[Hifiearspeakers]

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.

How was your mid bass quantity and impact when you first got them? Honestly, it’s awful on my pair. Do you know how hard it would be to even find a planar magnetic headphone with less mid bass quantity and impact than the Sennheiser 800?

And now understand that my Ether 2 has even less mid bass quantity and impact than the 800!

 

[ksorota]

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.

I echo this statement, actually having has my serial number checked against the bad samples. Turned out they just needed a lot of burn time. I feel the transition from lacking in the mids to snapping into full bodied was not gradual, rather it was sudden. It was a night and day difference during an overnight.

 

[franz12]

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.

I never heard Stax 009, but it makes me wonder why a person who owns a so-called end-game headphone + amp still buys another headphone... Look forward to hearing your impressions compared to Stax 009.

 

[franz12]

How was your mid bass quantity and impact when you first got them? Honestly, it’s awful on my pair. Do you know how hard it would be to even find a planar magnetic headphone with less mid bass quantity and impact than the Sennheiser 800?

And now understand that my Ether 2 has even less mid bass quantity and impact than the 800!

I thought bass was fine, but I can't exactly remember as my main focus then was to correct the midrange. A different unit might follow a different path depending on what kinds of music being played, but hopefully they should converge to the same steady state in a long run. I am pretty sure what I am hearing now is quite different from what I was hearing when I first got them.

 

[davesa]

I never heard Stax 009, but it makes me wonder why a person who owns a so-called end-game headphone + amp still buys another headphone... Look forward to hearing your impressions compared to Stax 009.

I do really love my Stax 009 - and I would classify them as my favorite so far - there are things they really excel at like guitar ( Jesse Cook, Ottmar Leibert ) or Jazz - but I can't take this dedicated setup everywhere - I do take my LCD-XC on vacation with my Fiio X5 and portable amp. My Stax setup is in my home office.

I also use my LCD-XC in my living room - I stay up later then the rest of my family which is how I got started on headphones. So sometimes I want to watch a cool movie and they want to sleep so I pop the LCD-XC into my receiver, turn on Dolby Headphone and I am in business.

The new Ether 2 adds an open headphone to my stable - LCD-XC is closed, Ether 2 is open and both are somewhat portable, Stax stays in my home office.

I am buying the Jotunheim for my work office - I have a pair of Monoprice M1060 there and drive them either with my PC or my Fiio setup. I might bring my Ether 2 there when I know I am going to be heads down working. I do like how light they are compared to the LCD-XC.

I also have two pair of < $50 headphones I use for exercise. They don't sound anywhere near as good but I can sweat all over them, and use them in the rain and drop them in the mud and not worry - so while I don't think I will have only one I will probably have less than 10 - each that serves a slightly different use, or niche.

I think so far that listening to dance music suits both the LCD-XC and the Ether2 - things like Aviici, Tiesto, etc.. that genre does sound great on the Stax as well but I am liking the bass that I get with the Ether 2. And the soundstage.

For me the Stax play in my head - and the Ether 2 play outside my head - that is probably a weird way to compare the soundstage of the two - I like both but they are different and it is interesting hearing the music I really love in this slightly different way. Similar to going to a concert, vs. listening at home.

I do love the portable case that the Ether 2 come with - the hard case of the Audeze is great and you could throw them out the window of your truck and they would probably be fine. The case with the Ether 2 is much smaller, and so you could just put them in your duffle bag - but I would not throw it out of my truck, as that is not what it is designed for. That makes the Ether 2 a great candidate to pop in the case and take somewhere

 

[Deezel177]

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:

If you feel less impact than on the HD800 or HD800S, there’s something seriously wrong. You should indeed check with MrSpeakers about possible defects on your pair.

 

[LCMusicLover]

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.

I get that, and you're not wrong -- the upgrade does a bit of that. 'Course my opinion on EFO 1.0 or 1.1 carry little weight, since I always listened with e-stat pads. I'm gonna write a bit about E2 w/ dif tubes in a separate post.

 

[LCMusicLover]

I just got more tubes for my Liquid Platinum -- 3 sets in rotation now, stock EH, Gold Lions and Amperex. I've been reading widely varying opinions about E2 and have revisited them. I like them with my solid-state Bryston, but they didn't really stand out vs HEKv2 or even EFO. None of my cans tempted me to stay with the EHs, and since the GLs were in hand ... LOVED them with Utopia and Auteur. E2 not so much. Powerful bass, but un-engaging, distant even. And there we sat while I was lost in my infatuation with LP/GL/Utopia -- first time I ever really loved Utopia.

But then I got my Amperex yesterday, and suddenly I get this headphone, and I think I know what causes the schism. E2 imposes a 3-d headspace and that really interacts with material. I got this first when I was listening to a Loreena McKennitt mix and her music filled that space beautifully. Different, but equally as satisfying space as that displayed by Utopia. Actually probably better depth, but not quite as precise.

But then I listened to some Led Zeppelin, and there it was. Flat and lifeless. On some tracks. On others, they're great. In fact, it even went from 3-d to 2-d and back within the same track. The flat effect is as if they are playing up against a wall 50 feet away. I want to have '...Way down inside, Honey, You NEED me...' screeched at me, not mentioned from across the room.

What seems to be happening is that some mixing effect is flattening the image. It's readily apparent when it happens, but don't ask me to even speculate on what or how. To quote Reese:

Look, I don't know tech.

But you combine this flatness and distance with Ether's neutral presentation and a bit of rolled off treble vs Utopia, I can hear some of the negative descriptions as well.

It also hurts the bass presentation as the distance reduces bass impact. But on music which doesn't get flattened, the bass is well extended and resolved, even and controlled, and surprisingly textured and 3 dimensional from sub- through mid-bass. An interesting example is 'Albatross' by Fleetwood Mac. There's this weird thump-thump that persists through the whole track. It's almost like an echo or aftertone. The thump on the right is clearly some thing like a tom-tom while the one on the left is ambiguous on Utopia. Could be a drum, or electric bass, or an electric keyboard maybe. On E2, it's clearly a drum, maybe another tom-tom, but pitched a bit differently. So I guess you could say this is one aspect where E2 out-resolves Utopia. To be fair, there's some missing cymbal in Whole Lotta Love and Living Loving Maid from E2.

I guess the distance is the real issue both with the bass and overall presentation. Listening to the same flat tracks from Utopia I heard ... flat. Difference was, it was flat RIGHT IN YOUR FACE.

Anyway, enough of the negatives. E2 feels like a bit of a chameleon. It can seem dramatic or neutral or flat or even a bit fun -- Drops of Jupiter. With the right material, E2 can be a captivating and transparent window right into the heart and soul of the music. I can lay here and be literally transported Beneath a Phrygian Sky

BTW, LP/Amperex/E2 can make female vocalists (Sarah McLachlan, Emmy Lou Harris, Gretchen Peters, Lana Del Ray) sound gorgeous, lyrical, up-lifting, heart-breaking. Or flat ... it depends ... you know ... my ears, your ears ... it's personal

 

[LCMusicLover]

I get that, and you're not wrong -- the upgrade does a bit of that. 'Course my opinion on EFO 1.0 or 1.1 carry little weight, since I always listened with e-stat pads. I'm gonna write a bit about E2 w/ dif tubes in a separate post.

Forgot to mention...it would be great if the 1.1 kit included (say) 3 of the decals. They're the only part that (probably) can't be reversed and reused. I bet the decal would be destroyed if it were removed. But the thing is, you've got this kit, and you don't know if you're going to like it. You might want to go back and forth a couple times to decide. I would have paid (say) $10 more.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

If you feel less impact than on the HD800 or HD800S, there’s something seriously wrong. You should indeed check with MrSpeakers about possible defects on your pair.

I’ve emailed Dan and am waiting to hear back. There’s just no way these can be right. There’s a Metallica song called “When a Blind Man Cries” and on every single pair of headphones I own, the snare and kick drum is the star of the show because Lars has such a heavy foot and distinct sound when he plays the drums. Guess which headphone has the least impact of them all? My brand new Ether 2.

My $60 Monoprice HR-5C (which I only own for private listening) portrays the drums better. This can’t be right. I’m going to have to send these back.

 

[TMRaven]

What is the complete list of headphones you own?

 

[lentoviolento]

I put my pair on sale. I think i haven't enough juice to feed them

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

What is the complete list of headphones you own?

Check my profile.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Another person on a different forum wrote this about his pair. This is how I’d describe my pair. Pay special attention to how describes the drums. Then he sends them in to get “fixed”. So the last post are his impressions when he gets them back.

 

[TMRaven]

Interesting to hear that it has less impact than LCD 2/3 Fazor. LCD-X from memory has way less upper midrange/lower treble than Ether2, but then again we are talking about Audeze, so who knows what kind of lottery they have with the way their headphones sound. I could see HE-560 potentially sounding more snappy with a snare, because it does have a hump centered around 4khz.