Vlad’s impression of the AFC mirrors my experience very closely.
An excellent review for an excellent headphone
An excellent review for an excellent headphone
I agree. He hit on a lot of my major talking points, especially the one about not being able to listen to the Aeon Closed as background with good music. I also noticed that he repeated my only real criticism of the Aeon Open (if you can even call it that) which is that it doesn't stand out above its competitors as much as the Closed does.Vlad’s impression of the AFC mirrors my experience very closely.
An excellent review for an excellent headphone
I can, but then I choose carefully: mostly 20th century minimalism and ECM-issued jazz in the same vein (eg. Nik Bärtsch)not being able to listen to the Aeon Closed as background with good music
I actually have a playlist of "bad" music that I listen to at work when I want something upbeat but not distracting (because I'm working on something demanding). If the music is too good, I can't focus on what I'm doing. When I'm working on more ho-hum stuff, I can put on the good crap. :-DI can, but then I choose carefully: mostly 20th century minimalism and ECM-issued jazz in the same vein (eg. Nik Bärtsch)
I actually have a playlist of "bad" music that I listen to at work when I want something upbeat but not distracting (because I'm working on something demanding). If the music is too good, I can't focus on what I'm doing. When I'm working on more ho-hum stuff, I can put on the good ****. :-D
Mine is mostly guilty-pleasure pop music.Same here. I’ve found that electronic music like retrowave sounds amazing on the AFC, is engaging enough to be enjoyable, but still let’s me work.
Ridicule, why? The H6 are great and it seems a lot of people like them. Sure there are probably some more expensive headphones that sound better but for the price (especially around that $250 - $300) there isn't a whole lot better in terms of sound, comfort, looks and portability I think a lot of people write them off because they're made by B&O, which I've seen a few times dubbed the "European Bose".Another option that people don't normally take seriously under $1000 is the B&O H6 Gen2 which I think compete really well with the Cascades. Less technically proficient but are so light they disappear on your head. Probably the best pound-for-pound headphone in the world. I will accept criticism and ridicule for saying that but I really stand by it. If you are looking for best bang for buck you can get a pair for $250-$300 on eBay and pair it with a mojo or iFi Black Label. Probably 75-80% of the performance of the Hugo2->WA5-LE>Aeon
Hey Dan,
Have you ever tried the Dekoni Ear Pads with any of your cans? The reason I ask is I love the pads on my AFC so much that my pads on my HD 800S seem like crap and are too thin...
Was thinking of trying the Dekoni Sheepskin Fenestrated and wonder what your comments might be!
Thanks,
Larry
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I am a little disappointed in the AFC. I have been using them with a Woo Audio WA7 and they sound a little lifeless. The WA7 seams to struggle to drive them. Bass is tight and extended. Vocals are clear and detailed, but the overall presentation is a bit lifeless/analytical. Could this amp be a poor match?
Thanks for the thoughts. I think you may be right. I have used HD700 and M1060 with this amp before getting the AFC. I loved the M1060 and was driven easily. I wanted something with better resolution and thought a closed headphone would disturb less people. The AFC is great on some music, but is lacking overall. I may see if I can try a different amp or may just let the AFC go.I’m sure someone will come along who is better informed than I am, but I’ll offer an opinion anyway.
I thought seriously about buying the WA7 myself but decided not to with a power output of 1W at 32 ohms output. The output impedance isn’t listed, but if I had to guess it’s probably not insignificant or they would have listed the output wattage at 16 ohms. The AFC has (IIRC) a 13 ohm impedance, which is within the rated range for the WA7, but it’s near the bottom (8 ohms) and the AFC isn’t all that efficient. On the other hand, the AFC can sound pretty analytical with a lot of tubes and is a bit of a detail monster (IMO).
I would try a warmer pair of tubes and see if that does it for you. If not, I’d see if you can find a beefier amp to test drive them on.
Finally, if you’re coming from a good set of dynamic driver headphones, it’s likely that part of the problem is that planar magnetic technology doesn’t have the same degree of slam you can get from dynamics