[mitsu763]

I received mine today. The seal on the box was broken but the headphones and cable appear untouched. The cable was sealed in a plastic bag.

 

[Odin412]

I received mine today as well. Initial impressions are that these are really well made. The fit and finish are very nice and the cable looks nice as well. They are light and comfortable. My initial listening impressions are that these are very neutral headphones with good, but not boosted bass, very nice midrange and smooth treble that's not at all harsh or grating. I tried them with both my Liquid Carbon and WA6, but it's too early to say which combo is best to my ears. I'm going to leave the headphones burn in playing music for a few days too see what happens. So far I'm very happy with these!

 

[mrspeakers]

A quick update; we expect to have all pre-orders and perhaps back-orders for ÆON shipped by the end of next week. Our ramp-up was a little slower than I hoped but we're going to have a team in this weekend and I think that will get us through the orders very quickly. Thanks for your patience and support!

 

[abotero]

A quick update; we expect to have all pre-orders and perhaps back-orders for ÆON shipped by the end of next week. Our ramp-up was a little slower than I hoped but we're going to have a team in this weekend and I think that will get us through the orders very quickly. Thanks for your patience and support!

Thanks for the update.

First-timer here, at least for something bought based on these forums reviews. Keep it up!

 

[x RELIC x]

A quick update; we expect to have all pre-orders and perhaps back-orders for ÆON shipped by the end of next week. Our ramp-up was a little slower than I hoped but we're going to have a team in this weekend and I think that will get us through the orders very quickly. Thanks for your patience and support!

First thing I thought of, lol!!

 

[Mkoll]

Seems like most people in this thread have experience with a lot of really expensive headphones. Comparisons to the ethers, focals, and lcd-2/3/x are certainly interesting, but I'm also curious to hear the thoughts of those who, like me, have never spent serious time with a headphone above the $500/$600 range. I've spent most of my audiophile career with a cheaper schiit stack and an he-400s. I wonder if this bass/mid dip people are discussing will be appreciable to me.

I'm like you: cheapest Schiit stack and have owned Dt770, HD600, and TH-X00. I don't notice the bass/mid dip at all. I tried the EQ settings TMRaven suggested and it sounded worse to my ears—no offense to him of course, I appreciate the suggestion. Very happy with the way they sound. Only two nitpicks I have so far are:

1) Rare tracks where just a tad more bass would be welcome.
2) Rare tracks where the treble is a tad overly loud at high volumes.

And those may have to do with the recording rather than the headphones, given they only occur with certain tracks. I don't know enough to say.

 

[tronco]

I received mine yesterday. It was interesting to follow the FedEx tracking from San Diego to Switzerland and a bit annoying to see the package waiting for 3.5 days in Memphis. I don't now how many times I pressed refresh during those 3.5 days

But now it is here and everything is good. It is very light, comfortable and looks good. I sounds great too, but after this short time I can't go into details. My iBasso DX50 at work has more than enough power to drive it. Bass is enough for me to enjoy Massive Attacks Collected album.

The case is great, and I am happy it was included. It is very compact but has enough space for some additional stuff in it. It is smaller than the Beyerdynamic T1.2 case but still big enough to fit even the Beyer cans. The case looks good, so I think Tyll from Innerfidelity won't call it ugly this time

 

[Imusicman]

Aeon vs PM-3 comparison using the Chord Dave & QP1R

Firstly let me get this out of the way by saying I like both headphones. And IMHO if you owned either one you would be a very happy proud owner of a quality set of closed cans. Could I pick one over the other? Well thats an interesting question and a tough decision that I will no doubt be having to make over the coming weeks. I have my Utopias as my main headphone when no-one is around and I can listen to them, undisturbed in all their glory. Unfortunately this is not always possible. Sometimes I need a quality closed back can as portable/transportable option when other people are around and I need to shut myself off from the outside world and it's noises and still to be able to enjoy my music.
Im not a reviewer and I don't posses the writing skills of one, nor can I articulate the SQ or FR of a headphone the way that they do! This post is based on my listening experience in my words the best way I can describe it. You may not agree with some or all of my findings and YOMV to mine and thats absolutely fine. We all hear things differently and have different listening preferences. Im writing this is in the hope that someone may find it useful. The same reason I read other peoples posts and reviews.

Aeon
More air up top. Slightly bigger soundstage of the two. Kinda reminds me a little bit of the Beyerdynamic T1 G2 sparkle although not as pronounced or holographic.
Vocals slightly further back
Detail retrieval is similar to me. Too close to call
A little bit "too polite" for me in it's presentation and therefore not quite as engaging for me on rock & pop although things do improve greatly with live performance and more acoustic singer/songwriter based tracks.
definitely the thinner sounding presentation of the two.
Quieter headphone of the two. I had to turn up the volume 4-5 dB to get to similar listening levels.
Both very comfortable although I do get slightly more heat generated with the Aeon pads which seems strange has the Aeon have more room for my ears. I can only assume its down to the material being used.
Both isolate well. Again nothing in it for me especially while the music is playing.

PM-3
More body, more slam, more punch.More dynamic. More bass presence. Simply more engaging. Switching between the two headphones no matter which way round you do it this really stands out for me and is the biggest differentiator
Vocals are more forward. I feel more connected to the singer with this presentation.
Too loud at Aeon volume level. I had to turn it down 4-5 dB
Because of these qualities I think the PM-3 would be the slightly better choice for on-the-go music listening. Bus, train, tube etc or simply walking out and about. If you were picking a headphone to take on a trip say I think either headphone would be a great choice.

A couple of things worth mentioning depending on your viewpoint

I have had my PM-3 for quite some time and they probably have hundreds if not over a thousand hours on them. They also have an upgraded top of the line cable on them from Norne Audio and yes I do believe the cable has made a difference to my PM-3's
The Aeons are less than a week old and probably only have about 10-20 hours on them. They have not been burned in and they are running with the stock cable.

 

[Alex Moran]

Oh man, i just received mine these are so much better than I was expecting, I am getting a serious upgrade from my old Parrot Zik bluetooth v1 to these there is no comparison.

I love how comfy and the clamping pressure on my head is just right.
Apologised to people in the office to say I wont be working much too much music to listen to.

 

[mitsu763]

I am so excited to get these, Got my fedex email last night and the call this morning to pay for vat and import charges (a little hopefully they would sneak past without this)
My plan is to run them using the oppo ha2-se and iphone 7 using tidal anyone use the oppo ha2-se for running these yet?

It looks like you had a chance to listen before me but for anyone wondering, the HA-2SE powers the Aeon nicely on low gain.

 

[DarktoreS]

The Aeon with the Viva-Audio 2A3 amplifier ,

 

[DangerToast]

Just got em! Was worried about getting a box with a broken seal and/or a frayed headphone cable (as an earlier post mentioned) but they arrived in pristine condition.

Pictures really don't do these things justice - they are gorgeous. In person the blue looks really unique: deeper and with a more subtle metallic finish than pictures seem to show. Also, they kind of have new-car smell, which is an added bonus.

I noticed right away that the comfort is out of this world. Even compared to the obscenely comfortable beyerdynamics in my stable, these things are light and fit my head perfectly. I have a small hat size, fwiw.

Out of the box, the sound is really impressive with the ifi micro idsd black label. I'm listening for the first time as I write this and haven't burned them in at all, but I have to disagree with the earlier poster who said they didn't sound dynamic or punchy. They are really engaging and exciting to me, with a good amount of detail up top (no sibilance yet to my ears) and decent extension down low. They seem to be bringing out tiny details without distracting me from the core of the music. I also disagree with an earlier poster who said that pianos don't sound right with these. Pianos sound wonderful and natural to my ears. One area where I agree with others: they are really airy for a closed can, maybe even airier than my open HE-400S. Don't want to say a whole lot more without additional burn in and listening time, but these seem to have a really well-rounded and natural sound.

Basically, at first listen, the AEON sounds like what I'd hoped the EL-8 would sound like when I demoed it for about a week. The EL-8 was too sibilant and not nearly as comfortable. I'm optimistic that the AEON's will continue to wow me with additional listening.

 

[rnros]

Aeon vs PM-3 comparison using the Chord Dave & QP1R

Thank you. Good comparison. Very helpful to a lot of people who may already be familiar with the PM3.
A few quick comments. I also have the PM3, but have not compared them side by side. For me the PM3 is a very good HP, great for travel and the occasional at-home session. Exceptional design, build quality, and price/performance ratio.

-The AEON is less efficient than the PM3 so it would require more power. Not necessarily a bad thing, unless using a DAP is important to the user.
-The PM3 is mid-centric relative to the AEON, in the same way the HD650 is mid-centric relative to the HD600. That is a subjective issue primarily.
(I actually spend less time with the PM3 and the HD650 for that reason, not one of my personal preferences.)
-Only have about 16 hours burn on the AEON, but I did see a significant improvement in the SQ with the AEON after leaving it burn for about ten hours.
(I'll continue to burn and check the SQ as it goes forward.)
-Bass is very good on both HPs, but yes, the PM3 has a little more impact in the mid-bass region. The AEON bass also has excellent impact and appears even across the range.
-Agree that the AEON surpasses the PM3 in the treble region. Also that the AEON projects a larger soundstage, but this may be partly due the mid-centric character of the PM3. (For me, the Elear was similar, up-close and personal, but at the expense of soundstage and acoustic spacial cues.)

Very pleased with the AEON, excellent product design and execution, and a pleasure to handle and use.
Sound is very good, another benchmark for a closed headphone that does not sound like the 'old' closed headphones.
SQ is high at this moment and I am expecting even better with more time. It's a keeper to be sure.

 

[bluesaint]

How is Norne cable compare to DUM cable ?

Apples to Oranges. Norne is balanced XLR vs. the Dummer cable is SE

 

[Imusicman]

Thank you. Good comparison. Very helpful to a lot of people who may already be familiar with the PM3.
A few quick comments. I also have the PM3, but have not compared them side by side. For me the PM3 is a very good HP, great for travel and the occasional at-home session. Exceptional design, build quality, and price/performance ratio.

-The AEON is less efficient than the PM3 so it would require more power. Not necessarily a bad thing, unless using a DAP is important to the user.
-The PM3 is mid-centric relative to the AEON, in the same way the HD650 is mid-centric relative to the HD600. That is a subjective issue primarily.
(I actually spend less time with the PM3 and the HD650 for that reason, not one of my personal preferences.)
-Only have about 16 hours burn on the AEON, but I did see a significant improvement in the SQ with the AEON after leaving it burn for about ten hours.
(I'll continue to burn and check the SQ as it goes forward.)
-Bass is very good on both HPs, but yes, the PM3 has a little more impact in the mid-bass region. The AEON bass also has excellent impact and appears even across the range.
-Agree that the AEON surpasses the PM3 in the treble region. Also that the AEON projects a larger soundstage, but this may be partly due the mid-centric character of the PM3. (For me, the Elear was similar, up-close and personal, but at the expense of soundstage and acoustic spacial cues.)

Very pleased with the AEON, excellent product design and execution, and a pleasure to handle and use.
Sound is very good, another benchmark for a closed headphone that does not sound like the 'old' closed headphones.
SQ is high at this moment and I am expecting even better with more time. It's a keeper to be sure.

Burn in begins tonight. Ive two more days to work then I'm off for a fortnight so plenty of time to give these babies a full audition. Happy days

Interesting you mention the comparison of the Elear to the PM-3. I bought the Elear late last year and enjoyed it very much. So much so I ended buying the Utopia. I also auditioned the Ether C Flows at the same time but on the day it ended up being a two way shoot out between the Beyerdynamic T1 2nd gen and the Elear in a group test I was lucky enough to participate in. I did enjoy the C flows but they didn't wow me especially considering they were about a £1000 dearer than the Elears. It sounds like my tastes are leaning slightly towards more mid-centric headphones based on the headphones Ive previously owned or still have.