systems77 said:

  If that were true all my other gear would be playing back the audio incorrectly. I'm not going to bore you with listing my hardware and different gear... even on other Mr. Speakers gear the lows\bass is better. These are thin. It's reasonable to conclude from the Flow evolution others may have had the same opinion. 1500 bucks later -- tthpt thhpt thhpt bass and 'damn that hurts' mids/highs. To each their own right? To me you have to talk yourself into liking these so as to not feel like a sucker for buying into the hype 

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I'm still curious what your normal goto cans are. The EtherC have more bass that a HD600 and from my experience the only way you should be perceiving  no existent bass is if you are acclimated to Beats level of bass boost. If that is not the case, you might have a defective pair. As someone said, these might not be the right headphones for you but how did you live with your Maddogs?

 

My question is why would you drop $1500 on something you never listened to?

Hey everyone thanks for the feedback and info. I'm going to return to lurk mode as I have been for years.  Didn't mean to turn into a troll I just don't like the lows on these headphones and for the price they feel like they are not worth the amount I paid for them.
 
That said, it's just my opinion. My usual headphones are ZMF Blackwoods, The Mad Dogs or the LCD-XCs.  fuel is via one of the these or a mix/match of the following: Mazda CIFTE tubes in an old Fisher Amp, a few C5D and 02+ODAC from JDS, ALO Continental dual mono and V2, Hugo, or Mojo I have an iBasso DX80, Onkyo DP-X1   I usually stream flac (no transcoding) from my own media server system I built and coded using the opensource guts from Subsonic or from a technics sl-1200 mk2. hope that helps. Have the last word I'm out. Thanks again for the help and suggestions. 

buke9 said:

  My question is why would you drop $1500 on something you never listened to?

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I am aware the question is general and not directed at me but my reply would be because I cannot. I reside in Portugal, every high end audio store we have here sells nothing but speakers, we have plenty of that to go around, anything between the cheapies to the $250k Focal systems, McIntosh TOTL, etc. but there is absolutely no love for headphones anywhere - we have one dealer that works directly with one high end headphone company and that's Hifiman. Then we have a couple other casual ones that offer lower end Sennheisers, Bose and stuff but Mr. Speakers in this case, Audeze, Beyerdynamic, Fostex and all the other super well known brands? Good luck with that. If I wanted to stick with gear I can audition I'd have the entire Hifiman line and then like HD558s and Beats or something.
 
Anyway I digress, just figured it's worth mentioning geographical restrictions are a real problem and a royal pain in the rear, probably easy to forget when you live in the States. That said, the Focal dealer will be getting their headphone line whenever it releases so I'll be able to audition the Elear before I purchase, first time I'll have that chance.   

vigrith said:

I am aware the question is general and not directed at me but my reply would be because I cannot. I reside in Portugal, every high end audio store we have here sells nothing but speakers, we have plenty of that to go around, anything between the cheapies to the $250k Focal systems, McIntosh TOTL, etc. but there is absolutely no love for headphones anywhere - we have one dealer that works directly with one high end headphone company and that's Hifiman. Then we have a couple other casual ones that offer lower end Sennheisers, Bose and stuff but Mr. Speakers in this case, Audeze, Beyerdynamic, Fostex and all the other super well known brands? Good luck with that. If I wanted to stick with gear I can audition I'd have the entire Hifiman line and then like HD558s and Beats or something.

Anyway I digress, just figured it's worth mentioning geographical restrictions are a real problem and a royal pain in the rear, probably easy to forget when you live in the States. That said, the Focal dealer will be getting their headphone line whenever it releases so I'll be able to audition the Elear before I purchase, first time I'll have that chance.   

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I understand that it is hard to find anyplace to hear most any headphone. I'm in Kentucky and we have one place close that carries only a few different brands Mr Speakers not being one of them. I go to meets to hear different stuff it is the only way for me to hear most of this stuff. Made my way to CanJam SoCal this year so got to listen to a lot of stuff. No where around me will have the Focal line ever I'm sure. Being in the states doesn't mean we have a premier headphone shop on every corner. I drive 2 1/2 hours to go to a meet and have driven 6 hours also. Just saying.

buke9 said:

I understand that it is hard to find anyplace to hear most any headphone. I'm in Kentucky and we have one place close that carries only a few different brands Mr Speakers not being one of them. I go to meets to hear different stuff it is the only way for me to hear most of this stuff. Made my way to CanJam SoCal this year so got to listen to a lot of stuff. No where around me will have the Focal line ever I'm sure. Being in the states doesn't mean we have a premier headphone shop on every corner. I drive 2 1/2 hours to go to a meet and have driven 6 hours also. Just saying.

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Not everyone lives in the US and can afford to globe trot to go to meets. For some it's very difficult to demo these TOTL headphones. Just sayin'. :wink_face:

vigrith said:

   
I am aware the question is general and not directed at me but my reply would be because I cannot. I reside in Portugal, every high end audio store we have here sells nothing but speakers, we have plenty of that to go around, anything between the cheapies to the $250k Focal systems, McIntosh TOTL, etc. but there is absolutely no love for headphones anywhere - we have one dealer that works directly with one high end headphone company and that's Hifiman. Then we have a couple other casual ones that offer lower end Sennheisers, Bose and stuff but Mr. Speakers in this case, Audeze, Beyerdynamic, Fostex and all the other super well known brands? Good luck with that. If I wanted to stick with gear I can audition I'd have the entire Hifiman line and then like HD558s and Beats or something.
 
Anyway I digress, just figured it's worth mentioning geographical restrictions are a real problem and a royal pain in the rear, probably easy to forget when you live in the States. That said, the Focal dealer will be getting their headphone line whenever it releases so I'll be able to audition the Elear before I purchase, first time I'll have that chance. 

 

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In the same boat. I live super far away from any audio store, but I make damn sure I research every purchase and read tons and tons of impressions and comparisons so I have a pretty good idea what I'm getting into. Bought the Ether C without hearing it (even with UK pricing + shipping) I wasn't dissapointed when I heard it the first time and coming from the HD600s These are just awesome. Little bit thinner in the midbass than what I expected but the sub bass is definitely there. Anyway the point is always do research

systems77 said:

That said, it's just my opinion. My usual headphones are ZMF Blackwoods, The Mad Dogs or the LCD-XCs

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Thanks for the reply. I'm just surprised that your set doesn't sound as good to you as mine do to me. I know it sucks buying sight unseen and hoping that the buzz is what they say. The distortion is what made me wonder if yours is defective. I know on crappy Amazon prime stations (need to force to hq) that the bass on some electronic/dub step has that overdriven sound that normally I've never noticed before on other cans and though my amp was clipping the first time (never sounded like mechanical breakdown of driver to me). If you still up to replying, how would you describe the distortions you heard?

ok just got back to the house today to find my doggie treats waiting for me (was not included when I bought my set used) 
 
No more EQ needed for me... I think I like 2 black felt pad filters per side, best. White was too much one black not enough. 
 
With the filters the bass and mids are both lifted to about perfection! I did have to put the filters under the pads though as the felt, when touching my ears, irritated them.

vigrith said:

I am aware the question is general and not directed at me but my reply would be because I cannot. I reside in Portugal, every high end audio store we have here sells nothing but speakers, we have plenty of that to go around, anything between the cheapies to the $250k Focal systems, McIntosh TOTL, etc. but there is absolutely no love for headphones anywhere - we have one dealer that works directly with one high end headphone company and that's Hifiman. Then we have a couple other casual ones that offer lower end Sennheisers, Bose and stuff but Mr. Speakers in this case, Audeze, Beyerdynamic, Fostex and all the other super well known brands? Good luck with that. If I wanted to stick with gear I can audition I'd have the entire Hifiman line and then like HD558s and Beats or something.

Anyway I digress, just figured it's worth mentioning geographical restrictions are a real problem and a royal pain in the rear, probably easy to forget when you live in the States. That said, the Focal dealer will be getting their headphone line whenever it releases so I'll be able to audition the Elear before I purchase, first time I'll have that chance.   

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Totally agree. Anyway,in your case, from Lisbon you can find roundtrip flight tickets to London or Paris at around 5% of Ether price in Europe (1800Euros). But as you rightly wrote it is not always easy.
Rgds.

cs098 said:

   
getting new pads preferably deep leather ones can really improve the bass and even comfort. I use zmf cowhide pads and it really brings out the bass slam and subbass without messing up what the ether c is good at.  

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tretneo said:

   
Nice, sounds interesting. Is there a post on this? Do the zmf pads fit/attach with minimal (or none preferably) modding?

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cs098 said:

  you need to cut a bit of the sleeving (about a third to a half maybe), but after that it fits perfectly.
 
Also the black tuning pads give more weight to bass as well (but also reduces detail, clarity and imaging a bit).

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obiwanshinobi87 said:

  I bought the ZMF cowhide pads for my Ether C. Didn't do any cutting, just strapped them on after taking off the stock pads. 
 
Can confirm, deepens the sub-bass considerably from stock without affecting the overall signature noticeably, at least for me.

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​Long-time lurker, but was moved to make first post. I just put on the ZMF cowhides I'd ordered after seeing these recommendations starting back several pages. Indeed, the bass is significantly boosted and 'slams' more. Soundstage still great, yet its hard to A/B the soundstage since the change-out is a little tedious; and as obiwanshinobi87 said, I did not cut... just stretched them on. In addition, the isolation seems even better.
 
I have been loving the C's since getting them late last year. I had v1.0 then have enjoyed the 1.1s ever since announced. I settled on  running one black tuning pad on the v1.1 mostly, however, depending on my mood I sometimes regret the minor drop in upper highs, I can tell a loss in the airiness or extreme detail with the tuning pad vs without.
 
To be clear, I have been loving these things so much that I bring them with me back and forth every day to my desk job and bring them back home because I really just cant listen to any other phones after having the C's (used to be HD650s). People at work probably chuckle when they see me with the C's in one hand and laptop in the other every day coming in.
 
The ZMF pads have increased bass perception so much that the black tuning pad is no longer needed and I think there is still more bass without the tuning pad. However, the upper clarity is there. I think this is going to be my setup for a while. Sorry for this part....I may still like the stock ear pad... it is possible that the ZMF pads might be muddying the bass a bit. I will need more time to make a clearer decision for now, I am enjoying the extra oomph. I like having all these sonic options with the C.
 
By the way, the timing of this post is a coincidence with current discussion but not related (or not spurred on by).

arpiben said:

Totally agree. Anyway,in your case, from Lisbon you can find roundtrip flight tickets to London or Paris at around 5% of Ether price in Europe (1800Euros). But as you rightly wrote it is not always easy.
Rgds.

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Wow that is almost $2000 usd . I bought mine pre release at a meet got a 10% discount and a free Dum cable . Are you saying a round trip would be 90 euros?

Has anyone tried both the ZMF pads and the Alpha Pads? Because Alpha pads increase the bass for me significantly and I mean significantly to the point where I can't even imagine something increasing the bass more. 
 
If ZMF pads increase the bass more than Alpha Pads I'd like to know.

buke9 said:

Wow that is almost $2000 usd . I bought mine pre release at a meet got a 10% discount and a free Dum cable . Are you saying a round trip would be 90 euros?

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To be more accurate; ETHER C & DUM cable is still at 1899 Euros at Paris" official retailer. Yes it is a lot of amount whatever is your purchasing power.
Roundtrip tickets between Lisbon & London (or even Paris) can go as low as 50 Euros, out of touristic periods. Check, for instance RYAN air flights in October.
 
Furthermore, before BREXIT, a few months ago British retailers price was around 100 Euros lower (after conversion). Now it should be even better.
 
IMHO, if you are living in such place there is almost no excuse  to grab a flight for listening to your wanted headphones at such price level.
Only advantages: sightseing, less chance to grab an headphone not suiting your tastes, plus a better price....
For sure, not all have that chance.
 
Regards

arpiben said:

To be more accurate; ETHER C & DUM cable is still at 1899 Euros at Paris" official retailer. Yes it is a lot of amount whatever is your purchasing power.
Roundtrip tickets between Lisbon & London (or even Paris) can go as low as 50 Euros, out of touristic periods. Check, for instance RYAN air flights in October.

Furthermore, before BREXIT, a few months ago British retailers price was around 100 Euros lower (after conversion). Now it should be even better.

IMHO, if you are living in such place there is almost no excuse  to grab a flight for listening to your wanted headphones at such price level.
Only advantages: sightseing, less chance to grab an headphone not suiting your tastes, plus a better price....
For sure, not all have that chance.

Regards

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Again wow that is $2100 usd I paid $1380 shipped. The airfare is crazy good. Just flew to Chicago last month and one way was $125 bucks and paid over $500 round trip to SoCal for CanJam . I agree if you are spending that amount I think a extra hundred bucks to hear them is not out of the question plus you get to sightsee and take in a dinner of something you might never had before .