phthora
Headphoneus Supremus
Yes. Please explain how the AEONs are different from a $4000 open dynamic driver headphone, I think that would be very fruitful for everyone involved.
AEON, MrSpeakers' New Closed Back Planar Magnetic Headphone
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Yes. Please explain how the AEONs are different from a $4000 open dynamic driver headphone, I think that would be very fruitful for everyone involved.
TonyNewman
Headphoneus Supremus
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+1. Apples vs Oranges. That is always a useful comparison for everyone involved.
I have a HD800S and HEKv2. Had a Utopia in the past, but was happy to part with it. I am buying an Aeon because sometimes I want/need to shut out the outside world to enjoy my session. I expect a closed back headphone to be inferior to a TOTL open headphone in some ways. It would be unreasonable to expect anything different.
Instead of slagging the Aeon vs HD800, Utopia... etc the original poster should let folks know what other closed back can they think is better and why. LCD-XC? Flow C? Shure 1540? Do any of those beat the Aeon? That would be a useful discussion.
I have a HD800S and HEKv2. Had a Utopia in the past, but was happy to part with it. I am buying an Aeon because sometimes I want/need to shut out the outside world to enjoy my session. I expect a closed back headphone to be inferior to a TOTL open headphone in some ways. It would be unreasonable to expect anything different.
Instead of slagging the Aeon vs HD800, Utopia... etc the original poster should let folks know what other closed back can they think is better and why. LCD-XC? Flow C? Shure 1540? Do any of those beat the Aeon? That would be a useful discussion.
I will post my thoughts on Aeon vs Sony Z1R and ZMF Eikon (both I own or owned) when I get back home later tonight. In shorter terms, the Aeon is best described as "middling" - does nothing wrong, but does nothing well either. Plus the clamping force is really something to behold.
mandrake50
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You did not bring anything, actually. "more dust Aeon is biting" ?? Is that really supposed to communicate anything. With the comparisons that you have already made, I am not at all interested in hearing more.
Jimster480
Headphoneus Supremus
Is it tight around your head?
I have a D7200 and it has incredible clamping force which makes it very uncomfortable.
Many people are used to "snugging" the headphone tight to keep them in place, this is NOT how our headphones should be fitted. Clamping force on all our headphones should be fairly light; if the clamp is too hard, simply loosen the headband a bit so you only feel a gentle weight on top of your head, you can also adjust pad placement around the ear to follow your jawbone, this also reduces pressure. The headphone is designed so a properly adjusted leather strap carries very little weight.
TonyNewman
Headphoneus Supremus
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That would be very helpful and appreciated. Thank you.
Test tracks: The Well-Tempered Clavier by Glenn Gould , The Union by Elton John and Leon Russell, Elements by Ludovico Einaudi, Nina Simone's Finest Hour by Nina Simone
DAC/AMP: Oppo HA-1, Audeze Deckard
Comparison:
MrSpeakers Aeon:
With the foam being inserted, the bass extends deep, decays a bit faster yet for the most part, slams quite polite. During some of the tracks in Nina Simone's album the drum sounds clean and controlled, but it never would give me a sense of rumble. Notice that despite the bass being controlled, it does not give you a presence of the natural thumping sound of real-life music. In comparison the Elear is way more dynamic on the lower end.
The mids is flat with almost no depth. Elton John's deep, magnetic voice does not sound rich at all - although it has great, great layering that draws the instruments from beneath. I would call it borderline neutral.
The highs is pleasant to hear but not something to remember. Less refined, less detailed, less fatiguing than HD800/ Utopia, but more boring and analog-like. Nina Simone at her finest sounds as if she were singing to a tree. No sibilant noises can be detected, yet it does not give any treble sparkles either.
Soundstage wise Aeon is nothing but mediocre: the sound is compressed in a dense&small studio-like space. Could be said as wide but definitely not tall. Clarity and transparency is just average - it does not sound muffled at least, but does not offer the razor-sharp details either. I just can't hear the mumbling sound of Glenn Gould singing to himself while playing Bach's fugue very clearly. Plus the sound on its own does not sound natural, with more of a digital touch to it. The confused positioning of instruments in large orchestral works shows the technical [in]capabilities of the driver.
So overall no glaring flaws; very neutral, a decent all-rounder with very middling toning. Comfort wise... the leather pads feel nice to touch & smell, but the [slightly loose] clamping force as well as the earcup designs often forces me take it off, re-configure the wearing and put it back on a number of times during listening sessions.
ZMF Eikon:
Very good bass. Extends deep, decays fast, drums have a gripping sense of power in them yet not losing any control or cleanliness. Absolute no complaints - I have to say I'm a secret basshead after enjoying the Eikon.
The mids is the central pillar of these cans. Lush, rich, full-bodied, natural, textured...you name it. Listening to male vocals is a dream full of awesomeness - but there are times when the entire staging of the music is overshadowed by the mids that you lose track of the other parts that are supposed to be there. Also it is a bit too warm to be approaching neutrality.
The highs loses some details while adding up a bit darkness & dirt to the tremble. Very smooth, very refined, quite soft with no sibilance... Female vocals (i.e Betty LaVette) can sound very natural, very life-like with the just right dose of realism and musicality. In terms of detail retrievals... it is being edged out by either HD 800 or Utopia in a huge margin.
Overall I expect the separation, transparency and clarity to be better: it has a very resolving (and forgiving!) very full-bodied, honey-like sound of liquid...though for orchestral pieces the sounds tends to blend with each other. The soundstage is quite decent for a closed-back and rivals open-backs such as Elear & HD600 - Eikon has an intimate presentation from every region and does not tend to sound compressed if not listening to large orchestral pieces.
Sony Z1r:
Several major points:
A dark signature that sounds muffled at times; bass is way too much and bleeds into the mids; the highs has so many "zing" "zing" "zing" noises for me to bear; comfort and build quality is top-notch. Quite disappointed.
Will add more details to Z1r and Eikon later.
DAC/AMP: Oppo HA-1, Audeze Deckard
Comparison:
MrSpeakers Aeon:
With the foam being inserted, the bass extends deep, decays a bit faster yet for the most part, slams quite polite. During some of the tracks in Nina Simone's album the drum sounds clean and controlled, but it never would give me a sense of rumble. Notice that despite the bass being controlled, it does not give you a presence of the natural thumping sound of real-life music. In comparison the Elear is way more dynamic on the lower end.
The mids is flat with almost no depth. Elton John's deep, magnetic voice does not sound rich at all - although it has great, great layering that draws the instruments from beneath. I would call it borderline neutral.
The highs is pleasant to hear but not something to remember. Less refined, less detailed, less fatiguing than HD800/ Utopia, but more boring and analog-like. Nina Simone at her finest sounds as if she were singing to a tree. No sibilant noises can be detected, yet it does not give any treble sparkles either.
Soundstage wise Aeon is nothing but mediocre: the sound is compressed in a dense&small studio-like space. Could be said as wide but definitely not tall. Clarity and transparency is just average - it does not sound muffled at least, but does not offer the razor-sharp details either. I just can't hear the mumbling sound of Glenn Gould singing to himself while playing Bach's fugue very clearly. Plus the sound on its own does not sound natural, with more of a digital touch to it. The confused positioning of instruments in large orchestral works shows the technical [in]capabilities of the driver.
So overall no glaring flaws; very neutral, a decent all-rounder with very middling toning. Comfort wise... the leather pads feel nice to touch & smell, but the [slightly loose] clamping force as well as the earcup designs often forces me take it off, re-configure the wearing and put it back on a number of times during listening sessions.
ZMF Eikon:
Very good bass. Extends deep, decays fast, drums have a gripping sense of power in them yet not losing any control or cleanliness. Absolute no complaints - I have to say I'm a secret basshead after enjoying the Eikon.
The mids is the central pillar of these cans. Lush, rich, full-bodied, natural, textured...you name it. Listening to male vocals is a dream full of awesomeness - but there are times when the entire staging of the music is overshadowed by the mids that you lose track of the other parts that are supposed to be there. Also it is a bit too warm to be approaching neutrality.
The highs loses some details while adding up a bit darkness & dirt to the tremble. Very smooth, very refined, quite soft with no sibilance... Female vocals (i.e Betty LaVette) can sound very natural, very life-like with the just right dose of realism and musicality. In terms of detail retrievals... it is being edged out by either HD 800 or Utopia in a huge margin.
Overall I expect the separation, transparency and clarity to be better: it has a very resolving (and forgiving!) very full-bodied, honey-like sound of liquid...though for orchestral pieces the sounds tends to blend with each other. The soundstage is quite decent for a closed-back and rivals open-backs such as Elear & HD600 - Eikon has an intimate presentation from every region and does not tend to sound compressed if not listening to large orchestral pieces.
Sony Z1r:
Several major points:
A dark signature that sounds muffled at times; bass is way too much and bleeds into the mids; the highs has so many "zing" "zing" "zing" noises for me to bear; comfort and build quality is top-notch. Quite disappointed.
Will add more details to Z1r and Eikon later.
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In a word, Aeon is nowhere near a TOTL status. Might be the pinnacle of a middling all-rounder with an "affordable" pricing.
Also for the record, I bought Aeon after reading Tyll's raving reviews.
For comparison, I've never had to take the Aeon off my head for comfort, even over hours-long sessions.
I should clarify that it is not the clamping force being too tight, but rather being a bit loose for my smaller, narrower build of the head.
Oh and the earcups do not conform really well to my ears.
DivaFonda
100+ Head-Fier
Do you have any advice for people with smaller heads, for a secure fit? Thanks in advance!
harris4crna
100+ Head-Fier
Just became the proud owner of the Aeon following an extensive audition of many closed, open, planar and non-planar headphones. All my listening occurred here in Yokohama Japan at Yodobashi. I am currently living in The Tokyo area. I was reluctant to make the purchase since I knew I could purchase these directly from the US for 200 cheaper. Fortunately I had enough points on my card to save 250 dollars following my purchase of the Chord Hugo 2 last week. I did not drag my Hugo 2 to the store for auditioning, but I did bring the Mojo. The Aeons had my foot tapping from the start. Did compare to the Ether C, but despite liking them I was not going to pay the Japanese price of 230000¥. Wow, they mark these up here. I was really looking for a closed headphone, needless to say I found them. Looking forward to spend much time with them. Also, looking forward to moving back to San Diego next summer to thank Dan myself in person, thank you. Shawn
GrussGott
500+ Head-Fier
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I'm hoping for some advice from you people more experienced than me ...
I've got a set of B&W P7Ws for the last year which I like quite a bit, especially when connected by AptX to my Macbook Pro 2015, and even better when wired (via standard HP jack, so Cirrus 4207 DAC chip set to 24-bit/96kHz). I'm not convinced I'm at a level of needing a spendy DAC, especially given the 4207 sounds just fine, but the Aeons do need an analog amp so I was thinking of pairing them with the FiiO A5 (I could wait for the Q5 but I'm inpatient). I primarily listen to Tidal HiFi steams and I'm also not convinced streams above 16/44 are worth it for me (so back to not needing a spendy DAC).
Questions:
(1.) Does anybody know if the FiiO A5 can properly drive the Aeon flux? (the a5 recommends 16ohm and up impedance, the Aeons are 13 with high sensitivity). The A5 has 14.96 Vp-p peak voltage and 250 mA max current output - it will put 800 mW into a 32ohm load
(2.) Is there a better set of closed back HPs I might be looking at in the same price range? I also keep looking at the B&W P9s ...
(3.) My Plan B is to pick up a pair of B&W PXs, enjoy AptX-HD and call it a day, but I really do dig wired enough to get a better set of HPs and workable amp.
Thanks all!
I've got a set of B&W P7Ws for the last year which I like quite a bit, especially when connected by AptX to my Macbook Pro 2015, and even better when wired (via standard HP jack, so Cirrus 4207 DAC chip set to 24-bit/96kHz). I'm not convinced I'm at a level of needing a spendy DAC, especially given the 4207 sounds just fine, but the Aeons do need an analog amp so I was thinking of pairing them with the FiiO A5 (I could wait for the Q5 but I'm inpatient). I primarily listen to Tidal HiFi steams and I'm also not convinced streams above 16/44 are worth it for me (so back to not needing a spendy DAC).
Questions:
(1.) Does anybody know if the FiiO A5 can properly drive the Aeon flux? (the a5 recommends 16ohm and up impedance, the Aeons are 13 with high sensitivity). The A5 has 14.96 Vp-p peak voltage and 250 mA max current output - it will put 800 mW into a 32ohm load
(2.) Is there a better set of closed back HPs I might be looking at in the same price range? I also keep looking at the B&W P9s ...
(3.) My Plan B is to pick up a pair of B&W PXs, enjoy AptX-HD and call it a day, but I really do dig wired enough to get a better set of HPs and workable amp.
Thanks all!
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I too have joined the Aeon club. I got them to replace my DT770's to listen to at work. I've grown to adore my 560's at home, which left my 770's lacking in comparison (though, they sound great with a lot of metal). I find the Aeon's to be a great counterpart to the 560's as I'm discovering I'm a sucker for details. So even though the high's aren't as pronounced and to my ears the bass doesn't hit as hard, the Aeon's are great. I'm currently using them with the foam inserts, which add just enough punch down low to keep me more than happy.
I'm thoroughly impressed with the comfort and design of the earcups. They make for a great set of work headphones and the case makes them easy to throw in my backpack and take with me to listen in peace while having a read at a cafe, for example.
One observation though is that the seal seems good enough that after some time, it almost feels as though there's pressure building up in my ears. A quick adjustment or compressing the pads before putting them on generally helps. Definitely an eye opener though. While mentioning the seal, I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by the isolation. I can listen as loud as I want at work without disturbing co-workers; should the mood grab, or I can listen quietly without worry about office chatter overriding it.
My one niggling complaint so far is my set have two left side pads installed. I perceived a slight channel imbalance with a left bias that was bugging me yesterday. After noticing uneven stitching on the pads, I realized the angle of the pads was the same on both sides. Thus, it appears that the foam within the pads are both left side foam. I'll attach some pics once I get home.
This is my first MrSpeakers purchase and overall, I'm stoked. Should it turn out that my earpad issue is indeed a production mix-up, I can totally accept that such things can happen with a smaller operation hand-making the product. Assuming it can be sorted out, it's definitely not something would hold against product. Also, after reading a bunch of this thread, I'm thoroughly impressed with how hands on Dan is with the community, especially when creating such top products.
I'm thoroughly impressed with the comfort and design of the earcups. They make for a great set of work headphones and the case makes them easy to throw in my backpack and take with me to listen in peace while having a read at a cafe, for example.
One observation though is that the seal seems good enough that after some time, it almost feels as though there's pressure building up in my ears. A quick adjustment or compressing the pads before putting them on generally helps. Definitely an eye opener though. While mentioning the seal, I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by the isolation. I can listen as loud as I want at work without disturbing co-workers; should the mood grab, or I can listen quietly without worry about office chatter overriding it.
My one niggling complaint so far is my set have two left side pads installed. I perceived a slight channel imbalance with a left bias that was bugging me yesterday. After noticing uneven stitching on the pads, I realized the angle of the pads was the same on both sides. Thus, it appears that the foam within the pads are both left side foam. I'll attach some pics once I get home.
This is my first MrSpeakers purchase and overall, I'm stoked. Should it turn out that my earpad issue is indeed a production mix-up, I can totally accept that such things can happen with a smaller operation hand-making the product. Assuming it can be sorted out, it's definitely not something would hold against product. Also, after reading a bunch of this thread, I'm thoroughly impressed with how hands on Dan is with the community, especially when creating such top products.
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