Disclaimers
1. I am not as knowledegable as many others on the forum. As such, I am closer to a consumer than I am an audiophile or even an audio enthusiast.
2. I have purposefully kept myself out of the loop when it comes to headphone reviews. I have not even read the rest of the thread.
About Me
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My favorite artists are (in no specific order): Arcade Fire, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Daft Punk, Radiohead, Kanye West, The Beatles and Rush. So, you can see that I mostly like rock (or genres closely aligned there). That being said, I do listen to a variety of other genres whenever I feel open to it.
My favorite headphone is currently the LCD 3, although I really do like my HD 800. My favorite closed headphone is my Shure SRH 1540.
What I look for in a closed headphone is portability, isolation, low power consumption and a sound profile applicable to a variety of applications. These are the major categories that I used when writing this review.
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Portability
I am not going to include any pictures here, because the spoiler tag was not working and I don't want to lag your browser. That being said, I believe this is one of the most portable headphones I have had in my possession. It comes with a very convenient travel case that is quite protective. Since this was not actually my pair of headphones, I did not feel comfortable conducting any tests on the case. It just feels strong to the touch. When you open the pouch, there is a pocket to place your cable.
The headphone is also quite light and the cable(s) provided were sturdy, but not heavy.
The problem with the portability of this headphone comes mostly from the sound profile (which I will mention later).
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Isolation
This is a rather quick thing to check. I conducted three tests: A) the train test; B) the library test; C) the friend test.
A) The train test: This is a quite self-explanatory test. I ride trains on occasion. It is nice to have a pair of headphones for when you do not want to be bombarded by the sounds of drunk people being asses in the afternoon. The Aeon Flow did really well in this regard. I was able to listen to relatively anything I wanted to without much disturbance. The train, itself, was not too noticeable either.
B) The library test: For this test, I usually go to a quiet room and blast music. I then pass a note to people sitting nearby who don't have headphones on. Do they hear my music? Am I disturbing them? As it turns out, this pair did quite well. I listened to some Rage Against the Machine and no one nearby said they could hear a thing.
C) The friend test: For this test, I sit near a friend and listen to something embarrassing. This test is purely for fun, but its great to see if people have reactions. As it turns out, these are quite good at keeping noise within the ear, so this test did not work out too well.
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Power Consumption
I do not have access to any electronics that would help me figure out how accurately Mr. Speakers has labeled their Aeon's specifications. That being said, I do own a few amps (portable and for desktop use). For closed headphones, I would prefer not having to use an amp (even a portable one) for it to sound great. The main reason is that if headphones only sound good with an amplifier, then I have to lug one of those around too. Sadly (for me), these headphones work best with a dedicated amplifier. Without one, their sound profile sounds so bland, basic, boring and just ugly. As I mentioned earlier, I listened to Rage Against the Machine with these. Without an amp, the experience was underwhelming. Rage? More like Disturbance. It really did not sound angry; it did not drive me or pump me up like it normally does.
That being said, with an amplifier, especially a desktop amplifier, it sounded fantastic. For example, my Burson Soloist seemed to pair with it well, but so did my Cavalli Audio Liquid Carbon.
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Sound Profile
For this section, I am going to talk specifically with how it sounded through my Cavalli Audio Liquid Carbon. I am doing so because I spent the majority of my time listening to it using this amplifier. I did not notice a difference between the Carbon and the Soloist, but some of you are a bit more adept with your hearing than I am.
Female Vocals
I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston: This song rocks on the Aeon Flow! My goodness! It almost felt like this headphone was tuned specifically for this song. Whitney's voice is so crystal clear and the accompanying instrumentation supports the song and her vocal performance incredibly well.
Ball and Chain by Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin): This is the live version from the Monterey Pop Festival. There is a lot going on here. Janis doesn't have a typical woman's singing voice, but her harshness can be overwhelming with some headphones. This did not happen with the Aeon Flow. That being said, it did not bring me to the edge of tears (good ones) like the HD 800 did.
Male Vocals
Killing In the Name by Rage Against the Machine: This song is driven through the instrumentation, but the vocals are what truly stands out to most. Unfortunately, the vocals on this track do not shine on the Aeon Flow. This song on the Focal Elear is insane, though!
Seven Bridges Road (Live) by The Eagles: I never heard the baritone sound so great. For some reason, the rest of the vocals sounded muffled in comparison.
Guitar
Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd (PULSE version): This was the most controlled this incredible solo ever sounded.
Bass Guitar
Killing In the Name by Rage Against the Machine: The bass riffs hit hard from the beginning without being overbearing. This was performed well.
Saxophone
Us and Them by Pink Floyd: This saxophone performance by Dick Perry is incredible - one of my favorites. When I was listening to it, I was shocked to see how stable the sound was. It did not shear much when reaching the higher end of the solo. That being said, it felt as if Dick was right next to David Gilmour or something. It felt very closed.
Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen: For some reason, the first part of Clarence Clemons' solo was overshadowed by the combination of the percussion and piano. While I understand the intention was to have a wall of sound, the solo is supposed to reign supreme here. There are other moments where the upper treble of the piano pokes through. It's very distracting.
Drums
YYZ by Rush: Neil Peart is one incredible drummer. I love his work. When I listened to this song through the Aeon Flow, I was not too impressed though. I did like the detail I could hear, but the energy felt lackluster.
Unfortunately, there was so much to listen to and a week was not enough time! That being said, I am truly thankful to Todd for allowing me the opportunity to listen to these headphones.