[KaiSc]

I'm an idiot and accidentally pushed the gain button when I plugged the headphones in, I had been running them on high gain, and knocked it down to low. I got that all sorted though....derp. I've been running on high gain for years, that's why it was so shocking to me. Oh well.

I've tried the black pad inserts to help tame the treble, but I think I've decided that it's too peaky for me, unless someone else has any other ideas to help tone down the peaks? Gunshots with them sound ping-y to me, and it is uncomfortable (the sound, not the fit) to my ears.

I have the black foam inserts on top of the black felt.
Meaning, first insert the felt, then the foam.
Not only does this tame the treble a bit.
It makes the soundfield inside the cup more uniform, so positional variations do less of a sound change.

Next suggestion if Aeon 2 Noire sounds too trebelly:
listen a bit quieter than usual, even helps preserves your hearing.
Aeon 2 Noire doesn‘t ask for loud levels to present a comparable transparency to e.g. typical AUDEZE headphones.

 

[JohnFlowers]

Curious what everyone uses to clean their headphones or at least make sure they last a long while. Just got into headphones (I mean, nice ones) and bought a pair of the Noires (which are fantastic)

 

[kayan]

I’ve been getting the same hotspot, have you figured out why/any solutions?

I'm so sorry, I didn't get a notification about your post. Nope, i never fixed that. I tried different spots for the cups, and tried changing his they fit. I ended up returning them.

 

[P007]

Curious what everyone uses to clean their headphones or at least make sure they last a long while. Just got into headphones (I mean, nice ones) and bought a pair of the Noires (which are fantastic)

Just use a soft cloth like the one that comes with it. It won't scratch the finish.

 

[JohnFlowers]

Just use a soft cloth like the one that comes with it. It won't scratch the finish.

Copy. Thanks

 

[Thaddy]

Any comparisons between the DCA Aeon 2 Noire and the ZMF Aeolus or the HD600's? I'm looking for a pair of closed back's and wasn't a big fan of the original closed Aeon's. They seem to require lots of power, which my two desktop amps will have no problem providing.

 

[drmmr]

Any comparisons between the DCA Aeon 2 Noire and the ZMF Aeolus or the HD600's? I'm looking for a pair of closed back's and wasn't a big fan of the original closed Aeon's. They seem to require lots of power, which my two desktop amps will have no problem providing.

I'm putting a new pair of 600s through its paces right now so I'll have an answer for you on that in a few days

 

[revolutionz]

Any comparisons between the DCA Aeon 2 Noire and the ZMF Aeolus or the HD600's? I'm looking for a pair of closed back's and wasn't a big fan of the original closed Aeon's. They seem to require lots of power, which my two desktop amps will have no problem providing.

I would say these don't require a lot of power, but they do scale well with better equipment.

 

[Thaddy]

I'm putting a new pair of 600s through its paces right now so I'll have an answer for you on that in a few days

Great, interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[lewisl]

I received my Aeon Noire headphones yesterday. They sound awfully good driven by my Poly/Mojo. These are replacing Audioquest Nightowls, which had always struck me as being overrated. I realize the Noire retail for more than the Nightowls did, so not entirely fair to judge them against each other. So suffice it for a say that the Aeon Noire most certainly justifies the price.

I’ve been playing music through them constantly and will continue to do so for a few more days.

Mine came with the stock cord, but knowing how these things tend to matter quite a bit, last night I ordered what should be an upgraded cable from WyWires. They’ve been having a 40% off sale so I opted for the Platinum per their recommendation. I’ll report back any observations after they arrive and get settled in.

I have ordered the Noires. I am looking forward to them later this week. I have the DCA Aeon X Closed from Drop. They need a lot of power, so will the Noires. I am pretty happy but have gone through the challenge of finding a good frequency response curve for EQ. I started with the "Robbo" curve and boosted the bass a bit. This seems to sound MUCH better than using the Closed RT EQ that some have recommended.

This review was persuasive given the brief glimpse of the frequency response he shows:
Any thoughts on DMS review?

I find I don't mind listing to the Closed X (Drop) flat and a little bit of EQ improves that more. From the frequency response in the video, both the Aeon 2 Closed and Noire should be better, with the Noire seeming to be the better of the two. A lot of folks seem to dislike the treble of the Aeon's. I don't use any of the bads and I find the treble a bit understated compared to my Sundaras (using Oratory 1990 EQ, not the AutoEQ version). So, I doubt I'll mind the Noires. There is an Oratory 1990 EQ specifically for the Noires. It increases the overall treble by 3db while pulling down a couple of peaks. The area I find that needs to be shelfed down is around 14 kHz, the airiness. So, I do this with EQ rather than the insertion pads.

 

[kennyb123]

A lot of folks seem to dislike the treble of the Aeon's.

I have been impressed with the treble I hear from my Noires as I like what I hear from cymbals. I never hear anything problematic from my Noire's treble but I think that may be due to feeding them with Poly/Mojo and playing tracks in their full resolution.

 

[mugbot]

I don't find the treble in the Noires problematic at all. To me they have great clarity without any sibilance, with strong and controlled bass and detailed mids.
Easily my favourite headphones of those I've tried for my taste, and that includes the HE-1 (though it's been a couple of years since I heard those, so difficult to compare really!).

 

[revolutionz]

I can see where they could be sibilant with the wrong source... they're right on the edge with the v6 vivid opamps in my Burson units. The clarity of their sound is outstanding though, although the bottom end could use just a little bump for my preferences.

 

[ubs28]

The AFC 2 Noire are fine for me, especially since it is only $999.

 

[lewisl]

I have ordered the Noires. I am looking forward to them later this week. I have the DCA Aeon X Closed from Drop. They need a lot of power, so will the Noires. I am pretty happy but have gone through the challenge of finding a good frequency response curve for EQ. I started with the "Robbo" curve and boosted the bass a bit. This seems to sound MUCH better than using the Closed RT EQ that some have recommended.

This review was persuasive given the brief glimpse of the frequency response he shows:
Any thoughts on DMS review?

I find I don't mind listing to the Closed X (Drop) flat and a little bit of EQ improves that more. From the frequency response in the video, both the Aeon 2 Closed and Noire should be better, with the Noire seeming to be the better of the two. A lot of folks seem to dislike the treble of the Aeon's. I don't use any of the bads and I find the treble a bit understated compared to my Sundaras (using Oratory 1990 EQ, not the AutoEQ version). So, I doubt I'll mind the Noires. There is an Oratory 1990 EQ specifically for the Noires. It increases the overall treble by 3db while pulling down a couple of peaks. The area I find that needs to be shelfed down is around 14 kHz, the airiness. So, I do this with EQ rather than the insertion pads.

I received my Aeon 2 Noires today. My, oh my...

Compared to the Drop DCA Aeon Closed X, which are pleasing, the Noires are a dramatically better experience.

Without EQ (e.g., EQ is flat) using the Qudelix 5K with balanced cables the sound is much more compelling. Bass is punchy, mids are convincingly realistic, trebles are realistic without sibilance. Sound stage is wider than the Drop; instrument differentiation of the Drop is good already and its hard to tell how much better the Noires are--certainly some but there isn't a lot of room for improvement; dynamics overall are terrific. "Flat" is certainly satisfying enough to use as is, but benefits from some help. The bump at 100 hz is a bit too heavy so bringing it down 4 dB leaves plenty of punch left. The airiness above 14 khz can be tamed by bringing it down by 4db with a Q of 0.7. That's enough to make a positive experience even better. But, wait... ...there's more....

I have applied the Oratory 1990 EQ for the Aeon 2 Noire. I am using the Oratory hand-tuned EQ rather than the version from AutoEQ. This tames the upper bass hump, the airiness and corrects 6 bumps in the mids and treble all with corrections less than 4db. Depending on the specific music track these corrections aren't huge. Oratory designs the EQ with a combination of shelves and peaks that allows for specific personal changes. I reduced his increase of sub-bass and adapted the other bass changes to scale. This is really just delightful.

The headphone is much more alive than the Drop. It's more like the Sundara, but closed of course, and more nicely filled in at the bass range than Sundara (2020 pads) with Oratory's hand-tuned EQ.

Here is the Oratory EQ (in SoundSource custom EQ file format):
Pregain: -3.9
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 40 Hz Gain -3.2 dB Q 1.390
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 100 Hz Gain -5.5 dB Q 1.100
Filter 3: ON LS Fc 105 Hz Gain 5.5 dB Q 0.710
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 180 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 2.000
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 850 Hz Gain 1.1 dB Q 1.800
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 3000 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 5.000
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 3750 Hz Gain 3.0 dB Q 1.000
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 5600 Hz Gain -3.7 dB Q 2.500
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 8000 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 0.700
Filter 10: ON HS Fc 14000 Hz Gain -6.0 dB Q 0.700

Here is my slightly changed version (only filters 1-3 are changed):
Pregain: -3.9
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 40 Hz Gain -2.5 dB Q 1.390
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 100 Hz Gain -4.0 dB Q 1.100
Filter 3: ON LS Fc 105 Hz Gain 4.0 dB Q 0.710
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 180 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 2.000
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 850 Hz Gain 1.1 dB Q 1.800
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 3000 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 5.000
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 3750 Hz Gain 3.0 dB Q 1.000
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 5600 Hz Gain -3.7 dB Q 2.500
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 8000 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 0.700
Filter 10: ON HS Fc 14000 Hz Gain -6.0 dB Q 0.700