[Stillhart]

 
​I think Aeon vs Eikon would be a better comparison. The Atticus felt like a mid fi or lower headphone to me because of the tuning; the bass overwhelmed the mids and treble and affected the clarity. I'm a basshead by trade. The EIkon on the other hand was absolutely spectacular and felt like a $3000 headphone. The only thing though is the EIkon is semi-closed while the Aeon is fully closed. And of course the Aeon is much cheaper.
 
I made my choice and bought the Aeon

 
 

  I guess we all hear things differently....I agree the Eikon would be a better comparison to the Aeon than the Atticus,but theres no way the Atticus sounded mid-fi....and if anything I felt the mids were forward and prominent on it as well....to my ears the Atticus is a better and more fun LCD-2...perhaps not as much sub extension,but much more impact.

The Aeon is a really good sounding headphone,especially for the price,it just doesnt compliment my collection as well as The Atticus does,so it will have to wait until after I add the ZMF.

 
 
Without getting too off topic here, I've found that the mid presence on the Atticus is very dependent on your amp impedance (as explained more below).  The impressions of the Atticus I did a few pages back were out of the $3000 Liquid Crimson.  It turns out the Atticus sounds better (to my ears) out of the $300 Project Solstice because it has adjustable output resistance and can be used at 68ohms.  The biggest difference is in how forward or recessed the mids are (though the rest of the sound is better as well).  
 
In short, it's quite possible that you're both correct in your impressions but the differences are because of the amping.  Now, back to AEON thread.
 
 

   
I reviewed both headphones you are considering, so I'll weigh in with a few observations. I would say the better choice is going to be heavily dependent on amping. If you've been over to the Atticus and Eikon thread recently, you'll see there has been an increasing discussion rising about damping factor on the Atticus... which is the headphone's impedance (300 ohms) divided by the amplifier's impedance. While, in most cases, a damping factor of 8 or more will yield the best results, a couple of other Head-fi'ers and I have discovered that the Atticus changes dramatically in a positive way with a lower damping factor of about 4 to 6. In words, it will sound best with an amplifier with an output impedance between 50-75 ohms. In most cases, that would be an OTL tube amplifier (the 60 ohm DecWare CSP3 is absolutely sublime with it). With the lower damping factor, the mids come out in a MAJOR way and it becomes very lush and euphonic with absolutely gorgeous vocals. With many standard <1 ohm amplifiers it can be quite bassy and the mids become a bit recessed in comparison. If you do happen to have an OTL tube amp though, it is absolutely a treat to listen to and it scales to an astounding level.
 
The AEON, on the other hand, is pretty much hassle-free. It's going to sound great out of just about anything you plug it into. And while the AEON certainly scales very nicely with better amplification, it can also sound pretty darn good out of a minimalist setup too. It is undoubtedly the safer choice of the two, and I've even been recommending it to non-audiophiles as "a headphone that will probably keep you happy for the next 20 years... you'll never need to upgrade." It is also the lighter and more comfortable headphone (actually, it is one of the most comfortable headphones on the planet). The AEON is also going to be the clearer and more detailed headphone of the two (though the Atticus might be able to bypass it with a very, very high-end tube amp).
 
Based on the fact that your current headphones are the X2 and the Meze (both great picks!), I'm going to take a wild guess that you don't have a $2,000 tube amp sitting around and say that the AEON is probably going to be the better choice for you.

 
This.  

 

[grizzlybeast]

 

  I am currently debating whether I should go with the ZMF Atticus or the Aeon. 
 

​I think Aeon vs Eikon would be a better comparison. The Atticus felt like a mid fi or lower headphone to me because of the tuning; the bass overwhelmed the mids and treble and affected the clarity. I'm a basshead by trade. The EIkon on the other hand was absolutely spectacular and felt like a $3000 headphone. The only thing though is the EIkon is semi-closed while the Aeon is fully closed. And of course the Aeon is much cheaper.
 
I made my choice and bought the Aeon

The Eikon is fully closed. The vents are really blocked and are used to help with tuning consistency. 
 
Id wonder about a comparison against the Atticus as well. or the p9 even. 

 

[Josh Englert]

The Aeon is going to be excellent based on the numerous impressions on this thread and can still be had for $699 on preorder. Hence why I placed a preorder coming from a KRK KNS-8400, (a studio can like the Audio-Technica M50x). I have not personally owned any other cans and know from reading the various impressions the Aeon is a solid purchase and would get it again. If having doubts read through all the information you can before making your purchase. 

 
Just thought I would put in my two cents. 

 

[Bloos]

Two questions:
1. Are AEON's drivers angled in anyway, or are they perpendicular to the side of the head? ex.HD650 
FLTWS asked this before but I didn't see an answer for it,
 
2.Quoting from another forum, 
"Dan told me production units will have matched pair drivers through a sorting process. He said they couldn't do that with the pre-production run my sample came from and warned me that he thought the drivers may be more mismatched that I would like." -Tyll Hertsens, Feb 1, 2017
 
Even though Tyll's unit turned out to have decent driver matching, does this mean that the current pre-production run will not go through the same driver-matching/channel-balancing scrutiny?
 
Would really love to get them, but never bought blind before..oh and CAD dollar's too weak. Le SIGH

 

[Stillhart]

NM

 

[Josh Englert]

Edited my response. 

 

[Hansotek]

Two questions:
1. Are AEON's drivers angled in anyway, or are they perpendicular to the side of the head? ex.HD650 
[COLOR=696969]FLTWS asked this before but I didn't see an answer for it,[/COLOR]

2.Quoting from another forum, 
"Dan told me production units will have matched pair drivers through a sorting process. He said they couldn't do that with the pre-production run my sample came from and warned me that he thought the drivers may be more mismatched that I would like." -Tyll Hertsens, Feb 1, 2017

Even though Tyll's unit turned out to have decent driver matching, does this mean that the current pre-production run will not go through the same driver-matching/channel-balancing scrutiny?

Would really love to get them, but never bought blind before..oh and CAD dollar's too weak. Le SIGH

When he says, "The pre-production run" he means the 20 or 30 ÆONs that were made for shows and early reviews, NOT preorders.

When you do a tiny run of like 50 drivers, getting perfectly matched pairs in every headphone is simply not possible. It's partially just a numbers game. When you order a couple thousand to fulfill your preorders and start filling your stock, chances improve greatly. And you also benefit from the tighter tolerances of large production runs. There might be other outlying factors too, but these aforementioned issues are just basic realities of prototyping and mass production.

 

[DoctaCosmos]

My take on the two is simply that while the AEON has a ridiculously magic like height to the middle image, it's immediately apparent that the rest of the sound is much smaller in comparison and is restricted due to its smaller enclosure. It's a magnificent headphone in which I slightly preferred the midrange of it to the ether c. however, the downside being that if you directly compare a full sized headphone such as the Atticus and EIKON or even its big brother the ether c, it'd be hard to accept the AEON as being endgame material UNLESS you want the best portable setup ever.

 

[Imusicman]

My take on the two is simply that while the AEON has a ridiculously magic like height to the middle image, it's immediately apparent that the rest of the sound is much smaller in comparison and is restricted due to its smaller enclosure. It's a magnificent headphone in which I slightly preferred the midrange of it to the ether c. however, the downside being that if you directly compare a full sized headphone such as the Atticus and EIKON or even its big brother the ether c, it'd be hard to accept the AEON as being endgame material UNLESS you want the best portable setup ever.

I'm looking for mine as a potential end game transportable/portable setup with my QP1R to replace my Oppo PM-3's which has served me very well up to this point.

 

[XERO1]

My take on the two is simply that while the AEON has a ridiculously magic like height to the middle image, it's immediately apparent that the rest of the sound is much smaller in comparison and is restricted due to its smaller enclosure. It's a magnificent headphone in which I slightly preferred the midrange of it to the ether c. however, the downside being that if you directly compare a full sized headphone such as the Atticus and EIKON or even its big brother the ether c, it'd be hard to accept the AEON as being endgame material UNLESS you want the best portable setup ever.

​If you are looking for closed-back headphone with the wide and deep soundstage of a TOTL open-back, then the Aeon isn't for you.
 
But if you are OK with a headphone that has a more compact (but still very well delineated) soundstage, that also has none of the muffled-sounding midrange that most other closed-backs do, then the Aeon is right up your alley!

 

[mitsu763]

A travel case will be included in the pre-production orders.  After the intro I won't guarantee it. 

Pretty stoked about this. Thank you!

 

[emergencylies]

I know these requests can be tiring, but I was wondering about any comparison to the PM-3 (I did a search and couldn't find one in the thread). It seems a natural competitor, being as there are so few closed back PM headphones.

 

[MattTCG]

  I know these requests can be tiring, but I was wondering about any comparison to the PM-3 (I did a search and couldn't find one in the thread). It seems a natural competitor, being as there are so few closed back PM headphones.

 
I wouldn't say natural competitor. The Aeon is 2x the money so it should be better across the board. And I find that it is. Staging is way better on the Aeon and it sounds more open. There was a slight weirdness in the tone in the mids of the pm-3 that I could never overcome (possibly EQ could have fixed it, I understand that Sonarworks has a preset profile for it now). Weight and overall comfort is pretty comparable. 
 
I'll give the nod to the pm-3 on portability. It's smaller and has a sleeker look. The Aeon for me is more transportable. 

 

[Pandaclocker]

@Stillhart
 
I can see that you in the past have owned the Fidelio X2. Even though it may be hard to judge by memory, could you try to give a brief comparison on how the Aeon sounds compared to the X2?

I know X2 are open and Aeon is closed, but the reason I'm asking is because I'm currently owning the Fidelio X2 as my home-headphones. I think they are great, got a good a pair I think. However, as everyone else in this hobby, I'm always wondering if there's something better out there These ÆON from MrSpeakers have really triggered me based on measurement and reviews so far.

So even though Aeon are closed I'm thinking about replacing my X2 with the Aeon as my home-use headphones.

Would the Aeon be a noticeable upgrade in terms of overall sound quality compared to the X2?
My preferences are towards neutral in terms of overall tonality, I like good bass that hits hard (but I'm no bass-head by any means), I enjoy a delicious midrange, good soundstage and detail resolution and extended treble without any harshness.

My X2 I think have a wonderful overall neutral tonality, with a nice bass impact, good transparent midrange and a wonderful large soundstage. Sometimes I think the X2's treble can be ever-so-slightly harsh and give me a slight fatigue-feeling, although most of the time it's not a big deal.

 

[jeffri]

Pre-ordered one from a local distributor here, loved what I'm hearing and the comfort is just top notch. Might very well be my end game closed headphone. Also the free Fulla 2 promo during local festival here is too tempting, though delivery is expected in May or June, so it will still be a while.