[mrspeakers]

I wanted to share my thanks to everyone for their detailed impressions! I always enjoy hearing what people do and don't like about our headphones. I've noted that while some people find the bass to be on the money others would like more upper-bass/lower mid output. Happily this is easily handled, as Tyler correctly noted in his comments and measurements, using a bit of foam over the driver increases output in this region.

When we were designing the ÆON headphone we tested ear-side foam we've developed for ETHER headphones. While it was quite enjoyable and provided more output in the upper bass region I ruled it out because it can touch the ear and there are people for whom ear contact is not ok, and getting the foam to work without contact would require major changes to the ear pads and possibly the baffle so we rejected the idea. In retrospect I should have included the foam in the box as the touch is quite gentle there is no reason to not let owners make that choice.

So we'll send out foam to everyone who has already received their headphone and it will be added to the product shipments effective today, and thanks to TMRaven, Currawong, Tyler and others for their feedback.

We'll post the parts to everyone by early next week.

Lastly, we expect to have all pre-orders shipped this week (sorry, it took a bit longer than we planned) and all regular orders for ÆON early next week, so our lead-time for new orders will now be quite short. Thanks to everyone for the patience!

 

[JLoud]

I think this is a very nice touch. Totally unexpected. But it shows just what a remarkable company you are. I am totally loving my Aeons but will definitely try the foam inserts to try them out. Will you include some instructions as to how to use them? Or is it simply install inside the ear pad?

 

[JerseyD]

The Ethers and Flows changed more during the first 200 hours of play than any other headphones I have experienced (and I spend a lot of time listening to different headphones). Even a burn-in non-believer (Hi, VandyMan!) would hear an audible difference with these particular headphones. And to be clear, I have heard plenty of other headphones that did not change one bit to my ears after any amount of play, so don't try to tell me it's all in my head. If you doubt and are near NYC, feel free to come hear a fresh-out-of-the box pair next to a burned-in pair and then tell me what you hear.
I do not have the Aeon in stock yet (soon though, right, Dan? ), so cannot comment on burn-in with them specifically, but from what I have read here, it seems they will not be changing quite as much as the Ethers and Flows did, and the change will plateau sooner (around 100 hours rather than 200 and beyond).

 

[mrspeakers]

Dan- Since you do extensive measurements of your phones, would love to see some proof.

No can do, I'm not out to prove this only to make it very clear we can and do hear it. Obviously I'm in a unique situation where I can rule out brain burn in but I also don't have measurements to "prove" this as the changes are not readily measured, so you can take my word, or not. It's not as simple as macro changes to frequency or transient response, we've never found a way to reliably measure what we hear, in part because the changes may simply be below the threshold of "repeatability" in measurements, or it may be the standard suite of measurements isn't quite right.

 

[cubed4life]

Thanks MrSpeakers. I was one of the last on the pre order and excited for them.

 

[mrspeakers]

I think this is a very nice touch. Totally unexpected. But it shows just what a remarkable company you are. I am totally loving my Aeons but will definitely try the foam inserts to try them out. Will you include some instructions as to how to use them? Or is it simply install inside the ear pad?

Thanks! They're stone-axe simple, you tuck them into the ear-hole.

 

[JLoud]

Ok, that does sound cave man simple. Will give it a try and smile while I do it. Thanks again for all the nice touches with these wonderful headphones.

 

[rydoggsc2]

I am really looking forward to receiving the foam to see the difference that it makes as I love the sound but feel it is a touch lower mid light. I have been using some subtle EQ to help out.

I have never been a believer in burn in but I am quite certain that these headphones have changed a fair bit in the first 20 hours of use and are definitely keepers for me now. I am going to go back and edit my previous post to reflect that as well. The isolation and comfort of the Aeon makes these a great addition to my favorite HD800S headphones! These headphones are great at making the world go away and it is just you and whatever is being fed through them.

 

[VandyMan]

No can do, I'm not out to prove this only to make it very clear we can and do hear it. Obviously I'm in a unique situation where I can rule out brain burn in but I also don't have measurements to "prove" this as the changes are not readily measured, so you can take my word, or not. It's not as simple as macro changes to frequency or transient response, we've never found a way to reliably measure what we hear, in part because the changes may simply be below the threshold of "repeatability" in measurements, or it may be the standard suite of measurements isn't quite right.

As much as I respect you and your work, I'll have to say I can't take your word. You claim audible changes in the sound from your headphones that can not be measured? Sorry, I don't believe in magic. Pass me a DUM cable.

PS Very much enjoying my Aeons.

 

[boh123321]

As much as I respect you and your work, I'll have to say I can't take your word. You claim audible changes in the sound from your headphones that can not be measured? Sorry, I don't believe in magic. Pass me a DUM cable.

PS Very much enjoying my Aeons.

Headphones such as the Sennheiser HD800 are pretty much universally described as having a very large and wide soundstage. Soundstage, however, is not an attribute of a headphone that is physically measurable. Does that mean every single person who describes it as being wide sounding is just jumping on the hype bandwagon?

 

[TMRaven]

Soundstage can be easy to predict though. The further away the drivers are/more angled they are, the wider the soundstage will appear. The more recessed the presence region of the headphone, the deeper the soundstage will appear.

On a related note, I have a pair of the foam inserts from Dan, and I will be commenting on their difference shortly.

 

[mrspeakers]

Let's not have a sound-science debate, there's a forum for that... People are free to accept what I say or not, but I feel zero obligation to prove something that I do not know how to prove. That's fine if some don't accept it.

 

[rnros]

For those who wonder why these headphones take more burn-in the answer is the driver pleating reaching a steady-state resting tension. There's little point arguing with each other; this is a thing and it is real. Does it totally transform the headphone? No, of course not, but it does relax the delivery and open up the soundstage and dynamics.

Also, IMHO there's no reason to not listen and enjoy during burn in. I kind of enjoy the experience of "oh, there it goes" when you notice it.

Thanks, Dan. EXACTLY how the AEON is developing and performing as the burn goes on. Now at ~80 hours.
With Mahler3 and Dark Knight had some startling moments both with the bass impact... And the level of detail resolution (soundstage/dynamics), the kind of realism of space and detail that causes one to think something is happening real-time in the space around them. Scary good.
For consistency, still on the Gumby/Lyr1:SYL6SN7GTB for listening/evaluation, and whatever setup/device is available for burn time.

 

[TMRaven]

I've just now ran through a couple of my most familiar tracks with the foam pads inserted. I don't claim to have golden ears, but what I'm hearing sounds to be about a 2db reduction from 2khz upward, and it fills out the 150ish hz valley by about 3db. This is my ideal frequency response in a headphone.

The Aeon is less upper-midrange forward, but still retains every bit of crispness and detail in the treble.


The downside? Well, my ears touch the foam pads moreso than I thought they would, the earpads feel real shallow now. Luckily the foam is very soft, so there is no comfort issue, just an annoyance issue. The feeling is familiar to what you'd get with a Beyer DT880/DT990. Ideally I'd like the earpads to be larger to counteract this, but that in of itself would be a major endeavor and would also affect the frequency response as well.

Dan, do you have any measurements of the Aeon with and without the foam inserts?

 

[mrspeakers]

I've just now ran through a couple of my most familiar tracks with the foam pads inserted. I don't claim to have golden ears, but what I'm hearing sounds to be about a 2db reduction from 2khz upward, and it fills out the 150ish hz valley by about 3db. This is my ideal frequency response in a headphone.

The Aeon is less upper-midrange forward, but still retains every bit of crispness and detail in the treble.


The downside? Well, my ears touch the foam pads moreso than I thought they would, the earpads feel real shallow now. Luckily the foam is very soft, so there is no comfort issue, just an annoyance issue. The feeling is familiar to what you'd get with a Beyer DT880/DT990. Ideally I'd like the earpads to be larger to counteract this, but that in of itself would be a major endeavor and would also affect the frequency response as well.

Dan, do you have any measurements of the Aeon with and without the foam inserts?

I'm taking care of my mom in Northern Cali this week, so measure and send out next week when I'm in the office. THIS we can measure.

I will say this is my preferred tuning, I just was never able to make it work without ear contact. The problem with changing pad depth is that the pads become so tall they get unstable, then we have to thicken the walls or go to a more rigid foam, etc, etc. That's why we originally decided to not use the foam, it created too many design compromises if we wanted to avoid contact to the ear.

We did try denser, thinner foam but it never worked to our satisfaction, it really muffled things. So for the curious, this is a little peak into just one of the thousands of little details that go into making all the pieces of a project work well together, how one part can affect others, and why headphone design is so fun and challenging.