Drop Panda + THX Wireless Headphone PR

I figured I drop a note here as might be interesting. Retuned Oppo PM-3 back from the dead with BT wireless.

Here are the major product details:

Sound
Drop house sound; within 10db variation from 20 to 10k, above neutral bass, neutral mids, neutral highs with extension on both ends (more on the bottom than top). Targeting a less-dark PM3 with better extension.

Driver
Panda utilizes a Planar Ribbon Driver. This driver type is a subset of planar magnetic drivers that utilizes a dual sided magnetic structure on a braced diaphragm to deliver a carefully-tuned, phase-correct sound. This driver technology has only been used in one series of headphones previously, the Oppo PM-1, PM-2, and PM-3.

It's the PM3 driver with damping improvements. We acquired the Planar Ribbon tech and all existing driver designs from Oppo and redesigned the damping system to resolve some of the darkness that the community didn't like about the PM-3.

Amp Feeding the Planar Ribbon Driver, you’ll find a discrete THX-AAA amplifier implementation designed by our team in collaboration with THX. This amplifier can drive Panda to comfortable listening volumes for everyone with headroom to spare. BT Chipset To handle the audio transfer + conversion, Panda features the Qualcomm QCC5124 chipset. Our implementation of this chipset supports LDAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX adaptive, AAC, and SBC.

DSP Panda’s sound is the result of passive acoustic tuning, there’s no DSP in Panda. If there's enough interest, we may be able to create an EQ app in the future. There's DSP on the chipset, it's just turned off, so with user-upgradable firmware, a lot is possible.

Battery
Battery life is 30+ hrs, with Quick Charge giving you 3+ hrs on 10 minutes of charge via USB-C. We’re in the midst of aligning our testing criteria with the market (is bose testing at 50% volume or 20%? is sony testing with ANC on full or half? etc), but we expect Panda to exceed the battery life of major ANC headsets.

Isolation
Panda is fully closed and designed for strong acoustic isolation. We’re waiting on the testing lab to confirm a db measurement, but subjectively, it’s on-par with deep-sitting IEM isolation.

Compatibility
Panda has a passive input, enabling use with external amplifiers and non-BT devices like the Nintendo Switch.

Weight
Despite the battery, amplifier, and heavy drivers, we’ve been able to keep Panda’s weight under 350g.

Communication
Panda features dual mics on the right earcup for effective communication and virtual assistants.

Materials
Materials are plastic (most of it, for weight) and cast aluminum (gimble arms, hinges, etc). Earpads are a plush foam wrapped in premium protein leather. The headband is a smooth rubber (lots of care has been taken to achieve the right level of "grip", it'll stay on your head, but won't pull out your hair) and we designed the geometry of the headphone so the weight is held by the earcups instead of the headband. Clamping force is less than a new HD6XX and more than a new K7XX, I'd call it "comfortable, but certain". Clamping force is less than a new HD6XX and more than a new K7XX, I'd call it "comfortable, but certain".

Price
Panda’s MSRP is $399.99

Launch Timing
Panda will launch at the end of January (targeting the 27th right now, may change) and units will ship closer to summer ("summer" is a reasonable range, could be sooner, just depends on details we don't know today).

Pics + Additional Context
https://drop.com/talk/28554/panda-announcement?discussion=true
https://drop.com/talk/28554/talk/2548317?utm_source=linkshare&referer=R6FTNP

 

Wtf. Is this a press release written by a toddler? Where is the review? Pics? Your measurements and impressions?

 

hm this seems to be a product that SBAF cares about if:

1. these dual mics work with my virtual assistant @Hands to actually fix him into making decent breakfast pancakes in the morning before we all head off to work/school.

2. @CEE TEE this idea hatched after your departure? thus no one with merit ears was involved?

 

or, we only care about this "high quality" audio product if we rebrand ourselves:

Super Best Consumer Audio Vagrants
so the homeless are justifiably allowed to vote in what headphones get donated to them on the streets?

 

The lack of input on sonics is utterly deafening. Are we turning into Head-Fi advertorials?

 

Shit, I must have miss-clicked and landed on Neo-Innerfidelity.

 

@purr1n have you heard it? I can't let this thread continue as-is without some actual impressions or your measurements or anything relevant. If you don't have any more info than this I'm considering locking the thread until there's something relevant. We're not that kind of advertising channel and I don't want 40 pages of nose picking, booger flicking and speculation while we wait for someone to hear them.

 

Dude, stop stalking me on the shoutbox. Let me get back to Drop. I have some early measurements, but Drop is still tweaking so it's not final. From measurements, it does look promising. I could careless about BT, so the passive input is welcome. Yes, there's a transition at Drop with @CEE TEE's departure. Give them some time.