... DCA Aeon 2 Noire (zizzy treble; definitely needs EQ) ...
If I may offer another perspective: it definitely needs the tuning pads included in the package (filters to be placed in front of the driver), Dan just leaves it to the customer to select the ones that fit his or her preferences.
These filters only impact the FR from 4kHz up to 20kHz:
Some enjoy the Noire without any of these pads, I guess they listen at low volumes or are insensitive to harshness in the upper registers.
I replicated Dan's own configuration: a combination of two pads, the one-notch white on top of the one-notch black (which corresponds to the blue line on the graph).
This level of filtering is perfect for listening to the Noire at quite high volume. I'm driving mine on a Flux Lab FA-10 Limited Edition at high gain and pot at 12:30, to give an idea.
Here are Dan's posts explaining things:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-audio-aeon-2-noire-review.46055/post-1643036
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-audio-aeon-2-noire-review.46055/post-1643697
A2N are great headphones, once you find the configuration that suits you.
Sorry for derailing the Expanse thread a bit, but thought it useful.
Here's what I'm listening right now to illustrate :
Grisman's mandolin is perfectly pitched, ultra vivid and non-distorted. A thing of beauty.
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