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Massdrop, a sales platform that connects enthusiasts (audio, outdoor gadgets or mechanical keyboards), has been offering in the past headphones that are modified versions of well-known headphones from well know company's like as Fostex, Sennheiser and AKG. The first time, however, they offered headphones that were entirely designed and built by Massdrop themselves. The idea was to make headphones that sound like UERM (Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor) and Etymotic er4s but with a real bass rumble. After a year of R&D, Massdrop Plus IEM were made.
A tiny box in which there is also as tiny protective case. Inside there is a whole arsenal of tips, a cleaning tool and of course the headphones themselves. Pure and simple.
The design and approach is very interesting because the enclosures are created using 3d print technology and the shape is taken by averaging the custom headphones molds of different people. The effect looks like semi transparent CIEMs (custom in ear monitor) but they are made of plastic. Inside there are 3 armature transducers made by Sonion in a 2-way configuration (2 drivers for bass and 1 for midrange and highs). The cable is detachable of course with 2 pin plugs. You have to take into account when ordering aftermarket cable the sockets are recessed. Most CIEM manufacturers, however, also utilize recessed sockets so there is no issue with the availability of correct plugs and cables.
Earphones fit perfectly in the ear, they are very comfortable and offer very good isolation. It is a pity that the manufacturer has not decided to add Spinfit CP100 tips because, for me they sound best with them. Unfortunately, the cable gives rather poor impression. It tangles easily and is very plasticky. There is also a microphonic effect, but I's eliminated for the most part by wearing the cable over the ear.
Sound impressions:
It need to be pointed that MDP (Massdrop Plus) are very sensitive to the source's impedence. They sound like they are meant to sound with the players offering less than 1 ohms. but already above 2 ohms the bass begins to live its own life and creates a shapeless mass. If your source has more than couple of ohms it will be necessary to use an adapter like iFi iEMatch.
It is hard to describe Massdrop Plus in a simple way and it is not due to the fact that the sound is strange or out of balance. We have something here that can be described as a perfect mix of 3 different approaches:
- studio like neutrality, being correct is emphesised greatly
- analytical sound and high efficiency with detail retrieval
- pure fun
If you had to make a cake from these 3 styles, MDP would be exactly where each layer met.
Highs are very clear and possess high culture. They are not hot but they still have great extension but I would not call them overemphasized. They do not go out in front of a row, they do not impose themselves, they do their own thing by extracting a lot of details but they are never tiring. Cymbals and the snare drum sound exactly as they should. The midrange is practically on the same level as the highs and is very weighty but still not thick. The midrange and highs do not work against each other, on the contrary they create a harmonious and coherent unity. Women's vocals still have this wonderful feature that they give goose bumps, but they are not accentuated. Sibilance and sharpness are ironed out. If the sibilance is in the recording, the MDPs will only tell you about it with marely just a noticeable gesture.
Bass is the only range at which you can say that it has been bumped Fortunately, it's not to exaggerated and it was lifted in a very linear way, which give very noticible effect but still in good taste. The bass has a full character, digs deep, have strong impact, never looses control, but it is also not too dominant - he does his thing complimenting midrange and highs. It is not epic in quality or quantity, it is simply very good.
Neutral highs and midrange with a larger bass gave the sound a darker, more massive, smoother and calmer character than analytical scalpels, but it's still not boring. On the one hand, we have the correctness and on the other, still very high musicality and cheerfulness of the bass. The musical essence is transmitted in a streamlined way without breaking it into atoms and throwing in the face. A lot of details are served as if by the way. Music flows and we still have an excellent insight into the recording, at the same time without falling into analytics. You can either focus on details or just let yourself be carried by the music without analysis. I think this is as much coloration as there can be to stll be called somewhat neutral.
The space is not very wide, but rather deep. Holography and spatial 3D effects are at a very high level. The instruments are well laid out in space and have a very good physical presence. Resolution, separation and transparency are excellent despite a little darker tone and not very wide soundstage.
Comparisons:
Etymotic Er4xr - legendary, one driver, absolutely flat, here with a slightly raised, more universal bass response. In direct comparison er4xr are much brighter, with much smaller bass more in the midbass section with very poor but still perceptible subbase region. Sparkly upper er4xr registers take out any imperfections of recordings. You can hear that they do not work that great with heavy music either. Metallica for example is listenable (on er4s it's a caricature) but still feel that this is not exactly what it should be. Massdrop offer much more in terms of bass and overall mass while not emphasizing often poorly recorded metal albums. There is a great percussion and authentic wall of sound with guitar riffs. In softer genres and better recordings, the brighter, more airy and raw approach of er4xr is more appropriate. It is impossible not to notice, however, that MDPs, apart from having massive sound, also have better resolution and three-dimensional soundstage. Er4xr serve the details straight in your face on the platter where in MDP this is not so obvious and you have to pay more attention.
Campfire Vega - several times more expensive offers a much more fun-oriented sound. Bass bumped greatly, super massive at the same time with astonishing culture combined with beautifully sparkly highs equals very impressive sound. A subdued midrange with a very organic timbre darkens the overall sound, and here the MDPs appear brighter, more neutral, more restrained both at the top and bottom. Certainly, the MDPs offer more universal, reference and even tuning, putting only a relatively light emphasis on the bass, but I must admit that Massdrop give way both in terms of resolution and the size of the soundstage. The difference, however, when it comes to the overall quality level is much smaller than price would suggest.
Inear Prophile 8 - you can't argue that technically Prophile 8 are better in every respect, offering also neutral tuning but with higher resolution, huge soundstage and effertless ease of detail retrieval. They lack however, a spark in the highest octave, and I would say they are not thrilling. MDPs loses when it comes to technical perfection, but they offer a more exciting sound, sacrificing a bit of being correct in order to give more fun sound.
Massdrop delivered exactly what they promised, that is, neutral sound with more base. Bass was raised linearly across the whole range, so the neutral character was only slightly disturbed. They offer a very high level sound, however, still a cultural manner perfectly balancing between ruthless detail extraction, studio correctness, and giving pure pleasure. Fans of colored sound can be disappointed because it's not headphones for them. If you want a neutral correctness but you do not want to give up musicality then these are headphones are for you. Similarly, if you feel the potential in Etymotic er4, but the amount of bass is too small for you MDP is also the equipment you should look at closely. At a reasonable price, we've received a product that literally i on almost 1000+$ level and offers a very universal sound.
I have the KSE 1200 and use them with Chord Hugo 2 and Chord Hugo TT2 which they scale up to easily. (Pairs well with Mojo too.)
To me the KSE 1200 are faultless, other than some cable microphonics. However the cable most times can be set where it's quiet or no noise at all. Just that if you do touch the cable you are going to hear it.
Anyway sorry, about the KSE 1200. They are timbally complete with an absolutely flawless tonal balance, while being stellar explosion quick and detailed. On the Hugo 2 which I would 100% recommend with the KSE 1200, they play right with any music. Any and all music.