So after 24 hours burn in, I spent a good deal of time comparing the E3s to other headphones I have, in particular the Aeon Noires. From the initial impressions, I was a bit worried about the 3-4K response and would it be too much. I consider the Noire to be as close to perfect a tuning as I’ve heard. So first, in comparison the Noire, they seem to have a bit more sub-bass, a little less around 100-200 Hz, and a noticeable bit more in the 3-4K range, with maybe less above 12k, but that’s at the limit of my hearing, so someone younger will need to weigh in.
This tuning is more dynamic, for sure. Still in the Harman target vein, but the change that hits you first is the dynamics. It’s cleaner (lower distortion, I imagine), but not in any way that impacts dynamics. I would guess Dan wanted to silence the critics of Stealth and other models complaining about lack of dynamics, because these just deliver. Good job!
So, with the tuning change and the dynamics, what about the listenability, especially with poorly recorded or compressed music? It’s a funny thing, but there are some songs I really love that are terrible productions, but for some reason sound better on the E3 than the Noires and other headphones. Think of the sibilants in Cowboy Junkies’ Sweet Jane. Most headphones make that worse, except the Hedd for one, which sounds like it was tuned just for that song. The Noire reveals all. The E3 also reveals all, but it’s more tolerable while still being faithful. It’s not a “sweet” sounding headphone, but it s very very musical and almost euphonic, in the sense that if you like the music, you will enjoy more on the E3.
It’s technically better than the Noire, as you’d expect for over twice the price. It’s different. - you will pay attention! And for me, it is an upgrade to the Noire, and not in a subtle way. It may not be for everyone, but to get to a more Noire tuning, and maybe a Stealth one too (I only heard one briefly at SoCal CanJam a couple years ago), you can use Mojo2 and eq 3000Hz down -2 and 20kHz up +2-3 - very minor. I mention Mojo2 because it was my daily driver for Noire. E3 had to be able to be powered by Mojo2, and it does just fine. I was on the upper red (0.09 v) with Aeons (mostly modern compressed music) and only 4 clicks more (0.13 v) to orange on E3. With more dynamic, classical music, I was as high up as blue (1.5 v) and the loud passages (organ and drum) were LOUD. I listen usually around 75-80dB and found while it sounded the same or even louder due to the tuning, E3 was coming in at 70-75dB on my phone app meter.
Anyway, TL;DR, it’s a keeper. And in keeping with the audio simplification trend I started earlier this year selling HE-6, now up in the classifieds are HEDD Heddphone 1, Focal ELEX, and Aeon 2 Noire.
Happy New Year!
. I based my decision on the recent hype train, I believe it paid off. DMS made a good point in a video awhile back, we can get bored with a particular sound signature over time no matter how perfect it is. But, then you get another set of cans and re-listen to all your favorite albums again. This can be done with $500 cans, $2K, or $4k cans. I think $2K is the highest I will ever go, would have to get summit-fi cans used it I ever want to try those.
(or 2500 Euros)
