[Byronb]

https://www.bestintheversecables.com/

Try these guys, they do a great job and they are cheap.

 

[TimeLord]

There has been some discussion recently regarding sound leak and the inside volume of the AEON case. I tested the AEON versus the Audeze EL-8 Titanium to see which did a better job of not leaking sound.

I calibrated both headphones with pink noise to 73 dB(A), then I played music while wearing each headphone and measured the sound at 1 foot away from the headphones to see which one increased the ambient noise more. I played actual music instead of pink noise so the test better mimics real world situations (I played Rihanna's Pon de Replay, if you're wondering).


EL-8 Titanium

Ambient noise with no music measured at 1 foot - peaked 33 dB(A)
With music playing at 73 dB(A) measured at 1 foot - peaked at 35 dB(A)


AEON

Ambient noise with no music measured at 1 foot - peaked 34 dB(A)
With music playing at 73 dB(A) measured at 1 foot - peaked at 41 dB(A)


As you can see there was only 2 dB(A) difference in the ambient noise while using the EL-8 Ti, but a 7 dB(A) increase while using the AEON.


Next I assessed which headphones I would prefer for sound. I used Focal Utopia as reference and then compared the AEON to the EL-8 Ti.The AEON (with foam filter) is warmer, almost syrup-y, with a lot of bass quantity, but not the bass impact. The EL-8 Ti, by contrast, was thinner with less controlled treble and upper mids (female vocals) compared to the AEON. With respect to bass, the EL-8 has less bass quantity but better impact than the AEON. Between the AEON and EL-8 Ti, there are trade-offs where one is better than the other in certain areas.

My main use for the these two headphones is travel and they get most of their action on planes. Given the better comfort and trasportability, for my purposes, I prefer the AEON.


Here are some pictures of the AEON and my travel kit which includes a Chord Mojo as a DAC and a Sony PHA-3 as an amp. All of this fits inside the AEON case.

 

[Gibson59]

Any cable upgrade recommendations or is everyone pretty content with the stock cable?

 

[daddyo1973]

There has been some discussion recently regarding sound leak and the inside volume of the AEON case. I tested the AEON versus the Audeze EL-8 Titanium to see which did a better job of not leaking sound.

I calibrated both headphones with pink noise to 73 dB(A), then I played music while wearing each headphone and measured the sound at 1 foot away from the headphones to see which one increased the ambient noise more. I played actual music instead of pink noise so the test better mimics real world situations (I played Rihanna's Pon de Replay, if you're wondering).


EL-8 Titanium

Ambient noise with no music measured at 1 foot - peaked 33 dB(A)
With music playing at 73 dB(A) measured at 1 foot - peaked at 35 dB(A)


AEON

Ambient noise with no music measured at 1 foot - peaked 34 dB(A)
With music playing at 73 dB(A) measured at 1 foot - peaked at 41 dB(A)


As you can see there was only 2 dB(A) difference in the ambient noise while using the EL-8 Ti, but a 7 dB(A) increase while using the AEON.


Next I assessed which headphones I would prefer for sound. I used Focal Utopia as reference and then compared the AEON to the EL-8 Ti.The AEON (with foam filter) is warmer, almost syrup-y, with a lot of bass quantity, but not the bass impact. The EL-8 Ti, by contrast, was thinner with less controlled treble and upper mids (female vocals) compared to the AEON. With respect to bass, the EL-8 has less bass quantity but better impact than the AEON. Between the AEON and EL-8 Ti, there are trade-offs where one is better than the other in certain areas.

My main use for the these two headphones is travel and they get most of their action on planes. Given the better comfort and trasportability, for my purposes, I prefer the AEON.


Here are some pictures of the AEON and my travel kit which includes a Chord Mojo as a DAC and a Sony PHA-3 as an amp. All of this fits inside the AEON case.

Excellent write up, thanks for your thorough answer to my question.

 

[mandrake50]

It is a truly informative post on the leakage comparison of the two headphones. We should put it into perspective though. SPL drops 6 DB with the doubling of distance.
At two feet with the measured 73 DB being produced by the drivers, the Aeon would be only 1 DB above ambient levels. Barely audible to someone with good ears and listening closely.
This supports the anecdotal evidence posted in this thread. People, even close by, are not disturbed by noise leaked by the Aeon.

I thought about it. To me a more important measurement would be isolation from outside noise. Especially given that the leakage out is practically a non-factor. I would think, logically, that this figure would parallel the leakage out, but probably vary differently by frequency between the two headphones. Tyll publishes isolation graphs and just did one for the Aeon. I am off to see if he also did a isolation test on the EL-8 Titanium closed model.

 

[mandrake50]

OK here they are. First the Aeon Above. These are From Tyll's reviews on Inner Fidelity.

Now the EL8C

The ultimate isolation is close to the same, but occurs at different frequencies. I am guessing that the Aeon may actually be better for flying because of better attenuation at lower frequencies. Of course which would work better in any given environment would depend on the kind (frequency distribution) of the background noise. From these measurements, it should be very close regardless.

 

[watersedge1234]

It is a truly informative post on the leakage comparison of the two headphones. We should put it into perspective though. SPL drops 6 DB with the doubling of distance.
At two feet with the measured 73 DB being produced by the drivers, the Aeon would be only 1 DB above ambient levels. Barely audible to someone with good ears and listening closely.
This supports the anecdotal evidence posted in this thread. People, even close by, are not disturbed by noise leaked by the Aeon.

I thought about it. To me a more important measurement would be isolation from outside noise. Especially given that the leakage out is practically a non-factor. I would think, logically, that this figure would parallel the leakage out, but probably vary differently by frequency between the two headphones. Tyll publishes isolation graphs and just did one for the Aeon. I am off to see if he also did a isolation test on the EL-8 Titanium closed model.

He did indeed do isolation tests for both models, with the Aeons coming out on top in his findings. Aeons broadband isolation ranged from -23 to -28 across his numerous measurements, with the EL8 coming in at -22. However, I find external isolation to be better on the EL8s, and Timelords findings appears to be somewhat contradictory to Tylls in internal isolation as well. Alternatively, Tylls readings are taken Z-weight while Timelords are A-weight which most likely contributes to the difference (but, in my opinion, A-weight may better represent the obnoxious frequencies the person next to you will hear in the event of cup bleed). With that said, unless you're in an extremely quiet/loud environment internal/external bleed should not be much of a concern in either case.

 

[canali]

now I know the elear are different (open) vs the aeons, but has anyone heard both?
considering a pair of either. for portables to replace my senn 650s and sony 7520s
I love a detailed and dynamic sound

 

[Zachik]

Excellent write up, thanks for your thorough answer to my question.

I have posted earlier on the thread - did a very simple and non-scientific test with my GF:
I sat on the sofa next to her, probably a foot away, maybe 2 feet. With music on loud levels (definitely above 73dB... but not dangerous / stupid levels) - she said she cannot hear my music at all.
So, very non-scientific result is that for practical real-life scenarios, the AEONs are perfectly fine isolating music leakage!

Just my 2 cents.

 

[x RELIC x]

Nice endorsement for you Dan...

Agreed - I have a production pair too; the Aeon's are exceptionally good. Good match for Mojo, Hugo 2 and Dave.

 

[rnros]

now I know the elear are different (open) vs the aeons, but has anyone heard both?
considering a pair of either. for portables to replace my senn 650s and sony 7520s
I love a detailed and dynamic sound

Very different headphones. Hard to make a recommendation between these two for someone else.
No doubt, you've read all the descriptions. My take on the salient points:

Both are detailed but the detail with the Aeon extends deeper in the low end. Also greater soundstage detail.

Dynamic? One of the best characteristics of the Elear, is the high energy aural image that surrounds you, up close.
The Aeon dynamics extend deep and high, so dynamic in the sense of the full range in the expanded soundstage.
This difference alone would be the decisive factor for some, if you had to chose one or the other.

For some, the Elear shows a dip in the upper mids that can range from noticeable to annoying. (Was an issue for me.)
The Aeon has a little more energy in the upper mids, can be adjusted a bit with the MrS foam pads. (Either way, not an issue for me.)

Also, since you had the Z1R, I will tell you that the Aeon bass is deep and accurate, not Z1R level, but very impressive.
And the soundstage projection is excellent, again not Z1R level, but natural and immersive.

 

[canali]

thanks man...no longer interested (sorry) as i just bought some AK T8ei mkii iems.
so they'll serve as my portables to replace my sony and flc 8s...many thanks!

 

[Schwibbles]

...has anyone flown with them yet?

I received mine in the first batch of preorders. I then flew with them a few days later. Keep in mind at this point I was still getting used to their sound and they still needed time to burn in. The foam inserts also weren't around yet. I only tried them for about 20-30 minutes while on the plane. With no music playing, they seemed to isolate pretty well; as they do in everyday conditions. The low-frequency drone of the engines kinda killed the low end imo. They sounded very thin. While I personally won't use them on a plane again, I can't say they were the worst I've heard. They performed much better than the Sennheiser Momentum 2 (over ear) and Sony MDR-1RBT during flight. I was playing them out of my iPhone connected to an OPPO HA-2SE. With the bass boost turned on, they weren't bad (although the OPPO's bass boost is awful). The rest of the flight I switched to IEMs which I much prefer for flying.

How effective is the Aeon at handling sound leak?

I used to own the Ether C Flow and found it to leak tremendously.

They leak some noise but it shouldn't be noticeable to others unless 1, you are murdering your eardrums and/or 2, someone is sitting shoulder to shoulder with you. I frequently use them in my cubicle at work with no issues. No one notices when I listen to movie soundtracks and I play those pretty loudly; louder than anything else I listen to.

Any cable upgrade recommendations or is everyone pretty content with the stock cable?

If you skim through previous pages, there have been numerous recommendations for cables. I personally love Impact Audio Cables on Etsy. I have one of their cables for my HD800S too. I have one of their cables on order for the Aeon; should be here in about a week so I can update then. I'm not a big fan of the stock cable. It's too long and cumbersome for great portability. It also likes to retain its coiled shape and isn't very supple. It gets pretty annoying when sitting at my desk at work or on the couch with my laptop. The cable was also kind of annoying to deal with on the plane (mentioned above).

thanks man...no longer interested (sorry) as i just bought some AK T8ei mkii iems.
so they'll serve as my portables to replace my sony and flc 8s...many thanks!

Off topic but how do they compare to the 8S? The 8S are by far my favorite sounding IEMs but the comfort is subpar so I would like to find a replacement. I use Red,Grey,Gold filters most of the time.

 

[Gibson59]

Thanks @Schwibbles for the recommendation. I've actually purchased from Impact Cables before when I needed a cable for a custom Grado build. Like you I was very happy with their service and their cable.

 

[hung031086]

I bought my balanced from here.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BALANCED-XL...hash=item2836e37e45:m:mJ053THeV4CC-xwYxAcIShg
It’s nice cable like Impact Audio, but he has instock, so don’t have to wait like 4 weeks to make.