I wonder if they will finally break away from the usual rolled off bass from sennheiser
I really like sennheiser but I always find their sub bass to be very lacking so I get similar things from other brands
From his last headphone which is the Neumann NDH30 it had Subbass, but people impressions on it wasnāt too amazed by it.
There is an impression posted last month on the OAE1. But I think the guy posted is from drop, so take it with a grain of salt until it comes out which might be the end of June.
Post of someone impression on its bass:
Early impressions stageā¦ WOAH I DIDNT EXPECT IT TO HAVE THIS MUCH BASS! My first listen was plugged straight into my gaming rig as-is, and I didnāt realize I had a bass boost onā¦ but for as open-backed as this headphone is, it can really develop home-theater subwoofer like bass and subbass that might trick you into thinking you can feel it. Without the EQ, things felt more balanced across the range (a bit gentle on the treble range), with a midrange similar to the HD 650 magic plus a bit of upper mids lift to keep it from sounding dark, perhaps somewhat smoother more conservative treble to continue the HD 650 comparison (Iāll have to compare directly to see which has less treble, but so far it doesnāt feel muffled or unclear, just less loud). The sub bass extension still left an impression of warmth because itās rare for an open headphone to extend this low (reminds me of the HD 560S in this aspect, but the main bass presence seems stronger). Not only did I expect something this open to be bass-lite, but this actually has better sub bass extension than the HD 650 too! Overall I think this is very intentionally tuned to be a fun headphone!
Source:
(AXEL GRELL HEADPHONE | Page 24 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org)
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A friend tested the prototype at canjam and said the same about the bass
Also on the headfi video they claim a 4.8 out of 5 mdaqs score for the prototype, the highest score ever
The hype will be real once it comes out but so far doesnt seem to be for me, as a treblehead and extension enjoyer
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I bet youād enjoy the Yamaha hps quite a bit!
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Thatās good to know. I more interested in the frontal drivers. His goal is to have the music played in āfrontā like a stereo system, so I wonder if he actually achieved that. I have the Mysphere 3.2 and Raal SR1a, but they donāt sound like that. At the same time, the drivers are more like angle driver where the drivers is still technically pointing to my ears where the OAE1 is just straight up in front of you.
I also have a speaker system and managed successfully got it to ādisappearā into the room where the presentation is frontal and the side walls even sound like there is speakers there. Even some songs, especially psychological, it feel like there is speakers behind as well.
I hope OAE1 is something like that in headphone form and not just another headphone.
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As in yamaha yh5000 or do they have another one thats interesting?
The speakers ive heard from yamaha are bright but dont seem to have that special fun āklipschā factor, seem to be intentionally very flat
Same; I think its different headphones for different people
Things like the adx5000 and prefazor lcd sound to me like speakers a lot in imaging but the bass is not there
I accepted in my head that speakers and headphones are supposed to sound different, and im aiming at the mysphere 3.2 for their unique presentation and as an akg fanboy
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FWIW i donāt think any headphone can do that without digital processing.
The issue is the way you determine if something is in front of has to do with how the sound bounces off the space, and if you donāt have that then how it refracts around the head.
You can add the shape of the ears into the equation, like the MySphere or K1000 or SR1-A, but it still sounds like the sound is near your head, because it is.
Itās difficult to do it convincingly with digital processing, itās actually easier to make something sound like itās behind you.
Even doing it with binaural recordings doesnāt work perfectly, because the shape of the head used to mount the microphones isnāt the same as the shape of your head.
Speakers sound that way because they are in front of you, iās not like studio recordings are micād or processed in a way to or place them in front of you.
But I could be wrong.
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I think that is very true that as long as itās near your head, it canāt really replicate exactly like a near field setup. I tried headphones, desktop speakers, and near field and headphones and desktop speakers to me was similar in presentation. But near field was a totally different presentation. I even didnāt really find my āspecialā listening spot for its amazing presentation and soundstage until I got about 7 feet away from my speakers. When I was 3 feet away from the same speakers, I was ok on the soundstage. 7 feet away is when my speakers truly started blowing me away for presentation and soundstage.
Yes sir!
I do think the yammy does this sort of presentation fairly well. Obviously itās still a HP, and one should keep expectations in check. But thatās one of the reasons I find it so damn impressive. If the mysphere are like nearfield monitors, the yammy are like loudspeakers in a room. Itās the main reason why I think they are superb compliments to each other. Even looking inside the cups they look and sound like youāre in a small room. Anyway, thatās my experience at least.
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I briefly gleaned the headfi thread on the OAE1 and saw a few people report how bright sounding they were from canjam
Is that report from the latest version?
I didnāt notice, but it looks like someone already submitted a review for the headphone at the official Drop website:
Taken on its own merits, the OAE1 is tuned for entertainment rather than analytics, and yet delivers timbre and music insight with the ease you would expect from a master craftsman. The frequency balance has forward but not extreme mid bass and upper mids, with loads of extension into the treble and sub bass range, HiFi level separation and clarity of simultaneously playing instruments. I am not able to hear a treble spike, in fact the treble is just a little āsafeā without sounding dark to me, and the upper mids donāt irritate the resonance that my ears have. The headphone is able to convincingly reproduce both intimate and expansive soundstage, often in the same song if itās well-recorded.
My first con: it was not obvious at first glance to see the tiny L & R legends, which are not bright and printed on the 2.5mm cable plug protection nubs, and I suspect it will be common to see people put the mostly symmetrical looking headphone on backwards. Looking inside the pad cavity though, itās very easy to see the extremely front-biased drivers even though theyāre covered by a black dust-and-hair shield, and the jacks are placed and angled so that the cables will drape easily on the wearerās shoulders. The OAE1 does come with a thin 3.5mm cable with a nice screw-on 6.5mm adapter and 2.5mm TRRS plugs for each earcup, and also a cloth-braided 4.4mm terminated balanced cable that, very uniquely, has a single 2.5mm TRRS tip that can plug into either earcup, with the connection to the other earcup made via a hidden cable in the headband. These configuration options are great for purists or usage at a desk with the cable routed to one preferred side. Sound Taken on its own merits, the OAE1 is tuned for entertainment rather than analytics, and yet delivers timbre and music insight with the ease you would expect from a master craftsman. The frequency balance has forward but not extreme mid bass and upper mids, with loads of extension into the treble and sub bass range, HiFi level separation and clarity of simultaneously playing instruments. I am not able to hear a treble spike, in fact the treble is just a little āsafeā without sounding dark to me, and the upper mids donāt irritate the resonance that my ears have. The headphone is able to convincingly reproduce both intimate and expansive soundstage, often in the same song if itās well-recorded. The elephant in the room is the most radical part of the OAE1 design. Whether labeled as innovation or gimmick, the extreme angle of the drivers does have an impact on the sound and is more extreme than Iāve seen on any headphone previously, unless perhaps putting a RAAL or Mysphere at their most open setting, and even then I think those drivers would be more distant from the ear than the OAE1, and have certainly not been able to produce this level of sub bass. Grell has been very careful NOT to claim his design creates āIn-Front Localization (IFL),ā but thatās an industry term specifically referring to that sense of a phantom center, like the headphones are able to recreate the center speaker of a surround system. There is a bit of modesty and careful setting of expectations thoughā¦ the angled drivers DO reflect substantially off the folds of the wearerās ear shape, folds and cups that are more unique than fingerprints, and makes full use of our bodyās physical mechanism for pulling more timbral information out of a performance, but this sense of timbre ārealismā does help increase the believability of distance and soundstage (along with careful L/R driver matching), and also makes the OAE1 an excellent candidate for adding Spatial Audio processing, which DOES achieve not just a phantom center but also a full surround experience with the right recording media.
Reading this review, I donāt think I ever used the Raal SR1a with the drivers hang just in front. I think I angle the driver towards my ears and made sure itās barely not touching. Even with that, I remember some songs and even games on the SR1a, soundstage was grand and even out of bound (like maybe a feet in front of me stage left) to my ears. I think that would be a cool test maybe next week.
I donāt hear the SR-1A or the MySphere like that.
I use the Mysphereās fully open and the SR-1A at about the same angle. Iāve said before the mySpheres present like a pair of exceptional nearfield speakers, but what I mean by that is that they have the same qualities of largely directed rather than reflected sound reaching the ear.
They still donāt really stage outside my head.
The Raals are similar but they sound like Magnaplanars used in near field, more area emitter, or line source than point source, with the speed of planar drivers.
Again still stage inside my head.
Both are extremely compelling experiences and Iām intrigued by the Grell, but they donāt image like a pair of speakers any distance in front of you. There will be no cross talk, phase shift between the incident sound etc.
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Just listening to the SR1a this morning while letting my amps warm up. I was relistening to the song āThe Lantern (Remastered 2017 / Stereo)ā by The Rolling Stones and I guess youāre right. It do still sound like itās still coming from the driver. Stage left to me seems more further away to me since stage right seems louder than stage left, but overall both still sounds like itās coming from the driver.
Youāre right, gotta keep expectations realistic. Iām also still interested in the OAE1 headphone, but I canāt go in with an expectations thatās itās going to be like a 2 channel.
I want to pick one up, but Iām still pouring all my funds in room treatment still, audio related furniture and speaker related equipments. Debating if I want to sell the Sony MA900 and replace it with the OAE1 as my new portable headphone pair with the Cayin N7 or wait next year when I hopefully feel more āsettledā in my speaker system.
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That I donāt know. I only briefly perused the head-fi thread. It was whatever iteration was provided at can jam.
Edit - as I read through more of the thread in detail, this post states they were early production versions with feedback in mind: AXEL GRELL HEADPHONE | Page 6 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
I assume the review you posted is more representative of the final version.
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I just preordered them. WTH
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Nice! Tell us what you think when you receive them.
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Will do!
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My Mysphere 3.1s are very similar to my Maggie 1.7is tonally. Not much bass impact but super resolving and very natural sounding. The Maggieās stage is huge and 3D where the 3.1 is far smaller but I do get the out of my head staging effect when I close my eyes. Iād say the 3.1s also image far better where the Maggieās are a wall of sound. I have heard the SR1A in my listening space so cannot comment on that.
Both are fun listens but I tend to enjoy 2 Channel more these days.
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Looks like PSVane is releasing a new tube series called āHorizonā. It looks like theyll have a KT120 in series as well.
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