Loaner: Drop + Hifiman HE-R7DX

Loaner: Drop + Hifiman HE-R7DX

Available here

Loaner courtesy of Drop




Standard rules.

Open to ALL friends and contributors on case by case basis but do not be shy to ask
5 days per person
Insure for $75
FedEx UPS only
Impressions required here
Post with your location if interested

@roshambo123 CA
@Vtory PA
@Ksorota MA

 

Want to try out. Philly, PA.

 

I'm in.

 

I’ll take a listen. Massachusetts

 

Received today

 

On way to @Vtory

 

Received.

@Ksorota Please shoot me a pm about your address, phone and email!

 

Please PM him if you don’t mind. Thanks!

 

Off to @Ksorota

 

Last chance to hear these before they go back to Drop!

 

Thank you to Drop and @rhythmdevils for setting up this loaner tour.



I have been listening to the R7DX for the last few days and have been able to come to some pretty quick conclusions regarding its performance and how I would see it fitting into my audio experience.

TLR - This is a good performing headphone if you are looking for a closed back headphone. IMO, its best suited for a work environment, something to isolate your music from those around you and also to not distract your attention from the work you have to do…it is a great background listening headphone.

First Impressions:

The R7DX is a solid low priced offering from HFM and Drop. It is not the most attractive headphone, nor is it the most robust/solid feeling build quality. The headband is typical HFM affair and does not offer any surprises. I would like to have seen the plastic cups having a bit more density to them as they feel thin and create hollow sounds when tapped on. The plastic cups also pick up and show fingerprints fairly easily especially if using hand lotion, and attract lint.

That being said, they are not something that are going to embarrass you to wear.

The earpads do not seem to be easy to pull off, but I saw someone else's photo showing that they do (just didnt want to pull too hard).

Sound:

The R7DX is a “good” sounding headphone overall, but does require some adjustment. Also, it is not the headphone that I would want to keep for listening enjoyment full time based on my other headphone experience. The sound is fairly balanced and neutral, but is not well energized in the lower frequencies, gets a bit shouty in the treble and does not seem to get along with female vocals that well.

My biggest complaint is that I kept getting the sense of hollowness and/or distance in the vocals that reminded me of a DSP being applied to create a 3D space; in particular female vocals. Male vocals generally sounded good and were well placed in front of me. The stage is more forward IMO (ie. deep rather than wide staging).

If not driving them hard, they produce an agreeable sound signature, but it seemed that if I tried to really push them the highs became shouty and sibilant.

R7DX vs. ESX900 (newest revision) Comparative Listening:
I am going to list a few songs that I enjoy and like to listen to for testing out headphones etc. Each song will have comparative notes between the ESX900 (ESX) and R7DX

M. Menago: Traveler

R7DX: Sounds of rain not well defined, just blurry. At 2:07 in a train or thunder rumbles and it does not sustain as long as ESX, or have as well defined separation from the track. Percussion hits are sharp, good decay and reverb of the recording.
ESX: Percussion sounds more neutral and naturally produced, not as sharp. The sound of the rain is clearly rain and much more detail in the rolling thunder, produced for much longer as well.

T. Swift: Lover
R7DX: Hollow vocals, sounds like the recording was done in a bathroom
ESX: Midbass fullness brings up the vocals into the mix and the hollowness is gone.

E. Sheeran: Perfect
R7DXverall well balanced track with good bass tactility and presence, still neutral. Get some of that DSP feeling. Cup reverb adds some distortion or interference that comes off as a strange digital grain.
ESX: Much better sense of scale on this track, vocals pulled forward, bass impact much greater and percussion is now fast and textured. The added grain is not as

J.Mraz: You and I both know
R7DX: Natural sounding, a bit peaky in the highs, overall nice listen
ESX: A bit too thick/rich with mid bass, takes away some of the clarity that the R7DX has

Coldplay: Fix You
R7DX:Cymbal hits are ill defined and smoothed, hits are not very apparent. Turn up the volume and the vocals go from neutral to peaky and sharp. Needs more bass foundation to really bring the tracks scale to fullness. Stage is deep and narrow sounding on this track in particular
ESX: Cymbals are much better defined with solid impacts and crash detail. Comparatively thick sounding, but maintains high levels of clarity and detail so after adjustment its more satisfying of a listen. Grand sense of presentation.

General Comparison:

R7DX: Lacks foundation, lean and hollow sounding, picky and peaky. Micro detail not great, macro not great either, Not intimate sounding, but DSP sounding. Neutral presentation of tracks. Cup reverb is noticeable on certain tracks (sometimes good, sometimes bad).
ESX: My preferred sound, extra bass lift, solid foundation, much better micro detail retrieval and macro as well. Wider soundstage, better drum and cymbal reproduction. The total sonic experience is more grand/full sounding.

Conclusion:

I am not going to buy these headphones but would consider it for a work headphone to use at the office in the future once I return to more full time, in person office work.. I could recommend them to co-workers or others looking for a semi-well isolated listening headphone that is not going to wow, or disappoint. The problem with them not having anything special about them is that they are a hard sell, even at 150$ to the normal person just looking for a headphone. We/I are influenced by the presence of 1k plus headphones so 150 seems like a really good deal, but co workers would expect some bluetooth/battery powered/nice looking headphones instead of what these provide.

Listening was done on the ECP Black Diamond or Vali 2, DAC’s were either the modded Modi MB (opamp mod) or Yggdrasil LIM. Comparison notes were done using the Black Diamond and Yggdrasil LIM.