[Hifiearspeakers]

So I realize these are still burning in, but I’m having an issue with these now. I didn’t notice this earlier because my music selections were mainly acoustic, folk, and vocal. But now I got a chance to listen to some Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Pearl Jam, and various classic rock. I’m having an issue with the mid bass and sound of the kick drum. It’s too soft and muted!!! It sounds like it’s overdamped. I’m getting more impact from every other pair of headphones I own, regardless of price point.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Everyone has their likes and dislikes. I had the Ether 2 and sent them back. To me they do not sound as good as my Ether Flow Open.

Ken, what about the Ether 2 didn’t meet your expectations and/or bothered you?

 

[phthora]

So I realize these are still burning in, but I’m having an issue with these now. I didn’t notice this earlier because my music selections were mainly acoustic, folk, and vocal. But now I got a chance to listen to some Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Pearl Jam, and various classic rock. I’m having an issue with the mid bass and sound of the kick drum. It’s too soft and muted!!! It sounds like it’s overdamped. I’m getting more impact from every other pair of headphones I own, regardless of price point.

I definitely got that as well. Great for acoustic, but mid-bass sounds off when it comes to hard-driven guitars and drum-intensive tracks. One of my test tracks was "Alive" on the Redux version of Ten, and it really brought out that shortcoming.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

I definitely got that as well. Great for acoustic, but mid-bass sounds off when it comes to hard-driven guitars and drum-intensive tracks. One of my test tracks was "Alive" on the Redux version of Ten, and it really brought out that shortcoming.

TEN was the exact Pearl Jam album I was listening to and I noticed it right away. The song, Alive, has a prominent drum line throughout that song. The snare sounds fantastic but I could barely follow the kick drum because it was hard to hear. These are planars, the bass should not sound less prominent on these than my AKG K702’s for crying out loud!!! Right now, these have less mid bass than the Sennheiser 800. That’s not acceptable.

It’s weird. The sub bass, mids, and treble all sound excellent to me. It’s literally just the mid bass and kick drum that is just stupid quiet, soft, and muted. I don’t even know how it’s possible to tune a headphone to sound like that and be “off” in such a specific way.

 

[davesa]

I also received my Ether 2 today, and so far I like them - so far been listening to Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ludovico Einaudi's Una Mattina, Zedd, and now some Tieso. I let them warm up for a couple hours before starting. I liked the sound right off but they have definitely gotten better after the first couple hours of playing.

I am coming from Audeze XC and Stax 009 - these Ether 2 are a little less bright than I am used to but as others have pointed out I love the soundstage, and the bass. I am driving these with my Oppo HA-1 now, but I am using my Yggdrasil as the DAC.

I have a Jotunheim coming next week - so my plan is to listen on what I am used to then see how the Jotunheim changes things.

It is hard to make a purchasing decision sometimes based on what other people have written, and about what they hear vs. an in person audition. A couple years ago I tried an LCD-4 because I liked my LCD-XC so much but they just sounded "wrong" so I retuned them. I am glad that a couple hours in I am already happy with my Ether 2 purchase.

I will post how the different amp changes things ( or doesn't )

Thanks to all the people that take time to share their impressions on this thread - it helped me find another great set of headphones.

 

[franz12]

TEN was the exact Pearl Jam album I was listening to and I noticed it right away. The song, Alive, has a prominent drum line throughout that song. The snare sounds fantastic but I could barely follow the kick drum because it was hard to hear. These are planars, the bass should not sound less prominent on these than my AKG K702’s for crying out loud!!! Right now, these have less mid bass than the Sennheiser 800. That’s not acceptable.

It’s weird. The sub bass, mids, and treble all sound excellent to me. It’s literally just the mid bass and kick drum that is just stupid quiet, soft, and muted. I don’t even know how it’s possible to tune a headphone to sound like that and be “off” in such a specific way.

Burn-in might help, but I am not sure whether that would help because E2 indeed has less mid-bass than many headphones which have a mid-bass hump.
I just listened to Jeremy and Alive from Pearl Jam. And, yes, kick drum is 'slightly' less prominent with E2 than AFO which has more mid-bass. I can still clearly follow the kick drum sound with E2, but I am not sure whether that is the level of prominence you want to hear, as I do understand that people have different preferences regarding that. As a whole picture, I do like those songs more from E2 than from AFO, though.
At the end, I think it is matter of balance (or preferences) about which frequencies should come first. I think some people will find frequencies below 200hz come across too linear and would prefer a more fun headphone. Nevertheless, to my ears, E2 sounds pretty full as a whole picture.

 

[ken6217]

It is hard to make a purchasing decision sometimes based on what other people have written, and about what they hear vs. an in person audition. A couple years ago I tried an LCD-4 because I liked my LCD-XC so much but they just sounded "wrong" so I retuned them. I am glad that a couple hours in I am already happy with my Ether 2 purchase.

I will post how the different amp changes things ( or doesn't )

Thanks to all the people that take time to share their impressions on this thread - it helped me find another great set of headphones.

They sounded wrong because they probably were. When you get a good one, they sound great. Audeze QC leaves something to be desired. To many variations of the same headphone. I had the same issue as you did with the LCD-4. I used to own a pair, liked them, but sold them after hearing the Ether Flow Open. About two weeks ago I listened to a friend of mine'sLCD-4 and they sounded really bad. The sounded nothing like the ones that I had.

 

[ken6217]

Ken, what about the Ether 2 didn’t meet your expectations and/or bothered you?

I found that the Ether Flow sounded more lush and more meat on the bones. It sounded like a much better version of the Aeon Flow Open.

I recently purchased the 1.1 upgrade but decided not to install it as I'm too concerned that it might move the sound away from what I like, and closer to the Ether 2. Of course I could be totally wrong about that, but I don't want to take any chances.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Burn-in might help, but I am not sure whether that would help because E2 indeed has less mid-bass than many headphones which have a mid-bass hump.
I just listened to Jeremy and Alive from Pearl Jam. And, yes, kick drum is 'slightly' less prominent with E2 than AFO which has more mid-bass. I can still clearly follow the kick drum sound with E2, but I am not sure whether that is the level of prominence you want to hear, as I do understand that people have different preferences regarding that. As a whole picture, I do like those songs more from E2 than from AFO, though.
At the end, I think it is matter of balance (or preferences) about which frequencies should come first. I think some people will find frequencies below 200hz come across too linear and would prefer a more fun headphone. Nevertheless, to my ears, E2 sounds pretty full as a whole picture.

Here’s the thing, I don’t like a mid bass hump. But I also don’t want anemic bass either. Everyone else keeps talking about the bass being the best part of the Ether 2. But I’m not hearing that. I’ll give you a reference. I think the mid bass quantity of the Sennheiser 800S is just about perfect. My Ether 2’s have less mid bass quantity AND less impact than the original 800 to my ears!

I seriously think I’ve received one of those defective ones that Mr. Speakers spoke about here:

A few people early on commented the E2s sounded muffled in the midrange, which should not be the case. The headphone should have full, powerful bass and warm but detailed and lifelike vocals. We investigated and found an anomaly our tests didn't pick up that could result in inadequate upper-midrange to lower treble output after burn-in is complete. We have re-designed our test fixtures and processes and this issue will not get past us again.

We identified around 12 units we suspect are impacted (we got one back and it was OK while another had a confirmed issue) and we're directly contacting affected owners or shops that sold them to check up on them and service if needed. Just to be cautious I wanted to post a note here in case anyone had an issue we couldn't predict from our review of production tests. If you feel your headphone's midrange is muffled and flat contact info@mrspeakers.com and be sure to include your serial number so we can check the data.

If you haven't heard from us and don't feel your midrange is muffled your headphone is fine, this issue has a very specific effect. Our apologies to anyone we inconvenienced with this error.

 

[ken6217]

I thought that too about mine after I returned them. I was told that mine weren’t part of the bad ones. I think they said there were only about 15 ones that had this issue, but I could be remembering incorrectly.

Like you, from what I read, I thought the bass was supposed to be killer based on reviews. The bass on my Ether 2’s were not even close to as good as on my Ether Flow Open.

 

[franz12]

Here’s the thing, I don’t like a mid bass hump. But I also don’t want anemic bass either. Everyone else keeps talking about the bass being the best part of the Ether 2. But I’m not hearing that. I’ll give you a reference. I think the mid bass quantity of the Sennheiser 800S is just about perfect. My Ether 2’s have less mid bass quantity AND less impact than the original 800 to my ears!

I seriously think I’ve received one of those defective ones that Mr. Speakers spoke about here:

I don't own Senn hd800s anymore. But in comparison to focal Clear, the mid bass quantity of Ether 2 is pretty similar (or slightly more) than the one of Clear. Some measurements are also showing them that they are not lacking bass either. Burn them hard to see whether they change. My unit took 100+ hours before stabilized.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

I thought that too about mine after I returned them. I was told that mine weren’t part of the bad ones. I think they said there were only about 15 ones that had this issue, but I could be remembering incorrectly.

Like you, from what I read, I thought the bass was supposed to be killer based on reviews. The bass on my Ether 2’s were not even close to as good as on my Ether Flow Open.

The mid bass quantity on my Ether 2 is just unacceptably too low. Not only would I not describe it as powerful, but it’s not even neutral. It’s just plain anemic.

And instead of getting to enjoy these, I have just been A and B’ing them with my other headphones for the last several hours. And now I can clearly hear that I’m losing something in the midrange as well.

Honestly, these sound exactly the way Dan described the defective ones. I’m bummed.

 

[SilverEars]

The mid bass quantity on my Ether 2 is just unacceptably too low. Not only would I not describe it as powerful, but it’s not even neutral. It’s just plain anemic.

And instead of getting to enjoy these, I have just been A and B’ing them with my other headphones for the last several hours. And now I can clearly hear that I’m losing something in the midrange as well.

Honestly, these sound exactly the way Dan described the defective ones. I’m bummed.

What amp are you driving it off of? The impedance of the headphone is quite low at 16 ohms. How come the website doesn't show the sensitivity of the headphone?

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

What amp are you driving it off of? The impedance of the headphone is quite low at 16 ohms. How come the website doesn't show the sensitivity of the headphone?

I really don’t like talking about amps, but I can assure you it is getting enough power. It is also being driven balanced. I think the sensitivity is around 94 dB. The amp I’m using can drive the HEK V2 no problem, so the Ether 2 isn’t any harder to drive. Plus they’re planar, so they have a flat impedance curve.

I’m telling you that I can hear and follow the kick drum more easily with EVERY other headphone I own, compared to the Ether 2. And I’m talking a price range from $50 to $3000. There’s no way that’s normal.

 

[franz12]

The mid bass quantity on my Ether 2 is just unacceptably too low. Not only would I not describe it as powerful, but it’s not even neutral. It’s just plain anemic.

And instead of getting to enjoy these, I have just been A and B’ing them with my other headphones for the last several hours. And now I can clearly hear that I’m losing something in the midrange as well.

Honestly, these sound exactly the way Dan described the defective ones. I’m bummed.

I also thought my unit was defective as I felt something sounds off in the midrange around 50+ hours. Burn-in took long and was painful. The balance across the frequency spectrum did not sound ideal during the process, so that I always turned on my parametric EQ for correction.
After 100+ hours, I turned off the EQ. Now it is sounding very clean and balanced. At the end, your unit may or may not be defective, and it is worth trying burning them hard.