[skyline315]

One of the benefits of the AFO is that it doesn't need much to get great sound. At a whopping $150, I think the Vali 2 could easily be your stopping point.

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

In terms of style, I like Ethers and Aeons, and Audeze products if I add one more. They look modern, simple, yet sophisticated and stylish. To my eyes, senn's hd series look too german, and focals, especially Clear, look somewhat cliche and sissi.

I totally agree with "They look modern, simple, yet sophisticated and stylish" and think thats spot on...

Not sure about the rest of what you said though! Ha!

 

[lentoviolento]

In the end i decided to sell it, myabe i will buy it again in the future. If someone is interested contact me

 

[Phantaminum]

In the end i decided to sell it, myabe i will buy it again in the future. If someone is interested contact me

Were the headphones still sibilant to you after burn in and using the different dampening filters?

I can’t hear sibilance on my pair but of course I’m running a different chain.

 

[skyline315]

Okay, I'll toss my impressions in here, only because it's been a bit of a journey. It was not love at first listen for me, but there's a reason brief listens are unreliable. These things take time.

I've met Dan twice as he was generous enough to fly out to Nashville to attend our quite small and humble headphone meetups. Each time he brought his pre-production Ethers (and Ether Flows) for us to play around with and oogle over. I really enjoyed them at the time and felt they were worthy HD800 competitors. And build quality...I don't think anyone out there nails this like Mr. Speakers. But, the price ruled it out for me immediately. I'm a budget guy through and through. When the Aeons came out and the price was far more reasonable (though STILL out of my budget), I couldn't resist the chance to try them. A kind forum member was generous enough to loan his pair out to me and I've been listening to them nonstop for the past week.

For the past three years, the HE-500 has been my main headphone. This means that my brain has REALLY adjusted to its sound and it feels like home in the audio world. About a year ago I added the HD650 to the mix, but these are not the warm and laid back 650s of old. The newer production models have no trace of a veil and feel pretty neutral to my ears - almost aggressive and raw sounding at times. The HE-500 is more laid back in comparison.

When I first tried the AFO, it was a shock to my system. First of all, the bass. It's not overdone, but relative to the sound I'm used to it was all I could focus on at first. This led to the feeling that the headphone was far too dark and the bass was drowning out the detail everywhere else. The idea that anyone would find the treble fatiguing or would opt for the tuning pads to further reduce it was laughable to me.

Then, you have the lack of open sound relative to what I was used to. The 650s, and far moreso, the HE-500s, are completely open to the outside world, and also don't form a complete seal on your head. So, when I first put the AFO on, I noticed the seal immediately. While they are certainly open headphones, relative to my experience they might as well have been closed. It was a dramatic difference, and everything about it felt unnatural.

All of this put together resulted in a sound that felt, simply put, wrong. The slight veil didn't feel slight and stood out to me immediately. The closed in and intimate presentation took me off guard. Rock guitar felt dulled and rounded at the edges. The bass, while well-defined, seemed overdone. I almost put them back in the box and sent them back. Several times.

BUT, every few songs I got a glimmer of something special. The first hint was when a Miles Davis track popped up, which put the liquid smoothness of the AFO on full display. The bass fell right into place and the saxophone was silky smooth without any glare or fatigue. It was nice, but surely an anomaly. I switched back to the 650, and yeah...the AFO hit it emotionally, but the 650 still sounded "correct". Besides, my collection isn't all jazz. It's nice that Miles Davis sounds great and all, but what about all the rock tracks that are missing the bite and edge?

On it went for a couple of days. I was wildly swapping out all three of these headphones and comparing notes. In other words, I was analyzing rather than listening.

Finally, I made up my mind that, yep....I've got these figured out. I'll print the shipping label and send them out tomorrow. I'll just put a few more songs in before bed and call it good. In retrospect, I think something about making that decision allowed me to forget the analysis and simply listen to the music. And, as fate would have it, a track by The Cranberries came on randomly and I stopped dead in my tracks. Musical bliss. I've always loved their stuff, but it's been a long time since I really connected to it emotionally. The song was "Pretty" and her voice...my goodness. It was fully present as we know the AFO tends to do with vocals, but it still contained the fragility and nuance that caused me to fall in love with this album in the 90s. I was transported back. Instantly.

This led me down a rabbit hole, and before I knew it I had put in a 4.5 hour listening session. I haven't done this in YEARS. Maybe since high school when I was a long-haired, wistful kid who burned incense and got so lost in music that I'd sleep with it on most nights.

After that, I started hearing all the things I had been missing. There's guitar crunch when needed. Drums still have kick. Nirvana and Pearl Jam still sound great. I'd just been so focused on the aspects that were new to me that I wasn't able to sit back and enjoy the whole picture. Yes, the sound is still on the warm side of neutral. No, these aren't as open and airy as what I'm used to. Yes, there IS a slight veil. But on a scale of 1-10, my level of concern about these things is somewhere around -3 (I teach Calculus, so don't challenge me on the math). What I DO care about is that I'm excited to listen to music whenever I have the chance and I'm eager to see which album I'm going to rediscover next. I haven't been this excited about audio since I first discovered the HE-500 all those years ago (long before I actually owned them).

For the record, all my listening has been either Mimby/Vali 2 at work or Bimby/Vali 2 at home. I doubt the Vali 2 is doing any favors for the soundstage, but honestly folks, it sounds pretty awesome. This little amp does wonders.

And, regarding soundstage, Dan's theory may be correct. Once adjusted to the sound I get a decent amount of depth in recordings and instrument placement has certainly never been an issue. Where I notice it is in the width. Since these aren't as open to the outside sound it feels like there's a definite cut off on the left and right that sound doesn't get past as opposed to more open headphones where the sound seems to kind of disappear into the air on either side. At this point, it's a non-issue for me. Brain burn-in is real and my brain has been scorched. The HE-500/650 still feel natural to me, but if it leaves me feeling flat, then what's the point? I'll take the wall of sound and call it a day. And night. Whatever. As long as the music is playing.

 

[lentoviolento]

Where the headphones still sibilant to you after burn in and using the different dampening filters?

I can’t hear sibilance on my pair but of course I’m running a different chain.

unofrtunatly yes.. maybe i am very sensitive i don't know...... if it wasn't for this i would have found my end game goddammit

 

[IamMathew]

How are these compared to closed version tonality (male/female vocals, treble), soundstage and imaging wise? Thanks.

 

[Phantaminum]

-snip-

If you have any meet ups in your neck of the woods you should try them out with a hybrid tube amp. Either Schiit Lyr 2 or Mjolnir 2, with a good tube, will make these headphones sing. The bongo drums at the start of Sheryl Crow’s - Every Day Is A Winding Road sound so frikkin’ life like.

 

[franz12]

If you have any meet ups in your neck of the woods you should try them out with a hybrid tube amp. Either Schiit Lyr 2 or Mjolnir 2, with a good tube, will make these headphones sing. The bongo drums at the start of Sheryl Crow’s - Every Day Is A Winding Road sound so frikkin’ life like.

I agree. With a good amp, AFO just sings. After A/Being with my HA-2 and Hugo, I noticed that AFO is better with my Hugo. HA-2 still gives me adequate volume, but it lacks dynamic punch and bass speed is slower.

 

[skyline315]

If you have any meet ups in your neck of the woods you should try them out with a hybrid tube amp. Either Schiit Lyr 2 or Mjolnir 2, with a good tube, will make these headphones sing. The bongo drums at the start of Sheryl Crow’s - Every Day Is A Winding Road sound so frikkin’ life like.

The Vali 2 IS a hybrid tube amp.

It puts out 1.3W to 16 ohms, so there is plenty of juice. Not sure what it does at 13 ohms, but it's no slouch.

Honestly, I don't care for the Lyr 2. The Mjolnir is great, but out of my price range at the moment. I've heard the entire range of Schiit amps, and in terms of tonality and value, I think the Vali 2 is at the top. It doesn't excel in any one area, but it's very versatile and never fails to get my toes tapping.

I don't doubt that there are gains to be had with better amps. I had the Ember II for a couple of years and loved it, but the Vali 2 isn't far off. I would love to give the CTH a shot when there are more of them in the wild. BUT, I'm having to sell off a lot of gear to afford the AFO in the first place, so amp upgrades are down the line for me. The Vali 2 will do just fine for now.

 

[franz12]

Okay, I'll toss my impressions in here, only because it's been a bit of a journey. It was not love at first listen for me, but there's a reason brief listens are unreliable. These things take time.

I've met Dan twice as he was generous enough to fly out to Nashville to attend our quite small and humble headphone meetups. Each time he brought his pre-production Ethers (and Ether Flows) for us to play around with and oogle over. I really enjoyed them at the time and felt they were worthy HD800 competitors. And build quality...I don't think anyone out there nails this like Mr. Speakers. But, the price ruled it out for me immediately. I'm a budget guy through and through. When the Aeons came out and the price was far more reasonable (though STILL out of my budget), I couldn't resist the chance to try them. A kind forum member was generous enough to loan his pair out to me and I've been listening to them nonstop for the past week.

For the past three years, the HE-500 has been my main headphone. This means that my brain has REALLY adjusted to its sound and it feels like home in the audio world. About a year ago I added the HD650 to the mix, but these are not the warm and laid back 650s of old. The newer production models have no trace of a veil and feel pretty neutral to my ears - almost aggressive and raw sounding at times. The HE-500 is more laid back in comparison.

When I first tried the AFO, it was a shock to my system. First of all, the bass. It's not overdone, but relative to the sound I'm used to it was all I could focus on at first. This led to the feeling that the headphone was far too dark and the bass was drowning out the detail everywhere else. The idea that anyone would find the treble fatiguing or would opt for the tuning pads to further reduce it was laughable to me.

Then, you have the lack of open sound relative to what I was used to. The 650s, and far moreso, the HE-500s, are completely open to the outside world, and also don't form a complete seal on your head. So, when I first put the AFO on, I noticed the seal immediately. While they are certainly open headphones, relative to my experience they might as well have been closed. It was a dramatic difference, and everything about it felt unnatural.

All of this put together resulted in a sound that felt, simply put, wrong. The slight veil didn't feel slight and stood out to me immediately. The closed in and intimate presentation took me off guard. Rock guitar felt dulled and rounded at the edges. The bass, while well-defined, seemed overdone. I almost put them back in the box and sent them back. Several times.

BUT, every few songs I got a glimmer of something special. The first hint was when a Miles Davis track popped up, which put the liquid smoothness of the AFO on full display. The bass fell right into place and the saxophone was silky smooth without any glare or fatigue. It was nice, but surely an anomaly. I switched back to the 650, and yeah...the AFO hit it emotionally, but the 650 still sounded "correct". Besides, my collection isn't all jazz. It's nice that Miles Davis sounds great and all, but what about all the rock tracks that are missing the bite and edge?

On it went for a couple of days. I was wildly swapping out all three of these headphones and comparing notes. In other words, I was analyzing rather than listening.

Finally, I made up my mind that, yep....I've got these figured out. I'll print the shipping label and send them out tomorrow. I'll just put a few more songs in before bed and call it good. In retrospect, I think something about making that decision allowed me to forget the analysis and simply listen to the music. And, as fate would have it, a track by The Cranberries came on randomly and I stopped dead in my tracks. Musical bliss. I've always loved their stuff, but it's been a long time since I really connected to it emotionally. The song was "Pretty" and her voice...my goodness. It was fully present as we know the AFO tends to do with vocals, but it still contained the fragility and nuance that caused me to fall in love with this album in the 90s. I was transported back. Instantly.

This led me down a rabbit hole, and before I knew it I had put in a 4.5 hour listening session. I haven't done this in YEARS. Maybe since high school when I was a long-haired, wistful kid who burned incense and got so lost in music that I'd sleep with it on most nights.

After that, I started hearing all the things I had been missing. There's guitar crunch when needed. Drums still have kick. Nirvana and Pearl Jam still sound great. I'd just been so focused on the aspects that were new to me that I wasn't able to sit back and enjoy the whole picture. Yes, the sound is still on the warm side of neutral. No, these aren't as open and airy as what I'm used to. Yes, there IS a slight veil. But on a scale of 1-10, my level of concern about these things is somewhere around -3 (I teach Calculus, so don't challenge me on the math). What I DO care about is that I'm excited to listen to music whenever I have the chance and I'm eager to see which album I'm going to rediscover next. I haven't been this excited about audio since I first discovered the HE-500 all those years ago (long before I actually owned them).

For the record, all my listening has been either Mimby/Vali 2 at work or Bimby/Vali 2 at home. I doubt the Vali 2 is doing any favors for the soundstage, but honestly folks, it sounds pretty awesome. This little amp does wonders.

And, regarding soundstage, Dan's theory may be correct. Once adjusted to the sound I get a decent amount of depth in recordings and instrument placement has certainly never been an issue. Where I notice it is in the width. Since these aren't as open to the outside sound it feels like there's a definite cut off on the left and right that sound doesn't get past as opposed to more open headphones where the sound seems to kind of disappear into the air on either side. At this point, it's a non-issue for me. Brain burn-in is real and my brain has been scorched. The HE-500/650 still feel natural to me, but if it leaves me feeling flat, then what's the point? I'll take the wall of sound and call it a day. And night. Whatever. As long as the music is playing.

I just brought out the Cranberries' zombie and Pearl Jam's Even Flow. They were my favorite in my high school, but long forgotten since then. I can't stop listening. AFO brings a holy new life to those.

 

[King CATalyst]

Aeon flow open has quickly become my new favorite Pair of headphones...they seem to be tuned to favor metal,edm and hip hop which is basically all I listen to, rock sounds quite good on these too. They do underperform with orchestra music imo though which I do occasionally listen to but oh Well! For what it's worth I own a pair of audeze lcd3f as well and prefer these...maybe this post will save someone some money like I wish I had lol

 

[shenanbay]

Aeon flow open has quickly become my new favorite Pair of headphones...they seem to be tuned to favor metal,edm and hip hop which is basically all I listen to, rock sounds quite good on these too. They do underperform with orchestra music imo though which I do occasionally listen to but oh Well! For what it's worth I own a pair of audeze lcd3f as well and prefer these...maybe this post will save someone some money like I wish I had lol

I agree. I listen to alot of metal and jazz. I wanted to test the bass on these. So i asked my brother to give me something with bass. He played pick it up by asap and famous dex. Damn these can rumble your head really good. There is no distortion at all. I didn't wanna go all the way on the volume. At around 2 on the nfb11.28 my ears start to hurt lol. At that level the bass is just stunning

 

[King CATalyst]

What dampening do you normally use? I only use them with either black foam or no dampening...haven't messed around with the white ones at all.

 

[franz12]

What dampening do you normally use? I only use them with either black foam or no dampening...haven't messed around with the white ones at all.

me too. didn't bother to put a white notch. the black foam is sufficiently gentle to my ears.