Drop + Dan Clark Aeon Closed X

I had high expectations and they were exceeded in spades. This is seriously as close to perfect for a closed back you can possibly get for $500 IMO. Build quality A+ Comfort A+ Sound A+ Cable A Accessories A+ My score: 9.95/10 Now, let's talk about how these sound; out of the box with the single notch inserts they sound very good. But; what I found works much better and takes this headphone to a completely different stratosphere is: Remove ALL inserts and EQ this thing to be closer to harman (even though it's close as is). You can find the EQ settings in forums if you just google it. It opens up the headphone in a way that is almost unbelievable; Extended sound stage, bass extension with a good kick and rumble but not excessive or muddy, smooth mids, creamy detailed treble... Vocals are exceptional, strings sound amazing too. Before EQ while decent, it sounds compressed in comparison. Not all headphones respond to EQ like this, trust me it's worth it. Right after EQ I thought: "I can't put these down. It's like a whole new dimension of musical enjoyment has opened up and I don't want to leave. Truly fantastic, I'm gobsmacked." I'm using an Asus Xonar Essence STX (pcie version) to drive it. It's powerful enough for sure, on normal gain it gets plenty loud at 55% volume, on high gain anything above 35% is screaming loud. While, it might not be the best source it's good enough, it sounds clean and it's a good pairing for the money IMO if you mainly use a computer. Of course, a high end HIFI desktop setup with balanced cables will sound better, but honestly to me it sounds amazing as is. Overall; I can't recommend these headphones enough.

Very good headphones. However you need powerful amp to drive them. Seeing comments these headphones got a bad rap because people were purchasing them, then plugged into their phones and they did not sound good. They returned them, saying sounded bad. I have a powerful amp, they sound excellent! For the price, these punch way above their price. I highly recommend but only if you have power to drive them. If you're using your phone or computer with a dongle, they will not sound good.

Why would one get a closed back headphone? The open back ones sound plain better. But those are basically acoustically-transparent (kinda the point), so are almost useless in noisy environments. Imagine the office from "The Office". Have a fantastic micro detailing on your headphone? Too bad, Michael Scott decided to make one of his useless announcements what it seems right in your ear. Trying to enjoy that fantastic scene separation? Nope, you won't: Jim just played a prank on Dwight and everyone is laughing like they are at a Robbin Williams standup show. That's where the the closed-backs come in. The point is to give you decent noise isolation, so you can enjoy your more-than-decent sound around your colleagues and cleaning ladies with gargantuan vacuums. So how does this bad boy score on that? Sound is great, it's a decent planar from a decent company after all. Value (sound wise) - fantastic, that's what Drop is known for. Comfort - OK, the headphone is light, but the brace is not the best, neither are the cushions. My issue here is mostly the sound isolation. If the closed-back pair doesn't dampen the noise well enough the whole deal is just not good. And the Aeons just don't fair well in this regard. That annoying conversation at the neighboring desk just seeps through. Had to return these, even given the fantastic sound. I'll have to got with some nonse Bluetooth active noise cancelling nonsense I guess, even though I don't like the sound. Too bad. Still don't want to rank these too low, they sound great and that matters.

These headphones are the best pair I've ever owned. Comparing to HiFiMAN HE5XX, HD6XX and 58X Jubilee. The audio quality is second to none, and they're very comfortable, which is hard to find for me given that I have a very large head. PROS- - Earcups are very comfortable, i never run into soreness with these. - Audio quality is second to none, I use these for gaming and music listening and there's no other headphone I enjoy more. CONS- - Needs a break-in period before you really get the best sound and most comfort out of them. - The headband is a bit odd, but once you get used to it, it basically disappears. - Requires a good bit of power to get the best audio out of - get an amp for these. - Included cable lacks in quality, recommend a replacement right away (there's a number of good ones out there)

These are simply fantastic. Only had them a few hours but they have exceeded all my expectations. I live in an apartment and coming from my 2 channel HiFi rig and had to switch to headphones. These are simply so musical and COMFORTABLE! Highly highly recommended. Pairing with a Cambridge audio dacmagic 200m running sources from my mac, cd player, and ps5. Cannot ask for a better sounding pair of headphones for the money if you like a more mellow yet detailed sound. Build quality is also amazing.

They just feel cheap. Look gorgeous and the sound is great but I feel there are cheaper headphones that do the same if not better sound and are built tougher, 1070c by monolith comes to mind. Meze 99, HeR9,and sundera close back from hifiman also feel stronger and sound as good. IMHO they look good sound good but feel very flimsy I just think they are over hyped. Headband is also a take it or leave it not as comfortable as most people mention but not uncomfortable just meh anyway hope this is helpful but I would pass on this for a better close back experience or open back experience like xs or avatone. Money could go further elsewhere

El sonido es muy bueno, muy muy cercano a la curva Harman: Graves: con cierto énfasis, llegan hasta el sub bass sin ningún problema, tienen buen puje, rápidos con casi nula reverberación, y sin invadir a los medios. Medios: los medios de más abajo están algo disminuidos, el resto tienen buen apego a la curva Harman, las voces se escuchan fenomenal, las trompetas/saxofones se escuchan como si estuviesen en vivo. Agudos: sazonados, instrumentos como los cimbales los sientes enfrente de la cara, en general con buena extensión y buen "aire", un poco de sibilancia si no usas ninguno de los filtros. Yo personalmente usé los filtros blancos que tienen una muesca. En general tienen un timbre como si escucharas la música en una habitación con mucho tratamiento acústico. Adicionalmente, proveen de muy buen aislamiento de ruidos externos. Desafortunadamente, en mi experiencia, la espuma con la que rellenan las almohadillas resultó muy dura, les intenté dar uso continuo, pero empezaron a lastimarme, por éso los estoy devolviendo. Quizá el caso sea que mi cráneo no es compatible con ellos. Sin embargo, el sonido es excelente, y probablemente sea buena idea cambiar a unas almohadillas más suaves, como las de Dekoni.

Having listened to Focal headphones while shopping for headphones and then buying these blind and without a listen, I was, at first, a little underwhelmed by the laid back sound. Albeit a very detailed sound, especially in the low end but just not as dynamic as what you get with Focal headphones for example. So I wasn't sure I'd keep them at first. I decided to give them another chance, invested in a balanced XLR cable and after a couple of days... wow!! They are just incredible sounding and oh so comfortable! Maybe they needed more power or maybe I just wasn't used to their sound signature. They are non fatiguing, can be worn for hours and are great for all music genres! The bass is deep and detailed, the mids are clear and the highs are perfectly tuned. When I listen to Focals now (Bathys for example or Celestee even) the dynamism is great and engaging but not always what you want when you're looking for a laid back listen. I love these for gaming even, on my Monolith THX 788 amp, I turn Dirac Sensaround on and I can then pinpoint my enemies with impressive accuracy. They are so worth it, mind you I got them for just under 700$ CAD. At that price I would say get them, get them and get them!!

Ok headphone, cost is a bit to high imo for what you get. Don't use them often.

Extremely light, very durable and the sound is amazing. I listen to metal, rock, pop, classical and orchestral on it. Everything sounds amazing, great soundstage, excellent imaging and clarity, but power hungry. You will need a good amp. Been running it single ended every day for months cause balanced cables for it are very expensive.

Really nice separation, very much on the brighter side but represents bass very well when it needs, if you're looking for something decently flat and extremely comfy shoot for these, but be warned the take an incredible amount of power to drive. Thanks Dan.