The Ploopy headphones are something else! You can opt for a kit of parts you put together, including soldering the drivers together, over an hour or so of fun if you are up for it, or go for a fully assembled version if you don't have the time. Everything is fully open and the frame, ear cups and headband is all 3D printed allowing you to also make your own in different colors or resins/filaments/materials of your choosing. I can't tell you how other printed versions would fare but the Ploopy kit/pre-assembled versions do feel like they were printed using an FDM 3D printer. It's fairly consistent and rigid but I always had this feeling of it being too loose and not exuding a solid feeling in the hands even though it works plenty fine. The headphones have been planned to allow for comfort and good fit for the average end user with a plush foam headband and ear pads alike. There are plenty of sizing steps as well as good ear cup swivel and rotation although those with smaller heads may want to see if the ear cups could be made smaller to work with the optional smaller headband. The clamp force isn't the strongest out there—if you have tried the HIFIMAN Edition XS, you know what I am talking about. Likewise, having the cables come out nearly perpendicular to the ear cups makes for weird cable management which is made worse by the cables being on the stiffer side as it is—I replaced the cable almost immediately.

The hardware is one part of the puzzle but arguably more important is what comes next. The frequency response of these drivers as-is was unbearable for me and yet these headphones are never meant to be listened to without the accompanying DAC/amp board. This adds further value to what is already a pretty affordable kit and a fairly priced pre-assembled set since a beginner can directly plug the board to a PC/laptop/mobile phone via USB and not worry about what a DAC and amplifier is. Then there's the part where the open-source concept continues on the board firmware which Ploopy and some community members have taken advantage of to integrate parametric EQ on the DAC/amp and feed it directly to the headphones. In an ideal world, you would be listening to a set of planar magnetic headphones that isn't going to make you bankrupt, offers longevity via easily accessible spare parts, and has a sound signature that should be highly balanced and even pleasant to listen to.

However, things are not as simple as that. The DAC/amp board isn't the most powerful thing in the world and the Ploopy headphones are the most demanding headphones I have ever tested. This doesn't make for an agreeable combination. Add to that the part where the board was designed before Ploopy had more accurate frequency response measurements and now we have the latest firmware with a 15-band EQ that is challenging to run efficiently. The Raspberry Pi-based DAC/amp board is punching above its weight to put out a clean, undistorted signal but the op-amps can only do so much when there is a negative preamp gain added via the EQ profile to make this even harder to get to loud listening volumes. There is some potential I see with a beta firmware release offering customizable output gain, but the current state isn't one I'd recommend to audiophiles when there are well-tuned sets you can get for the same price, if not less. The Ploopy headphones are more a labor of love for those wanting to see an open-source concept come to fruition and who want to tinker around with the build, be it on the hardware or software side. It's significantly improved from when I first got it, and I'll take some credit myself for this improvement, and there is no denying the novelty aspect too. Let me know what you think about the product in the comments section—is this something you'd buy for yourself or as a gift for someone you know? Or would you skip in favor of a more traditional option?