[InfiniteJester]

I'm pretty sure Grell & Co know how to design a headphone. It's unlikely it will please everyone, as always.

For me, at least, some nice bass is important.

Not strictly what you are talking about, but didn't they make a terrible TWS IEM recently?

https://drop.com/buy/drop-grell-tws-iem#signupv2

Maybe this should temper our expectations.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Not strictly what you are talking about, but didn't they make a terrible TWS IEM recently?

https://drop.com/buy/drop-grell-tws-iem#signupv2

Maybe this should temper our expectations.

I read very favourable reviews of the TWS IEM as well.

These aren't aimed at high end audiophiles, they are aimed for the Masses to make money.
Grell Audio isn't Sennheiser with deep pockets. They need an affordable money generating piece first.

Like the Meze 99 classics, which many audiophiles would also rate as "terrible " since it doesn't have the audiophile tuning

 

[RenoGu]

I read very favourable reviews of the TWS IEM as well.

These aren't aimed at high end audiophiles, they are aimed for the Masses to make money.
Grell Audio isn't Sennheiser with deep pockets. They need an affordable money generating piece first.

Like the Meze 99 classics, which many audiophiles would also rate as "terrible " since it doesn't have the audiophile tuning

I agree with these. In my notes from yesterday demo I wrote down to myself “consumer type tuning”. I’m 99% sure that if I put this headphones to my wife which does not care for audiophile type stuff she will prefer those over many others. In my opinion it was not bad, absolutely not bad , it actually sounded fun, yet this might not be for everyone in this forum, however I think they will sell. Cool design with a sound profile that most mass consumer like.

 

[InfiniteJester]

I read very favourable reviews of the TWS IEM as well.

These aren't aimed at high end audiophiles, they are aimed for the Masses to make money.
Grell Audio isn't Sennheiser with deep pockets. They need an affordable money generating piece first.

Like the Meze 99 classics, which many audiophiles would also rate as "terrible " since it doesn't have the audiophile tuning

If you read the reviews, you will see that most complains are not about not having audiophile tunning. In fact, the sound is often praised.

"right earpiece drops connection"

"Difficult to fit, software extremely buggy"

"The BT-connection is very poor."

"Never worked, never paired"

"Nothing works properly on these"

"Has an issue discharging when sitting idle."

"No instructions of how to use them and no reliable interface. The sound ID app doesn't even recognize them."

You can read everything here: https://drop.com/buy/drop-grell-tws-iem/reviews#reviews

I don't know where did you read those complains about the non-audiophile tunning.

 

[Rob80b]

I'm pretty sure Grell & Co know how to design a headphone.

Those are the expectations....

It's unlikely it will please everyone, as always.

I'm quite often the outlier having liked the HD7000, IE800 and the HD820s.

These aren't aimed at high end audiophiles,

Hopefully not.

they are aimed for the Masses to make money.
Grell Audio isn't Sennheiser with deep pockets. They need an affordable money generating piece first.

Possibly.....but Grell knows his audience and like many things today pricing is not an indication of quality.

Bottom line...unless I've read into things incorrectly, the OAE1 is Axel Grell's pet project to bring something new to the table,
"The speakers of the Drop + Grell OAE1 are positioned so that their bio-cellulose diaphragm is at an angle to the ear, radiating sound waves like a sound source in front of the listener. This positioning also corresponds to the direction of sound incidence (first wavefront) of loudspeakers that are optimally positioned for stereo reproduction."
.....to get away from the traditional which gets repeated over and over from the entry level to high end headphones which are all variations of a theme.
"Most headphones have speakers positioned so that their membrane is perpendicular to an imaginary axis through both ears."

So not sure they're aimed at anyone in particular, neither the masses nor us audiofools.

 

[457139]

I heard this headphone at Can Jam yesterday. I enjoyed it.

 

[Rob80b]

I heard this headphone at Can Jam yesterday. I enjoyed it.

...any comments to share on the sound staging?

 

[Shane D]

I heard this headphone at Can Jam yesterday. I enjoyed it.

Any other comments?

 

[zilax002]

There are some positive impressions in the general CanJam thread. Several positive impressions and several people heard $500, and that it'll go up for pre-order by the end of the month. I'd take timing with a grain of salt given it's always a moving target in a lot of cases, but $500 sounds like a realistic number given the earlier $300 put out there. Easier to aim for $300 than hit it with a new product that looks well designed and hopefully isn't cutting corners in meaningful ways.

 

[457139]

...any comments to share on the sound staging?

Any other comments?

I only listened for a few minutes and it was kinda loud in the main room. What I heard sounded pretty good. That's all I can really say. Sorry guys

 

[drummerman1]

Is the phone mostly plastic?

 

[xlcans]

Thanks to everyone who visited the Drop + grell booth at CanJam NYC 2024!
It was a great show with lots of positive energy!
Especially for the Drop + grell team it was very encouraging to hear sentences like: "I have never heard music so naturally presented", "This is the best headphone for the money at the show", or even: "it sounds better than the XXXXX for 4999$" Thanks for that!
The most frequently asked questions after the test listening were: "When will it be available?" and "How much will it cost?". Unfortunately, I can't answer these questions exactly. But it will be very soon and the price will be in the 500$ range. If you don't want to miss the launch, I recommend subscribing to the OAE1 notification list at Drop.com

Enjoy the music!

Axel

 

[xlcans]

Is the phone mostly plastic?

It is metal where it make sense. (slider, yoke, grids, headband spring) and plastic (PA 88 and ABS) where it makes sense: (connecting substructure).

 

[InfiniteJester]

Thanks to everyone who visited the Drop + grell booth at CanJam NYC 2024!
It was a great show with lots of positive energy!
Especially for the Drop + grell team it was very encouraging to hear sentences like: "I have never heard music so naturally presented", "This is the best headphone for the money at the show", or even: "it sounds better than the XXXXX for 4999$" Thanks for that!
The most frequently asked questions after the test listening were: "When will it be available?" and "How much will it cost?". Unfortunately, I can't answer these questions exactly. But it will be very soon and the price will be in the 500$ range. If you don't want to miss the launch, I recommend subscribing to the OAE1 notification list at Drop.com

Enjoy the music!

Axel

200$ more than previously announced.

Hard pass.

 

[AsciiJC]

It is metal where it make sense. (slider, yoke, grids, headband spring) and plastic (PA 88 and ABS) where it makes sense: (connecting substructure).

Ngl, saying the specific plastic type used is actually cool to people like me haha! I work with a lot of plastic stuff so its nice to see.

200$ more than previously announced.

Hard pass.

Previous announcement was never official
Only an estimate