I think one of the biggest challenges that Drop faces with the Panda is winning over non-audiophiles who are in the market for Bluetooth headphones and who arenāt conditioned to look beyond familiar brandsāspecifically, Sony and Bose. I know that describes the vast majority of my non-audiophile friends and coworkers. Plenty of them have had zero exposure to quality audio and have blindly jumped on the Bose bandwagon because they think ANC is necessary for an office headphone. To a person theyāve expressed puzzlement at the idea that Bose Bluetooth headphones might not be the best thing on the market for audio quality.
I think Panda has the potential to be a highly disruptive product, but it needs exposure to have any significant impact. Perhaps the Indiegogo partnership will help Drop to accelerate production and avoid the type of inventory problems that plagued the 789 when it launched to sudden stardom.
It just needs to be marketed correctly to actually push it in the mainstream. I already know linus tech tips is doing a review so that should give it more public appeal, and Iām sure heās not the only one who is doing a review like this
I donāt like how much it costs as a standalone accessory, but itās easily the best protective headphone case I own. MrSpeakers (now DCA) makes a nice one, as well, that I use for Ether CX. But the Focal āpurseā is built like fine luggage. I actually wish theyād offer it in more colors. I like the special reddish one that comes with Stellia, but Iād also really like a blacked-out one for Elex and maybe a silver-button-with-black-logo for Elegia. Iāve thought about modding one of these with some RIT, but theyāre too expensive to experiment with, and the last thing I need is a cool-looking Elex case that leaves me looking like Iāve been playing with newsprint every time I handle it, lol.
Anyway, my āpurseā rides inside a messenger bag with my work laptop and other daily goods. Not hiding it, but itās one less item to fumble with on the way into the office.
I also really like the one that comes with the diana v2, itās pretty dang nice. The case for the aeon 2 is pretty portable imo. I will agree the focal cases are nice, but I donāt know if I am a fan of the styling lol
Thatās cool. Itās frustrating to me that the convenience of digital formats like MP3 have supplanted quality for so long that it sometimes seems like a lost art. With trends like ChiFi driving prices down and products like Panda pushing sound quality as a primary differentiating feature, perhaps a revolution is brewing that will bring good audio into the mainstream. One can hope.
Lossless audio is getting more and more mainstream by the day, with more lossless streaming services getting better and more artists offering lossless downloads of their content for purchases
I forgot the case that comes with the Audeze LCD-GX, which I just recently picked up. If I ever need to take a pair of open-backed planars to war, thatās the set to bring.
I kinda wish audeze had a more portable case for their headphones lol, when I bought my lcd24 (or other audeze I have owned) it comes in the crazy hard case lol
Personally think they went to the banks, but when they were asked to put down their āestimatedā repayment plan, they got stuck so the bank declined them.
They probably went with indigogo to avoid accountability for the delivery. They also dont have to shoulder the entire burden of manufacturing in case it flops.
Based on the price and what it does, they arent targeting the mainstream consumer but really US audiophiles. There is a big enough market in audiophiles who would be willing to ādropā the price they are asking for this item. If it does boom with the mainstream crowd its just a plus for them. I mean if they wanted to target other countries, they could help out with the customās tax like a certain chifi siteā¦ soul.
Also, if they sold it at Sony and Bose ANC price then people may not consider it audiophile grade. Assuming some people would think being audiophile grade comes with an additional premium. I suppose looking at the tiers in the indigogo they are testing out what the real sweet spot would be for final price (hopefully).
At the $319-330 range Iām interested in it as I dont particularly like the way the 1000XM3 sounds. Based on the reviews the graphs on this pre-prod units its looking good. Iād jump on it if the final unit addresses the bit of concerns on comfort, sounds just as good or better than the pre-prod and removes hindrances to customs . Definitely throw in a pad option apart for the usual accessories for BT headphones.
Edit: to Zeosā point on the Mpow H21ā¦ why doesnt it fold?
Not being funny but who the fuck came up with the name Panda for a headphone?..Koala wouldāve been slightly better but just slightly.
We need to start up a stupid name for a headphone thread? lol.
āBut Iām also insanely picky, with most of Audezeās lineup doing nothing for me and only a select few Hifimans being my personal recommendations (sound wise, not build wise). The PM3 wasnāt really my thing back when it was popular, but letās see if Drop can change my mind.ā
ā¦
I do like this guy(crinacle)!
The review is more of the things between the marketing lines, similar to what I supposed
. Definitely throw in a pad option apart for the usual accessories for BT headphones.