[bagwell359]

HD650 is darker which can give the impression of confined soundstage I guess, but compared to the AFO they are a fair bit more open. I have to disagree wholeheartedly with @Badas when he says AFO sound more natural. To me, the soundstage is so small and up front due to them being semi-open that it feels like people are singing to me in a studio of living room size. I remember the HD650 sounding like you're in an small auditorium. Been a while since I listened to them though.

Didn't have long with them, but after the MrSpeakers Voce & Ether C, Senn 800S, HFM HE-6 & Ananda & Shangri La Jr, LCD3 in the same listening session I was struck by how small the soundstage was on the AFO. Clearly it was outgunned money wise, and in terms of voicing it might have beat out the Ananda, but I said out loud - where is the soundstage, and the other fellow that was with me agreed.

OTOH, the Senn 600, 650; MD 4**, Fostex FH500RP, HFM HE-500, Hex v2, LCD2 2C - all cans I've listened too recently have a distinctly bigger soundstage.

Could have been defective? I like all the other cans of theirs (MrS) I've heard, all I know is what heard then.

 

[Reinhold]

maybe the optional pads with the hightest damping have been used? i will get my demo next week. but after reading this i am not very excited anymore.

 

[Wes S]

Didn't have long with them, but after the MrSpeakers Voce & Ether C, Senn 800S, HFM HE-6 & Ananda & Shangri La Jr, LCD3 in the same listening session I was struck by how small the soundstage was on the AFO. Clearly it was outgunned money wise, and in terms of voicing it might have beat out the Ananda, but I said out loud - where is the soundstage, and the other fellow that was with me agreed.

OTOH, the Senn 600, 650; MD 4**, Fostex FH500RP, HFM HE-500, Hex v2, LCD2 2C - all cans I've listened too recently have a distinctly bigger soundstage.

Could have been defective? I like all the other cans of theirs (MrS) I've heard, all I know is what heard then.

I don't think the AFO's, have ever been described as wide, but I have read they make up for that, with all other parts of the sound. I am super happy with my Alpha Prime, but have been interested in the AFC and AFO, however, I like a wide soundstage, and worry the AFO and AFC won't satisfy, so I have held off on buying one.

 

[bagwell359]

maybe the optional pads with the hightest damping have been used? i will get my demo next week. but after reading this i am not very excited anymore.

Hey, I'm just some old guy with specific tastes - like others that write here (well, maybe not the old part). After all i was tossing them against some of the best cans ever made. Listen and make up your own mind....

 

[iFlip92]

I am 26 and have already voiced my opinions on the lack of soundstage. I even opened them to see if it improves (see 2 pages back I think). I like soundstage and these are seriously lacking. No amount of details or crispness can make that up for me. I'm personally coming from Hifiman 400S and even those had more soundstage than AFO but are of course beaten by the AFO on every other front by a significant amount.

It could be because of psychoacoustics as well as because the weird heart shape pads get hot and uncomfortable, touch your ears and are fidddly to arrange in a position where they don't and the pads are so soft that they squeeze until your ears touch the inside filter inserts (90% of the AFO community has inserts to adjust treble to their liking). Basically, you never forget that you have headphones on with these.

To give you a sense of my experiences I've listened to LCD2C, LCD3, 800S, HD650, RHA MA750i and on the following DACs: Mojo, Matrix X-Sabre, Schiit Jotunheim, Hugo2, Fiio X5ii. They all have bigger soundstage than AFO. Yes even the in-ear RHA. În fact Mojo with RHA MA750 sound very close to Mojo with HifiMan 400S at a fraction of the price.

 

[Phantaminum]

I am 26 and have already voiced my opinions on the lack of soundstage. I even opened them to see if it improves (see 2 pages back I think). I like soundstage and these are seriously lacking. No amount of details or crispness can make that up for me. I'm personally coming from Hifiman 400S and even those had more soundstage than AFO but are of course beaten by the AFO on every other front by a significant amount.

It could be because of psychoacoustics as well as because the weird heart shape pads get hot and uncomfortable, touch your ears and are fidddly to arrange in a position where they don't and the pads are so soft that they squeeze until your ears touch the inside filter inserts (90% of the AFO community has inserts to adjust treble to their liking). Basically, you never forget that you have headphones on with these.

To give you a sense of my experiences I've listened to LCD2C, LCD3, 800S, HD650, RHA MA750i and on the following DACs: Mojo, Matrix X-Sabre, Schiit Jotunheim, Hugo2, Fiio X5ii. They all have bigger soundstage than AFO. Yes even the in-ear RHA. În fact Mojo with RHA MA750 sound very close to Mojo with HifiMan 400S at a fraction of the price.

I find the pads quite comfortable and they are extremely light. Never ran into an issue where my ears touched the filters at any point with the black or one notch white filters.

These have their pros and cons as with any other headphone. They’re very forgiving to bad music, have fantastic timbre, and hit hard. It has heft to music and vocals sound great. Is it as open as some of the headphones you mentioned? No, they do feel like they need more air. Sure. Are they as detailed, no.

What you do have is a headphone that is a jack of all trades (except sound stage) and master of none. Can be listened to hours on end without fatigue. What does piss me off is that this headphone produces a timbre that I haven’t heard in other headphones. Even with my Auteurs and different amps. I have a song in my test list that this headphone just nails. Harmonicas, drums, bongos, low bass and especially the piano. Paired with a Gilmore Lite MK2 besting out my other equipment.

You have some great choices out there even if these don’t tick off the checkboxes on your list.

 

[iFlip92]

I agree that the pads are light and comfortable, but they have 0 firmness and no perforations for air. After 1h+ of listening it gets really warm on the inside. My ears are not big in size but perhaps they do come outwards enough that I touch the filters and I hate that I touch the pads on the inside because of the heartshape and it's difficult to get the right position every time and keep them there.

I wish I knew about some of the more obscure alternatives at this price that I know about now like the Quad ERA 1 and B&W P9 Signature. They are hardly reviewed and of high interest to me.

 

[441879]

I find the pads quite comfortable and they are extremely light. Never ran into an issue where my ears touched the filters at any point with the black or one notch white filters.

These have their pros and cons as with any other headphone. They’re very forgiving to bad music, have fantastic timbre, and hit hard. It has heft to music and vocals sound great. Is it as open as some of the headphones you mentioned? No, they do feel like they need more air. Sure. Are they as detailed, no.

What you do have is a headphone that is a jack of all trades (except sound stage) and master of none. Can be listened to hours on end without fatigue. What does piss me off is that this headphone produces a timbre that I haven’t heard in other headphones. Even with my Auteurs and different amps. I have a song in my test list that this headphone just nails. Harmonicas, drums, bongos, low bass and especially the piano. Paired with a Gilmore Lite MK2 besting out my other equipment.

You have some great choices out there even if these don’t tick off the checkboxes on your list.

There’s no such thing as the perfect headphone. This is why I have more than one. The AFO is magic with some tracks and extremely comfortable so I consider it one of my favorites.

Truth be told, this debate reminds me of the typical enthusiast forum arguments about what is “best”, whether it’s Rolex vs Omega, Audi vs BMW or whatever.

 

[Phantaminum]

I agree that the pads are light and comfortable, but they have 0 firmness and no perforations for air. After 1h+ of listening it gets really warm on the inside. My ears are not big in size but perhaps they do come outwards enough that I touch the filters and I hate that I touch the pads on the inside because of the heartshape and it's difficult to get the right position every time and keep them there.

I wish I knew about some of the more obscure alternatives at this price that I know about now like the Quad ERA 1 and B&W P9 Signature. They are hardly reviewed and of high interest to me.

There’s a few out there that are close to matching the sound signature of the AFOs. I think the LLF Slants, ZMF Oris (although these are closed), and of course the HD650 just without the speed and more bloom to the bass. Not sure about the Quad or B&Ws.

 

[BrokeSkoolBoi]

Just received a pair of AFO's from another Head-fier . Im sitting here with my hd600 a bit disappointed honestly. The tonality is amazing, instruments sound very life like, especially drums/cymbals despite the dip after the mids to avoid sibilance, but there just isn't any sense of space when compared to the hd600, even with the CTH. I would've assumed the sense of space in a recording would've been retained but somehow the air I'm used to hearing is also missing. I find the hd600 more comfortable too since the clamp has molded to the shape of my head, the AFO will definitely get hot and and uncomfortable here in Miami.

I'm conflicted, but I'll probably just resell em soon and get an hd800s or the he1xxx when it comes back.

I can praise them for their realism and impact, but even at $550 I can't justify keeping them over the hd600. My first run in with diminishing returns after falling in love with the hd600, they do have me craving planar bass again though.

 

[mrspeakers]

Just picked up an award for AEON Open from Germany's Professional Audio magazine!

 

[Charente]

Just picked up an award for AEON Open from Germany's Professional Audio magazine!

Good exposure for the European market

 

[mrspeakers]

And another AEON Open Award for best value from Spain!

https://www.oldnewsound.es/general/lo-mejor-del-2018-premios-calidad-precio/

 

[stenog]

We do love the AEON Open in Europe

 

[milesjunkie]

We do love the AEON Open in Europe

I’m thrilled with mine. Bought purely on recommendations from responses to a post I put up.