You're going to get Grell responing in the comment section because he's very prolific. The sad thing is, he's a very nice guy from the times I've met him. But his headphones never improved from then to release.
Agreed on the sound quality. When I heard it I immediately knew it wasn't for me, despite being a Grell fan. One thing to note, the outcome here is the consequence of not aiming for a DF sound field. This headphone takes the tradeoff between tone color and spaciousness to another level and says "let's just go with a front biased sound field". And it turns out there are meaningful downsides to doing that. But, the note I wanted to mention is that this shouldn't be thought of as being diffuse field, rather contrary to diffuse field. The HD 600 should be considered closer to DF conceptually.
Whats wild is the HD800 is one of the best performing HPTF coupled devices even made. It is incredibly consistent between heads, yet this couldnt be any further from that. Im sure if you had Grells exact HRTF profile, it might work. But thats not a effective selling point, is it.
I also bought these headphones, and I like the OAE1 because it has a unique sound that other headphones don't have. The ambitious design of the OAE1 may not be a viable headphone, but I support it. However, I respect your opinion. Thank you for your great review.
Yeah I'd be curious how he really feels about the project. e.g. Is it "yeah it's weird but it achieves the effect I was after" or "we did the best we could w/ Drop's capabilities" or actually it's the future, y'all need to let go of HD 600."
Hi, I am the mayor of Cope City. I don't know what to do, I daily drive a 6XX with a Questyle M15, great sound. I bought the OAE1 and I 100% agree with your review on the sound portion. But here is my issue, I love this headphone, and I recognize the problems you mention that even without having a graph those are the areas I corrected with EQ. It gets worse, I actually like the sound without EQ and my big head is the perfect fit so these are so comfy they disappear on my head. I cannot eq the 6XX to produce bass like this. The bass isn't as articulate as I would like but I do not feel like it creeps into the mid-range in a nasty way like a Sony XM4 ( A headphone that I do not enjoy at all ). I wear headphones 6-8 hours a day working from home and for whatever this sound profile works so well for work, at low volumes the bass is still very engaging but I just like the sound. I have boxed it up to return and unboxed it 3 times because I should know better.... I used to think I was an audio guy before this, now I have lost all credibility. To reiterate, I agree with your sound assessment, I blindly corrected it in eq, but I just like it as is. HELP ME! This is not Axel Grell alternate account. What I do like is the bass is fully engaging, and it's overpronounced in a way that I find very pleasing and a larger, but not much wider than the 6XX. It does distort the sound in a way that it gives more of a front-to-back largeness that I also seem to like. Low-volume listening is very pleasurable, sometimes things are wrong in a cohesive manner (the porta pros come to mind as a headphone that is wrong but good) and I feel this works, it eqs well enough, but since it sounds good overallmy mind just gets used to the veil and lack of resolution even when I do not eq, creating a nice presentation. If I go back and forth I notice the flaws, if I just listen to them I sink in and just keep going. With headphones like Bose QC35 or Sony XM4, I feel like I am missing stuff when I listen, but with these, I do not think about what I am missing, because I like what I am being presented with, if that makes sense.
It's not this first collaboration, so well... even if he's a kind of legendary engineer we must not forget that he wasn't alone at Sennheiser, that there was a team that certainly helped him to work in a certain way, to make choices, and that the results obtained in this company don't seem to have continued afterwards. Talent, surely. Taste, not sure at all
Yep, Grell's recent run of products have been underwhelming at best. The TWS that sounded weird, didn't work as they should, and support was pretty much non-existent once the initial sales were made. Then you have his work on the "Heavys" where they're hit-and-miss within a very narrow niche subset of listeners (and the defense when bringing up the issues are to finger point to shift blame to others). And of course with these OAE1, you have the delay after delay, the underwhelming reception, the lack of utilization of feedback, the limited nature of the release (get the $ and get out before it's widely heard?) etc. I had hoped that the OAE1 would be as impressive as the HD6xx, or rival the 800 at a price point more consumer friendly, or really do something truly amazing that other headphones couldn't, but alas we get another product spit out to pay bills and that it's best redeeming quality is the person who's name is on it had some past glory (a couple decades ago, and while working with the Sennheiser team).
Even as a basshead, a rise that hits from 600 and continues into the lower frequencies with a very mild slope is just a recipe for disaster. When bass slopes like that it doesn't even tend to sound like bass. It just sounds like the singer is being smothered by a pillow while singing. I love when open backs go for a more "closed back" style bass, but I don't think it worked here.
I own several headphones 10x the price of the OAE1 and when listening to the grell for the first time it really sounds weird. It’s not your typical headphone presentation. But let me tell you, if you like listening to music on relatively low volume, then this headphone is the best experience for any kind of electronic music you can get. Yes the resolution is much lower, but it’s so damn immersive if you give it a chance and start listening without a bias on how a headphone is supposed to sound. Remember to check that the cable is in all the way (will make a click sound). The sound is really inoffensive and natural. I owned several studio monitor setups from Neumann as well as typical hifi speakers. While it does not sound like your (typically a bit bright in comparison to hifi speakers) reference monitors, it sounds very close to for example a Sonos setup with calibrated truesound-feature. What I basically want to say: It’s not your typical headphone sound, but if you listen at low to moderate volumes and enjoy a relaxed and immersive sound, this headphone is absolutely impressive. While it lacks a lot of technical chops compared to the big boys, it’s immersive music delivery is unmatched for certain genres.
Public service reminder that headphone enjoyment is still very subjective and YMMV. I own a pair of OAE1s also, and I would not even begin to try to make the argument that they are technically great phones, but I enjoy them - alot. Like, alot alot. I read the negative impressions (not just here, but elsewhere also) and it really leaves me scratching my head wondering whether their headphones are the same as mine. Totall respect your opinion, it's just not consistent with my experience. I have a huge head - and while yes, I have them fully expanded out - I find the OAE1's very, very comfortable. I don't feel a hotspot on the band at all. I do use a bit of EQ that I tune by ear but I think they are very engaging - again, not technically superior - but so enjoyable. Bass does not sound muddy to me at all. I'm wondering if there's some weird variations with the cables, or weird synergy with some gear. I don't know. I have several headphones - not a ton - but I mostly listen to Senn HD6XX's with the ZMF replacement pads. I like those a lot, but they have been sitting on the shelf since the OAE1's arrived. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Great thorough and thoughtful review though!
bit late of a comment but i love how subtly hilarious you are in these videos. hearing you talk about your history of cope with this set to showing the picture of it looking like a clown face in the original packaging, its kinda like a dad trying to make jokes but its actually so endearing that it loops back into being genuinely funny instead of out of touch.
Yeesh! That is a soul-destroying review. Problem is... I agree with everything you say here and have said so in the Head-Fi forums. Conceptually, it's an interesting headphone. Unfortunately, Grell didn't stick the landing here. Next time.
Which would be fine if the results were better, I think. I don't have much attachment to the 600 (great headphone but the soundstage, clamp and bass are big enough detriments to turn me off) and the OAE1 is still wildly mixed.
I have them and really like them. Yes because of the design it does not favor some music but on the otherhand it can sound incredible, to me even better than 600 or 650s. No headphone is "the best" for all music. I find them a worthy addition to his legacy. I do respect your opinion for sure but I'm really enjoying that these do not sound like his other headphones and while certainly imperfect they are unique and engaging for most music. I would summarize it like this. Do you focus more on the unique sound these can create for a lot of music, or do you focus on what frequency response part you don't like more? I am often thrilled that I heard something new or different that no other headphones revealed. Maybe its a glass half empty or half full type of thing in a way.
Last week my pair arrived at my door in the UK and were delivered alongside an impulse purchase of the Sennheiser HD490 - I planned to dedicate a few days testing them both back to back but nope....nope....nope....the HD490 is the only one I have been listening to. WTF is the point of the OAE1?, from comments on forums it is supposedly meant to excel with my choice of electronic music but it's a muddy mess and no amount of playing around with PEQ brings it up to the audio quality of the HD490. Going in the classifieds this week.
@@enjoshi-godrez8775 Living in the UK it's not really financially viable to return to the US once I pay postage for such a large box, after paying custom duty etc it cost me £350 ($450) so if I get back the original purchase cost of £275 I'll be happy enough
@@enjoshi-godrez8775 It comes in a rather large box so the cost of postage would be prohibitive, with uk custom charges of £72 on top of the £276 ($350) cost of the OAE1 the total purchase price in my hand was £350 ($450) so if I manage to get back the £276 original cost then I'll be happy enough. Lesson learned and my FOMO really bit me on the arse with this one.
@@SuperReview It's so much better in every way, from comfort to sound quality it's not a fair fight in the slightest. Brave review btw, I had high hopes for this headphone but having to admit it is not good after spending a considerable sum of money hurts the most.
So far I find it quite exciting and certainly a keeper. Yes, not everything sounds great, but the good songs sound fantastic. Rock live recordings sound like a concert, not really good, but very authentic.
💯 on lower treble every violin went to the next room leaving double bass and cellos in front of my face with a veil.... and the thing is hungrier than a 300ohm ZMF
Heya Mark, any plans to review the other new angled-transducer headphone, the 620S? Having had them for a month, I've been seriously loving them. Far more competent than the OEA1 we heard at Canjam SoCal!
I'll say this: i can't think of many bad headphones as interesting as the OAE1. Which doesn't make it a recommended product for anything but other sickos. There is a spaciousness and "live" kind of sound that's very unique, and seems very tied also to the absurd (for a traditional headphone) bass levels. It can sound very good on particular tracks. But for music that isn't mixed with the idea that it's supposed to sound like it's live (i.e., the vast majority of studio recorded music) it can sound very, very wrong as a consequence. And yeah, the timbre is very off.
Quite sad really. I have to say, Grell's previous involvement with a cheesily marketed, unnecessarily multi drivered, bluetooth headphone, didn't fill me with confidence.
Speaking of Sennheiser, have you considered trying some of the Custom Cans mods for the HD600 and HD6XX? I'd received mine a couple of weeks ago and on my clone rig with the foam that has the hole in the centre it almost perfectly hugs the 'high res Harman 2018' target in the lower midrange while also pretty massively decreasing the sub bass slope. On my model it also slightly increased 2K - 4K which isn't a problem for mine because it my unit was a bit more recessed there, but I feel like it might actually cause a problem for units that are already a bit hot in this area. Would be interested to see your thoughts (and measurements) on it since it doesn't really get any coverage and I feel like it may be an interesting upgrade with the caveat that it might cause some issues depending on your unit
I understand that the OAE-1 is very sensitive to driver positions on the head. I think it takes some fiddling around with to try and get it sounding more correct, rather than diffuse in some areas. I think the DCA Stealth had the same issue.
@@bernardoandrade88 I have the hd600 too. Imo the aune ar5000 feels in the gap that hd600 is lacking imo is soundstage and bass. And the aune is the first headphone I own to have an effect where the music is coming out of your head experience. Base on how you wear the headphone. The driver is angled but not as angled as the grell headphone. The grell headphone looks like it's on the side. Where the aune looks more like on a slope. It's an amazing experience. For me personally. Imo it's underatted
@@SuperReview It's an easy mistake to make! I'm not a fan of either cable and how deeply the connector has to be inserted into the headphone. Poor design I think.
@@robstivers1994 that design will shorten the cable's life if there's the need to swap... as the only way to unplug it is by pulling the cable itself...
Thanks Mr. Ryan. This is a great looking headphone but the head-size issue, coupled with the clamp force has me worried. Is your head size closer to Resolve or El Jefé?
It's not a new concept at all, lot of manufacturers have done it and continue to do it, it's just been pushed to a massive extreme here. I think Beyer's T1 and T5 were the most heavily angled I'd seen before this.
As a headphone DIYer I don't think the driver in that size and quality is good enough to push it so far away from your ear, it either gonna sound harsh and tiny or you just make the inner cup more closed which results in what you have now....I think he just wants something like AKG K1000 in a traditional headphone form factor, nobody ever done that before because it just not gonne work like that.....I'm surprised someone like Grell can make such a obvious mistake.
I'm so confused by the cables that come in the box. Why would they do dual 4-pole 2.5mm connectors for single ended and a single 4-pole for balanced? Make it make sense
The review and comments are so one sided thought best to stick my head in and say I really likes this Grell. As predominantly a stereo speaker guy, for my preferences the OAE1 just about does everything right IMHO, more so than my HD800S, but then again I've been in this hobby since the late 60's, so what do I know. So to say it's "Bad" is a relative thing, it's not bad to me, and others, nor Axel Grell, I hope. It's a turn about face from the HD600 so a bad comparison... and what the OAE1 achieves psycho-acoustically to involve me in the music experience is IMHO rather successful. So if one prefers more traditional headphones or IEMs, probably it would be more correct to say "It does not appease me". And to say "Bad "today can mean many things. lol
@@SuperReview No problem…What folks need to understand is that the OAE1 is a unique phone and a new project from a well respected 30 plus year veteran headphone designer. Not to go into the technical aspects and even though other manufacturers have offered offset angled drivers Axel Grell has applied his decades in applied scientific knowledge in acoustics to this new new creation, if we can call it that. The OAE1 needs to be approached with a different mind set and please leave the measurements and graphs at home, the recipe has been rewritten. Axel does state…"The OAE1 is not an HD 600 (you shouldn't use old (20+ years) HD 600s or HD 580s for comparison,” "If you have calibrated your sound perception with the HD 600, the OAE1 will certainly sound different. My suggestion: recalibrate your ears. Leave the HD 600 behind and listen to live music and the OAE1. If you listen to the HD 600 again after a few weeks” Maybe not what the FOTW RUclips crowd are wanting to hear but them are the facts… The OAE1 is Axel's personal project to offer as an alternative headphone listening experience and only came out in a very limited run of only 1000 (the Drop HD6xx is now at 193.2k sold), so I certainly feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to own this new headphone, which I and others in fact like quite a great deal so, we do not find it “bad” and I’m sure Axel does not find it “bad” (as far as we know). Lol Personally I “get it” , the sound that is, and many others “get it", but if others do not “get it” that’s fine too.. but sorry, to call it “Bad”….hhhhmmm, maybe relatively speaking a dislike? So “Bad” IMHO sounds a bit harsh….just saying. : )
@@robstivers1994 Not offended but as some us us do not find it "Bad" just hopefully giving Axel some support for what IMHO is a concerted effort on finally bringing to fruition his ideas on a novel headphone idea. It's not as it was a from a mega-buck producer looking for mega stardom. So again to call Axel's new headphone "Bad" and publicize one's dislike and title it as "Bad", is IMHO just "Bad" taste. We all know how social media works and "Bad" will be repeated ad-nauseam from minions who have never heard of Axel Grell nor any of his headphones, forget about his new baby the OAE1. lol Anyway catch you over at Head-fi. : )
Counterpoint: I had mine on loan for a while and just got them back yesterday, listened to them again and yep, still awful. But genuinely I am glad you like them. If we are making predictions of the future, I expect in 5 years we will look back on the OAE1 as a weird experiment that no one else tried to do again.
@@robstivers1994 Theres a crossover built into the headphone to prevent the drivers from all playing at once full range. The OAE1 & the Heavy H1h have crossovers built in since each ear has multiple drivers
@@SuperReview Tried to give you a shoutout in The Headphone Show but I mangled the words. At least this way you won’t have to collect it from Resolve. 🙂
@@SuperReview kinds feels like that grell is following the path where ollo audio was following earlier with their s4r lineup and the multi-channel audio headphone sequel of that. Interesting takes but again, considering what happened to ollo audio, i assume the winner here is sony with their mv1, with their popularity and somewhat making sense tonality.
You're going to get Grell responing in the comment section because he's very prolific. The sad thing is, he's a very nice guy from the times I've met him. But his headphones never improved from then to release.
I believe it, and I feel bad. Mr. Grell, thank you very much for the HD 600.
Agreed on the sound quality. When I heard it I immediately knew it wasn't for me, despite being a Grell fan. One thing to note, the outcome here is the consequence of not aiming for a DF sound field. This headphone takes the tradeoff between tone color and spaciousness to another level and says "let's just go with a front biased sound field". And it turns out there are meaningful downsides to doing that. But, the note I wanted to mention is that this shouldn't be thought of as being diffuse field, rather contrary to diffuse field. The HD 600 should be considered closer to DF conceptually.
Thank you for background & the terminology correction 🙏 Looking forward to your stream.
Whats wild is the HD800 is one of the best performing HPTF coupled devices even made. It is incredibly consistent between heads, yet this couldnt be any further from that. Im sure if you had Grells exact HRTF profile, it might work. But thats not a effective selling point, is it.
It's consistent but I think I've seen headphones that are more consistent in high frequencies.
Which one? Im not sure if there is any tbh @@DEALUX
I also bought these headphones, and I like the OAE1 because it has a unique sound that other headphones don't have. The ambitious design of the OAE1 may not be a viable headphone, but I support it.
However, I respect your opinion. Thank you for your great review.
Funny how in all CanJams video people were politely warning Grell about this being meh. I guess he had a big cylinder of copium under his table.
Yeah I'd be curious how he really feels about the project. e.g. Is it "yeah it's weird but it achieves the effect I was after" or "we did the best we could w/ Drop's capabilities" or actually it's the future, y'all need to let go of HD 600."
Hi, I am the mayor of Cope City. I don't know what to do, I daily drive a 6XX with a Questyle M15, great sound. I bought the OAE1 and I 100% agree with your review on the sound portion. But here is my issue, I love this headphone, and I recognize the problems you mention that even without having a graph those are the areas I corrected with EQ. It gets worse, I actually like the sound without EQ and my big head is the perfect fit so these are so comfy they disappear on my head. I cannot eq the 6XX to produce bass like this. The bass isn't as articulate as I would like but I do not feel like it creeps into the mid-range in a nasty way like a Sony XM4 ( A headphone that I do not enjoy at all ). I wear headphones 6-8 hours a day working from home and for whatever this sound profile works so well for work, at low volumes the bass is still very engaging but I just like the sound. I have boxed it up to return and unboxed it 3 times because I should know better.... I used to think I was an audio guy before this, now I have lost all credibility. To reiterate, I agree with your sound assessment, I blindly corrected it in eq, but I just like it as is. HELP ME! This is not Axel Grell alternate account.
What I do like is the bass is fully engaging, and it's overpronounced in a way that I find very pleasing and a larger, but not much wider than the 6XX. It does distort the sound in a way that it gives more of a front-to-back largeness that I also seem to like. Low-volume listening is very pleasurable, sometimes things are wrong in a cohesive manner (the porta pros come to mind as a headphone that is wrong but good) and I feel this works, it eqs well enough, but since it sounds good overallmy mind just gets used to the veil and lack of resolution even when I do not eq, creating a nice presentation. If I go back and forth I notice the flaws, if I just listen to them I sink in and just keep going. With headphones like Bose QC35 or Sony XM4, I feel like I am missing stuff when I listen, but with these, I do not think about what I am missing, because I like what I am being presented with, if that makes sense.
Doesn't sound like a problem to me 👍 Enjoy.
@@SuperReview Fair
"This is not Axel Grell alternate account." It's ok, you can come out of hiding now, Mr. Grell.
@@yeeaah1988 I really thought that would work
A bass shelf done in this way can be pleasing to some
It's not this first collaboration, so well... even if he's a kind of legendary engineer we must not forget that he wasn't alone at Sennheiser, that there was a team that certainly helped him to work in a certain way, to make choices, and that the results obtained in this company don't seem to have continued afterwards.
Talent, surely. Taste, not sure at all
It's a good point, but I also don't want to diminish his contributions to my love of headphones.
Yep, Grell's recent run of products have been underwhelming at best. The TWS that sounded weird, didn't work as they should, and support was pretty much non-existent once the initial sales were made. Then you have his work on the "Heavys" where they're hit-and-miss within a very narrow niche subset of listeners (and the defense when bringing up the issues are to finger point to shift blame to others). And of course with these OAE1, you have the delay after delay, the underwhelming reception, the lack of utilization of feedback, the limited nature of the release (get the $ and get out before it's widely heard?) etc.
I had hoped that the OAE1 would be as impressive as the HD6xx, or rival the 800 at a price point more consumer friendly, or really do something truly amazing that other headphones couldn't, but alas we get another product spit out to pay bills and that it's best redeeming quality is the person who's name is on it had some past glory (a couple decades ago, and while working with the Sennheiser team).
few years back the 8xx was quite bad as well.... think they only ran one batch and never heard since
Even as a basshead, a rise that hits from 600 and continues into the lower frequencies with a very mild slope is just a recipe for disaster. When bass slopes like that it doesn't even tend to sound like bass. It just sounds like the singer is being smothered by a pillow while singing. I love when open backs go for a more "closed back" style bass, but I don't think it worked here.
I own several headphones 10x the price of the OAE1 and when listening to the grell for the first time it really sounds weird.
It’s not your typical headphone presentation. But let me tell you, if you like listening to music on relatively low volume, then this headphone is the best experience for any kind of electronic music you can get.
Yes the resolution is much lower, but it’s so damn immersive if you give it a chance and start listening without a bias on how a headphone is supposed to sound.
Remember to check that the cable is in all the way (will make a click sound).
The sound is really inoffensive and natural.
I owned several studio monitor setups from Neumann as well as typical hifi speakers. While it does not sound like your (typically a bit bright in comparison to hifi speakers) reference monitors, it sounds very close to for example a Sonos setup with calibrated truesound-feature.
What I basically want to say:
It’s not your typical headphone sound,
but if you listen at low to moderate volumes and enjoy a relaxed and immersive sound, this headphone is absolutely impressive. While it lacks a lot of technical chops compared to the big boys, it’s immersive music delivery is unmatched for certain genres.
imo this can only handle human vocals, anything else the timbre is weird
@@fatdoi003 every impression is valid. Maybe the Grell reacts very sensitive to different ear anatomies. I can just talk about my personal experience.
Public service reminder that headphone enjoyment is still very subjective and YMMV. I own a pair of OAE1s also, and I would not even begin to try to make the argument that they are technically great phones, but I enjoy them - alot. Like, alot alot. I read the negative impressions (not just here, but elsewhere also) and it really leaves me scratching my head wondering whether their headphones are the same as mine. Totall respect your opinion, it's just not consistent with my experience. I have a huge head - and while yes, I have them fully expanded out - I find the OAE1's very, very comfortable. I don't feel a hotspot on the band at all. I do use a bit of EQ that I tune by ear but I think they are very engaging - again, not technically superior - but so enjoyable. Bass does not sound muddy to me at all. I'm wondering if there's some weird variations with the cables, or weird synergy with some gear. I don't know. I have several headphones - not a ton - but I mostly listen to Senn HD6XX's with the ZMF replacement pads. I like those a lot, but they have been sitting on the shelf since the OAE1's arrived. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. Great thorough and thoughtful review though!
Thanks, Super Mark. These reviews are important too!👌🏻👏🏼
🤙
Feels bad, but all outta cope.
bit late of a comment but i love how subtly hilarious you are in these videos.
hearing you talk about your history of cope with this set to showing the picture of it looking like a clown face in the original packaging, its kinda like a dad trying to make jokes but its actually so endearing that it loops back into being genuinely funny instead of out of touch.
Yeesh! That is a soul-destroying review. Problem is... I agree with everything you say here and have said so in the Head-Fi forums. Conceptually, it's an interesting headphone. Unfortunately, Grell didn't stick the landing here. Next time.
He's probably annoyed by HD 600 stans like me as much as Radiohead is annoyed by fans of "Creep."
Which would be fine if the results were better, I think.
I don't have much attachment to the 600 (great headphone but the soundstage, clamp and bass are big enough detriments to turn me off) and the OAE1 is still wildly mixed.
I have them and really like them. Yes because of the design it does not favor some music but on the otherhand it can sound incredible, to me even better than 600 or 650s. No headphone is "the best" for all music. I find them a worthy addition to his legacy. I do respect your opinion for sure but I'm really enjoying that these do not sound like his other headphones and while certainly imperfect they are unique and engaging for most music. I would summarize it like this. Do you focus more on the unique sound these can create for a lot of music, or do you focus on what frequency response part you don't like more? I am often thrilled that I heard something new or different that no other headphones revealed. Maybe its a glass half empty or half full type of thing in a way.
Last week my pair arrived at my door in the UK and were delivered alongside an impulse purchase of the Sennheiser HD490 - I planned to dedicate a few days testing them both back to back but nope....nope....nope....the HD490 is the only one I have been listening to.
WTF is the point of the OAE1?, from comments on forums it is supposedly meant to excel with my choice of electronic music but it's a muddy mess and no amount of playing around with PEQ brings it up to the audio quality of the HD490.
Going in the classifieds this week.
You can't return it to drop?
I agree the 490 is a strictly better headphone.
@@enjoshi-godrez8775 Living in the UK it's not really financially viable to return to the US once I pay postage for such a large box, after paying custom duty etc it cost me £350 ($450) so if I get back the original purchase cost of £275 I'll be happy enough
@@enjoshi-godrez8775 It comes in a rather large box so the cost of postage would be prohibitive, with uk custom charges of £72 on top of the £276 ($350) cost of the OAE1 the total purchase price in my hand was £350 ($450) so if I manage to get back the £276 original cost then I'll be happy enough.
Lesson learned and my FOMO really bit me on the arse with this one.
@@SuperReview It's so much better in every way, from comfort to sound quality it's not a fair fight in the slightest.
Brave review btw, I had high hopes for this headphone but having to admit it is not good after spending a considerable sum of money hurts the most.
Thanks for being honest and saving my time 👍
And money!
So far I find it quite exciting and certainly a keeper. Yes, not everything sounds great, but the good songs sound fantastic. Rock live recordings sound like a concert, not really good, but very authentic.
💯 on lower treble every violin went to the next room leaving double bass and cellos in front of my face with a veil....
and the thing is hungrier than a 300ohm ZMF
god bless the power of PEQ, PEQ saved this headphone for me
Can you share your profile? I've been playing with PEQ with some success but still a ways to go
Heya Mark, any plans to review the other new angled-transducer headphone, the 620S?
Having had them for a month, I've been seriously loving them. Far more competent than the OEA1 we heard at Canjam SoCal!
No current plans no.
Pity, it does look cool.
Agreed.
Wow, its so good that its a six star that then loops back to being a one star
Damn, come to think of it this is kinda like finding out Bruce Willis is actually Joseph Gordon Levitt.
I'll say this: i can't think of many bad headphones as interesting as the OAE1.
Which doesn't make it a recommended product for anything but other sickos.
There is a spaciousness and "live" kind of sound that's very unique, and seems very tied also to the absurd (for a traditional headphone) bass levels.
It can sound very good on particular tracks. But for music that isn't mixed with the idea that it's supposed to sound like it's live (i.e., the vast majority of studio recorded music) it can sound very, very wrong as a consequence.
And yeah, the timbre is very off.
Good take.
Quite sad really. I have to say, Grell's previous involvement with a cheesily marketed, unnecessarily multi drivered, bluetooth headphone, didn't fill me with confidence.
you make me wanna get it...just to try it out.
It is an experience.
So it sounds like a $50 gaming headphone from 2012?
With headphones like this being released normally the gaming headphones are actually better tuned these days. Wonder what went wrong?
"Audio history". Yeah, the dark ages😂
Speaking of Sennheiser, have you considered trying some of the Custom Cans mods for the HD600 and HD6XX? I'd received mine a couple of weeks ago and on my clone rig with the foam that has the hole in the centre it almost perfectly hugs the 'high res Harman 2018' target in the lower midrange while also pretty massively decreasing the sub bass slope. On my model it also slightly increased 2K - 4K which isn't a problem for mine because it my unit was a bit more recessed there, but I feel like it might actually cause a problem for units that are already a bit hot in this area. Would be interested to see your thoughts (and measurements) on it since it doesn't really get any coverage and I feel like it may be an interesting upgrade with the caveat that it might cause some issues depending on your unit
I understand that the OAE-1 is very sensitive to driver positions on the head. I think it takes some fiddling around with to try and get it sounding more correct, rather than diffuse in some areas. I think the DCA Stealth had the same issue.
I was hoping that kind of cope would work out, but in reality I could not find a position on my head where it sounds good.
You need to review the aune ar5000 the driver is angled as well.
I am very curious to try that one.
@@SuperReview And please compare it to the hd 600 on the occasion! Thank you!
@@bernardoandrade88 I have the hd600 too. Imo the aune ar5000 feels in the gap that hd600 is lacking imo is soundstage and bass. And the aune is the first headphone I own to have an effect where the music is coming out of your head experience. Base on how you wear the headphone.
The driver is angled but not as angled as the grell headphone. The grell headphone looks like it's on the side. Where the aune looks more like on a slope.
It's an amazing experience. For me personally. Imo it's underatted
This a very funny review, in the best way possible. Sad about the earphones, though.
If someone showed me that graph and said it was for an IEM, I'd assume the bass might sound a bit muddy even then
I'm waiting for someone to tell you you didn't have the cables plugged in all the way...
Fun fact: I didn't have the cable plugged in all the way. When I first went to measure it. Figured it out pretty quickly :P
@@SuperReview It's an easy mistake to make! I'm not a fan of either cable and how deeply the connector has to be inserted into the headphone. Poor design I think.
@@robstivers1994 that design will shorten the cable's life if there's the need to swap... as the only way to unplug it is by pulling the cable itself...
Thanks Mr. Ryan. This is a great looking headphone but the head-size issue, coupled with the clamp force has me worried. Is your head size closer to Resolve or El Jefé?
Good question, we'll have to engage in some phrenology.
Should've bought the Ananda Nano
That's a good headphone (and Edition XS).
Dan Clark has started angling their drivers so sound is more in front of you too.
Looking forward to the first headphone that puts a 100mm planar as far forward as the OAE1 puts its driver 🤣
Sennheiser, too - e.g. the specs of the 560s say "angled transducers recreate the optimal listening position every time".
Beyerdynamic also did this years ago in T5.
It's not a new concept at all, lot of manufacturers have done it and continue to do it, it's just been pushed to a massive extreme here. I think Beyer's T1 and T5 were the most heavily angled I'd seen before this.
Raal requisite SR1b
As a headphone DIYer I don't think the driver in that size and quality is good enough to push it so far away from your ear, it either gonna sound harsh and tiny or you just make the inner cup more closed which results in what you have now....I think he just wants something like AKG K1000 in a traditional headphone form factor, nobody ever done that before because it just not gonne work like that.....I'm surprised someone like Grell can make such a obvious mistake.
I feel like dual 3.5mm isn't that rare since Hifiman uses it.
Yeah, 3.5mm is quite common. This is dual 2.5mm though.
@@SuperReview thanks for the reply. I guess I misheard the 3.5. Makes much more sense now.
I'm so confused by the cables that come in the box. Why would they do dual 4-pole 2.5mm connectors for single ended and a single 4-pole for balanced? Make it make sense
I am not smart enough to understand.
The review and comments are so one sided thought best to stick my head in and say I really likes this Grell. As predominantly a stereo speaker guy, for my preferences the OAE1 just about does everything right IMHO, more so than my HD800S, but then again I've been in this hobby since the late 60's, so what do I know. So to say it's "Bad" is a relative thing, it's not bad to me, and others, nor Axel Grell, I hope. It's a turn about face from the HD600 so a bad comparison... and what the OAE1 achieves psycho-acoustically to involve me in the music experience is IMHO rather successful. So if one prefers more traditional headphones or IEMs, probably it would be more correct to say "It does not appease me". And to say "Bad "today can mean many things. lol
Thank you for chiming in 👍
@@SuperReview No problem…What folks need to understand is that the OAE1 is a unique phone and a new project from a well respected 30 plus year veteran headphone designer.
Not to go into the technical aspects and even though other manufacturers have offered offset angled drivers Axel Grell has applied his decades in applied scientific knowledge in acoustics to this new new creation, if we can call it that. The OAE1 needs to be approached with a different mind set and please leave the measurements and graphs at home, the recipe has been rewritten.
Axel does state…"The OAE1 is not an HD 600 (you shouldn't use old (20+ years) HD 600s or HD 580s for comparison,”
"If you have calibrated your sound perception with the HD 600, the OAE1 will certainly sound different. My suggestion: recalibrate your ears. Leave the HD 600 behind and listen to live music and the OAE1. If you listen to the HD 600 again after a few weeks”
Maybe not what the FOTW RUclips crowd are wanting to hear but them are the facts…
The OAE1 is Axel's personal project to offer as an alternative headphone listening experience and only came out in a very limited run of only 1000 (the Drop HD6xx is now at 193.2k sold), so I certainly feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to own this new headphone, which I and others in fact like quite a great deal so, we do not find it “bad” and I’m sure Axel does not find it “bad” (as far as we know). Lol
Personally I “get it” , the sound that is, and many others “get it", but if others do not “get it” that’s fine too.. but sorry, to call it “Bad”….hhhhmmm, maybe relatively speaking a dislike? So “Bad” IMHO sounds a bit harsh….just saying. : )
Some people like it, some just don't. No need to be offended. Be happy you're one of the ones this headphone works for.
You being from the 60's makes you LESS credible, not more. Lmao
@@robstivers1994 Not offended but as some us us do not find it "Bad" just hopefully giving Axel some support for what IMHO is a concerted effort on finally bringing to fruition his ideas on a novel headphone idea. It's not as it was a from a mega-buck producer looking for mega stardom. So again to call Axel's new headphone "Bad" and publicize one's dislike and title it as "Bad", is IMHO just "Bad" taste.
We all know how social media works and "Bad" will be repeated ad-nauseam from minions who have never heard of Axel Grell nor any of his headphones, forget about his new baby the OAE1. lol Anyway catch you over at Head-fi. : )
This outro music slaps
I'll stick to my aune ar5000, fiio ft3 and hfm edition xs for my headphone needs I suppose. Koss kph40 gets most of my headphone time though lol.
My soul promptly left my body after listening to these...
Did you go to CanJam?
The more I listen to these headphones the more I love them. They are incredibly awesome and you are on the wrong side of history. I'm serious.
Counterpoint: I had mine on loan for a while and just got them back yesterday, listened to them again and yep, still awful. But genuinely I am glad you like them. If we are making predictions of the future, I expect in 5 years we will look back on the OAE1 as a weird experiment that no one else tried to do again.
@@SuperReviewfair enough...I predict that even if they fail they will become a sought after "cult classic"...but I think they deserve to succeed.
Yikes train wreck… a frequency response not even a mother could love
Buddy... Bring out the hiby R4 review 😂😂 im waiting on my purchase
I don't spam your comments, please don't spam mine.
An answer to Apple full size cans. Possibly
I actually dont think it measures the worst, i suspect the real issue is in the crossover, but is more of a showcase about the technology
What crossover?
@@robstivers1994 Theres a crossover built into the headphone to prevent the drivers from all playing at once full range. The OAE1 & the Heavy H1h have crossovers built in since each ear has multiple drivers
Nope. Only 1 driver per side.
Thanks!
Gadzooks, thanks Rob!
@@SuperReview Tried to give you a shoutout in The Headphone Show but I mangled the words. At least this way you won’t have to collect it from Resolve. 🙂
@Mark Koss KSC75 still up there as one of your favorites? My daily driver. :)
I like KSC75 a million times more than the OAE1.
That's strange! My balanced cable is black and it also doesn't have a pattern like yours.
Yo foreal? Innnnnteresting. Plot thickens.
yes mine too.... just black
Its almost like he gave up trying to make this work and just put it out anyways.
The clown face haha XD
It seems this one is even more complex to wear than earbuds?
I did graph it with different positions, the change is fairly straight forward and predictable.
Clearly Grell wasn't the magic sauce at least not by himself so any ideas where HD600 etc came from?
It can still be true that he's the reason HD 600 is as good as it is, and he's just exploring a different theory with this one.
@@SuperReviewThe coping continues I see😅
maybe his hearing is now down to 5khz
Welp.
oh man dat scoop in low highs...
It's a bold move for sure.
@@SuperReview kinds feels like that grell is following the path where ollo audio was following earlier with their s4r lineup and the multi-channel audio headphone sequel of that. Interesting takes but again, considering what happened to ollo audio, i assume the winner here is sony with their mv1, with their popularity and somewhat making sense tonality.
But is it good for GAMING?? 🤔
The imaging with Solitaire is pretty impressive.
Solitaire transducer tier list pls
I kinda expected it to be meh.
How come?
@@SuperReview the canjam feedbacks hehe
So painfull 😭
Disappointing
Oae1 sugma
Tell me their R&D budget and I tell you if they are good or bad...