Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Thanks to Jackrabbit Media for facilitating Grell sending the OAE2!
Buy from Audio46 (affiliate link): audio46.com/products/grell-audio-oae2-open-back-headphone?ref=reviewsbywavetheory
Buy from Grell: grellaudio.com/products/oae2
Want to support the channel? Consider becoming a member! Or you can join my Patreon here:
patreon.com/wavetheory1
Or make a 1-time donation through PayPal here:
paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=7N7Z8WRLWQ36E
Follow me on…
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wavetheorysound.bsky.social
Instagram: instagram.com/wavetheorysound
Test Gear…
All music was lossless or hi-rez FLAC or DSD files either played locally, or in the case of FLAC files, streamed from Qobuz, all through Roon.
Chain 1…
Chord 2Go + 2Yu (youtu.be/S3O7JNOJIqI) streamer USB output into Ferrum WANDLA GSE (youtu.be/Qh1b-XFH7R8) XLR output into Ferrum Oor amp (review 1: youtu.be/Nr3sT6raMPM; review 2: youtu.be/xUsRyoBPdyk).
Chain 2…
Sonore opticalRendu (review coming!) USB output into Berkeley Alpha USB (youtu.be/94AvDeeRjHA) then AES into Berkeley Alpha Series 2 DAC (youtu.be/JY3c4HEyH0s) then into either LTA Z10e ((youtu.be/Bft6HUsYDhE) or Niimbus HPA US5 Pro (youtu.be/lLlPJyvGSIQ) amplifiers.
Chain 3…
MacMini running HQPlayer (review coming!) USB output into Lampizator Baltic 3 DAC (youtu.be/QShvh2rqETc) then XLR output into either the Z10e or US5 Pro from Chain 2.
Compared Headphones…
HiFiMan Ananda Unveiled: youtu.be/fd6eJp109Bk
Massdrop + Sennheiser HD6XX: youtu.be/02Um5rMNYS8
Timestamps…
00:00 Intro, Pricing, Disclaimer
01:47 Shameless Self Promotion
02:19 Pricing Snafu
03:56 Use Timestamps! & About OAE2
08:11 Build & Cabling
15:40 Test Gear in Description!
16:09 Sound
24:09 Comparisons w/ HD6XX & Ananda Unveiled
26:58 Final Thoughts
Thanks to Jackrabbit Media for facilitating Grell sending the OAE2!
Buy from Audio46 (affiliate link): audio46.com/products/grell-audio-oae2-open-back-headphone?ref=reviewsbywavetheory
Buy from Grell: grellaudio.com/products/oae2
Want to support the channel? Consider becoming a member! Or you can join my Patreon here:
patreon.com/wavetheory1
Or make a 1-time donation through PayPal here:
paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=7N7Z8WRLWQ36E
Follow me on…
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wavetheorysound.bsky.social
Instagram: instagram.com/wavetheorysound
Test Gear…
All music was lossless or hi-rez FLAC or DSD files either played locally, or in the case of FLAC files, streamed from Qobuz, all through Roon.
Chain 1…
Chord 2Go + 2Yu (youtu.be/S3O7JNOJIqI) streamer USB output into Ferrum WANDLA GSE (youtu.be/Qh1b-XFH7R8) XLR output into Ferrum Oor amp (review 1: youtu.be/Nr3sT6raMPM; review 2: youtu.be/xUsRyoBPdyk).
Chain 2…
Sonore opticalRendu (review coming!) USB output into Berkeley Alpha USB (youtu.be/94AvDeeRjHA) then AES into Berkeley Alpha Series 2 DAC (youtu.be/JY3c4HEyH0s) then into either LTA Z10e ((youtu.be/Bft6HUsYDhE) or Niimbus HPA US5 Pro (youtu.be/lLlPJyvGSIQ) amplifiers.
Chain 3…
MacMini running HQPlayer (review coming!) USB output into Lampizator Baltic 3 DAC (youtu.be/QShvh2rqETc) then XLR output into either the Z10e or US5 Pro from Chain 2.
Compared Headphones…
HiFiMan Ananda Unveiled: youtu.be/fd6eJp109Bk
Massdrop + Sennheiser HD6XX: youtu.be/02Um5rMNYS8
Timestamps…
00:00 Intro, Pricing, Disclaimer
01:47 Shameless Self Promotion
02:19 Pricing Snafu
03:56 Use Timestamps! & About OAE2
08:11 Build & Cabling
15:40 Test Gear in Description!
16:09 Sound
24:09 Comparisons w/ HD6XX & Ananda Unveiled
26:58 Final Thoughts
