[SeEnCreaTive]

@mrspeakers Small note, the clamps for the headbands are loosing their coating quite heavily. I use mine generally 6+hours a day but nothing crazy. I don't care personally, it's just cosmetic, just thought I'd bring it to your attention just incase it turns out to be a common thing.

 

[mrspeakers]

@mrspeakers Small note, the clamps for the headbands are loosing their coating quite heavily. I use mine generally 6+hours a day but nothing crazy. I don't care personally, it's just cosmetic, just thought I'd bring it to your attention just incase it turns out to be a common thing.

Looks like a little contamination was on the part when it was rubberized, contact info@danclarkaudio.com and we'll send a replacement part.

 

[funkle II]

I used to own the Cx and to me they were a tad warmer than original Aeon c. But just a little, I would consider still the CX leaning towards neutral with some warmness but from what I read so far aeon2 close are warmer and bass has more impact that originals. So all depends on your taste, for me I like my bass I would lean toward Aeon2 closed.

I was close to pulling the trigger on the CX when it was on sale, but leaning towards the A2C based on what I've read. Sounds better aligned in every way with my preferences than the CX. Both are great looking though - the koenigsegg (or pagani) of headphones.

 

[G8torbyte]

I really enjoy the transient speed and accurate details of planar sound and instantly liked the Sendy Aiva’s I’ve owned for a few months. However, I tend to listen to music loud due to my aging ears and my family is annoyed with open cans when I crank’em up. I was eyeing the ECX as my closed solution and I pulled the trigger when they dropped to $750 recently during the (mass)drop end-of-the year sale. Construction is nice and it is very comfortable, light and the headband works well as compared to the Aiva’s which tend to slide too easily and I’m readjusting it a lot. The balanced cables are good and if they were a bit lighter it would almost feel like there was no weight at all. Firstly, the imaging details are fantastic and I hear things in some recordings I’ve never noticed before. They do seem very spacious-sounding for closed cups but not wide as open headphones obviously. As many have stated the initial sounds are thin and lacking in bass punch due to the pleated planar needing to burn/break-in and relax as Dan Clark has advised. The sound was bright and a bit harsh for me at first but I’m using the tuning foam and pads included in the kit and it helps tame the tones. Dan mentioned they focused on vocals during the development and it shows. Older and poor recordings will show imperfections much more apparently with the ECX and that is one reason I’ll switch back to dynamic headphones for some genres of music. The sub-bass is nice and hopefully after the recommended burn-in it will open up with more presence. I’m only about 24 hours of time into these now. I’m running these with the RME ADI-2 and balanced output to THX 789. With the 789 gain set on mid-II it will open up the ECX’s around 50% volume but it is gets uncomfortably loud for me. As someone described earlier in this thread these initially perform like high-performance speakers that are narrow at low volume and significantly improve past a certain volume threshold with a good amplifier. I hope after time these will open up more at the lower volumes. So, I really like these and it’s a keeper for my closed planar solution. At this point I use for opens: Sendy Aiva’s and the Sennheiser 58X Jubilees, closed: Fostex TR-X00 and the Ether CX.

 

[Maelob]

I think you are covered -

 

[G8torbyte]

I think you are covered -

Yeah, I should be good for a while. I need to sell off some headphones and amps I'm not using anymore and post those over on the sales forum. Of all that I've owned the Sennheiser 58X are an excellent price to performance bargain in my opinion and very comfortable.

 

[Maelob]

Yeah, I should be good for a while. I need to sell off some headphones and amps I'm not using anymore and post those over on the sales forum. Of all that I've owned the Sennheiser 58X are an excellent price to performance bargain in my opinion and very comfortable.

I have a pair of 58x just because. agree with your assessment.

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

Just got a Schiit Jotenhiem with balanced DAC. This is the first truely high end amp/dac I've used. It blows my Modi 2u/Magni 2u out of the water. I'm actually surprised I can notice that big if a difference.

That being said, now I can really see what the headphones sound like. I still stand by exactly what I said, if anything it just cements.

Imaging is exceptional, sound stage is tight. Details are stellar but not offensive

I'm impressed with how well the Ether CX scale with power. I'm fairly comfortable driving them from generally anything. However the extra power is really filling out the sound.

 

[lemarsghast]

If anyone is interested, I am selling my Ether CXs in the classfields!

It’s not that I don’t like them (they are pretty much my endgames), but I could really use the money at this time.

 

[Laines]

Hello everyone ... I was hoping we could pool our knowledge with regards to pad rolling ...

I've read a few different pads mentioned on here so far ...

May I ask which pads (other then stock ) everyone is using?

Thanks

I just tried the Ether angled pads. They are stiffer and the pleather seems a bit thicker. IMHO they are less comfortable as the flat stock pads.
The angled ones reduce imaging performance by quiet a bit. The bass increases in quantity but is less detailed and becomes boomy. With the flat pads I used the 2 notch white felt, but the bass always sounded thin to me but was incredibly detailed.
With the angled pad the 2 notch felt is way to much. I went with the 1 notch white one. Now I got enough bass quantity but I really miss the bass control and detail from with the flat pads.

I guess a flat pad with the same hight as the stock on but with denser material would give the best from both worlds. Bass with great quality and quantity.

 

[mrspeakers]

I just tried the Ether angled pads. They are stiffer and the pleather seems a bit thicker. IMHO they are less comfortable as the flat stock pads.
The angled ones reduce imaging performance by quiet a bit. The bass increases in quantity but is less detailed and becomes boomy. With the flat pads I used the 2 notch white felt, but the bass always sounded thin to me but was incredibly detailed.
With the angled pad the 2 notch felt is way to much. I went with the 1 notch white one. Now I got enough bass quantity but I really miss the bass control and detail from with the flat pads.

I guess a flat pad with the same hight as the stock on but with denser material would give the best from both worlds. Bass with great quality and quantity.

The CX was tuned for those flat pads...

 

[PopZeus]

The treble response with the ECX is like an inversion of many IEMs, where the treble rolls off a bit more than Harman but there's one massive spike up around 8-12k for the treble to rally around and give recordings the requisite sparkle. It works to balance the tone out, but it makes the treble sound rather homogeneous. In the case of the ECX, the treble response follows the gradual slope of Harman fairly closely, sounding rather open and extended, but with one big notch around 10k to make things sound extra smooth without losing too much of the recording's individual treble characteristics.

Unless there's a lot of info in that 10k dip I'm missing, this might be the best treble I've ever heard, imho.

 

[mrspeakers]

The treble response with the ECX is like an inversion of many IEMs, where the treble rolls off a bit more than Harman but there's one massive spike up around 8-12k for the treble to rally around and give recordings the requisite sparkle. It works to balance the tone out, but it makes the treble sound rather homogeneous. In the case of the ECX, the treble response follows the gradual slope of Harman fairly closely, sounding rather open and extended, but with one big notch around 10k to make things sound extra smooth without losing too much of the recording's individual treble characteristics.

Unless there's a lot of info in that 10k dip I'm missing, this might be the best treble I've ever heard, imho.

Glad you enjoy it!

We put a lot of effort into improving the mids and highs vs the original ETHER C. A lot of time listening to jazz and particularly work with ride cymbals, I wanted to hear the rivets rattle.

 

[PopZeus]

Glad you enjoy it!

We put a lot of effort into improving the mids and highs vs the original ETHER C. A lot of time listening to jazz and particularly work with ride cymbals, I wanted to hear the rivets rattle.

I'm a fan of the attention to detail!

I've come to realize that measuring and correcting (with EQ) spiky treble can be very difficult without the right equipment, so I really appreciate it when the out of the box tuning is so smooth. That said, I also love being able to dial-in my preference in overall treble elevation with the tuning pads as I'm something of a basshead.

Speaking of the tuning pads, do you recommend placing them under the cushions in the cups and above the black fabric screen, or under the cushioned pads altogether, right against driver housing? Thanks!

 

[mrspeakers]

I'm a fan of the attention to detail!

I've come to realize that measuring and correcting (with EQ) spiky treble can be very difficult without the right equipment, so I really appreciate it when the out of the box tuning is so smooth. That said, I also love being able to dial-in my preference in overall treble elevation with the tuning pads as I'm something of a basshead.

Speaking of the tuning pads, do you recommend placing them under the cushions in the cups and above the black fabric screen, or under the cushioned pads altogether, right against driver housing? Thanks!

If you have a tuning you like and plan to use as the standard tuning, moving under the pad can provide slightly better seating for the pad which improves channel balance.