Okay, I've had my Aeon 2 Closed for awhile now, and I'm posting here with my two cents. This headphone is absolutely amazing, but take that with 3 big grains of salt: 1, I'm using it with fairly expensive gear, so other people's A2C's might not sound as good, 2, I've literally never heard any headphone this expensive before, so I'm no expert, and 3, I'm using it with a 650 dollar aftermarket upgrade cable, so again, other people's A2Cs likely don't sound this awesome. But I have to say, with my setup I can't personally detect any of the weaknesses reviewers mentioned. The treble is not overly bright or irritating, even with no inserts in there, piano notes decay sound flawless as far as I can tell, and no particular part of the sound seems very recessed or excessive. Male and female vocals both sound equally outstanding, at least to my inexperienced ears. I'm using the A2C directly out of my Chord Hugo 2 amp/dac with a small DAP as the source, connected via optical to the Hugo 2. I strongly suspect there is some killer synergy here with the Aeon family of cans and the rather unique Chord sound, as has been discussed by many Chord fans for years (as well as by Rob Watts who engineers the Chord dacs). The bass doesn't slam. It just doesn't. Nor does the treble sparkle like a flock of manic fairies in a butterfly garden. This to me is a semi relaxed kind of sound, it's reasonable and pleasant, and suitable for all day listening unlike a hard slamming bass cannon or a sparklicious treblestravaganza. But you will hear lots of treble details all day, and you will hear deep, accurate, undistorted bass. I also want to confirm another well known fact: the Aeons scale up very, very well with better audio gear. If you think your gear is overkill for the Aeon 2, rest assured it ain't. Seemingly this goes for the headphone cable as well as amp/dac/source. I have no doubt that not all A2Cs sound this satisfying but mine seriously does. Upgradeitis: vanquished.