Massdrop Plus IEM

Discussion in 'IEM Measurements' started by purr1n, Oct 6, 2017.

  1. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

    Staff Member Pyrate Flathead IEMW
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    6,630
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Clear, clear water
    Sure, give me a couple of days and I’ll give some thoughts against the two.
     
  2. shotgunshane

    shotgunshane Floridian Falcon

    Staff Member Pyrate Flathead IEMW
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    6,630
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Clear, clear water
    @Untilted
    The modded Fostex sounds a good deal warmer overall and comes across a little V shaped in direct comparison. The Plus sounds much clearer and brighter overall. Even though the Plus is brighter, the Fostex is the one that can be a little prickly in treble at times. The Fostex bass is pretty quick for dynamic, so it doesn’t sound much slower. Both go deep. Headstage wise, while the Fostex has good depth, it sounds much narrower and shorter in a/b.

    I’ve been under the weather, so the comparison was only using the iPhone 7+ with dongle. The Plus is a clear step up, but then again Andromeda will be a step up over the Plus.
     
  3. Untilted

    Untilted New

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2016
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Melbourne
    @shotgunshane thanks for taking the time to do this, even when you've not been well. I really appreciate it.
     
  4. Peter78

    Peter78 New

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2016
    Likes Received:
    18
    Trophy Points:
    8
    I was fairly certain that I’d be ordering these, but the low impedance now has me concerned. I’d planned to use these with my phone (iPhone 6S+) until I purchase a DAP (likely a Sony, based on what I’ve read so far). I wasn’t aware that the OI of the iPhone was ~5ohms, and the Sony DAPs seem to be ~2.5-5ohms. So, neither should work particularly well with these IEMs. Are there other DAP recommendations for use with these, or would I best be served by looking for different IEMs? Reading that these are among the best under $1k is great, but they’d need to work well with the source.
     
  5. Vansen

    Vansen Gear Master (retiring)

    Staff Member Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2016
    Likes Received:
    3,955
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Seattle
    @Peter78 These work great out of an iPhone with an OI of 5 ohms. They just get a bit bassy when you increase the OI. I like less prominent bass levels than many members here, but am happy with this out of my iPhone 6S. @Marvey states that his ideal OI might be around 11 ohms for this IEM (if I recall correctly). My iPod 5.5g has about an 11 ohm OI, which while bearable, is too much bass for me. I've been mostly listening to this on a WM1A, which has an OI of about 0.9 ohms.
     
  6. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,369
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    Are you sure it’s 11ohm? I think he said 1ohm.
     
  7. Grahad2

    Grahad2 Red eyes from too much anime

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2017
    Likes Received:
    1,163
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Singapore
    Not even 1ohm.
     
  8. Vansen

    Vansen Gear Master (retiring)

    Staff Member Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2016
    Likes Received:
    3,955
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Seattle
  9. Luge

    Luge Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2017
    Likes Received:
    37
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Czech Republic
    No, it was:
    ~ 0 ohm impedance (Magni 3): Etymotic SR + ton of bass
    ~ 1 ohm impedance: assumed sweetspot for Marvey
    ~ 2 ohm impedance (ZX2): UERM mids with HD650 treble
    ~ 4< or 5< ohm impedance: probably Audezes

    See:
     
  10. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,369
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    Edit: scooped by Luge
     
  11. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,431
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I'm sorry if I missed it...would these play well with something like a Vali 2 on low gain or would it be disastrous?
     
  12. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

    Staff Member Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,151
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Exit stage left....
    bet you'd need an IEMatch or similar attenuator for these with Vali2.
    for months I used a IEMatch prototype (-12dB) with Andromeda into Vali2 and it was a fun listen.
     
  13. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,320
    Trophy Points:
    113
    After all the UERM comparisons, it turns out my expectations were far too inflated for what the Plus is actually capable of delivering. I found the Plus fatiguing (after very short listens), and the clarity and presentation to be a good step down from the Andromedas. Comfort wasn't bad though.
     
  14. Ash1412

    Ash1412 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    672
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Glad I wasn't the only one who felt the same. I found the Plus to have quite a muddy midrange compared to HD650s, a good frequency response except for an 8khz peak (not really noticeable outside of sweeps) but the moment I started cranking it a little bit or played a song with low dynamic range, I started to get really fatigued. The best things about them were the ergonomics and isolation. Also it did feel like guitar and violin string decays were pretty well resolved, possibly even better than 650s (always suspected mobo SPDIF into Modi Multibit was blurrier sounding than USB using HD650s, Plus made it extremely obvious), but was lacking the clarity and timbre to make it sound real.
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2017
  15. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,369
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    Anyone know what size Comply tips these use? Or can name another IEM with a similar tip size?
     
  16. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

    Pyrate IEMW
    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,876
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    California Bay Area
    Home Page:
    ^Campfire Audio has similar nozzle size. Many do...
     
  17. Vansen

    Vansen Gear Master (retiring)

    Staff Member Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2016
    Likes Received:
    3,955
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Seattle
    500 series Comply.
     
  18. Mystic

    Mystic Mystique's Spiritual Advisor

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,783
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    U.S.
    Brief loaner impressions:

    I was very impressed with the Plus. Tonality is spot on. Excellent clarity through the mids and treble with a very tasteful sub bass boost. These paired very well with the Fiio X5iii. Just a slight added hint of lushness in the mids and really presented the treble with a smoothness not unlike the hd650. Plugging these into my DX90 and the treble got a bit of hardness to it that became a bit fatiguing after a half hour or so.

    Comfort was really good. My ears generally hate iems so this was rather surprising. They stay almost flush and I had no soreness after wearing them for over a couple hours. They don't protrude much at all from the ears either, which is nice as I sometimes like to lay down with my iems in.

    I'm not a big IEM user, mainly since my ears hate most of them. The highest end pair I've owned is my Noble X. The only thing better than this that I've heard is when I had the Andro on loan for a couple weeks. Even while the Andro could out-resolve the smaller nuances of the music than the Plus, I am still drawn to the later due to the comfort (Andro is a little too big for me).

    My one complaint would be the cables. I'm pretty sure the regular cable was a prototype but the balanced cable seemed like a final version. Both left a little to be desired. Rather flimsy and just didn't seem well made. Hopefully something that is corrected in the final version.

    I plan on buying one immediately when they drop again.
     
  19. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    8,369
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northwest France
    The first drop should be shipping within a week or so. The next drop might be pretty soon.
     
  20. joeexp

    joeexp Don't ship this man FD-X1 ever

    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    253
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    London
    They are shipping now!
     

Share This Page