About Drift Audio
A small shop that
measures everything.
We started Drift Audio because buying headphones felt like guessing. Spec sheets were full of numbers nobody explained, and shops sold whatever paid the best margin.
So we do it the slow way. We stock fewer products, test every one of them ourselves, and tell you plainly what each one needs, including when the cheaper option is the right one.
- Founded in Portland, Oregon
- 2019
- Products, each one measured
- 14
- Home trial on every order
- 30 days
- Warranty repairs on our bench
- In-house
Our story
From a spare room to a listening room
-
2019
A spare room and a test rig
Three headphones, one measurement rig, and a mailing list of friends who kept asking what they should buy.
-
2021
The listening room opens
A quiet room on Alder Row in Portland, with every product wired up and ready for your own music.
-
2023
The rig builder goes live
We turned the pairing advice we give at the counter into a tool anyone can use at midnight.
-
2026
Still small on purpose
A short list of gear we would buy again tomorrow, instead of thousands of products we could not vouch for.
What we stand for
Four rules we don't bend
-
01
Measure first
Every product goes through our test rig before it gets a page. If the numbers and our ears disagree, we tell you.
-
02
Explain everything
Plain-English spec sheets, an honest caveat on every product, and guides that tell you when you don't need to spend more.
-
03
Match, don't upsell
The rig builder and the advice desk both point you to the least expensive chain that does the job well.
-
04
Fix, don't replace
We favor gear with replaceable pads and cables, and we handle warranty repairs on our own bench in Portland.
How we choose
How a product earns a shelf
Most things we test never make it onto the site. The ones that do have passed all four of these steps, in this order.
See the numbers on the comparison bench- 01 Blind listening New gear goes up against our reference chain with the labels hidden. If nobody can pick it out, it doesn't get a shelf.
- 02 Measured on our rig Frequency response, distortion and output power, taken in-house. The numbers on our spec sheets are ours.
- 03 A month of daily use Someone on the team lives with it at a desk, on a commute, or on a flight before we write a word.
- 04 An honest page Every product page names who it is for, who it isn't for, and what it needs to sound its best.
The team
The people behind the counter
Four listeners, one test rig, and a strong opinion about every product we stock. Email any of us through the contact page.
-
Noah Feld
Founder, head of listening
Started Drift Audio in a spare room in 2019. Still answers the trickiest pairing emails himself.
Listens on: HP-90 on the Solstice
-
Ines Baptiste
Measurement lead
Runs every product through the test rig before it gets a page, and writes the numbers on our spec sheets.
Listens on: W4 on the Wayfarer
-
Mara Sadeghi
Advice desk
Answers the which-one-should-I-buy emails, and is known for talking people down to the cheaper pair when it fits better.
Listens on: Sable on the Duet
-
Callum Reyes
Service bench
Handles warranty repairs, pad swaps and cable fixes in-house, so nothing gets shipped off to a manufacturer.
Listens on: Array 5 on the DAC-2
Come and listen
The listening room on Alder Row
Every product on this site is racked, wired and ready for your own playlist. Bring the headphones you own now and compare them side by side with anything we stock.
- Tuesday to Friday
- 11:00 to 19:00
- Saturday
- 10:00 to 18:00
- Sunday and Monday
- Private bookings
Not sure where to start?
Tell us what you listen to and what you own now. Someone on the team will reply within a business day.