[Kevintj604]

I find the near complete lack of impressions here interesting. Surely dozens of people have heard these by now.

I'll try to get a listen in tomorrow.

I agree with you but with CanJam SoCal being so big this year I’m not surprised there haven’t been any posts yet. If I don’t see any impressions in a few days it’ll probably be a skip for me.

I’m genuinely curious though. Grell doesn’t really miss and based on the build and specs I’d be surprised if it costs more than $400.

 

[Vitaliy Belz]

haven’t been any posts yet.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/canjam-socal-2023-impressions-thread.969902/post-17756463

 

[Kevintj604]

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/canjam-socal-2023-impressions-thread.969902/post-17756463

Thanks. I’m catching up on yesterdays first day impressions now. I’m hoping Marcelo live streams with Axel today. A lot of the Marcelo’s content yesterday was awesome.

 

[McCheese]

So I tried this about an hour ago. It sounds pretty sibilant but soundstage and imaging seemed good.

 

[Kevintj604]

So I tried this about an hour ago. It sounds pretty sibilant but soundstage and imaging seemed good.

This is the second impression that’s said it’s a very bright leaning headphone. Somewhere between an HD600 and HD800. I’m probably a firm no on it as the HD600 is the least used headphone in my collection and HD800 is my least enjoyed experience I’ve had in the hobby.

Thanks for your impressions.

 

[starence]

I wonder if the OAE1 at CanJam is the final version, or if it's still a work in progress.

 

[Kevintj604]

I wonder if the OAE1 at CanJam is the final version, or if it's still a work in progress.

All the early impressions from CanJam rate it from very bright to extremely sibilant so I’m hoping that it isn’t the final tuning.

Show conditions are a non optimal environment for a brighter leaning headphone to perform well. In order to compensate for the loud environment you need to turn up the volume to much louder than normal so I can see that a bright headphone might lose its luster.

Having said that I’ve heard enough to no longer be excited.

 

[TheDJHastings]

All the early impressions from CanJam rate it from very bright to extremely sibilant so I’m hoping that it isn’t the final tuning.

Show conditions are a non optimal environment for a brighter leaning headphone to perform well. In order to compensate for the loud environment you need to turn up the volume to much louder than normal so I can see that a bright headphone might lose its luster.

Having said that I’ve heard enough to no longer be excited.

So this is what Grell is saying on their website about the tuning:
"Sound characteristic:
front oriented loudness diffuse field equalization"

Not entirely sure what "loudness" means in relation to diffuse field, but if it is a DF field, that tuning can be pretty bright. However, I think DF can sound really great and natural if enough of an EQ tilt is applied. I'm reasonably certain that the HD 600 series is based on the ISO 11904-2 diffuse field curve with a tilt applied. So yeah, I'm guessing if this headphone has as tight tolerances as they're boasting, you could probably make it sound just about right with simply an EQ tilt.

 

[DomDOMT]

I find the near complete lack of impressions here interesting. Surely dozens of people have heard these by now.

I'll try to get a listen in tomorrow.

I think that Grell's marketing isn't as effective as Austrian Audio did. But Grell's headphones often got very good budget for everyone. HEAVYS costing 300, TWS-1 200, I got belief here.

 

[Luckyleo]

I think that Grell's marketing isn't as effective as Austrian Audio did. But Grell's headphones often got very good budget for everyone. HEAVYS costing 300, TWS-1 200, I got belief here.

Not as good? You mean there isn't a shill posting every two minutes without really saying anything but how great it is with NOTHING to support his claims? I'll take Grell's marketing any day of the week compared to Austrian Audio and their chosen one..........

Leo

 

[jonathan c]

Not as good? You mean there isn't a shill posting every two minutes without really saying anything but how great it is with NOTHING to support his claims? I'll take Grell's marketing any day of the week compared to Austrian Audio and their chosen one..........

Leo

Besides, Axel Grell has a product legacy from which to draw, against which to compare, beyond which to achieve .

 

[Kevintj604]

Not as good? You mean there isn't a shill posting every two minutes without really saying anything but how great it is with NOTHING to support his claims? I'll take Grell's marketing any day of the week compared to Austrian Audio and their chosen one..........

Leo

I’m assuming you mean Nomax when talking about a shill?

He is pretty excited about the Composer but I’m not sure if I’d go as far to say he’s a shill. And I’ve heard great things about it so far.

I think there’s a happy balance and the way Drop is marketing the Grell is super annoying. Not knowing any idea on price point or release date sucks.

 

[FellMTK]

This kinda scares me..

Limited run with preordering before any proper measurements and reviews comes out, we already also have a few impressions that the ones showed at events are bright and sibilant

I will buy one if it costs about HD600 money. I am going "Screw the savings!"

I feel like they are preying on people like you

I know that Grell holds a legendary status on the audio community, but still I am quite hesitant…

 

[Halleluhwah]

I just want smooth treble and low distortion for EQing. I'm primarely buying for the interesting angle of the driver, pre-EQ FR isn't very important to me. Really wonder how these sound.

 

[DomDOMT]

This kinda scares me..

Limited run with preordering before any proper measurements and reviews comes out, we already also have a few impressions that the ones showed at events are bright and sibilant


I feel like they are preying on people like you

I know that Grell holds a legendary status on the audio community, but still I am quite hesitant…

I think I should calm down a bit here haha, but quite hyped on new design tho. Nothing beats an exciting engineering for me.

Btw Nomax’s access on AA R&D area makes his hype train too unreal. And the price of Composer for me is too high somewhat IMO. Even if Composer sounds good, but at what cost? Btw I must admit that I got the responsibility on hyping the OAE1 like a boy tho. This brings too much excitement here.

And Still, I think I might try my luck on OAE1 here.