[Dnguyen926]

I just got my pair and was wondering. It's surprising because I'm currently using a Woo Wa6 1st gen and Audio Gd R11 dac amp system for the X's.

For low Impedance cans I noticed that they are power hungry still because I don't get adequate until 10-11 o'clock on the volume nob.

Should it be something I look into or concerned about?

Sound quality is great though.

 

[Strat1117]

Interesting. One luke warm review in the formal review section and little to no further interest. Without going into too much detail, I completely disagree with the reviewer’s conclusion - just a matter of taste or system differences I suppose. No judgment. In my opinion, these Aeon Open X are ‘just right’. They have neither too much bass like the lower priced audezes, not too little like the lower priced hifimans (other than the new XS, which was just muddy to my ears). Whether listening to lps, cds or even just Spotify, the Aeon Open X never failed to deliver music. Of course, I judge headphones purely by subjective enjoyment. I have almost 50 years in the hobby and for imaging and spatial precision, even the best headphones struggle to get in the same ballpark as a properly set up high end stereo (accept it - it’s true). That being said, I get a ton of pleasure from my headphone set ups, and these Drop/Dan Clark’s are the first ones in a long tone that are enjoyable enough all around at a reasonable price for me to keep them and not just catch and release, as is my usual. Build quality is also quite good. They do have some plastic, but there is nothing cheap feeling about them. No, they’re not overbuilt to withstand a nuclear blast a la Audeze, but neither do they feel chintzy in the hand, a la the lower priced hifimans (imho, ymmv). To me they feel well built with a distinctive ‘high tech’ vibe, and are nevertheless very light and quite comfortable. I’d recommend them in a heartbeat at $499. At the price I paid for them ($350) in used like new condition, they were a steal.

FWIW, I like the Aeon Open X best with NO filter, and with my OG Burson Soloist set to medium gain, with the stepped attenuator right at or just below 12 o’clock (depending on source material, of course - vinyl, for example, has more gain in my set up, so has to be turned down a few clicks). These are not headphones for an iPhone, despite their low impedance - give them some juice and let them breathe!

Anyway, this is not intended to be a full review, just a subjective counterpoint to the one full review that was posted so long ago, because I think there are a lot of guys out there who might enjoy these Aeon Open X but are overlooking them for the wrong reasons.

Of course, now I’m intrigued to see what DCA has to offer for $899, or $2299, but THAT is a different thread…

Enjoy!

 

[Dawgfish]

Interesting. One luke warm review in the formal review section and little to no further interest. Without going into too much detail, I completely disagree with the reviewer’s conclusion - just a matter of taste or system differences I suppose. No judgment. In my opinion, these Aeon Open X are ‘just right’. They have neither too much bass like the lower priced audezes, not too little like the lower priced hifimans (other than the new XS, which was just muddy to my ears). Whether listening to lps, cds or even just Spotify, the Aeon Open X never failed to deliver music. Of course, I judge headphones purely by subjective enjoyment. I have almost 50 years in the hobby and for imaging and spatial precision, even the best headphones struggle to get in the same ballpark as a properly set up high end stereo (accept it - it’s true). That being said, I get a ton of pleasure from my headphone set ups, and these Drop/Dan Clark’s are the first ones in a long tone that are enjoyable enough all around at a reasonable price for me to keep them and not just catch and release, as is my usual. Build quality is also quite good. They do have some plastic, but there is nothing cheap feeling about them. No, they’re not overbuilt to withstand a nuclear blast a la Audeze, but neither do they feel chintzy in the hand, a la the lower priced hifimans (imho, ymmv). To me they feel well built with a distinctive ‘high tech’ vibe, and are nevertheless very light and quite comfortable. I’d recommend them in a heartbeat at $499. At the price I paid for them ($350) in used like new condition, they were a steal.

FWIW, I like the Aeon Open X best with NO filter, and with my OG Burson Soloist set to medium gain, with the stepped attenuator right at or just below 12 o’clock (depending on source material, of course - vinyl, for example, has more gain in my set up, so has to be turned down a few clicks). These are not headphones for an iPhone, despite their low impedance - give them some juice and let them breathe!

Anyway, this is not intended to be a full review, just a subjective counterpoint to the one full review that was posted so long ago, because I think there are a lot of guys out there who might enjoy these Aeon Open X but are overlooking them for the wrong reasons.

Of course, now I’m intrigued to see what DCA has to offer for $899, or $2299, but THAT is a different thread…

Enjoy!

Agreed. The Aeon Flow X is still one of my favorite phones right behind my ZMFs. I too run them without the filters and find they have plenty of slam and are just an enjoyable listen everytime. I think people who complain about these are not amping them right IMHO. The price to performance ratio is off the charts with these things when amped properly.

 

[Dawgfish]

I just got my pair and was wondering. It's surprising because I'm currently using a Woo Wa6 1st gen and Audio Gd R11 dac amp system for the X's.

For low Impedance cans I noticed that they are power hungry still because I don't get adequate until 10-11 o'clock on the volume nob.

Should it be something I look into or concerned about?

Sound quality is great though.

I think just as long as it sounds good to you and you are getting plenty of drive without clipping or distortion, you should be fine. They are not as efficient as a lot of phones so having to turn the volume knob up a little bit compared to other more efficient phones is perfectly normal.

 

[chef8489]

I picked up a set of these as well as a set of the Lcd-2c. The Aeon take more to drive out of my Lyr 3 than the Lcd-2c. I'm still in the brain burn in process, but I find the headband less comfortable on these than I do on the lcd-2c.

I'll post my impressions when I get more time with both. Currently using the 1 notch filters with them. When I initially got them there was a rattle in the right driver, but it seems to have gone away. Sounded kinda like a cut or blown dynamic driver sounds like.

 

[Strat1117]

At the current sale price of $429 on Drop, these are a true bargain IMHO.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

At the current sale price of $429 on Drop, these are a true bargain IMHO.

I agree with you there. Fantastic headphone.

But I'd warn anyone considering a pair to possibly go for the RT instead to avoid Drop.

I've bought quite a bit from Drop. The only issue I ever had was a dead driver on these. Drop didn't want to know despite being in warranty. Outright refused to deal with it in any way shape or form.

Luckily Dan Clark are incredible and dealt with it directly. I learnt a lesson, Drop lost me as a customer forever.

 

[NiftyVT]

I did tons of forum research (which really doesn't mean all that much) and learned to read measurement plots before jumping into my first pair of non 'gaming' headphones with the Open X's. I hawked the black Friday sales and Drop had a 1 day sale on them for $299 so I grabbed them. I then jumped on a NITSCH/Schiit Piety. The Piety was a pure impulse buy due to a youtube review, I had no idea it was a limited 'special' amp. I have been listening to the pair for a couple weeks and am blown away every time I put the Open X's on. I also really enjoyed watching Black Adam through my Dennon receiver, probably not the best pairing but it sounded great to me. I am currently listening with no filter and I have not had the chance to experiment with the various filters. Maybe over the upcoming holidays I will have time to play with the filters a bit.

I am currently running the Piety off an old iPad via its headphone jack but I have a Modius coming soon and plan to grab a Magnius early next year. I want to try the Open X's balance just see if I can hear any difference and to have options for future headphones. I also think I will hook the stack up to my TV via its Toslink and rewatch Black Adam to see if I can hear any difference. If there is a noticeable difference then a little Magni might be in my future and the Piety will live as the TV amp once I get the Modi/Magni stack up and running. I can play the same music through my nvidia shield as I can on my PC so I wont be missing out on anything. Having a great time with the new hobby.

 

[chef8489]

I did tons of forum research (which really doesn't mean all that much) and learned to read measurement plots before jumping into my first pair of non 'gaming' headphones with the Open X's. I hawked the black Friday sales and Drop had a 1 day sale on them for $299 so I grabbed them. I then jumped on a NITSCH/Schiit Piety. The Piety was a pure impulse buy due to a youtube review, I had no idea it was a limited 'special' amp. I have been listening to the pair for a couple weeks and am blown away every time I put the Open X's on. I also really enjoyed watching Black Adam through my Dennon receiver, probably not the best pairing but it sounded great to me. I am currently listening with no filter and I have not had the chance to experiment with the various filters. Maybe over the upcoming holidays I will have time to play with the filters a bit.

I am currently running the Piety off an old iPad via its headphone jack but I have a Modius coming soon and plan to grab a Magnius early next year. I want to try the Open X's balance just see if I can hear any difference and to have options for future headphones. I also think I will hook the stack up to my TV via its Toslink and rewatch Black Adam to see if I can hear any difference. If there is a noticeable difference then a little Magni might be in my future and the Piety will live as the TV amp once I get the Modi/Magni stack up and running. I can play the same music through my nvidia shield as I can on my PC so I wont be missing out on anything. Having a great time with the new hobby.

I could not get the aeon x open to get comfortable no matter what, so with all the sales going on, I decided to gift them to my mother as one of her gifts for Christmas as I would have lost too much money trying to sell them. They were practically brand new.

 

[NiftyVT]

Head shape issues? For me they don’t feel like I am wearing anything. Super light and sit just right.

 

[chef8489]

Head shape issues? For me they don’t feel like I am wearing anything. Super light and sit just right.

Nope and I am not the only one that has issues with the headband and clamping force. I hear a lot of issues with the Dan Clark's with this design. The expanse doesn't have this issue with the auto adjusting headband and a bit less clamping force on the sides. Even my Lcd-2c are far more comfortable than the aeon line of headphones.

 

[anon4835]

What's the consensus on filter use with these? Just run no filter? Both no filter and 1 notch white sound fine (the latter dampens it somewhat), but that's one more thing I have to worry about.

 

[chef8489]

I preferred the 1 notch white as did my mother which I gave my headphones to for Christmas.

 

[anon4835]

I'm beginning to feel like these are actually closed back in practice. They feel and sound like closed backs. If I cover the outsides with my palms, the audio barely changes vs something like a Sundara where waiving your hand by the cup affects the sound.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

I'm beginning to feel like these are actually closed back in practice. They feel and sound like closed backs. If I cover the outsides with my palms, the audio barely changes vs something like a Sundara where waiving your hand by the cup affects the sound.

All of the Aeon Opens feel almost closed compared to many open cans. Despite that, there's certainly a difference between the open and closed.

I originally had the Open X as an upgrade from the Amirom Home. Amazing upgrade from a technical standpoint, but I was also very surprised at how closed they felt. Really excellent headphone though, you have to spend quite a bit to improve on them.