[Patu]

For all those that are writing the Lirics off then they must all have had good auditions with them. Otherwise they are just blowing smoke. On another forum I posted that I was having the Lirics at home on audition after failing to get the E3s. One reply said that the E3 would wipe the floor with them. Judging by the remark I questioned the poster about his E3s. He didn't have a pair but did have the Aeons.

This could be me, having auditoned E3 extensively (~two weeks) at home and at the dealer and having auditioned Liric II’s at the dealer. I still own Aeon 2 Noire’s but E3’s are on the shopping list.

Simply said, E3’s have a high vow-factor and they do things I’ve never heard headphones doing before. From the first listen I knew they were something special. The space, extension, bass slam and reach etc. Like chesebert said, they need a proper amplification to shine. I drove them with Violectric V226 and they slam very hard with this amp. With FiiO K7, they sound less special (though still very good).

With Liric 2 I spent a lot less time. The reason being that they simply didn’t hook me up with their sound. They were more ordinary sounding headphones and lacked the vow-factor (after knowing what the E3’s can do). I drove them with Violectric also. IMO they can’t challenge E3’s and are closer to the Aeon 2 Noire’s in sound quality.

 

[thelittletaffia]

This could be me, having auditoned E3 extensively (~two weeks) at home and at the dealer and having auditioned Liric II’s at the dealer. I still own Aeon 2 Noire’s but E3’s are on the shopping list.

Simply said, E3’s have a high vow-factor and they do things I’ve never heard headphones doing before. From the first listen I knew they were something special. The space, extension, bass slam and reach etc. Like chesebert said, they need a proper amplification to shine. I drove them with Violectric V226 and they slam very hard with this amp. With FiiO K7, they sound less special (though still very good).

With Liric 2 I spent a lot less time. The reason being that they simply didn’t hook me up with their sound. They were more ordinary sounding headphones and lacked the vow-factor (after knowing what the E3’s can do). I drove them with Violectric also. IMO they can’t challenge E3’s and are closer to the Aeon 2 Noire’s in sound quality.

Could be. At least you've listened to both. I've got over 50 hours now on my Lirics as well as the audition pair and they have opened up considerably. From what I remember of the Ethers the mids and mid bass are far better on the Liric. The Ethers were not as good as my Denons to be honest, different certainly which was what I was originally looking for, even with the Lirics.

Came close to ordering the Aeons early last year but just couldn't find a dealer near enough to me and was looking at a time when there was a lack of units being delivered. If you consider the Liric to be only as good as the Aeons then I have truly wasted my money.

I found the Ethers somewhat bland at least the Lirics get my foot tapping. I've just had another couple of hours with the Lirics and even Adele sounds fairly good on them even though the album's clipping is obvious.

 

[Grunt66]

I just ordered the E3's from Crutchfield and they should be here by Wednesday. I am currently using Denon AH-D9200's for the past 2 years and I still enjoy them. However, I am always looking for the next best thing. Since open back headphones are a no go due to the wife of over 37 years of marriage could hear the music when I was listening to my Senn HD650's.

I wish I could listen to the E3's but I know of no place in Southern California that has them available for an audition. Funny thing is I live 30 minutes away from Dan Clark Audio in San Diego and from my understanding they do not have a store front for customers to listen to their headphones. That is the one thing I like about Schiit, I was able to go to their store front in SOCAL and listen to their products. Crutchfield has a great return policy and the support staff is top notch, I also purchased my Denon 9200's from them.

My current system setup is as follows:

DAC: Schiit Ygggdrasil+ OG
Amps: Schiit Folkvangr, Schiit Mjolnir 3,
EQ: Schiit Lokius
Source: Apple Mac Mini M2 Pro

 

[thelittletaffia]

I am currently using Denon AH-D9200's

I think they'll complement the Denons very well as I have found with my new Liric 2s. I'll not be getting rid of my Denons.

 

[BassicScience]

I wish I could listen to the E3's but I know of no place in Southern California that has them available for an audition.

The Source AV in Torrance is a great place to audition headphones! They carry the full DCA range, as well as Focal, STAX, Meze, and several other brands.

 

[DP42]

So, I went ahead and got the V222. I am hearing a significant step up in performance compared to the G111 MK2 while using the E3 (1/4inch on the G111 and XLR on the V222). CD60 as the source running BF2/64 thru Lokius using snake oil XLR cables (same chain for the comparison). The V222 has a similar forward sounding presentation to the G111, but with much greater blackground, details, positioning, layering and depth. I would put the V222 on the same level as the MJ3 in this regard, but with some differences. The V222 is more like a very good presentation of the music, while the MJ3 is more like being there in the studio while the music is being made (more 'hear the room' sensation). Both presentations are very enjoyable, but a bit different. Both have good realism, but I feel the MJ3 pulls ahead here. I also find the MJ3 less fatiguing with a more laid back presentation. Bass is very good on the V222, I don't think subbass is any stronger than the MJ3, but it hits hard in midbass and has good control and texture on the E3. Positioning and imaging seem stronger on the V222, perhaps due to the strong blackground and forward presentation, the images also seem smaller on the V222 giving them a stronger position effect. Both have good depth. The V222 and G111 are very fast sounding amps, the MJ3 seems a bit slower in this area, electronic music on the V222 is very good. I tend to agree with WaveTheory on his comparison of the V222 and MJ3, they are in the same tier for me in terms of technical performance, both are very good, I would have a hard time saying one is 'better' than the other.

 

[odusseus]

New E3 review

 

[Frabera]

His experiences of E3 indicated he was using an inadequate amp with the cans. An amp like CFA3 has no problem getting E3 to slam with lots of mid bass punch. This reviewer is useless as most of them are. The bass on E3 is SOTA regardless of price.

Edit1: Again, this reviewer either has terrible ears, inadequate gear, or don’t know how to listen because the soundstage of E3 is as deep as 800S and also among the best in terms of width and height. E3 also excels in separation (front/back, side to side and up and down) as well as space between instruments. The only issue with soundstage is it collapses around the very left and very right. In vast majority of songs you can hear around instrument very easily.

Edit2: granted E3 mid bass lacks a bit sustain compared with Utopia 2022 but makes up for it with the sub bass amount and definition. It goes way deep. Still no issue with punchy mid bass.

Edit3: my gear is CFA3 + Emm Labs so YMMV

Totally agreed with all of these, I use my E3 with a Shanling M9 Plus and FAW Noir MK2 cable (sounds better and deeper than the Vivo).

 

[jarnopp]

New E3 review

That was one of the most obnoxious reviews I’ve ever seen. He has a very exaggerated take on amping requirements.

 

[Hifitam]

Fiio BTR5 is driving E3 on the go without any issue at hi gain, at 85db peaking for me. It's perfect tbh.

 

[Patu]

Fiio BTR5 is driving E3 on the go without any issue at hi gain, at 85db peaking for me. It's perfect tbh.

You might get sound out of your E3’s with the BTR5, but even the desktop amp FiiO K7 with 2W output doesn’t get the best out of these headphones, not even close. E3 scales very high with a powerful amplification.

 

[Frabera]

This is the main cons of this Headphone, how to drive it properly...

 

[chesebert]

That was one of the most obnoxious reviews I’ve ever seen. He has a very exaggerated take on amping requirements.

he is not wrong about amp requirements. I have been saying that for a while now. You listen to E3 on CFA3 and you listen to the same cans on whatever $1k amp you have it’s night and day.

 

[jarnopp]

he is not wrong about amp requirements. I have been saying that for a while now. You listen to E3 on CFA3 and you listen to the same cans on whatever $1k amp you have it’s night and day.

And I still maintain Mojo2 gets you 95%+ of the enjoyment and SQ of TT2, and the difference is not about power.

 

[Waddiewadkins]

OooOoO Chese not gonna take that one lying down,, /popcorn munch/