441879
500+ Head-Fier
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- Dec 21, 2015
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ÆON Flow Closed is one of the most popular headphones around $1k range. There are a lot of reviews of AFC and these opinions differ a lot. I've never seen a controversial headphone like this !
Some people say it plays every genre very well, is one of the best headphones and a steal for this price; some peple say it is boring, dull and lacks bass and dynamics. People either love or hate this headphone.
For this discussion, please assume that a high-end gear like iBasso DX200 is being used, because it is meaningless to buy this headphone if you can't feed it with a good source.
This is my approach after reading thousands of reviews: AFC is a neutral headphone so "bassheads" listening to EDM, rap, pop etc. will hate this headphone and complain it has no bass - actually AFC's bass is just balanced but they wish overwhelming bass. On the other hand, people listen to mids-highs centred genres such as classical, opera, jazz, soundtracks, some metal, some rock will fall in love with this headphone. Addiotionally, warm, relaxed highs sound preferers won't be a fan of AFC while clean, direct sound preferers will do.
Is my approach correct ? In your opinion, who will like AFC but who will not? Let's discuss !
IMHO:
It’s not about what genre you listen to, but what you listen for.
People who want resolution and detail should love this headphone. Nothing else I have delivers the level of detail and resolution the AFC does. On the downside, that detail can be fairly merciless to bad recordings.
Bassheads probably should look elsewhere- the bass goes very deep but there is no mid or upper bass bump so if you’re used to that, the AFC is going to sound pretty sterile until you adjust.
People who really like a lot of dynamics may prefer dynamic driver headphones. However, the AFC can be very energetic if you have an amp that makes LOTS of power at low impedance. There are some very expensive amps that cannot do so and they don’t sound as good as a Schiit Magni. I think personally this is a headphone that benifits from a bit of tube warmth but the power demand means that you should have a high powered solid state or hybrid for solid dynamics.
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