MrSpeakers AEON Flow Open - Impressions Thread

[Odin412]

I find the AFC1 to be spectacular in tonality and transparent to the point where it's really easy to discern different amps and sources.

That's my favorite part of the sound of the AEC1 - it makes it easy to hear differences in amps.

 

[MalinYamato]

Too bad the reviewer didn't provide info about the equipment used for the review. Especially with the Aeons being so transparent to the rest of the chain. Also most impressions I read pointed at the Aeon 2 being brighter than the previous generation, while this review points to the opposite. Go figure. Maybe if I find a 2nd hand Aeon 2 I'll risk it, reviews and impressions are again too conflicted with the new generation as they were before with the first. Time will tell I guess.

Too bad the reviewer didn't provide info about the equipment used for the review. Especially with the Aeons being so transparent to the rest of the chain. Also most impressions I read pointed at the Aeon 2 being brighter than the previous generation, while this review points to the opposite. Go figure. Maybe if I find a 2nd hand Aeon 2 I'll risk it, reviews and impressions are again too conflicted with the new generation as they were before with the first. Time will tell I guess.

Hi, did you receive Aeon Flow re-tuned version?

 

[roskodan]

Sorry, I got only the original versions.

 

[roskodan]

So after I got the AFC1, my AFO1 are in as well now. And you guessed it, I'm loving 'em. First impressions are that the AFO1 are indeed warmer, and also less damped or dry vs the AFC1. I feel they sound like what I wished the AFC1 would, at least at first. I really wouldn't add bass or warmth on top of what the AFO1 already have. So as of these first impressions I decided these will do until I can "audition" the new Aeon 2 series, or maybe the Aeon 3 by the time some Aeon 2 appear, on the cheap, in the classifieds.

So, to sum it up, first impressions, the Open is warmer and more liquid, less dry, than the Closed. And therefore I agree with Tyll, these AFO1 are a real joy as an allrounder headphone.

I guess this is applicable to the RTs too, so, do yourselves a favor and get the best all rounder headphone money can buy, for just $499.99. Yeah these are that good, my Clear are not so confident anymore.

EDIT: Btw, I'm not using any of the provided filters, as I find them degrading overall performance too much.

 

[dakanao]

So after I got the AFC1, my AFO1 are in as well now. And you guessed it, I'm loving 'em. First impressions are that the AFO1 are indeed warmer, and also less damped or dry vs the AFC1. I feel they sound like what I wished the AFC1 would, at least at first. I really wouldn't add bass or warmth on top of what the AFO1 already have. So as of these first impressions I decided these will do until I can "audition" the new Aeon 2 series, or maybe the Aeon 3 by the time some Aeon 2 appear, on the cheap, in the classifieds.

So, to sum it up, first impressions, the Open is warmer and more liquid, less dry, than the Closed. And therefore I agree with Tyll, these AFO1 are a real joy as an allrounder headphone.

I guess this is applicable to the RTs too, so, do yourselves a favor and get the best all rounder headphone money can buy, for just $499.99. Yeah these are that good, my Clear are not so confident anymore.

Which one would be less resonant/edgy sounding of the AFC1 vs AFO1?

 

[roskodan]

Well, neither is resonant to my ears. The AFC1 is clearly the brighter, definitely more mid centric, and more damped in the bass and low mids. As far as edginess, although I don't find any of the two really edgy, the AFC1 is highly more likely to come out as edgy. The AFC1 can definitely be on the anemic side of neutral depending of genre, while AFO1 is definitely on the warmer side all the time. It's like k701/hd600 vs hd650, if they were somehow in the same league in everything except tonal balance being the difference.

 

[MalinYamato]

So after I got the AFC1, my AFO1 are in as well now. And you guessed it, I'm loving 'em. First impressions are that the AFO1 are indeed warmer, and also less damped or dry vs the AFC1. I feel they sound like what I wished the AFC1 would, at least at first. I really wouldn't add bass or warmth on top of what the AFO1 already have. So as of these first impressions I decided these will do until I can "audition" the new Aeon 2 series, or maybe the Aeon 3 by the time some Aeon 2 appear, on the cheap, in the classifieds.

So, to sum it up, first impressions, the Open is warmer and more liquid, less dry, than the Closed. And therefore I agree with Tyll, these AFO1 are a real joy as an allrounder headphone.

I guess this is applicable to the RTs too, so, do yourselves a favor and get the best all rounder headphone money can buy, for just . Yeah these are that good, my Clear are not so confident anymore.

I appreciate your feedback as my finger has been on the trigger for a while now getting a AFO RT from Dan Clark site.

 

[roskodan]

Yeah, I almost went from AFC1 to AFC RT/2, but then opted to try the AFO1 first, and I'm glad I did. These AFO 1/RT are really a sweet balance.

Although, the competition is very stiff in the open back segment. Especially if someone is willing to spend more. e.g. Focal Clear go 2nd hand for around $800. Or maybe spend less and get less, but still quite a lot, with a 2nd hand hd650, go around $200-250.

But the Aeons are definitely the best value and don't fall short even when compared with headphones like the Clear. The more I spend time with the Aeons the more it's evident they are trading punches with the Clear as equals, and I know it seems hard to believe, especially considering the price gap, but that's how much these bang for the bucks.

 

[xRaptorxPunisher]

Which one would be less resonant/edgy sounding of the AFC1 vs AFO1?

Yeah, I almost went from AFC1 to AFC RT/2, but then opted to try the AFO1 first, and I'm glad I did. These AFO 1/RT are really a sweet balance.

Although, the competition is very stiff in the open back segment. Especially if someone is willing to spend more. e.g. Focal Clear go 2nd hand for around $800. Or maybe spend less and get less, but still quite a lot, with a 2nd hand hd650, go around $200-250.

But the Aeons are definitely the best value and don't fall short even when compared with headphones like the Clear. The more I spend time with the Aeons the more it's evident they are trading punches with the Clear as equals, and I know it seems hard to believe, especially considering the price gap, but that's how much these bang for the bucks.

The Clear absolutely decimate the open Aeons, the Aeon drivers cannot pull off dynamics if they tried, they literally sound like they cannot show gradients of sound at all.They sound like they're too warm, thick and have nothing to overcome that. They sit in such a weird position because they cannot pull of the large planar sound which people enjoy due to the size, and they struggle with leading edge of a good headphone like the Clear, LCD-2, HD650, HD800, HP-3, HE-500 to name just a few. You can get a 6xx on massdrop which beats out the Aeon. I'm not slating your headphones I'm just finding it hard to see where their value is because I see them on the same level as the K612, DT880, K712 etc and those headphones have arguable better technicalities outside of bass.

 

[dakanao]

The Clear absolutely decimate the open Aeons, the Aeon drivers cannot pull off dynamics if they tried, they literally sound like they cannot show gradients of sound at all.They sound like they're too warm, thick and have nothing to overcome that. They sit in such a weird position because they cannot pull of the large planar sound which people enjoy due to the size, and they struggle with leading edge of a good headphone like the Clear, LCD-2, HD650, HD800, HP-3, HE-500 to name just a few. You can get a 6xx on massdrop which beats out the Aeon. I'm not slating your headphones I'm just finding it hard to see where their value is because I see them on the same level as the K612, DT880, K712 etc and those headphones have arguable better technicalities outside of bass.

I'm looking for something that sounds similar to the HD 650, but with better bass extension and smoother upper-mids.

I tried out the HE-500, but it was too uncomfortable for my ears (made my tinnitus worse due to the way they fit on my ear). Sonic wise, out of my Chord Mojo, it lacked bass impact compared to the HD 650, even extension was better on the HD 650.

Granted I' sure the Mojo doesn't have enough power to drive the HE-500 properly. That's why I'm looking at the AFO.

It seems to have the sound I'm looking for; thick, like the HD 650, yet bassier with smoother upper-mids. Would you say that would be a good desription of the AFO vs the HD 650?

 

[xRaptorxPunisher]

I'm looking for something that sounds similar to the HD 650, but with better bass extension and smoother upper-mids.

I tried out the HE-500, but it was too uncomfortable for my ears (made my tinnitus worse due to the way they fit on my ear). Sonic wise, out of my Chord Mojo, it lacked bass impact compared to the HD 650, even extension was better on the HD 650.

Granted I' sure the Mojo doesn't have enough power to drive the HE-500 properly. That's why I'm looking at the AFO.

It seems to have the sound I'm looking for; thick, like the HD 650, yet bassier with smoother upper-mids. Would you say that would be a good desription of the AFO vs the HD 650?

The AFO actually has more ringing in the upper mids than the HD650 does but the more compressed nature plus more mid bass gives the allusion of less presence. It's difficult because there's not many headphones that have the HD650's traits with less 5k energy. The HE-500 is a different beast altogether and needs a good watt into it's 32ohms to get make them sound their capability. Do you want more recessed upper mids?

The LCD-2F might be worth a look, it has more recessed upper mids but does give a nice lush presentation to focus with more sub bass, I'm not going to say it's overall better as the HD650 has it's own strengths but it's certainly better when it comes to bass quality, treble resolution, HD650 however has a smoother treble, resolution is close. The HE-500, LCD-2F, HD650 are all significally better headphones in my opinion, I'd give the Aeon the non when it comes to bass quality over the HD650 however.

The Verum 1 is also a good headphone and might be up your street. Some other headphones closer to the HD650 with better sub bass are

Auteur
Clear
LCD-2C with Vegan pads



I did find though the HD650 had some good bass presence to 20hz out of better amps like the Super 7, Sonnett 2 but you're looking at a lot of money. I've had the 650 for years and bought and sold it many times and like you, I ended up finding the upper mids too bothersome.

 

[roskodan]

The Clear absolutely decimate the open Aeons, the Aeon drivers cannot pull off dynamics if they tried, they literally sound like they cannot show gradients of sound at all.They sound like they're too warm, thick and have nothing to overcome that. They sit in such a weird position because they cannot pull of the large planar sound which people enjoy due to the size, and they struggle with leading edge of a good headphone like the Clear, LCD-2, HD650, HD800, HP-3, HE-500 to name just a few. You can get a 6xx on massdrop which beats out the Aeon. I'm not slating your headphones I'm just finding it hard to see where their value is because I see them on the same level as the K612, DT880, K712 etc and those headphones have arguable better technicalities outside of bass.

( )^2

 

[xRaptorxPunisher]

( )^2

Excellent summery and argument.

 

[roskodan]

Made this combined Aeon, Aeon RT, Aeon 2, frequency response graph for myself, thought I'll post it here for others to scratch their brains too.

 

[roskodan]

So after figuring out that I don't like how the filters affect overall performance of the Aeons, I noticed that, without them, there is a tendency in the AFO to accentuate the sibilance in sibilantly/poorly recorded voices. Which is not an issue with the AFC.