[Rocco Khan]

  I don't understand all this hate for Shakespeare's wife. What has she ever done to deserve this loathing?

 
I don't want to derail this thread because I just want to buy the Ether Cs and tune them to a no-sibilance version.
 
But... Hathahate is a well documented phenomenon:
 
http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/why-do-people-hate-anne-hathaway#.qqjAJW9Vn
 
Even she knows about it:
 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/06/anne-hathaway-haters_n_6114882.html

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

She was the only thing I liked about TDKR.

 

[Mentis]

I wonder if Dan's working on an Ether C Prime  I'll start saving up for that if it comes out next year haha!

 

[Maconi]

Thoughts on the 1.1 upgrade foam. IMO, YMMV and all that…

I've been listening to the 1.1 upgrade foam for the last day and I'm never going back to the original 1.0. To me the ETHER C always had great resolution and timing but it always felt like there was something missing, like they had been slightly muffled despite the overall clarity and rather neutral frequency response. Because of this they have been mostly in a corner of my room looking (very) pretty. Well, with the 1.1 foam that muffler (one white felt pad at the driver) has been removed. Now the ETHER C is the headphone I expected when I first purchased it and it can finally replace my LCD-XC.

The largest difference I hear is the way the notes fall off. With 1.0 the notes seemed to abruptly stop and there was less of a natural decay making the overall sound more dry. Now with 1.1 the notes have room to breathe, room to decay, and it makes the music sound much more musical with better timbre. The bass isn't magically elevated and the treble isn't dramatically changed (although clarity is, if that makes sense). What has happened, to my ears, is that it has better focus and the drivers can now be allowed to portray themselves better. This benefits the bass with more texture adding to a sense of impact and benefits the treble with more detail. Extension on both ends feels better and imaging now has more subtle cues needed for better instrument placement. I feel the ETHER drivers are very capable and the 1.1 upgrade foam allows them to show off a little better IMO. Gotta love that unicorn hair woven in.

I initially had settled on one black tuning pad with the 1.0 to try to help with 'musicality', but have since removed the black tuning pad with 1.1. The black tuning pad did indeed make the sound slightly warmer with 1.1 as well and I may just use them again if the mood calls for it, but I'm loving the presentation with no tuning pads on 1.1. Again, highlighting just how easy Dan has made it for users to adjust the ETHER C to their preferences, or source gear.

I'm listening with the X5 coaxial out to the DAC-19 feeding the Liquid Carbon balanced output to the ETHER C... Bliss. I find the ETHER C to be rather revealing of the audio chain so the tuning pads are great for matching synergy as well. Thanks Dan!

Edit: Removal of the ear pads was extremely simple, as was putting them back on.

Don't say that lol. I just finished a demo of the Ether C and although I wanted to love it, it was just missing something compared to the LCD-XC (I think it was body, due to the decay like you say).

It cost me $40 in shipping to try them (it's not cheap insuring $1500 headphones lol). I'd like to hear the 1.1 difference but I'm too cheap to pay another $40 on the chance that it's everything I hope.

Guess I'll just have to hope there's a Canjam or whatnot in Kentucky sometime lol.

 

[Velomane]

Thoughts on the 1.1 upgrade foam. IMO, YMMV and all that…
 

To be clear, are you only using the foam from the 1.1 kit and nothing else between it and the driver?

 

[buke9]

Don't say that lol. I just finished a demo of the Ether C and although I wanted to love it, it was just missing something compared to the LCD-XC (I think it was body, due to the decay like you say).

It cost me $40 in shipping to try them (it's not cheap insuring $1500 headphones lol). I'd like to hear the 1.1 difference but I'm too cheap to pay another $40 on the chance that it's everything I hope.

Guess I'll just have to hope there's a Canjam or whatnot in Kentucky sometime lol.

Not sure where in Kentucky you are but there is a meet twice a year in Nashville. Lots of nice stuff there.  Cinnci has one also but was out of town at the time. 

 

[x RELIC x]

To be clear, are you only using the foam from the 1.1 kit and nothing else between it and the driver?

Nope, I followed Dan's instructions. One white felt pad at the driver (instead of two), and the 1.1 foam.

Outside the driver, no tuning pads.

 

[HK_sends]

  Not sure where in Kentucky you are but there is a meet twice a year in Nashville. Lots of nice stuff there.  Cinnci has one also but was out of town at the time. 

Do you have any information about when the Nashville meets are?  I just got to the east coast and am going to miss the SoCal CanJam... 

  Just PM me...no need to derail this thread.
Cheers and Thanks!

-HK sends

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Don't say that lol. I just finished a demo of the Ether C and although I wanted to love it, it was just missing something compared to the LCD-XC (I think it was body, due to the decay like you say).

It cost me $40 in shipping to try them (it's not cheap insuring $1500 headphones lol). I'd like to hear the 1.1 difference but I'm too cheap to pay another $40 on the chance that it's everything I hope.

Guess I'll just have to hope there's a Canjam or whatnot in Kentucky sometime lol.

Put the white felt inside of the pads for that Audeze-esque body. Issue fixed. The Ether C is far from lacking in body if you go the warm tuning route of white felt or two black felts on the 1.1.

 

[Skyyyeman]

Put the white felt inside of the pads for that Audeze-esque body. Issue fixed. The Ether C is far from lacking in body if you go the warm tuning route of white felt or two black felts on the 1.1.

 
Yes, that's what I did for more body, warmth and a bit less treble-- just use the 1.1 (i.e., with the foam inside replacing one white pad) and use one white pad from the tuning kit outside in the ear pad. That is, use the tuning kit on the 1.1 exactly the same as you would with the 1.0 to tune the sound.
 
I like these changes since I also came from the LCD-X and the LCD-XC before that, and I did get used to the warm rich sound of the LCD headphones which can be very addictive. But with that LCD warmth and richness also comes a syrupy quality which is really a form of coloration distorting the sound and masking detail. The Ether C remedies that, providing a faster, far more detailed and accurate sound which I ultimately prefer overall.
 
I've sold my LCD-X and LCD-XC and haven't looked back.  Enuf said. 

 

[wpiaz]

I never really paid much attention to headphones. I had one pair I used for a number of years for practice sessions on my electronic piano and guitar. When the ear pads literally fell apart on my Sennheiser HD 380 pro’s, I started to look for a replacement. With some helpful advice from WireCutter.com, I purchased Sony 7506 cans. I was very impressed and could not believe what I was missing for so many years. It did not take long before I was in search for even better performance which led me to the Oppo PM-3. I believe that if you cannot immediately detect better overall sound quality, then there is no reason to buy anything else. The PM-3 was simply a major step up. I spend a great deal of time at work working at my workstation in my office cube. The PM-3 with its excellent isolation, portability, build quality, and value, provided everything I could wish for in a portable headphone.
 
The more I read reviews the more performance I wanted out of my headphone. A series of extremely positive reviews led me to purchase the HiFiman HE 400S. Once again, I was blown away by the the sound quality of the 400S. However, because of its open back design, it was limited to quiet settings. I made a commitment to myself that I was not going to become a headphone hobbyist—someone endlessly searching for headphone nirvana. I limited myself to two pairs—home and work.  After all, I have only one set of ears! I sold the Sony’s but purchased the Oppo HA-2 portable amp/DAC.
 
I believe the Oppo PM-3 and the HiFiman 400’s coupled to the HA-2, offer the best performance/value currently available. I should be satisfied and content. But I just can’t get me no satisfaction until I compare my setup to what many are saying is one of the best on the market—Mr. Speakers Ether C. Today I placed an order.
 
$1500 is a lot of money for a pair of headphones. It is tough to justify unless the performance is clearly superior to my present setup. I am not willing to pay $1000 more than the cost of the PM-3 to get a small improvement. I am not really interested in doing numerous A/B comparisons. Neither am I concerned with perceived nuances that in most cases are imaginary. If I can’t hear superior sound quality as compared to my current equipment within the first hour after break-in, the Ether’s will be heading back to Mr. Speaker. The cost of this experiment—10% restocking and shipping.

 

[bytor33]

I received my 1.1 pads today and have listened for a few hours now. The difference is bigger than I expected and echo Relic's findings. I do hear what sunneebear was saying that the vocals aren't as focused, but there's so much more detail to them that I still prefer the 1.1.

I wasn't sure what to expect regarding the bass but it seems.. different. Midbass maybe is a little less compared to 1.0 and the 1 black pad I was running but the sub bass seems on par or better. I had probably 100-125 hours listening with 1.0 and one black pad so it's going to take some getting used to, but I don't think there's any going back to 1.0 for me.

 

[HK_sends]

 
I never really paid much attention to headphones. I had one pair I used for a number of years for practice sessions on my electronic piano and guitar. When the ear pads literally fell apart on my Sennheiser HD 380 pro’s, I started to look for a replacement. With some helpful advice from WireCutter.com, I purchased Sony 7506 cans. I was very impressed and could not believe what I was missing for so many years. It did not take long before I was in search for even better performance which led me to the Oppo PM-3. I believe that if you cannot immediately detect better overall sound quality, then there is no reason to buy anything else. The PM-3 was simply a major step up. I spend a great deal of time at work working at my workstation in my office cube. The PM-3 with its excellent isolation, portability, build quality, and value, provided everything I could wish for in a portable headphone.
 
The more I read reviews the more performance I wanted out of my headphone. A series of extremely positive reviews led me to purchase the HiFiman HE 400S. Once again, I was blown away by the the sound quality of the 400S. However, because of its open back design, it was limited to quiet settings. I made a commitment to myself that I was not going to become a headphone hobbyist—someone endlessly searching for headphone nirvana. I limited myself to two pairs—home and work.  After all, I have only one set of ears! I sold the Sony’s but purchased the Oppo HA-2 portable amp/DAC.
 
I believe the Oppo PM-3 and the HiFiman 400’s coupled to the HA-2, offer the best performance/value currently available. I should be satisfied and content. But I just can’t get me no satisfaction until I compare my setup to what many are saying is one of the best on the market—Mr. Speakers Ether C. Today I placed an order.
 
$1500 is a lot of money for a pair of headphones. It is tough to justify unless the performance is clearly superior to my present setup. I am not willing to pay $1000 more than the cost of the PM-3 to get a small improvement. I am not really interested in doing numerous A/B comparisons. Neither am I concerned with perceived nuances that in most cases are imaginary. If I can’t hear superior sound quality as compared to my current equipment within the first hour after break-in, the Ether’s will be heading back to Mr. Speaker. The cost of this experiment—10% restocking and shipping.

One hour ain't gonna do it.  Let them play at a level slightly above your listening comfort level, set them down, and walk away for 24 hours...then compare.  Give the Ether C a little time to loosen up and realize that they will continue to improve their sound after more time.
I did what you did with the Audeze LCD-XC and sent them back, then later listened to a broken-in pair using the same equipment and the sound quality difference was night-and-day.  As long as you have a little time before you have to return them, give them a chance to open up and show you their potential.  What could it hurt?
 
Hope this helps...
Cheers!

-HK sends

 

[Allanmarcus]

 

 
...within the first hour after break-in...

One hour ain't gonna do it.  Let them play at a level slightly above your listening comfort level, set them down, and walk away for 24 hours...then compare.  Give the Ether C a little time to loosen up and realize that they will continue to improve their sound after more time.
I did what you did with the Audeze LCD-XC and sent them back, then later listened to a broken-in pair using the same equipment and the sound quality difference was night-and-day.  As long as you have a little time before you have to return them, give them a chance to open up and show you their potential.  What could it hurt?
 
Hope this helps...
Cheers!

-HK sends

note he said "after" break-in.
 
Assuming you break them in for 150 hours, you will be OK as far as breaking-in is concerned. As for sound quality within the first hour, that will not work. Your brain needs time to adjust to the headphones. The first time I heard the PM-3 I thought they sounded horrible. Thin. Boring. Lifeless. They were fully broken in too. After I listened to them for a few hours a day for three days, I really started to appreciate their sound. I eventually got PM-2's and then upgrade the 2s to PMx2.
 
Oddly enough, the first time I heard the Ether C was at CanJam RMAF. Took me about 10 seconds to decide I wanted them. It was right as the show was closing and I think Dan wanted to close up, but the sight of a credit card on the table made him smile.
 
Headphones with significantly different sound than what you are used to will generally sound bad. Give your brain time to adjust. Give new cans at least a few days, an hour or two per day.

 

[HK_sends]

  note he said "after" break-in.
 
Assuming you break them in for 150 hours, you will be OK as far as breaking-in is concerned. As for sound quality within the first hour, that is will not work. Your brain needs time to adjust to the headphones. The first time I heard the PM-3 I thought they sounded horrible. Thin. Boring. Lifeless. They were fully broken in too. After I listened to them for a few hours a day for three days, I really started to appreciate their sound. I eventually got PM-2's and then upgrade the 2s to PMx2.
 
Oddly enough, the first time I heard the Ether C was at CanJam RMAF. Took me about 10 seconds to decide I wanted them. It was right as the show was closing and I think Dan wanted to close up, but the sight of a credit card on the table made him smile.
 
Headphones with significantly different sound than what you are used to will generally sound bad. Give your brain time to adjust. Give new cans at least a few days, an hour or two per day.

Oops!  Sorry...I missed that one little part of the post. 

Please disregard everything after "hello"...

Cheers!

-HK sends