The world’s first wireless Hi-Fi headphone, Panda features never-before-seen tech in a never-leave-at-home design. Thanks to its planar-ribbon drivers (powered by THX AAA™ amplifier technology) with audio delivered from your phone via Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth, Panda puts you closer to your music than ever before—wherever life takes you.
A collaboration between Drop and THX, Panda lets you discover new details in your favorite songs. Equipped with a THX AAA™ amplifier, planar-ribbon drivers, and a high-bandwidth Bluetooth audio codec (a proprietary never-before-seen combination known as the 3P Signal Path), Panda is the world’s first headphone to deliver an audiophile listening experience—wirelessly. It sets a new standard when listening to music, watching movies, or playing games.
World’s first wireless audiophile system
World’s first headphone with Drop planar-ribbon drivers (derived from Oppo Digital's PM Series)
World’s first headphone with THX AAA™ amplifier technology
World’s first headphone with LDAC + Qualcomm QCC5125
World’s first headphone with matching FR +THD measurements in passive and active mode
Good news: production is underway! Check out these pictures of the left and right earcups being made in the molding-injection tool.
Planar-ribbon drivers are synonymous with high-quality audio. What makes them so special? They feature evenly spaced magnets on both sides of the diaphragm that act on a flat plane—hence the name “planar”—which results in carefully tuned phase-correct sound. Thanks to the evenly suspended diaphragm, planar-ribbon drivers are extremely resistant to distortion, boasting a hyper-realistic sound signature as you’ve never before experienced.
FEM-Optimized Magnet System: To maximize driver sensitivity and consistency, Panda features a FEM-optimized magnet system with high-energy, high-quality Neodymium magnets.
True Phase Coherence: Sound travels like a wave. With a traditional driver, the wave can be disrupted, resulting in abnormal peaks and valleys. With a planar-ribbon driver, all parts of the driver diaphragm vibrate together without breakup or delayed resonance.
Double-Sided Spiraling Coils: Designed with a flat, spiraling conductor pattern, Panda allows twice as many conductors to be placed within the magnetic field. This creates higher sensitivity, better damping, and even drive force.
7-Layer Diaphragm: Comprised of seven thin layers, the diaphragms inside each driver are engineered for performance and reliability. They perform well under thermal stress and vibration.
Purely Resistive Impedance: Absent of inductive components, Panda’s planar-ribbon drivers eliminate inductance-related intermodulation distortion—a common problem found in dynamic drivers.
Panda is the world’s first headphone with integrated THX AAA™ amplifier technology. Designed to reduce harmonic, intermodulation, and crossover distortions, this technology transmits original audio in its purest possible form. Using patented feed-forward error-correction topology, it reduces distortion by 20 to 100 times—currently the world’s lowest levels of distortion. And no matter how loud you listen, the THX AAA™ amplifier can drive Panda to comfortable listening volumes with headroom to spare.
The year was 1982. George Lucas shocked the world with Star Wars Episodes IV and V, and he was gearing up to complete the trilogy. But something still plagued Lucas. Though he’d spent months creating special sound effects, some of them—like the faint cello in one of Princess Leia’s classic scenes—couldn’t be heard during screening. As a result, Lucas made it his mission to ensure that theaters projected all of the intended sound he heard during the mix. Thus, THX was born.
Today, you may know THX from the goosebump-inducing “Deep Note” played before many blockbuster films. When you see the “THX” insignia, be assured that no piece of equipment earns that label without demonstrating the highest audio or visual quality. It’s a sure sign that the product is powerful enough to transport you to a galaxy far, far away—just like it did in theaters over 40 years ago. For more on this story, click here.
(Steve El-Hage, CEO + co-founder)
There’s something magical about forums. Whether you need a crash course on a certain topic or you want to explore its many complexities, forums provide a way for people of all levels of expertise to connect, share, and learn. It’s this magic that inspired the creation of Drop.
Founded in 2012, Drop (originally called Massdrop) helps gear enthusiasts get closer to the things they love. The company’s first initiative was helping members of an Audi forum acquire a rare grille manufactured in Taiwan. After successfully coordinating a $40,000 group buy, it was clear this new kind of forum had legs. So, Drop set its sights on other interest groups, most notably the audiophile community.
Gathering insights from music lovers on its built-in discussion system, Drop reached out to AKG to create an exclusive version of the legendary K702 65th-anniversary-edition headphones. The project was a huge success, and a key turning point for the future. It was then the founders realized the true potential of enthusiasts on Drop—after all, they know these products better than anyone, and know what they want better than anyone.
Since the popular AKG K7XX headset, Drop has launched hundreds of successful collaborations and exclusive designs. Today, it’s a destination for innovative community-inspired products and home to over 7 million members, including more than 3 million audiophiles.
Headphone type: Closed, planar ribbon
Bluetooth wireless technology: 5.0
Effective range: Line of sight, approximately 10 m (30 ft)
Battery life: 30+ hours
Isolation: -40 dB
Impedance: 26 ohms
Sensitivity: 100 dB @ 1kHz / 1mW
THD: 94 dB SPL @ 300Hz < 0.1%
THX-AAA-0™ Amplifier: -130 dB THD, 2.6 uV A-wt noise, and 10 mW power consumption
Frequency response: 10–50,000 Hz
Driver unit: 55mm, ribbon planar magnetic
Microphones: Dual
Weight: 13.2 oz (375 g)
Water Resistance: IPX4 (Protects from splashing water from any direction)
To optimize the audio experience for those who want to talk as well as listen, Panda is now available with a boom mic. Durable, adjustable, and designed for gaming, the Panda boom mic comes equipped with a noise-canceling condenser mic capsule for crystal-clear audio and sensitivity far superior to that of dynamic microphones. It also features a volume slider and a mute switch for extra control. To fit any gaming setup, the Panda boom mic package includes a 4-foot cable for consoles, and a 6-foot extension cable to plug into PCs.
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