Drop and Hifiman’s pitch for the HE-R7DX headphones is simple: bring the essence of audiophile audio down to an affordable level. At $99, these cans should be a solid entry for budding audio enthusiasts, delivering great audio even if you’re driving them with a standard phone or computer rather than a powerful DAC. In fact, the Drop’s page promises “excellent isolation, impressive detail” and even an “open soundstage.” That sounds like a winning formula, but does the HE-R7DX fit their bills? We tested the HE-R7DX for two weeks to find out.
The first thing you’ll notice about these headphones out of the box is the design, it’s simple but a bit retro with the large navy blue plastic earcups and black textured leather headband that’s become a Hifiman signature and Comes with a small metal prong to connect the two components together. I’ve seen some complaints that the design might be a bit bland, but to me, the HE-R7DX have a certain minimalist and refined quality that makes them seem more expensive. You won’t find any extra controls on the bottom of the earphones for volume and the like – those are left to the host device – and since these are earphones rather than a headset, there’s no microphone either. With a simple 3.5mm audio jack at the end of the rather thick cable, the connection remains nice and easy, and in the box you also get a 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter to allow for use with more professional grade audio gear use.
Granted, these are some of the better-fitting headphones I’ve tested, and aside from the headband, there’s little to no adjustment. There’s no real rotation on the ear cups other than the natural rotation when you put them on your head. The HE-R7DX are also some of the looser cans I’ve used because they just sit on your head instead of clamping around your skull. The feel takes some getting used to, but helps make them particularly suitable for long listening sessions. At 338 grams, they’re heavier than many similarly priced gaming headsets I’m used to, but in the headset world, the HE-R7DX is surprisingly light, which helps make them more comfortable.
It’s easy to assume the loose fit means they leak noise, but in reality, the HE-R7DX has pretty good noise isolation even when no music or audio is playing. The sound of the rain outside my apartment and the sound of construction workers outside are a bit muffled. Still, typing on my Das Keyboard MacTigr wasn’t drowned out unless I cranked the volume up close to max.
Volume This point gives me a good idea of sound quality. The sound of the HE-R7DX is really good. Getting the fit right is key, though, because without it, you won’t get a good enough seal to experience the power of these cans. They offer Hifiman’s signature neutral sound profile, which means every part of the frequency response is well represented and well thought out. They’re definitely not bass-heavy monsters, that’s for sure.
To be honest, the bass here isn’t as impactful as you might initially expect, and there’s no thump. But that’s not a bad thing, as it allows more nuance and texture to seep through, and provides more rounded low-end, rather than the feeling of being hit on the head with an axe. Listening to Elvis Costello’s “Watching The Detectives” is a perfect example, where the low-end of Bruce Thomas’ simple bassline provides useful oomph for the rest of the music. buffer.
The HE-R7DX’s midrange is also handled well, and its smoothness and neutrality make these sounds a little more expensive than they really are. They’re also meticulous listeners, picking up plenty of subtle tones in tracks like the live clip of James Taylor’s stomping Steamroller Blues that I’d never noticed before. It handles vocal-centric tracks like Crosby, Stills & Nash’s Helplessly Hoping with surprising clarity, as well as heavier options like Rush’s Working Man, Geddy Lee’s near-screaming vocals and excellent detail.
Speaking of the high end, these Drop and Hifiman cans do a good job in the treble presence, with the strings and percussion having a sharp but sweet shimmer and an overall brilliance. Neil Peart’s cymbal presence on Working Man’s instrumental section doesn’t feel harsh or overdone, but rather complements the existing low and midrange frequencies nicely. Steely Dan’s excellent Do It Again has always been a favorite for testing the top end, and its opening minutes of competing percussive elements don’t sound like they’re overlapping each other with the HE-R7DX. Instead, they each have their own breathing room and voice in the process.
It gets especially good at the front of the soundstage, or the breadth of the audio, though the entire frequency response range sounds particularly subtle but balanced with the HE-R7DX. For a pair of closed backs, they provide excellent separation, and the different areas of the band provide a lot of breathing room, helping to extract as much as possible from the song. Closed backs can sometimes sound a bit messy, with instruments and vocals mixed together, but with these cans, the sound has a sense of depth that’s almost as good as open backs in quality and presentation. Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl is a good example, with the opening drums having a nice reverb effect, and the backing vocals. Also, the little bongo voice on the far right sounded fun and energetic when listening to Earth, Wind and Fire’s September.
All of these combine to make the HE-R7DX a great all-around headset for work, music and gaming. The fact that they don’t sound too harsh or overbearing, and offer a rather “soft” profile, means that they handle different types of music equally well, and shows that their audio doesn’t seem to be in more places than it should be. Affordable dynamic driver headphones.
Digging into some other key technical strengths, the very low impedance of 16 ohms means you can easily run these headphones even with your smartphone or computer’s integrated audio. Honestly, I don’t have a fancy DAC/AMP, I just plug them into the spare 3.5mm jack on my MacBook Pro and get such high quality and balanced sound from such a low powered device, it must if It’s a good sign that you want to run it on a higher-end device.
All in all, the $99 Drop and Hifiman HE-R7DX represent a great value for more audiophile headphones. They deliver a gorgeously refined, almost velvety sound profile that makes them remarkable all-rounders for gaming and music, as well as a stellar soundstage that many similarly priced closed trunks may not be able to compete with. Admittedly, their installation takes some getting used to, but once everything feels right, you’re bound to have a lot of fun with these cans.
