yeah, I donāt really feel they are for me personally and returning mine to massdrop, but even I will admit they are well worth the price, even at $500. I think everyone who is at least interested should give them a try. They are unique enough that I think they would be a great addition to any collection.
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The high end tubes tend to sound less tube-y and closer to ss. Thatās what I was liking about the Manley. Not looking to make a move on any of them at the moment, but after seeing that the Audiovalve Stax port is not that good, I can at least rule that out of the mix. I think my next source purchase will be the tt2 probably late into next year. After that, I will be looking at an endgame-ish tube or estat amp depending on how fast I drop money on a Stax headphone. I donāt want to spend $1k+ on something I know I would be replacing, so Iād rather get the energizer I plan to use long term out of the gate
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You seemed to be unsure before you made the purchase, so kudos to you for returning them if they werenāt what you were looking for. I donāt use mine every day, but for me they are a fun break from the norm. I usually listen to classic rock, Motown, and music recorded in the 60s and 70s where bass wasnāt the emphasis it is nowadays. I can totally see them not being for people who like hip hop or EDM
Honestly I donāt mind them for edm or hiphop. As long as you donāt have an unreasonable standard for the bass they are pretty good imo
I just feel like Iāve indulged a lot in the past few months. So while they are nice, Iām satisfied enough having heard them and I feel I can chill out a bit with adding to my collection. Just within the last 3-4 months, Got the LCD2C, 58x, 660s, Elex, Neumann NDH 20, Tin P1s, T2s, T2 Pros, Blon 03, RB42 speakers, Dark Voice, 2 THX amps, Topping D70 dac, Loxjie P20ā¦
Only things Iāve returned are the Loxjie, T2 Pros, and 58x. And very recently sold the LCD 2c, Then just recently the Koss 95x. Having a lot of fun trying thingsā¦ but Iām already extremely happy with what I have already. At least for the near term it would take quite a lot to feel any additional headphones would be justified.
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lol these forums arenāt good for my restraint. If anything, they put headphones on my radar I may not have had otherwise. But, in the long run, if you are having an accelerated timeframe to learn what you enjoy and what you donāt, thatās a good thing. I think Iād be more prone to the hype cycle if I was just watching the youtube videos the way I used to. You and I have tried a lot of higher end headphones and sources in the past year, and for me anyway I think Iām a much wiser buyer for it. Unfortunately, it also means that my taste has gotten a lot pricier
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Once you try some of the high end stuff you kinda want to taste more lol. Not everyone has that same reaction tho (but most people do)
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I think the Elex were my gateway drug. I bought them and the Ether CX at the same time, and if I only bought the Ethers I may not have dove in so deeply.
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It was 100% the Elex for me tooā¦ it was sort of like āOhā¦ there IS a next levelā¦ it isnāt all hyperbolic BSā¦ā >_>;
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what equalizer do you use?
Have you tried EQāing them at all? Do you have a Loki? To me they went from a pleasant novelty to a Sweet set-up.
Yeah, did some EQing in Foobar. Also tried the behringer to EQ and tonally it helps, but the Behringer adds too much noise to the signal chain, the reduction in clarity is really obvious with the 95x. I think the Loki would probably be a really good option. Maybe an RME ADI 2 dac would be even better.
I think they sounded great. If I wasnāt already so satisfied with everything I already had, Iād probably keep them.
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Bellari audio EQ
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Looks like a more colourful Loki.
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I DO want to say that the return process with Drop was extremely smooth. I messaged their customer service asking if I could return the headphones, stating I opened the box and tried them outā¦ they sent me an RMA sheet along with pre-paid postage a day later. I dropped off the headphones at my local UPS store yesterday and I already got my refund posted to my Paypal account this morning, as soon as they saw āmovementā of the package.
That is extremely good customer service in my opinionā¦
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Dang you already received your refund? Thatās pretty quick
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yup =)
So if anyone needed more incentive to try these out without having to worry about whether or not they would be satisfiedā¦ there you goā¦
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When I needed to send back my first Elex, I was worried but same deal. Couldnāt have been smoother. I think I got my replacement in 3 days
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Now if only they didnāt use FedEx it would be perfect lol
I live about 30 minutes away from Dropās main warehouse in Edison, NJ. For some asinine reason, they ship my orders to Pennsylvania, then ship them back to NJ with FedEx only to be delivered by my local post office.
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