Is the Aeon #padgate finally coming to an end?

[David A Silva]

It's so annoying, because I really liked the look of the Aeons. They have nice presentation, especially with the real carbon fibre on the sides. But I'm hearing crap about the pads having deformation issues and what not and it's just making me doubt my order..

I just don't want to be stuck with a pair of cans that I paid a decent amount of money for. (I know a lot of people here will probably laugh at that comment considering some headphones cost well over 3x that but it's a lot of money for me)

There are 2 sides to the Aeon satisfaction story. I have owned a pair of aeon closed x hps for a couple years, my daughter has a pair of Aeon Noires for about a couple years. We both love them. The pads for us is a non issue, a couple times a year I roll the pads with my fingers - there is a youtube on this - and they look fine again. Even without "fixing" the pads it never affected the sound. There are a number of happy users here and on ASR. Perfect no, unusable no. But if you are worrying this much already I would say cancel the order and keep looking. BTW I have seen the same pad deformation in pictures of Focal headphones for sale here, apparently it's not an issue for folks...

 

[wayeward]

What am I trying to accomplish? Well, I just want to upgrade from my WH-1000XM5.

My brother needed all day closed headphones but was just starting out with audio just like you, I told him to get the 150$ Sivga sv021 Robin, as it is probably the most comfortable headphone I have ever used. Truly all day comfort. Warm and bassy, not for critical listening, but to be honest I never cared about the sound signature as much because sometimes I just needed an all day headphone for background music while I work at my computer. That is what that headphone excels at. He told me he couldn't be happier. The cable is easily replaced, and the pads can be bought as well. I just ordered two pairs, as I plan to keep the headphone forever. The are not crazy isolating though, so if you need something really isolated that is a different thing.

 

[silent-circuit]

It's so annoying, because I really liked the look of the Aeons. They have nice presentation, especially with the real carbon fibre on the sides. But I'm hearing crap about the pads having deformation issues and what not and it's just making me doubt my order..

I just don't want to be stuck with a pair of cans that I paid a decent amount of money for. (I know a lot of people here will probably laugh at that comment considering some headphones cost well over 3x that but it's a lot of money for me)

I'd get some Focal Elegias for $300 and an aftermarket cable - the stock one is garbage, but you should be able to find a nice replacement for $50 or so, since they use the very common 3.5mm termination at the cups.

 

[parawizard]

IMHO the pad issue really isn't a deal breaker. It is something that I would like to see improved. I might reroll the pads during a meeting or watching something once a month. No problems with seal just cosmetic in my experience. The Aeon 2 Noire are still my favorite.

 

[parawizard]

Update, after some back and forth with DCA through email and dealing with their affiliate retailer in my country they simply told me to order new pads for 80 dollars. The retailer refused to send my unit back to DCA for warranty, despite the channel imbalance being noticeable.

I know I am replying to a bit of an older post but I also had a channel imbalance in the bass region. What was causing it was the pad was not sealing to the cup due to the pad frame (under adhesive) being bent and the adhesive not being very sticky.

You can test to see if the cup seal by:
- Remove any notch filters
- Get bright flash light
- Shine it into the cup
- Look for light coming out where the pad meets the cup
- If you see light then it's not sealing to the cup

I bent the frame flat and then renewed the adhesive as per instructions in the manual. Isopropyl alcohol with a microfibre cloth, some elbow grease and it was super sticky again. Restuck it onto the cup and then tested it with the flash light again. No more light leakage and no more imbalance.

 

[P007]

There are 2 sides to the Aeon satisfaction story. I have owned a pair of aeon closed x hps for a couple years, my daughter has a pair of Aeon Noires for about a couple years. We both love them. The pads for us is a non issue, a couple times a year I roll the pads with my fingers - there is a youtube on this - and they look fine again. Even without "fixing" the pads it never affected the sound. There are a number of happy users here and on ASR. Perfect no, unusable no. But if you are worrying this much already I would say cancel the order and keep looking. BTW I have seen the same pad deformation in pictures of Focal headphones for sale here, apparently it's not an issue for folks...

I had a lot of pad adjusting on my Noire's basically from day 2. It didn't seem to affect the sound, but after a few weeks of usage I had to roll the pads back every time I used them, or my ears would touch the drivers. Not great.

They were still the most comfortable headphones I have ever had, and I absolutely love the sound and design....but it was a total PITA to have to deal with the pads. Ultimately, I could only justify 1 set of headphones, and kept the Beyer T5.3 even though they are less comfortable (for other sound reasons as well).

If the pad issue is more or less solved with the new design, which seems like it would be the case, then I would totally recommend the Noire's. The customer support at DCA is top notch.

Unless you are OCD about your pads looking completely perfect, but as you mentioned, other headphones earpads also get wonky (including my T5 a slight bit)so its not a reason to avoid buying them. You can also sell afterwards if you can bear the cost. No substitute for trying things yourself.

 

[parawizard]

When I first started rolling them I think I was actually compressing the rolled foam in place instead of rolling it back. After some practice I was able to get the foam back into what seems like the intended position and I have to roll a lot less often. I get them completely square without any loss in height at this point. It definitely is a skill though. I have a new set of pads that they sent me that I haven't tried after figuring out the seal problem while they were in the mail. Not sure if they post added adhesive or not.

Edit: I checked the new box and I don't think there is adhesive between the foam and the pleather. Free replacement though can't complain.

 

[wayeward]

IMHO the pad issue really isn't a deal breaker. It is something that I would like to see improved. I might reroll the pads during a meeting or watching something once a month. No problems with seal just cosmetic in my experience. The Aeon 2 Noire are still my favorite.

I guess that depends on what one expects from a $900 headphone. Having to mess with the balance to make them sound correct was rather annoying. The youtube video rolling trick never worked for mine, and the channel imbalance made me pack them away for good. Worse still was the customer service when I decided to try and claim warranty on it.

4 months after my above story I got an email out of the blue from someone at DCA saying they were going to send me a Noire for free as a replacement. Eh? Even the supplier, who had previously laughed me out of their establishment over my channel imbalance issues, were on board with it. Long story short, I still don't know what happened. They didn't know if they were coming or going, and eventually acted like I had received the new Noires when in fact I hadn't, and another 2 months of back and forth emails [because calling their lines never worked] I gave up and contacted Dan himself here on headfi about all this. He sorted it out, he seems like a great guy, but honestly it is one of the worst cases of customer service I have ever experienced. The whole thing took the better part of a year.

I thought about selling them without even opening the box, however, due to these padgate issues. But tried them anyway, against my better judgement. The joke was still on me, as I learned I preferred the Aeon 2s to the Noire. So far, the pads seem a lot more firm than I remember, but only time will tell if they hold up.

 

[parawizard]

I guess that depends on what one expects from a $900 headphone.

For sure we all have different expectations. DCA headphones just seem to keep getting better. I haven't found a better product done better yet and definitely not something done by a small business. I would still like the pad problems to go away. My Austrian Audio pack away about the same size but I prefer split cable as headband cable repair is always annoying and I also prefer the comfort and sound of the Noire most of the time.

Having to mess with the balance to make them sound correct was rather annoying. The Youtube video rolling trick never worked for mine and the channel imbalance made me pack them away for good.

Channel imbalance is something that can happen due to multiple reasons. I bought my Aeon 2 Noire used and heard a channel imbalance that the previous owner never did. DCA quickly replaced the drivers and all I had to pay was shipping one way. They tested much better when they came back with new drivers but there was a problem in the subbass and I troubleshot that to the pad not sealing to the cup properly. They aren't the first headphones or the last headphones I am going to experience a channel imbalance on.

I am not sure if I roll them exactly the same way in the youtube video but I can make the pads almost completely symmetrical fairly quickly now. Like you I would rather not have to do it at all. My Austrian Audio Hi-X60 do not have this problem but also the pads are quite as comfortable.

Worse still was the customer service when I decided to try and claim warranty on it.

4 months after my above story I got an email out of the blue from someone at DCA saying they were going to send me a Noire for free as a replacement. Eh? Even the supplier, who had previously laughed me out of their establishment over my channel imbalance issues, were on board with it. Long story short, I still don't know what happened. They didn't know if they were coming or going, and eventually acted like I had received the new Noires when in fact I hadn't, and another 2 months of back and forth emails [because calling their lines never worked] I gave up and contacted Dan himself here on headfi about all this. He sorted it out, he seems like a great guy, but honestly it is one of the worst cases of customer service I have ever experienced. The whole thing took the better part of a year.

I've heard some weird stories via dealers but I have heard really good things about DCA's direct support. Your customer service issue definitely sounds like a mess. My personal experience has been very good. They fixed my pair, paid return shipping and also sent out a new set of pads when I figured out the bass imbalance was the pad frame not being flat. I think it's really great that they stand behind their product even when it is used as warranty is based on serial number. This is pretty rare across a lot of industries.

I thought about selling them without even opening the box, however, due to these padgate issues. But tried them anyway, against my better judgement. The joke was still on me, as I learned I preferred the Aeon 2s to the Noire. So far, the pads seem a lot more firm than I remember, but only time will tell if they hold up.

I think you are only a pad change away from Aeon 2 tuning? I think the Noire's are the same but with just perforated padding.

You had quite the negative combo experience these which is unfortunate. Do you think you would have felt differently if it was just the pad issue? Despite my issues with the used pair I bought I feel more inclined to purchase another DCA headphone due to the good service and design of the product.

 

[parawizard]

Just wanted to make an observation about how to adjust pads where the foam has moved.. The OP has this video:



But this video is a better because it shows a cross section of the older pads and shows a two hand method of straightening out the foam



I do something approximating the two hand method in the second video. I pay attention to the foam being square on both sides and top and bottom being aligned. If the whole foam has twisted then adjusting just the edge won't fix it. As soon as you compress the pad the foam is going to return to it's resting/non-stretched state. If you actually get the foam back into the normal position it should stay that way from a lot longer.

Edit: This is my pair of second hand original pads after a minute of adjusting

 

[wayeward]

I think you are only a pad change away from Aeon 2 tuning? I think the Noire's are the same but with just perforated padding.

You had quite the negative combo experience these which is unfortunate. Do you think you would have felt differently if it was just the pad issue? Despite my issues with the used pair I bought I feel more inclined to purchase another DCA headphone due to the good service and design of the product.

I have not heard that the 2s are the same as the Noires, I would be surprised if there were no changes.

Regarding DCA headphones, this will be my first and last headphone from them. The padgate issues aside, I don't care for the sound signature to boot, and the Noires in particular do not bring any life to my music despite the bass shelf addition over the 2s. From what I have seen of reviews, many of the their recent additions to their lineup follow this more analytical trend, but for me the chasing detail and neutrality has simply left them very boring and dead neutral for me, which just isn't my thing. As a musician I am shocked that people love these for jazz and other midrange focused music, but that is the audiophile hobby for you--there is no accounting for taste, and people like what they like.

 

[parawizard]

I have not heard that the 2s are the same as the Noires, I would be surprised if there were no changes.

Regarding DCA headphones, this will be my first and last headphone from them. The padgate issues aside, I don't care for the sound signature to boot, and the Noires in particular do not bring any life to my music despite the bass shelf addition over the 2s. From what I have seen of reviews, many of the their recent additions to their lineup follow this more analytical trend, but for me the chasing detail and neutrality has simply left them very boring and dead neutral for me, which just isn't my thing. As a musician I am shocked that people love these for jazz and other midrange focused music, but that is the audiophile hobby for you--there is no accounting for taste, and people like what they like.

Pretty sure the Aeon 2 Noire is the Aeon 2 in black and with perforated pads that tune it closer to Harmon. Perforated pads on the Aeon 2 should sound the same. If you preferred the Aeon 2 tuning you could get the non perforated pads.

What phones do so you prefer over these?

 

[TK33]

I have not heard that the 2s are the same as the Noires, I would be surprised if there were no changes.

Regarding DCA headphones, this will be my first and last headphone from them. The padgate issues aside, I don't care for the sound signature to boot, and the Noires in particular do not bring any life to my music despite the bass shelf addition over the 2s. From what I have seen of reviews, many of the their recent additions to their lineup follow this more analytical trend, but for me the chasing detail and neutrality has simply left them very boring and dead neutral for me, which just isn't my thing. As a musician I am shocked that people love these for jazz and other midrange focused music, but that is the audiophile hobby for you--there is no accounting for taste, and people like what they like.

Pretty sure the Aeon 2 Noire is the Aeon 2 in black and with perforated pads that tune it closer to Harmon. Perforated pads on the Aeon 2 should sound the same. If you preferred the Aeon 2 tuning you could get the non perforated pads.

What phones do so you prefer over these?

This is my understanding too. When the Noire were released, I recall this was confirmed by Dan Clark as well. The only difference between Aeon 2 Noire and the A2C is the color and perforated pads. You should be able to just swap the pads if you prefer one tuning over the other.

 

[wayeward]

What phones do so you prefer over these?

Truthfully, literally anything else in my collection. For closed back, I have the Celestee and the Radiance from Focal, and despite thinking I would dislike them I found them far better. Easier to drive, for one, and the Celestee in particular is quite lovely for midrange focused music and has a very enjoyable bass, despite the smaller soundstage. The soundstage is actually a bonus for folk and other genres with fewer instruments. For rock and other conventional genres I'd admit the differences are small, but I'm picky with my own recordings and others with acoustic/classical/flamenco guitar, the Noire's sound like I am listening to monitors in the studio [overly neutral] than for enjoyment. For me that isn't the way my guitars sound in person, so the Noire just doesn't cut it. I suppose it might be less noticeable with Daft Punk and other related music. I may be getting a tube amp soon, so perhaps that will change it up.

 

[LaputanMachine]

What amps do you guys recommend for the closed X? I've been recommended the FiiO K7
I got my Aeons and plugging them directly into my PC isn't the best. They are very quiet.