wife was out of town so I convinced myself to order a pair. I was coming from the Phillips Fidelio x3 through a SoundBlaster AE-9, and was really looking for an endgame type setup.

I got the 8xx from Drop and Hifiman Ananda in the mail a few days ago. To say I was let down with the 8xx would be an understatement. For 1200 bucks. I was expecting more.

It's not often that new products in the high end are developed due to the r&d costs to volume of sales (possibly why Sennheiser finds themselves considering shedding this business area). So getting to the meat here, I'm not a drop fan. In fact, I loved my HD6XX so much I eventually swapped to the HD650 just to be 'legit'. So why would I pay up for a premium experiment like the HD8XX?

Case in point- the Senn/Drop HD-8XX is pretty unusable to me *until* I EQ’d, and now they are one of my favorites, especially for the price. Ultimately- the only ears that should matter to someone are their own, unless they aren’t in it for the music but for equipment-philia or bragging rights.