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Drop formerly known as MassDrop is a company that finds really cool stuff, usually audiophile gear that it gets from audiophile gear manufacturers, but they commission changes, many of them subtle, but that can really make a massive difference.
Well, for my birthday, my wife got me the Drop 177x Go headphones. They are the equivalent of the Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pros. Well, the changes apparently make all the difference because whereas the Beyers are VERY V shaped in their sound to the point of being uncomfortable, these Drop changes make all the difference.
Several super well respected headphone audiophile expert reviewers said that UNEQUIVOCALLY, these Drop 177x Go headphones are the best all around headphones under $500 and best many headphones several times the price.
Well, I got ’em.
Edit: forgot something
What do they feel like?
Well, They came with the big leather ear cups installed and came with a thinner version in the box. I kept the bigger one on as that’s how I’ll be listening to them.
Head clamp. Really nice. When you open them initially, it seems to have a stronger pull than a compound bow, making one wonder if one’s about to put one’s head in a vice. No worries because the head clamp is very modest. I have daily migraines, so I’m SUPER sensitive to too much pressure on the head or ears and have had no issues. The memory foam in the headband is a little stiff and will take a little time to adjust to (the replacement band for my DT 770s is super soft and I may replace this band… I dunno. It’s fine)
I also purchased some Brainwavz replacement earpads. I have the perforated leather on and wow. They aren’t as much of a sound seal as the supplied leather, but they’re softer and they really, REALLY change the sound signature. They make these cans sound slightly more open and that subtle change is just amazing. WORTH the money. A slight pain to replace as I was being SUPER careful, but now that I know how to do it, it’ll be easy to make changes in the future. I also purchased the microsuede gaming pads with cooling gel. I’ll try them later and give an update if I get a chance to game for a longer time, but so far, these perforated pads are just… /sigh… so nice.
What do they sound like?
Well, they’re closed cans, so they have excellent sound isolation. The sound field is REMARKABLY open for a closed can. An open backed headphone doesn’t have a solid back and while that lets sound out, it also creates that “open” sound field that seems more natural. Closed backs tend to give a more focused sound field. To each their own. I prefer closed as it blocks outside sounds and lets me focus.
But here’s the caveat: Much like any Legacy Audio speakers… if you have badly engineered or old, low bitrate songs, they’ll sound even worse. It can be disheartening to find a favorite song that sounds like it’s on AM or mediocre FM because of the limits of the engineering of the song or if the song was poorly encoded.
The upside is that if something is engineered well and encoded well… HOLY SHIT!!!
So, what did I listen to once I got them out of the box?
1) Moonlight in Vermont, Mel Tormé
A well engineered track, this standard is buttery smooth and the high tenderness of Mel’s voice is soft, subtle and vulnerable. No harshness with all of the subtle cues that truly distinguish him as a Standards star… I can tell that the album I curated, Lush Life is gonna be amazing to listen to.
2) Cult of Personality, Living Colour
The 32 ohm resistance of these cans (as opposed to the 80 ohm resistance of my DT 770 Pros) mean they drive easier… and that means louder. I couldn’t with my computer and no headphone amp drive my DT 770s to be too loud. Not so with this cans!!! I was able to blast my brains out and still have like 20% left on the volume bar. The guitar is tight, the drums as percussive as hell and everything seems right there. The voice overlays of Malcolm X, Ronald Reagan and all the others becomes almost like an ethereal overlay creating a wonderful juxtaposition with the driving guitar. There’s a reason this is one of my favorite songs and only more so with these headphones.
3) Sweet Love, Anita Baker
I do love Anita, but I need a better source. Her voice is wonderful with these headphones, but the overall engineering is off enough to be distracting. The headphones showed the limits of engineering for digital when this album was released. Maybe there’s a remaster I can grab…
4) If I Had You, Judy Garland, Lyn Murray & The Merry Macs
I dunno if there’s a single voice that evokes more emotion for me than Judy Garland and this song is a wonderful illustration of that. Unfortunately, even from the Complete Decca Masters, this remaster plays like something recorded in the 40s. My stuff from the 40s is probably gonna be the hardest hit by the accuracy of these cans and that’s definitely the case with this amazing song.
5) Everybody Loves Somebody, Dean Martin “Late at Night with Dean Martin”
He recorded like a zillion arrangements of his signature song, but THIS version is the late night, smoke filled basement club version that is just…smooth like sippin’ whiskey. The arrangement is fantastic, the engineering even more so and these headphones make me think that Dean Martin’s voice alone on this track could separate a good number of people from their undergarments…
6) Eleanor Rigby, Stanley Jordan
HOLY SHIT!!! i feel like he’s playing right in front of me. I can hear every finger tap and the cues you normally need to be live or have $30k speakers to hear. If I want to show someone the difference in headphones, this will be one of the tracks I’ll use.
7) Tennessee Whiskey, Chris Stapleton
Oooooooh….man. Sounds like I’m right in the studio. What more can be said? This will be another audition piece for sure.
8) More Bounce to the Ounce, Zapp
I dunno if there’s a better funk song bass line and for such an electronic bass line, it doesn’t sound too closed off (lots of electronic music can sound really contained). At lower volumes it sounds a little claustrophobic, but turn up the volume and that’s all these cans need to let the bass breathe and just boom. Nothing muddy, which for electronic funk is a huge ask.
9) Burn MF, Five Finger Death Punch “The Wrong Side of Heaven and The Righteous Side of Hell”
Wow… Okay… I have no idea what the hell was going on with the engineering of this ablum, because Watch You Bleed sounds like absolute dogshit. But Burn MF sounds like 100% better. I did it to give some metal a listen and I’ll have to find better stuff (I don’t have any, this just showed up on my iTunes as my son bought it). Another metal review will be below, but yeah. Burn MF has the instruments well placed, the power cords aren’t all muddy and the kick drum is ringing my bell… as it should.
10) Girls, Girls, Girls, Motley Crue
Okay… hair band metal and again, felt like I was in the studio. If metal was my jam, I’d be thrilled.
11) Higher Ground, Stevie Wonder
Wow… if you’ve never really listened to this on a nice setup, you don’t realize how much sonically is happening with this song… the constant reverb left to right and the well separated instruments… the tambourine only in the left ear… just mind-blowing. The synth can sound a little dated, but I’ve heard that synth in person and it sounds just like this even in person so yeah… freaking amazing.
12) Lay Me Down, Sam Smith
WOW, WOW, WOW… felt like he was in the room with me and I could hear the inside of the piano (I recognize the cues from having been a classical vocal soloist in high school). An unusually well engineered and layered pop song.
13) Writing’s On the Wall, Sam Smith
The big brass for this James Bond song just wails… the orchestration comes through as a well engineered classical piece… basically the engineers should be proud of this one and these cans capture it all… magnificently done.
Lastly,
14) Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68 “Pastorale” 1st movement. Herbert Von Karajan, Conducting the Berlin PhilharmonicThis is my favorite piece of classical music and damn… Von Karajan (for all the negatives about him) was truly a master of Beethoven and his masterwork recording of all 9 Beethoven Symphonies are simply the best. And honestly… his Symphony No 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 I. Allegro con brio is just so amazing that it’s another clear audition piece. Normally, in big symphonies, whenever the timpani drums come crashing in, everything becomes muddled. NOT SO. Big sounds from symphonies can be harder to juggle than full grown elephants, but these cans do it. The digital limitations don’t quite get this to live, but this is also a pretty old recording… amazingly well engineered, but slightly limited. Still, to hear better, you’ll need at LEAST 5 figures for a stereo speaker set up. AT LEAST…
These are exactly as the reviewers say they are… great for ANY kind of listening, from audiophile monitors to gaming, movies and YouTube. It may seem strange to pay nearly $500 for headphones, but once you hear them, you’ll realize that they’re worth every penny and then some. And the next time you hear some speakers worth several thousand dollars, you’ll snicker because… you have WAY better for much less… and it can even be used by a PHONE… yep, the 32 ohm resistance means that even phones can drive them and pretty decently.
Anyway, one of the best birthday presents ever and if they last as long as my DT 770s, I’ll have them for at least 15 years… which again… is pretty amazing!
If you have any questions about them or wonder how they handle any kind of music or artist or even a specific recording (if it’s on spotify or iTunes, I can probably listen to it), lemme know. I love finding out about new music or even discovering older music I missed.
Sorry for the long post. Just had to share. With 2020 sucking as badly as it has, I figure anyone with any good news oughta share it…
Keep Calm and RAM ON!!!
Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.
I dunno if there’s a single voice that evokes more emotion for me than Judy Garland
I have one of those. Eva Cassidy’s rendition of Sting’s “Fields of Gold”. She was a relative unknown American singer who sang mostly in N.Y clubs. Sting himself said her singing that song was more powerful and better than his version. What is particularly moving is the fact that when she recorded the song she knew she was dying of cancer. The perfect song given the circumstances. I cannot get through it without breaking down.
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