[freesole]

I don't know about the Aeon or this Ether CX, but I believe that it blows the HD650 out of the water. The HD650 is the most overrated headphone of all time. It's way too colored, the muddy bass and bass bloat is unacceptable, and it is downright awful with fast tracks. I suppose is you listen to opera or classical, it might be ok as seems ok for slow music

I was also not impressed with the 6XX. Perhaps I had too high of expectations here though. It was only a $200 headphone new from Massdrop after all.

 

[mrspeakers]

@mrspeakers Are these the flattest closed back you make? Curious which of your closed backs you'd consider best for mixing. Thanks.

I used to think I knew what "flat" meant, but headphones have disabused me of this notion. There are far too many variables, which include what SPL you reference for peaks, how compressed the music is, how the headphone couples with your individual ear (which affects highs), what associated gear you have, etc.

We strive for our voicing to sound "natural," but this too is subjective and perceptions will vary. ETHER CX sounds quite natural to me and I actually am reaching for this most often in my closed cans at the moment, but when I put on ETHER 2 the step up in resolution, soundstage, and timbre is obvious.

The folk in MrSpeakers who produce music all really like ETHER 2, AEON Closed or ETHER C Flow and CX is now in that list as well. If you need closed that rules out E2, leaving C Flow, AEON Closed and CX. CX is probably a bit closer to neutral and has fantastic detail retrieval and dynamics, Aeon closed has a bit more soundstage and at lower SPL a bit more bass, C Flow has the biggest soundstage, best dynamics, but for what you want the elevated bass is not going to sound neutral except at lower SPL.

So I know that's not a direct answer, but it's probably more helpful to present the relative differences than it is to guess what "neutral" would be for you... Feel free to email us if you need any more guidance.

Bought an AFC a week ago and saw the Ether CX on Massdrop, though I like my AFCs a lot my ear tends to touch something inside the cup and makes me feel uncomfortable sometimes (sometimes I forget about it though).
My Question now is if the Ether CX are significantly larger than the AFCs and if the Pads are more easily replaceable?

Thanks in advance.

CX is a little shallower than AEON pads, but CX pads are interchangeable with our ETHER Flow pads, and you can use the Angled ETHER Pads to get more depth.

 

[KaizerBeelzebub]

CX is a little shallower than AEON pads, but CX pads are interchangeable with our ETHER Flow pads, and you can use the Angled ETHER Pads to get more depth.

thanks for the reply. how is the width on the cx in comparison? If I read it correctly the cx has a fuller bass region & more oomph, am I correct?

 

[mrspeakers]

thanks for the reply. how is the width on the cx in comparison? If I read it correctly the cx has a fuller bass region & more oomph, am I correct?

CX's bass is bigger above 75dB... AEON Closed has more width to soundstage, but CX has fantastic imaging.

 

[Maelob]

Dan, I admit I was not a believer in the whole bun in thing, i was a proud owner of Mad Dog, Alpha Dog and Prime. But to be honest was not a fan on the Ether, and tried the Aeon-C but found them bass light for my taste after trying them twice, but to be fair I never really followed your instructions on burn in. This time when I received the CX, I also found them a little lacking on the bass department, but this time, I really followed your recommendation and let them play continuously for a week 24 hours, and really started to notice how they bass started to fill in, mid week put the one notch white felt and they felt even better, and just today decided to put the 2 notch white felt, and wow, now I am really happy with the sound, bass and the tonality is just to my liking. driver or brain burn it, don't care, but lesson learned like its been mentioned a million times here, please give them time before making a decision to part ways. I think by now i have probably about 100 hours.

 

[jsmiller58]

Dan, I admit I was not a believer in the whole bun in thing, i was a proud owner of Mad Dog, Alpha Dog and Prime. But to be honest was not a fan on the Ether, and tried the Aeon-C but found them bass light for my taste after trying them twice, but to be fair I never really followed your instructions on burn in. This time when I received the CX, I also found them a little lacking on the bass department, but this time, I really followed your recommendation and let them play continuously for a week 24 hours, and really started to notice how they bass started to fill in, mid week put the one notch white felt and they felt even better, and just today decided to put the 2 notch white felt, and wow, now I am really happy with the sound, bass and the tonality is just to my liking. driver or brain burn it, don't care, but lesson learned like its been mentioned a million times here, please give them time before making a decision to part ways. I think by now i have probably about 100 hours.

I have to admit I don’t believe in the concept of burn in. If it were real there would be overwhelming measured evidence (something that can be measured would surely have changed, even if not everything can be measured). I am not a mechanical engineer, but as an electrical engineer if we see something change meaningfully during burnin, seriously, we call it a failure...

Having said that... (a) I always burn in all of my gear. Why? Well, like carrying a lucky charm, what can it hurt?? (b) I never have noticed much difference pre and post burnin before. (c) The CX really has stumped me - the amount of change... basically as though elves replaced the headphones sometime during the burnin.

I don’t pretend to remember what detailed changes have happened, rather that the CX went from thin and lifeless to full. I don’t remember my AFC (or other cans, IEMs, DACs, and amps) going through this much change, but then auditory memory being what it is...

Since one data point does not make a trend, I will continue to be a dyed in the wool burn in skeptic due to my engineering training. But for the CX, burnin does seem to be a thing, and a thing that I simply cannot explain...

 

[mrspeakers]

Burn in is no mystery at all. We pleat the driver, knurling, which creases both the PET substrate and the AL traces. The PET stabilizes pretty fast but it takes a little while for the AL traces to stabilize, the peaks of the crease flatten a bit relaxing the tension on the substrate.

 

[jsmiller58]

Dan, I admit I was not a believer in the whole bun in thing, i was a proud owner of Mad Dog, Alpha Dog and Prime. But to be honest was not a fan on the Ether, and tried the Aeon-C but found them bass light for my taste after trying them twice, but to be fair I never really followed your instructions on burn in. This time when I received the CX, I also found them a little lacking on the bass department, but this time, I really followed your recommendation and let them play continuously for a week 24 hours, and really started to notice how they bass started to fill in, mid week put the one notch white felt and they felt even better, and just today decided to put the 2 notch white felt, and wow, now I am really happy with the sound, bass and the tonality is just to my liking. driver or brain burn it, don't care, but lesson learned like its been mentioned a million times here, please give them time before making a decision to part ways. I think by now i have probably about 100 hours.

I have to admit I don’t believe in the concept of burn in. If it were real there would be overwhelming measured evidence (something that can be measured would surely have changed, even if not everything can be measured). I am not a mechanical engineer, but as an electrical engineer if we see something change meaningfully during burnin we call it a failure...

Having said that... (a) I always burn in all of my gear. Why? Well, what can it hurt?? (b) I never have noticed much difference. Maybe that’s because of my own bias. (c) The CX really has stumped me - the change... basically as though elves replaced the headphones sometime during the burnin.

Burn in is no mystery at all. We pleat the driver, knurling, which creases both the PET substrate and the AL traces. The PET stabilizes pretty fast but it takes a little while for the AL traces to stabilize, the peaks of the crease flatten a bit relaxing the tension on the substrate.

Understood, and that is quite a trick! Usually I think it is easier to design something that will not change than it is to design something that changes, but just the right amount and with the result of the changes being universally good - like I said, quite a trick!

 

[shishk]

I have never broken in headphones before and was going to sell my cx due to lack of bass and soundstage, but reading this thread, I am going to give burnin a try.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[Hay2104]

I am interested in buying a pair when these drop again.

Any ether cx owners also own a pair of hd 600 or a focal Elex? For comparison.

I am looking for a definitive closed back solution with great sound.

 

[rockytopwiz]

Got in for one of the last pairs in stock, 'Merica!

Are there any amps you would recommend as a good pairing @mrspeakers ?

 

[mrspeakers]

Got in for one of the last pairs in stock, 'Merica!

Are there any amps you would recommend as a good pairing @mrspeakers ?

The Massdrop Cavalli amps are a good start, or the Schiit Lyre 3. Two other great choices are the Gilmore Lite Mk2, perfect for those wanting to maximize bass, and the new little Lake People amp.

 

[jerick70]

Got in for one of the last pairs in stock, 'Merica!

Are there any amps you would recommend as a good pairing @mrspeakers ?

What's your budget for the amp?

On that note. I built an Elekit TU-8200DX recently and it is outstanding. I love it with my iBasso SR-1s. The SR-1s are similar in impedance but more sensitive.

 

[tcellguy]

The Massdrop Cavalli amps are a good start, or the Schiit Lyre 3. Two other great choices are the Gilmore Lite Mk2, perfect for those wanting to maximize bass, and the new little Lake People amp.

Any tube you like most with the Lyr 3? My Lyr 3 is coming tomorrow

 

[rockytopwiz]

What's your budget for the amp?

On that note. I built an Elekit TU-8200DX recently and it is outstanding. I love it with my iBasso SR-1s. The SR-1s are similar in impedance but more sensitive.

Budget? That exists in this hobby? I've never built an amp before, I have no experience. Thanks for the reply Dan! This will be my first headphone from you and I am really looking forward to hearing it!!