[heliosphann]

WOW big purchase haha. Those cocobolo are gorgeousss. I hear the Hifiman Hex v2 were a more musical HD800. How to the Aeons stack against the zmf btw?

I had the HEX v2's for quite a while and never once thought they compared to HD800's. Now the new AR-H1's on the other hand have some similar traits.

 

[BuddhaBruce]

I had the HEX v2's for quite a while and never once thought they compared to HD800's. Now the new AR-H1's on the other hand have some similar traits.

I'm not sure, these were just impressions I read off teh HEX V2 thread

 

[ohcrapgorillas]

The only thing like an HD800 is an HD800S tbh, they sound very unique

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

WOW big purchase haha. Those cocobolo are gorgeousss. I hear the Hifiman Hex v2 were a more musical HD800. How to the Aeons stack against the zmf btw?

Haven't heard the Hex v2. My Aeons are the closed version. They're very good technically, but I do have two complaints: very small/closed soundstage, and a rather shouty midrange. The latter is due, I think, to some excessive ringing in the 1k-2k area, and I find that I'm very sensitive to ringing in that area. I have to use EQuilibreum to EQ down that area, which throws off the overall balance a bit, but it's the best I can do. Other than that there's not much to complain about, except perhaps that they're a bit boring. They lack the musicality/tonality/warmth and micro-detail/tactility of the Eikon and Atticus. Aeons also have that Planar-thing that tends to sound a bit over-smooth at times... hard to explain, but I can especially hear it with rough-around-the-edges rock and metal music, where guitars should have some grittiness to them they sound too polite and hollow on the Aeons. Though I'm a big believer that measurements tell much of the story when it comes to sound quality, the Eikon/AtticusVS Aeon may be one of the rare situations where I think the measurements are... if not misleading, then at least not totally representative of what I'm hearing. I know I certainly prefer the ZMFs.

That said, Aeons are great for the price and I find it hard to argue against Tyll's WOF placement, but I don't think they'll be a headphone I find myself reaching for often compared to the others in my stable. I just don't see a niche that they really fit. For a Planar I pretty much entirely prefer the HE-6, which may still be my overall favorite headphone (though it requires even more careful EQ tweaking to sound right).

EDIT: TL;DR Version:

Aeon:

+Smooth & neutral frequency response
+Very clean (low distortion)
+Transparent
+Comfort
+Price

-Shouty 1-2kHz (ringing?)
-Soundstage
-Planar-y too-smooth presentation
-Somewhat boring
-Microdetail

Eikon & Atticus

+Tonality
+Fun without being TOO colored
+Micro-detail
+Punchy (Atticus), Resolving (Eikon)
+Aesthetics

-Rougher frequency response
-Shelved treble
-(Mild) distortion
-Heavy (Doesn't bother me but might others)
-Bass boost might be a hair more than "tasteful."

 

[gLer]

@zach915m or anyone else who knows - what’s the maximum power input for the Atticus? Maybe I missed it in the specs but can’t find it anywhere.

 

[Monsterzero]

@zach915m or anyone else who knows - what’s the maximum power input for the Atticus? Maybe I missed it in the specs but can’t find it anywhere.

I had Zach make me a speaker tap cable,which I used on my Kenwood Eleven GX (a conservative 125wpc into 8ohms)and I was able to get the volume to about 9 o'clock before it became painfully loud.There was no distortion or puffs of blue smoke,just pounding goodness.

For the record speaker taps vs. HP jack on vintage gear provides essentially the same slam but the overall sound is a tad bit cleaner.FWIW.YMMV.

 

[BuddhaBruce]

I had the HEX v2's for quite a while and never once thought they compared to HD800's. Now the new AR-H1's on the other hand have some similar traits.

Off topic here but how does the AR-H1 compare with the HEX V2?

 

[joincoolkidclub]

Has anyone compared either of the ZMF dynamics to the Paradox Slants? Sounds like the Atticus may be quite similar, maybe with a little more bass activity? Potentially more laid back?

 

[zach915m]

@zach915m or anyone else who knows - what’s the maximum power input for the Atticus? Maybe I missed it in the specs but can’t find it anywhere.

The actual maximum power needed to reach 115 dB is only 50 mW into 300 ohms. So these are fairly easy to drive at 98 dB/mW - but ofcourse you can feed much more power into them without an issue as mentioned above.

 

[gLer]

The actual maximum power needed to reach 115 dB is only 50 mW into 300 ohms. So these are fairly easy to drive at 98 dB/mW - but ofcourse you can feed much more power into them without an issue as mentioned above.

Thanks @zach915m. Can’t wait to finally get an Atticus in Cape Town and start spreading the good word!

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

Off topic here but how does the AR-H1 compare with the HEX V2?

You were also asking about ZMF/Aeon comparison: just making sure you saw what I wrote above. Feel free to ask any more questions.

 

[BuddhaBruce]

You were also asking about ZMF/Aeon comparison: just making sure you saw what I wrote above. Feel free to ask any more questions.

Yes I did! Thank you for those. I actually just picked up a pair of aeon opens and I can say that those are a lot more similar to Eikon/Atticus than closed. Much more musical with warmths on the bottom end

 

[ES_EF]

ordered Barnyard Eikons yesterday, can't wait for em

 

[dunkyboy]

I had Zach make me a speaker tap cable,which I used on my Kenwood Eleven GX (a conservative 125wpc into 8ohms)and I was able to get the volume to about 9 o'clock before it became painfully loud.There was no distortion or puffs of blue smoke,just pounding goodness.

For the record speaker taps vs. HP jack on vintage gear provides essentially the same slam but the overall sound is a tad bit cleaner.FWIW.YMMV.

This is intriguing as my speaker amp is a 10-watt SE tube model by Audio Note, and a million times better than my budget for headphone amps would allow... Might have to try this!

@zach915m hook me up?

 

[Monsterzero]

This is intriguing as my speaker amp is a 10-watt SE tube model by Audio Note, and a million times better than my budget for headphone amps would allow... Might have to try this!

@zach915m hook me up?

Be careful when doing speaker taps from tube amps!
Tube amps require a certain load otherwise they can go up in flames...I know when they read no load it can be bad,but dont know what will happen when there is a 300ohm load on them.Perhaps some of the more tech proficient can guide you better.