This is the official thread for the Drop THX Panda
This thread is for discussion and reviews.
- Type: Over Ear
- Amp needed: No
- Closed Back
Hifiguides Drop Link[Reviews]
Z Reviews
DMS
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The Drop + THX Panda, a bluetooth closed back “Planar Ribbon Driver”(it’s just a planar with magnets on either side from my understanding). It’s claiming a discrete THX-AAA amp, 30 hours of battery life, LDAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX adaptive, AAC, and SBC, no DSP.
Weight: “Under 350g”
No advertised ANC
Asking price: $400
Launch date targeted at late January but not shipping until closer to summer.
Any predictions as to how this could turn out?
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Well it’s more than just a double sided magnet structure planar I assume
Pretty interesting though
From my understanding, it’s hard to pull off a closed back planar to begin with.
It is, there’s a decent amount of work that has to go into making it sound good
This is definitely going to be interesting. A bluetooth, closed back, double sided magnet structure planar, with an integrated THX-AAA amplifier in a package weighing less then 350g (.77lbs), priced about what the heavy hitters for ANC headphones are… We’ll have to see how the audio quality stacks up.
Yeah, pretty hopeful because it seems like it could be a real winner for a wireless headphone. Also glad that they decided to not have ANC as that would have been where they could muck it up big time imo
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Did somebody say THX AAA tech?!
Lol.
Regardless, these look very interesting.
for $400 they really gotta sound better then the sony’s
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or at least as good as the Audeze Mobius…
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400 is high for Bluetooth headphones, especially one without ANC…
I wonder who’s working with Drop on this. Haven’t all of their previous headphones been a partnership with someone (Sennheiser, Foster, etc?)
I wonder if they’ll try an open back variant sometime.
I get why it’s closed back…space to put all the doodads n gizmo’s and hide them from sight.
didn’t stop Grado from making the GW100 open back though. well…its more semi than anything, but still.
the gimmick or “features” of this headphone is the THX tech and 30 batterry life
not really…Audeze set the bar with their Mobius, which is $400 and no ANC. these, like the Mobius, will be appealing to a niche. those that want audiophile grade sound without the cables…like the Mobius targetted gamers and really stuck their necks out as gamers don’t buy $400 headsets. but it was a success. so much so that Kingston now has Mobius clones!
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30 hours battery life isn’t unusual for Bt headphones. it’s the norm. some even do upwards of 40 hours now.
I would actually call that a feature, as it’s the max rated battery life, typically at about 50-80% volume. The THX, I can’t say. But a long battery life, yeah, that’s great.
Provided they actually pull it off.
If I remember correctly, it’s not clones. Again, I could be mistaken, but HyperX is basically buying Mobius headsets with their own branding.
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re-branding would fit into my definition of clone…but that’s semantics. 
oof they look neat but no anc kinda kills it for me. I recently tried the Beats Solo Pro and to me they sounded pretty good, and so was the ANC. For $100 less those would work for me more, but I’m really interested in the planar tech they’re putting in these. That being said that price tag is really stretching it for me.
FWIW, there will be a “Listening Day” event at Drop HQ (in San Francisco) on the 16th:
I’ll be attending. I’m not particularly interested in BT headphones, though these do seem like they could be a cool product. I have simply been looking for an excuse to meet up with friends in the Bay Area, and fares were cheap, so I’m using the event as an excuse to do some visiting. I’ll pop back into this thread with impressions after the event.
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Too bad I’ll be back at school in Maine by then.