Drop + Grell OAE1 review by RTINGS.com.
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I can appreciate honest reviews especially if I know what to expect. The problem starts when somebody like Axel Grell DARES TO CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO. How reviewers deal with this says more (in my view) about them than the actual product being reviewed.
In my view, conventional headphones distort the original geometry of the recording - to a large (and in my view not acceptable) degree. There have been several attempts to improve this BUT convention (including reviews) seems to really prevent any of those attempts from becoming economically viable. When a reviewer uses the vast majority of “distorting” products as a reference, there will never be any opportunities to fix the real life issues.
My expectations when reviewing the principles or the products is not to defend or attack them, rather to explore ones own perception and what these products actually do in comparison to the design goals (if the manufacturer actually publishes them). If Mr. Grell claims better matching to various head transfer functions due to incorporating more of the ear, that should be quantifiable. I expect that to be part of a serious review. That would not rule out evaluation frequency response tuning but would perhaps provide a link between headphone geometry and perceived sound quality.
Now as far as my view on reviews that are unfavorable to a product, just imagine if a reviewer only reported on stuff that they “liked” but then went into greater detail. Things that did not meet the cut simply did not get a review (except maybe for a mention that it did not make the cut). What is different for the consumer? In my view nothing. What percentage of people in this market actually recreate the tests that we read to create our own opinion? Soooo, if we just find a reviewer with an opinion close to our preconception, we go with that.
In the case of the OAE-1, I wrote Greall and asked where I could hear the headphone in Germany, where I live. Months later - still no response. It appears that I would have to import them without getting a chance to hear them first.
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Took awhile but the English version of the site is up with OAE2 info:
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I am personally very interested in the OAE-2. The OAE-1 did not work for me at all, regardless of the positioning and I’ve had a few chats with Grell over the years that have been very insightful.
With Jermo now working with Grell, I’d love to see the OAE-2 now succeed so that Grell can step out of the Sennheiser shadow and really start to build a brand. We need more brands pushing each other in the landscape of audio.
With Drop recently shutting down now, it should give Grell some more widespread distribution which may help if they can get the tuning nailed.
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I haven’t heard anything about when, but I think they will be selling through Dekoni here in the USA. They are already selling in Germany.
I’m happy with my OAE1 but it’s not something I use often. The OAE2 could be different but at the price they will reportedly be asking, I will wait for multiple reviews before considering a purchase.
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Looks like Grell is planning to launch the OAE-2 in the US on April 1st. Bloom Audio has a listing for them so I guess the Dekoni deal fell through.
Maybe Headphones.com can carry them too?
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Drop.com is closing at the end of the month (March 31st 2026), but they still have the Drop + Grell OAE1 Headphones in stock for $99. People who are interested in the OAE1 sound might want to grab them before they disappear.
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I’m curious to hear them. Some of the people I’m familiar with on another site seem to like how they sound. I’m going to give them a go and see what happens.
After initial listening, my experience with the OAE1 is somewhat different to @listener and @Resolve. For me, they mostly work as Mr. Grell intended. I’m amazed at just how well they work for me in situ. There are a lot of others on various sites who also think highly of the OAE1, which doesn’t align with many of the audiophile reviews. The variations with HRTF never cease to amaze me.