MrSpeakers Ether CX - $899 from Massdrop

[Kelt0912]

Dear God I am in love with the 789 and this DAC. It made my CX come ALIVE. The CTH-SDAC has a warmer sound but that would be from the tube as well.

 

[ksorota]

With giant pads like the brainwaves or the Voce pads I'd imagine you have to put the filters behind the pad. I've asked Can Clark audio a few times now if they could just throw some of the felt on the cutter to fit the slot better but they said no every time heh.

My guess it's a stamp style cutter, meaning they'd need to make a whole new stamp. Unless they use the laser cutter, but I'm not sure

I have played around with the Voce pads on Ether C Flow and the tuning pads will sit within the pads without trouble for the short term testing (the corners of the tuning pads actually sit beneath the padding of the Voce pads) but once you find your preferred tuning it is best to put behind the pad with a little double sided tape to hold it in its position. Only a very small amount of tape is needed, and its not too important...just found that on one cup the foam moved after an extended amount of time.

 

[PopZeus]

I'm enjoying this with the Shanling M6.

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

Well, I dug out my ENTIRE headphone collection. I forgot how many I had. Jesus.

That being said, I have noticed a few things

1: Instrument separation on my Ethers isn't very good. Things tend to get compressed into a single point of sound.
2: Soundstage is TINY
3: My modded T50rps/OpenAlphas (again ty @mrspeakers for giving us the files) are seriously good. Like, Im blown away how close they are to my Ethers. I spent a HUGE amount of time working on them
4: Bass on my 4xx is SUPER fun, but doesn't have any texture at all. Soundstage and instrument separation and imaging are stunning.
5: Im still convinced my Ethers have a slight channel difference.

and finally the biggest thing
Pads make a MASSIVE difference. I tried my sure 840 pads, and Im really liking what they are doing. Much more open sounding. Brings it closer to the benefits of my OpenAlphas, but retaining the higher end sound from the Ethers. However the bass gets a bit crazy heh. Ill have to fix that somehow

 

[descloud]

My modded T50rps/OpenAlphas (again ty @mrspeakers for giving us the files) are seriously good. Like, Im blown away how close they are to my Ethers. I spent a HUGE amount of time working on them

That's interesting. I have the Alpha dogs, which is based from the Open Alphas by MrSpeakers, and I was curious to try out the Ether CX given it's great build quality. Guess the Ether CX is not the upgrade path for the closed-back neutral sounding cans.

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

That's interesting. I have the Alpha dogs, which is based from the Open Alphas by MrSpeakers, and I was curious to try out the Ether CX given it's great build quality. Guess the Ether CX is not the upgrade path for the closed-back neutral sounding cans.

Don't get me wrong, they are an upgrade. But you are deep in the realm of diminishing returns. Bass is leaps and bounds better, imaging is much better, the highs of course too.

Speaking from open alphas vs normal Alphas that is.

Edit: I forgot to mention. You need POWER for the t50rps. Running off of my Jotenhiem is a different animal.

 

[PrincessLeliana]

Are these worth picking up or should I get anandas instead?

 

[Maelob]

Are these worth picking up or should I get anandas instead?

Apples and oranges, but I would check either the Aeon 2C or Open. I honestly trust Dan Clark customer service and build quality way more than HIFIMAN.

 

[PrincessLeliana]

Apples and oranges, but I would check either the Aeon 2C or Open. I honestly trust Dan Clark customer service and build quality way more than HIFIMAN.

May I ask why those specific headphones? I've only really had what my friends told me to go off of, one recommends anandas because of the good bass and stuff and the other said i should try these.

 

[Maelob]

May I ask why those specific headphones? I've only really had what my friends told me to go off of, one recommends anandas because of the good bass and stuff and the other said i should try these.

Recommending them because they are in the same price bracket. I use to own the CX but I prefer the AEON2 Closed. CX is more neutrally tuned while the AEON2 has little more oomph and to me more engaging. Not bass monsters but still good quality satisfying bass.

It all depends what type of sound do you prefer. If you want to go cheaper the Aeon RT in his website are 500, which is a great deal.

Just my two cents

 

[PrincessLeliana]

Recommending them because they are in the same price bracket. I use to own the CX but I prefer the AEON2 Closed. CX is more neutrally tuned while the AEON2 has little more oomph and to me more engaging. Not bass monsters but still good quality satisfying bass.

It all depends what type of sound do you prefer. If you want to go cheaper the Aeon RT in his website are 500, which is a great deal.

Just my two cents

Ill look into it Thank you

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

@mrspeakers

Well, I sent mine back. Apparently there was in fact a channel imbalance. So they were going to send them back after fixing. They even kept the box and packaging that I sent it to them in, and even paid for 2-day shipping back to me. Awesome awesome stuff. Seriously good team Dan

But however;
Whelp. Turns out it was a whole new pair instead. Which, I mean, honestly is great. New pads, new headband, the wire in the headband for some reason feels different and better, new cups without the blemishes of the early run.

But I gave up my Serial #17, and the rare headband that still had "Massdrop" and "Mr.Speakers" before either changed their name.

Annnnnnd the kicker is they sound the exact same (mind you no burn in at the moment of course). But to me sounds imbalanced. Im 100% open to the fact its just my ears. Bjork, Alessia Cara many higher voices, or females sound like they are coming from the right. I mean if my original pair wasn't imbalanced, I would be open to say "Nope your crazy, here they are back" heh.

EDIT: My dad says they are perfect,, and he did notice my original pair was off. So its probably just me, Im just a bit sad I gave up my old pair lol

Thanks again Dan, your team is fantastic

 

[jnak00]

Try wearing them the wrong way (right cup on left ear) and see if it still sounds off-balance?

 

[elira]

@mrspeakers

Well, I sent mine back. Apparently there was in fact a channel imbalance. So they were going to send them back after fixing. They even kept the box and packaging that I sent it to them in, and even paid for 2-day shipping back to me. Awesome awesome stuff. Seriously good team Dan

But however;
Whelp. Turns out it was a whole new pair instead. Which, I mean, honestly is great. New pads, new headband, the wire in the headband for some reason feels different and better, new cups without the blemishes of the early run.

But I gave up my Serial #17, and the rare headband that still had "Massdrop" and "Mr.Speakers" before either changed their name.

Annnnnnd the kicker is they sound the exact same (mind you no burn in at the moment of course). But to me sounds imbalanced. Im 100% open to the fact its just my ears. Bjork, Alessia Cara many higher voices, or females sound like they are coming from the right. I mean if my original pair wasn't imbalanced, I would be open to say "Nope your crazy, here they are back" heh.

EDIT: My dad says they are perfect,, and he did notice my original pair was off. So its probably just me, Im just a bit sad I gave up my old pair lol

Thanks again Dan, your team is fantastic

Maybe you can ask them to ship you your headband strap. That one is easily replaceable.

 

[tcellguy]

@mrspeakers

Well, I sent mine back. Apparently there was in fact a channel imbalance. So they were going to send them back after fixing. They even kept the box and packaging that I sent it to them in, and even paid for 2-day shipping back to me. Awesome awesome stuff. Seriously good team Dan

But however;
Whelp. Turns out it was a whole new pair instead. Which, I mean, honestly is great. New pads, new headband, the wire in the headband for some reason feels different and better, new cups without the blemishes of the early run.

But I gave up my Serial #17, and the rare headband that still had "Massdrop" and "Mr.Speakers" before either changed their name.

Annnnnnd the kicker is they sound the exact same (mind you no burn in at the moment of course). But to me sounds imbalanced. Im 100% open to the fact its just my ears. Bjork, Alessia Cara many higher voices, or females sound like they are coming from the right. I mean if my original pair wasn't imbalanced, I would be open to say "Nope your crazy, here they are back" heh.

EDIT: My dad says they are perfect,, and he did notice my original pair was off. So its probably just me, Im just a bit sad I gave up my old pair lol

Thanks again Dan, your team is fantastic

Any chance it could be the amp? My Jotunheim developed a potentiometer issue leading to an imbalance that I could only hear with planar headphones. For some reason the easier to drive dynamics didn't have a noticeable imbalance. That initially led me to believe one of my Dan Clark Audio headphones had an imbalance, but it ended up being the amp.