[WillBright]

  I'd like to see a HeadRoom Massdrop collaboration. Anyone else?
 
We have a couple new amps in the works and I'd love to sell $XXXXXXX worth to @WillBright

 
Heh, send me some specs! Let's see what you have in-mind. YGPM. 

 

[fjrabon]

   
Heh, send me some specs! Let's see what you have in-mind. YGPM. 

kind of weird watching the potential next collab product's genesis play out right in front of our eyes.

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

I just want to reiterate how huge a Massdrop electrostat could be. With Hifiman and Sennheiser currently releasing new ones in the $50k range, a $500-$600 electrostat with good quality could be a massive hit.

 

[noxa]

^^ Not sure why it would be such a hit when Stax have stats within that price range that are phenomenal and are not 'massive hits'.

 

[alv4426]

^^^ Cause anything massdrop = instant FOTM on headfi?

 

[vapman]

Not sure I understand. The buying public has a huge impact on the design, but it's not done via public design-by-committee. The process we have allows highly dedicated enthusiasts to share their thoughts and meaningfully impact a product without having to quit their jobs, go to design school, and setup shop in the Audio industry. 

Hopefully that answers your question, let me know if not. 

Yes that is all stuff I understand fully. Your posts come off as quite condescending, if you weren't aware.

My original post simply stated massdrop isn't a service for realizing any product anyone dreams of. I don't know how we got here but I wasn't looking for a personal attack. I was just trying to help people put their suggestions in a more realistic scope, don't you agree that's helpful than leading people on to think literally anything can come from MD?

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

^^ Not sure why it would be such a hit when Stax have stats within that price range that are phenomenal and are not 'massive hits'.

Because you mainly have to buy Stax from eBay sellers and they have a zillion different models of varying quality?

Massdrop has a built in audience, many of whom have never heard electrostats but have heard ABOUT them, and are seeing these obscenely priced monstrosities entering the market. The iron is hot, it's time to strike.

 

[WillBright]

^^ Not sure why it would be such a hit when Stax have stats within that price range that are phenomenal and are not 'massive hits'.

 
Which system? I think you can buy estat headphones for that price, don't think it'll buy you the necessary amp though. Lemme know if this is incorrect. 
 
I think the biggest challenge for STAX is volume. They sold for $1.5mm to Edifier in 2011, how many SR-009s do we think they sold that year? 
 
For the sake of this estimation, let's assume the SR-009 accounts for 100% of their sales (obviously incorrect, will get back to this in a minute). Companies like STAX are generally valued based on their annual sales and a multiplier. The multiple usually ranges from 3-5x based on physical assets and perceived brand value, let's be generous and assume STAX gets a 4x multiple (they've got lots of physical assets, extensive engineering staff, etc). 
 
If they sold for $1.5mm, on a 4x multiple, they sold $375k of goods that year. SR-009's are sitting around $3.3k on amazon right now, knock 30% off that, and you've got the price STAX is probably selling to distributors for (STAX offers much slimmer than most audiophile companies).
 
$2.3k in sales for STAX per SR-009 sold. $375k/$2.3k = 164 units of the SR-009 sold....
 
Given the SR-009does not represent 100% of STAX sales... one has to wonder what kind of volume they're used to working with.
 
If we worked with them to produce an affordable system, we would be working in very high quantities, which generally leads to economies of scale and better value for everyone's dollar.  

 

[vapman]

Because you mainly have to buy Stax from eBay sellers and they have a zillion different models of varying quality?

Massdrop has a built in audience, many of whom have never heard electrostats but have heard ABOUT them, and are seeing these obscenely priced monstrosities entering the market. The iron is hot, it's time to strike.

A big problem is the expense, size and heat offput of electrostatic amps. If it was a headphone+amp bundle fo that price it might do ok.

 

[WillBright]

Yes that is all stuff I understand fully. Your posts come off as quite condescending, if you weren't aware.

My original post simply stated massdrop isn't a service for realizing any product anyone dreams of. I don't know how we got here but I wasn't looking for a personal attack. I was just trying to help people put their suggestions in a more realistic scope, don't you agree that's helpful than leading people on to think literally anything can come from MD?

 
Hey Vapman, 
 
Thanks for the feedback, wasn't my intention to condescend, was legitimately uncertain of what you were asking. 
 
Getting at your point, while Massdrop isn't a service for realizing any product anyone dreams of (company called "Quirky" tried it already, had a rough time), this is a thread for ideas and I'd rather read seven bad ideas, two decent ideas, and one good idea, than two ideas total because people are filtering their ideas based on what they think is possible or not. 
 
It's not my aim to offend, but realistically nobody other than me has the context to know what is and isn't possible. There are myriad counter-intuitive industry mechanics resting on a complex web of motivations. Even basic assumptions like "both Massdrop and the manufacturer need to be able to make money" don't always apply. Eg, Audio Company A is trying to increase it's audience, a certain percentage of Massdrop's audience are audiophiles, but the 11 other communities on Massdrop (Mech Keyboards, EDC, Quilting, Men's Style, etc) make up the majority of our userbase.
 
Instead of spending $200k on PPC advertising, Audio Company A works with Massdrop on a Custom Product and they elect to take 0% margin so the price to customers can be ~30% lower than it might otherwise be. The much more accessible price point, combined with the trust our users have in the Massdrop brand as a seal of value, draws in hundreds of thousands of people who would have never thought to look at Audio Company A otherwise. 
 
Instead of pushing people to ask "Is this a realistic idea?" before posting, let's help them refine the idea into something realistic. 

 

[grizzlybeast]

I just want to reiterate how huge a Massdrop electrostat could be. With Hifiman and Sennheiser currently releasing new ones in the $50k range, a $500-$600 electrostat with good quality could be a massive hit.

 

   
Hey Vapman, 
 
Thanks for the feedback, wasn't my intention to condescend, was legitimately uncertain of what you were asking. 
 
Getting at your point, while Massdrop isn't a service for realizing any product anyone dreams of (company called "Quirky" tried it already, had a rough time), this is a thread for ideas and I'd rather read seven bad ideas, two decent ideas, and one good idea, than two ideas total because people are filtering their ideas based on what they think is possible or not. 
 
It's not my aim to offend, but realistically nobody other than me has the context to know what is and isn't possible. There are myriad counter-intuitive industry mechanics resting on a complex web of motivations. Even basic assumptions like "both Massdrop and the manufacturer need to be able to make money" don't always apply. Eg, Audio Company A is trying to increase it's audience, a certain percentage of Massdrop's audience are audiophiles, but the 11 other communities on Massdrop (Mech Keyboards, EDC, Quilting, Men's Style, etc) make up the majority of our userbase.
 
Instead of spending $200k on PPC advertising, Audio Company A works with Massdrop on a Custom Product and they elect to take 0% margin so the price to customers can be ~30% lower than it might otherwise be. The much more accessible price point, combined with the trust our users have in the Massdrop brand as a seal of value, draws in hundreds of thousands of people who would have never thought to look at Audio Company A otherwise. 
 
Instead of pushing people to ask "Is this a realistic idea?" before posting, let's help them refine the idea into something realistic. 

I totally agree.

 

[ejong7]

   
Ultrasone is easily the most confusing company in Audio. Usually I can spend a couple hours researching an organization and get a pretty good idea of their strategy, where they're going, etc, not with Ultrasone. 
 
Can you explain them to me? Dead serious, have no idea why they do what they do. 

Your guess would be as good as mine if not better. To me they sell premium looking headphones at premium prices with (IMO) less than satisfying quality. It's not that their stuff sounds bad some of them are actually good but simply overpriced for me. Lately, at least from what I've seen and heard, they're just producing kinda like re-releases of most of their old products. Add in a trim here or there. And I actually think their old stuff sounds better.
 
Of course, because of how I perceived their products the past 1-2 years, I've paid less attention to them, so may not be caught up with the most up to date news on them. So Ultrasone fans please dont direct your pitch forks on me.

 

[FatTeemo]

Just want to say that the HD 700s don't need to be retuned. They just need better earpads.Maybe massdrop can sell a thinner version of the earpads that don't have the pleather.

 

[grizzlybeast]

  Just want to say that the HD 700s don't need to be retuned. They just need better earpads.Maybe massdrop can sell a thinner version of the earpads that don't have the pleather.

retuning involves changing pads.
 
But fixing the hd700 with pads alone is like putting yogurt on a habenero. I had a modded hd700 and it was still problematic. 

 

[FatTeemo]

 
retuning involves changing pads.
 
But fixing the hd700 with pads alone is like putting yogurt on a habenero. I had a modded hd700 and it was still problematic. 

 
Oh, I misunderstood the concept of retuning then. To my ears, the treble peak and treble issue in general is completely fixed by the earpad mod and it doesn't need anything else than that. What do you find to be problematic even after modding?