INTRO
 
Planar magnetics sound awesome. When I first heard the LCD-2 I instantly noticed the difference to the somewhat mechanical sounding Beyer T1 or HD800.
 
Fostex-900 sounded more relaxed and musical for a dynamic driver than any other model I had before, but the bass was overwhelming and the absence of mids were more than dissapointing, they are a no go at that price range.
 
The LCD-2 sounded nice and thick, but also was non-consistent with playing high notes and it lacked a lot of detail. Also comfort a let down. Hifiman Ed. X choice of materials, cheap plastic and screeching metal for a headband did not make me want to part with $2K.
 
Luckily I read about the MrSpeakers Ether in one review and also the Ether C. The stellar 6moons review sealed the fate and I bought the headphone.
 
SOUND
 
Now at hour 90 of the burn in, the bass did improve nicely, soundstage is huge, and the mids are to die for. Timbre of female and male voices are great. Impact and detail of bass rock with any music, they truly shine with Classic or Acoustic. For EDM a much much cheaper Headphone would suffice. For Rap they are great, because voices are very present! Decay of notes is great, even though they are closed. Knocks on woods like guitar shells sound really authentic.
 
Brass is awesome. Acoustic Bass and E-Bass in particular will surround your ears like a Italian home-made ice will melt around your tongue. Sound is clean, transparent and extremely detailed with lots of body.
 
No Grain, No Hiss, only grunting bass, soundscapes of strings. Much to my liking I hear that wodden, authentic sound I know so well from the TH-900 when instruments made out of wood are played. Yep, these headphones sing, make no mistake.
 
MODABILITY
 
With the included tuning pads and the 1.1 foam upgrade for small money (10USD + shipping) you can tune the sound to your liking. A supplied Frequency Response Curve depicts what it would sound like. This is very nice and you instantly start modding these to your hearing. Each hearing is different, both thumbs up for mrSpeakers for acknowledging this. This is why I gave them such a high rating. 4.5 Stars for Tunability. Well done!
 
PRICE
 
€ 1500,- is a fair price, looking at TOTL competitors. I got the DUM cables for € 200 for the lack of a different offer in Europe. I wish I hadn't because I don't believe any cable is worth more than € 50-75. In conclusion € 1700,- is a bit steep for my liking, but if sound improves even more in the next 100 hours, it will be worth it.
 
ISOLATION
 
I also wonder what the open Ethers sound like, but isolation of these is surely a plus. They isolate well - but not stellar. Stellar isolation you get with Beyers 1770 Pro, which will however torture your ears with acoustic and classical music in my opinion. 
 
CONCLUSION
 
So far I do recommend these, and I am very critical of TOTL headphones. I will update this as soon as I have tried 1.1. upgrade and they have burned in 150 hours.
 
----
1.1 UPDATE
----
 
My v1.1 arrived from bytor33, it was a gift via mrspeakers, thanks again to both!
 
Changes in
 
Sound presence
 

1. Bass Frequencies are now more attentuated then before. This is can be a good thing, because after 160 hours of burn-in @90db, there was indeed maybe a bit too much of bass presence. However - in case you are a bass-adorer it could very well be that you are better of with the 1.0, in my opinion. The slight mid-bass ompfh is gone now completely, which is great!
2. Mids are creamy and beautiful as ever.
3. Highs are significantly more present now.  Highs are shining through even with 2 black or one white outer tuning pads.

 
Positioning, Soundstage and Imaging
 
This is the most notable improvement indeed. Soundstage is definitely larger now. I read that decay is better now, this might be true, but improvement in decay is minor or I can't hear it.
 
Overall
 
Sound has matured now, it is an overall better experience. I enjoy the more controlled bass, more laid-back mid-bass frequencies, which at loud volumes have been hurtful to my ears. The beautiful highs are much more present now and I needed to upgrade to the white (outer) tuning pad in order to get my preferred dark sound. Acoustic Piano Jazz just sounds absolutely marvellous now, which is the hardest discipline.Exchange of (inner) 1.1. pads were completely hassle-free compared to other TOTL headphones and indeed done in 2 minutes of my time. Applause to MrSpeakers.
 
 
 

FedEx delivered these to my doorstep, fresh out the UK. 
 
 

Unpacking 
 

Back of the Box
 
 
 

Accesoires and Premium DUM Cable. A cleaning cloth - very thoughtful.
 
 

The magnificent sounding and very comfortable Ether Cs.
 
 

Tuning Kit Graph
 
 

Tuning Kit 

Mids are recessed with this one, oh boy they are. Where the Fostex convinced me was musicality, drive/spirit, and fine detail as well as a nice dimensionality. But - the mids were underemphasized in addition to the overblown bass response, a pity, because the TH900 could have been great.
 
YMMV, but to my ears, the Fostex felt rather helpless with music were mids are important. That is a lot of music.
 
Comparison with Beyerdynamic T51i
 
I A/Bed them with my 200 USD Beyers T51i on-ears and the Beyers shone with Jazz and Classic. Mind you, the T51i is a entry level, ultra-portable headphone from their life-style /studio line. With the Beyers Voices, Guitars, Violins, Brass, everything was just more prominent. Admittedly, the tiny Beyers weren't nearly as detailed or stageous as the Fostex, and I would still prefer the Fostex over the Beyers, but for long-time listening, both were equally nice or equally fatiguing. Price difference to Fostex: $1.2K cheaper.
 
Comparison to LCD-2
 
Compared to the LCD-2: The Audeze's warmth and physically in the mids is well known and to no surprised played the Fostex against the wall. Agreed, the Audeze's resolution leaves a lot to be desired, especially the excellent detail retrieval of the Fostex, yet with Audeze C to C'' notes on the Piano just sounded like they meant to be - putting you directly in front of the piano.
 
For orchestral work the picture was similar. While the Fostex sounded great on very low volumes, fine in timbre and detail, - however - to enjoy the mids with the Fostex, I had to crank them up to unbearable levels.
 
With EDM and music that is meant to be played loud like Rock the LCD-2s showed the Fostex another - in my opinion - a better defintion of "Fun Sound". After some consideration it would give the Fostex the edge here, but both are extremely musical phones and the LCD-2 has thick mids that the Fostex can only dream of. Price difference to Fostex: $500 cheaper.
 
Comparison to Ether C
 
Now the Ether retails at the same price as the Fostex does, street prices may vary, yet they are advertised at nearly the same price. The Ether C sounds like the Fostex older, more mature brother. With ease he plays darker bass, more precise bass, more pleasant highs (moddable with supplied tuning kit by default!).. and you guessed it, way more potent mids. I mean just throw "Beyonce - Partition starRo Remix" at both headphones and the Fostex will blush, because it just got beaten in its own game, where it used to be the king - sounding fun with EDM. The new Ethers are also a newer development and they use planar magnetics, but - believe me - if you thought the Fostex were a great headphone that lacked something - give the new Ethers a try and you are in for a treat and a huge step towards Summit-Fi. Ethers just sound "Holographic" - nough said.
 
Source
 
As Amplifier I used a € 3.000,-- Stack by Violectric, almost the best what Violectric has to offer (Coax out from Asus STX via Bit-Wise Linux fed into V800/V200). Cabling was provided by Sommer Cable for no less than € 200,-.
 
Music Used
 
Classical Music (orchestral)
SACD 24bit Sony Redbook Remastered Günther Wand + Berlin playing Sinfony 9 by Bruckner on Deutsche Grammophon
 
Modernism (acoustic piano)
CD Scandale Alice Sara Ott and Franceso Tristano own compositions and interpreting Ravel on Deutsche Grammophon
 
Jazz (e-bass)
FLAC 24bit Steve Lawson and Daniel Berkman playing Pets you can keep in the fridge on BandCamp
 
Jazz (acoustic jazz band)
FLAC 24bit Hiromi - Alive
 
Arranged Jazz
FLAC 24bit Mythical and Angry Murphy McCaleb and Andy Edwards
 
HipHop
Paragraph President - Blazing Arrow - Blackalicious (last part from min 3:30)
 
RnB / EDM
Beyonce - Partition starRo Remix

Comparison with Fostex TH600

 
I had the TH600 and now the 1770. Both are outstanding headphones and for me the 600 eur range is the most expensive I listened to. I listened to about 30 headphones in my life. In my opinion the Fostex TH600 are more engaging and have the better sound, but the bass is too much, and I like strong bass, yet the bass is definitely too much with them. (albeit being very controlled, dark and deep)

Equalize them with software and it sound not as good as unequalized. The TH600 has a lovely, dreamy and beautiful overall sound that beats the 1770 (bear in mind I started just listeneing to the 1770 a few hours ago..).

The Beyers are by far more comfortable for me, because the cups are big enough for my giant ears. I really disklike the cable plug on the earcup touching my sholder when I slightly  turn my head though The Sound with the Beyers is as good as a Beyer can get. Far easier to listen to than the Beyer DT 990 which were open and which sounded so bright that I returned them. The 1770 sound significantly better than the 1350 and the T51i. The soundstage is just much, much wider. Bass, soundstage, control and neutrality are very good with the Beyers as usual. Build quality on both pretty decent.


Fostex TH600: Dreamy, colored sound that suck you in and wonderfully open soundstage, that sound almost like an open can. Fostex will make you an headphone addict.  After I burned them in - or let it be psychoacoustics - yet they destroy your ears because of their bass.

Beyers 1770 Pro: Controlled. Neutral. Great, smooth highs, which are not harsh in any way. Excellent Build Quality, less fun sound than the Fostex, but more easy to listen to for long periods of time. Acoustic Jazz Piano sounds excellent. Electronica too. Very comfortable, best comfort in class, probably of them all.

I strongly think I will add the 1770 to my Beyer collection, being a German Headfi-ist, having a couple of Beyers lying around at home is a must.
 

Comparison with TH900

 
I now received my TH900 and can now compare it to the DT1770.
 
Comfort
On the TH900 my ears touch the driver, change of pads possible?
Fostex TH900 is slightly lighter but the Beyers are beefier and more solid.
Cabling on Beyer is great, detachable and intelligently done. Cabling on the Fostex is inferior, undetachable and Y-Split a bit clumsy.
Headband on the Beyers is rock-solid and confidence-inspiring. Fostex Headband slightly uncomfy.
 
Winner: Beyer DT1770
 
Accessoires
You get the stand with the Fostex, ugly but useful, and with the Beyers you get 2 Cables and a very nice carriable bag.
 
Winner: Beyer DT1770
 
Sound
You get a very neutral, controlled sound with the Beyers. Its darkness is pretty awesome. The mids are second to none. Really really beautiful mids, like you know them from Beyer. But, and this is a big "but", they hurt my ears, from 9 out of 10 songs I wasn't pleased. Hurting in a way, that I had to turn them up a lot to get the imaging and dimension I want. But then highs were too harsh for my taste. Most notable with classical music. They sounded just too undynamic and non-musical at low and normal volume, despite a beautiful mids-section. I threw Starwars The Force Awakens OST at them and wasn't pleased. I used the DAC audioengine D1 and a Macbook Retina, so nothing too shabby. With HipHop they were great, but then the final deal-breaker was when I put Julie Slick Terroir on. Lots of Bass Guitar and other acoustic elements. Beyers just sounded boring and flat. I did a burn-in with the headphones of my ears about 20 hours, yet Beyers did not open up to me. Only on HipHop and other strongly amplified music they shone.
 
The TH-900 sounded right after 20 minutes of the same audio material much more musical, much more dynamic. Openess on both are great. I am really surprised how open the Beyers sounded in comparison. I am just 20-min burn in with the TH900, and the mids are more laid-back, the highs more piercing, admittedly, but the bass more potent, the overall sound-signature is different, its hard to describe, its just more-laid-back, more musical, despite the V-shaped sound, which needs better amplification than the Asus Xonar and its Burr-Brown PCM 1792A. I am divided, both are excellent headphones but sound entirely different.
 

Bang for the Buck, Portability and Conclusion

 
At below half of the price of the TH900, the Beyers win this category. Also they are much more sturdy and better build than the Fostex. Fostex is like a Jaguar and Beyers like a BMW. Both drive great, but the Jaguar is a live style and sound better. For Mixing and Audio Production, Beyers are probably the more sensible choice. For a Pro-Audio Headphone the Beyers are most probably the best in the World right now. Don't get me wrong. Bass and Control and Mids on the Beyers are absolutely beautiful and I rate them 5 out of 5 stars. But... for the Fostex have this laid-back sound, this easyness, this relaxed reproduction the Beyer lack. In the end the conclusion must be, one can't simply live with just one headphone. And I have to experiment more with amplification.

I have bought both the 20i in Ears from Bose and the QC 25. The 20i in ears Noise Cancelation eats the QC25 NC for breakfast. Seriously, they are in another ball park. The 20i NC works like on pro-levels and let the NC in the QC25 seem like a Kindergarten toy across the whole frequency spectrum, the 20i cancelled noise better, a lot better, let it be water, clicking, birds, wind, voices, knocks, doors slamming. Whatever I threw at both of them, the QC25 did let through about 50% of the sound and the 20i about 25% of exterior sound, yes the 20i it is that good. So - if you are serious about NC better give the 20i in ears a try.
 
That being said, the sound on the QC25 is substantially nicer, the bass extends more, the soundstage is bigger and there is a more detail in comparison. I would even say I enjoy its relaxed, muffled down sound signature. But the sound is boring, very flat, very streamlined and unengaging. Highs are the most undynamic I ever heard, mids and voices are a bit better and bass is very strong, too much of it.
 
I would never hesitate to opt for my Beyerdynamics which sound-wise is just no comparison to Bose products, which is unfair I know, Bose being cool overpriced and well-made gadgets and Beyer T51p being a serious headphone for adults. Fyi All A/B tests were done against an Audio Engine D1 DAC.
 
Then there is the ground level white noise, which is much louder with the 20i, almost making me hate them. Also the "pressure" we know from NC is much more on the QC25, but its bearable. Before I make a decision which one to keep I will take them to work. Because of much less leakage and far superiour NC I will probably opt for the 20i or as an complete alternative for some cIEMs made out of silicon.
 
Comfort-wise the QC25 is quite great, light and with great haptics. Materials are excellent, but they will get sweaty.

Long-Term Usage Update July 2015
 
After using the headphone for 3 months i need to do a revision of my original rating, and ameliorate my rating from 2.5 stars to 4 stars. I am coming to the conclusion that due to their extremely good noise cancellation these are the best day-to-day in-ears I owned so far. That feeling when you are on a bycicle in rush hour and don't hear enourmous trucks or loud engines from old cars rushing 3 meters next to you is almost undescribable and must be experienced. It is a lot like if sitting in a well-isolated BMW and listening to your favorite music, not recognizing the terror of rush hour noise on a 40mph (70 kmh) speed-limited 4-laned road. (In europe, 4 lanes are a lot!). At work, at home, everywhere I put these on, it is instant delight. Combine that with the relaxed, bassy signature sound of Bose and you are in relaxation heaven, no matter what happens around you. I became a lot more productive at work by using these headphones and only wish their sound would be a little more detailed or they could play a bit more louder, but the overall package is great and the high price tag is justified. In one word: Yes, they are a must-have.
 
Original review
 
I decided to do this review because of the uncertainty what you get in terms of sound when you get a product from the Bose brand.
 
I own/ed:
 
Headphones
Sennheiser Adidas Sport
Sennheiser Momentum
Sennheiser HD 25-SP II
Fostex TH-600
Beyer 990 DT
Beyer DT1350
Sony In-Ears for €150
Beyer T51i
 
Loudspeakers
Epos Speakers
Bose Soundlink Mini
Samson Rubicon
 
Sources
Creek
RME
Echo
Apogee
Focusrite
Asus Xonar
AudioEngine D1
 
I bought the Bose 20i for about 240€ for the reason they are intended for. Let me explain: I work as a software engineer in an office that shares its room with a kitchen, a table soccer and a socialising area. Unbelievable right? Mangement does not understand that creating solutions in math and computer science needs silence, so they gave us these 20 eur headphones from IcyBox, a manufacturer of external HDD cases, crazy right? Needless to say the IcyBox Noise Canceling Over-Ears were buggy, heavy and clamping like a Boa Constrictor after a 2-week hunger strike. So I went for the 20i from Bose and the QC25 which are yet to arrive.
 
Sound Quality
I did A/B test them against the Beyer T51i, on very well made, extremely open sounding headphone with remote control and portable as well. As source I used my iPhone 4s which has a well made soundchip in it, I think Cirrus Logic, not sure bout that. I also plugged them in into the AudioEngine D1 which is one of the best DACs I owned so far and sounds on par with Apogee converters.
 
After seeing Mike Stern live in Innsbruck, Austria I had to throw the CD I bought from Mike at them. Format of the files were is OGG Vorbis, which is after Apple's AAC the best mobile digital format I can think of, bar none.
 
To let the Genie out of the bottle, the Bose are no audiophile headphones. Guitars of Eric Johnson and Stern sound lean and thin in comparison to the Beyer. When you plug in the Beyers it is like a curtain is lifted, all that resolution. Yet - the sound is very different and it is an unfair test, I know. Bose's sound signature is supposed to be a relaxed, laid-back one. And in that terms they deliver. You will get the signature Bose sound, meaning, they are listenable, not harsh and there is a good level of detail, voices and lots of ompfh-Bass. I liked it. But don't mistake these for Audiophile Phones. When I plugged them into the iPhone, sound quality considerably went south, throwing Laura Marling at them, details get muffled away, imaging is maybe 15% of the Beyers On-ears, which were cheaper than the Bose by the way. Yet, when properly ampliefied the Bose can sing if they want to, meaning, you need the right kind of music for them. I did not like how they reproduced HipHop or Laura Marling on the iPhone, yet with Mike Stern and the AudioEngine, guitars sounded great, but keep in mind Sterns recordings are top-notch and would very likely even sing on some sub-100€ ghetto blaster. No offense, but the Bose is doin nothing out of the ordinary here, there are also some spikes and Muffles around some frequencies in the mids and highs. Cymbals sound very muffled and distorted. Sorry to dissapoint. On the upside electronical music like the next-gen one at SoundCloud was very listenable. Overall they sound OK, certainly not more than OK, so I rate them 2 points for sound. To be honest, in terms of audiophility, sound rating should be 1 star only, but hey they are Bose so I turn a blind eye here.
 
NC
This is why they get 2.5 stars from me overall. Noise Cancelation works really well, they will block a lot of noise! Let it be heavy doors that are getting closed, let it be the keys clicking on my loud mechanical keyboard or mouse clicks, let it be water running, or a tea water cooker. So yes, NC works great, and even when you play no sound, but then you will be able to hear the static, which you probably hear in every NC phone on the market. I really have to take these to work to judge them in a ultra loud environment but my guess is, they will excel.
 
Comfort
These are comfortable headphones for sure. So the label QC - Quite Comfort is not a lie. Compared to my Sony in ears, which do not nearly sound as muffled and toned down as the Bose 20i - and did cost half - I would say they are maybe a bit more uncomfortable than a tiny in ear like the Sony. I did not find any small tips in the packaging of the Bose, but then again I did not search for them, since the ones pre-fitted on the Bose are a good match to my ears. The little silicon ear flaps on the headphones to a good job, keeping them in your ear, and the little clamp on the cable does a great job as well. Cable is a bit short for my taste, but it will be enough from your jeans poket to your ear. Btw. the paint job on the cable is aweful, it is ugly, oh yes, it is. Why, Bose, why?
 
So in conclusion a well-made and overpriced phone (for its sub-standart sound), comfort is great, and Noise Cancellation works marvelously well. If Bose could manage to raise the sound quality on the next generation, it might be worth another review.
 
Thanks for reading!
--
http://meshfields.de