I suspect that the answer would depend on the reviewer's taste...
I guess like with any headphones it all depends on your personal preference and music genre.
I spent the greater part of my day at The Source AV yesterday and it was awesome. I had a blast hanging out with @TSAVAlan , @TSAVJason , and Wayne. This was my first experience with higher end cans and equipment and they were gracious enough to let me spend 8 hours or so auditioning headphones and asking a million questions (hope they didn't get too annoyed lol)
I'm the type that obsesses with researching everything I can before making any purchase and for headphones, nothing can beat really just listening for yourself since everyone's ears are different. My ears are pretty sensitive to pressure (can't wear in-ears) and also somewhat sensitive to treble ( for example, my TH-X00 just fatigue me really really quickly, sometimes within 5 minutes).
After listening to HD800, HD800s, LCD2, LCD3, zmf eikon, Focal Elear and Utopia, Ether Flow open and closed, Aeon Flow open and closed, I got a good grasp of what sounds good to my ears. Going into this, I thought my preference would be the Sennheisers (I enjoy my HD650s) and the Audeze. I ended up enjoying the Focals and MrSpeakers cans alot more.
I spent the last 2 or so hours A/Bing the Utopia, Elear, Aeon Open, and Ether Flow Open (I preferred the open to the closed because of my ear sensitivity to pressure). I REALLY enjoyed the Utopia, but it was out of my price range. The Elear was not bad, but it just isn't the Utopia and I can say that I do like the Focal sound.
I know there were some inquiries about how the Aeon Flow Open and the Ether Flow Open compare to each other and here is what it was like for me:
- Put on the Aeon and think to myself, this is pretty damn good.
- Quickly switch to the Ether Flow.... wow, the bigger driver is quite a difference and it just like a warmth of sound just wraps around my head like a scarf.
- Quickly switch back to the Aeon.... wow, this isn't the Ether flow but these are still REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD.
Are the Ether Flows worth the extra 1k? For me - maybe. but ultimately your budget will play a big part in this decision.
I listen to quite the variety of music, from metal to rock to hip hop to soundtracks (cant get enough of game of thrones orchestra) to 80s music and I realized that I would not find a single headphone to do it all, I would need a few. At the end of the day, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to get the Aeon open. This also allowed me to pre-order the Focal clears while staying within my budget
I spent the greater part of my day at The Source AV yesterday and it was awesome. I had a blast hanging out with @TSAVAlan , @TSAVJason , and Wayne. This was my first experience with higher end cans and equipment and they were gracious enough to let me spend 8 hours or so auditioning headphones and asking a million questions (hope they didn't get too annoyed lol)
I'm the type that obsesses with researching everything I can before making any purchase and for headphones, nothing can beat really just listening for yourself since everyone's ears are different. My ears are pretty sensitive to pressure (can't wear in-ears) and also somewhat sensitive to treble ( for example, my TH-X00 just fatigue me really really quickly, sometimes within 5 minutes).
After listening to HD800, HD800s, LCD2, LCD3, zmf eikon, Focal Elear and Utopia, Ether Flow open and closed, Aeon Flow open and closed, I got a good grasp of what sounds good to my ears. Going into this, I thought my preference would be the Sennheisers (I enjoy my HD650s) and the Audeze. I ended up enjoying the Focals and MrSpeakers cans alot more.
I spent the last 2 or so hours A/Bing the Utopia, Elear, Aeon Open, and Ether Flow Open (I preferred the open to the closed because of my ear sensitivity to pressure). I REALLY enjoyed the Utopia, but it was out of my price range. The Elear was not bad, but it just isn't the Utopia and I can say that I do like the Focal sound.
I know there were some inquiries about how the Aeon Flow Open and the Ether Flow Open compare to each other and here is what it was like for me:
- Put on the Aeon and think to myself, this is pretty damn good.
- Quickly switch to the Ether Flow.... wow, the bigger driver is quite a difference and it just like a warmth of sound just wraps around my head like a scarf.
- Quickly switch back to the Aeon.... wow, this isn't the Ether flow but these are still REALLY REALLY REALLY GOOD.
Are the Ether Flows worth the extra 1k? For me - maybe. but ultimately your budget will play a big part in this decision.
I listen to quite the variety of music, from metal to rock to hip hop to soundtracks (cant get enough of game of thrones orchestra) to 80s music and I realized that I would not find a single headphone to do it all, I would need a few. At the end of the day, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to get the Aeon open. This also allowed me to pre-order the Focal clears while staying within my budget
Wish I were at driving distance from your store...
Open a store in NorCal Jason!!
Awesome description, this is how I generally feel about the 2 sound signatures - focal being cleaner and the aeon/ethers being more... Warm and artistic
Haha! Thanks again for the help Jason.
Will do. My idea of the focal clear right now is just a guess. I spent a little bit of time A/Bing the Elears and Utopias to try to get a sense of what's in the middle. Jason mentioned to me to try to imagine what's in between and add in a little bit of the ZMF Eikon bass.
My hope is that these 2 cans will be different enough to be a complement to each other. I've already accepted how awesome the aeon opens sound to my ears, now just need to wait for the clears at the end of the month....
