[Kelt0912]

I am thinking of putting up my CX headphones for sale.... After getting the AWKT they just sit here and do nothing.

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

So I did a thing

These are brainwavz pads. The ventilated took away pretty much 100% of the bass. So I took some transparent silicone and put a coating on the inside to plug all the holes. I had to do 2 coats

I had to switch to 2 notch felts, I feel the bass is a bit light still, but to be fair these pads are not supposed to work with Ether C's

Comfort is way up, and soundstage is much much bigger they aren't balanced tone wise anymore of course

 

[dotashope]

Hi all, just got a pair had noticed some weird thing with the headband. It has a strong force going towards the back of my ears. It already ruined a pair of pads by pressuring backwards. So I switched to DCA's angled pads and now I get discomfort behind my ears. Anyone else experienced this? Thanks!

 

[jsmiller58]

Hi all, just got a pair had noticed some weird thing with the headband. It has a strong force going towards the back of my ears. It already ruined a pair of pads by pressuring backwards. So I switched to DCA's angled pads and now I get discomfort behind my ears. Anyone else experienced this? Thanks!

Very strange. Not experiencing anything like that. My CX have very low clamping force.

 

[dotashope]

Very strange. Not experiencing anything like that. My CX have very low clamping force.

Ye it's weird :/ I contacted DCA and they asked me to send the headphones in for examinations. Just want to ask here if anyone has similar experiences. I suspect they have the headband assembled backwards.

 

[jsmiller58]

Ye it's weird :/ I contacted DCA and they asked me to send the headphones in for examinations. Just want to ask here if anyone has similar experiences. I suspect they have the headband assembled backwards.

Will be very interesting to see how this turns out!

 

[dotashope]

Will be very interesting to see how this turns out!

So yea just realized there's no way for them to put the whole headband backwards since it's angle. I did try to swap the 2 wires on top in different ways. I flipped them and the headphone is twisted in a weird way, swapped the front one to the back and did nothing... I might need to send them in for inspection

 

[jsmiller58]

So yea just realized there's no way for them to put the whole headband backwards since it's angle. I did try to swap the 2 wires on top in different ways. I flipped them and the headphone is twisted in a weird way, swapped the front one to the back and did nothing... I might need to send them in for inspection

Can you post a photo of your headphones?

 

[dotashope]

Yep there you go. I put the headband back into the original assembly, same as the pads. You can kind of see how the cups are pressing down in a 45° angle.

 

[jsmiller58]

Yep there you go. I put the headband back into the original assembly, same as the pads. You can kind of see how the cups are pressing down in a 45° angle.

Hmmm. Nothing looks off to me... Next chance I get I will post pics of my CX...

 

[dotashope]

Hmmm. Nothing looks off to me... Next chance I get I will post pics of my CX...

Thank you so much maybe it's just me not used to this minimal mechanism. But man they fit weird on my head

 

[dan3952]

That about does it for me: think I will avoid the Ether 1.1 and Ether C. I would not want to get something that sounds worse than the Focal Clears and HiFiMan Aryas, I have had (at a slightly higher price). Both of those, had flaws of their own, but I had found them to be highly resolving (I could hear really good texture with stringed instruments that's missing from the LCD-3s I currently have).

I may be able to find used Mr. Speakers or ZMF T50 mods, and use those for my second closed back headphones.

Thanks for the tip.

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

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

That about does it for me: think I will avoid the Ether 1.1 and Ether C. I would not want to get something that sounds worse than the Focal Clears and HiFiMan Aryas, I have had (at a slightly higher price). Both of those, had flaws of their own, but I had found them to be highly resolving (I could hear really good texture with stringed instruments that's missing from the LCD-3s I currently have).

I may be able to find used Mr. Speakers or ZMF T50 mods, and use those for my second closed back headphones.

Thanks for the tip.

After sometime, I've come to learn the subtle things the Ethers do really really well. I'm on my second pair, my serial number 17s did have a channel imbalance. I sent them away to get fixed, they just sent me back a completely different pair, losing my low serial number and the older mr.speakers headband. I was pretty upset

New pair do sound different. They are VERY sensitive to placement. When you get it right, the imaging blows me away. Soundstage is still small, bigger than a t50rp, but very small still

After using the Ethers straight since I got them, I recently swapped back to my 4xx. The 4xx sound stage is big, instrument seperation is fantastic. They are a very fun headphone, but the lows bleed into the mids, there isn't a lot of texture anywhere to be had.

My open alphas are absolute detail/texture monsters. The mids feel like you can reach out and grab them. The lows leave a lot to be desired however.

So with time I've grown to really like my Ethers. They are a headphone that just does. If that makes sense. They are good for everything, you will have a good experience doing or listening to anything, good or bad files. The majority of my time is spent gaming

Still 2 downsides,
1: soundstage, Dan knows that, so I have faith for future products. Imaging is bare none.
2: The return experience. Losing my original pair was a big one for me. How insanely long it took just for them to send a different pair, I had to pay shipping to (which I'm fine with, I get it) and then the border charged me import fees (I'm in Canada), and the worst part, there's a terrible sticky sound coming from the new pair on the right side from day 1. Like the sound of when you stick or unstick scotch tape on something. I already contacted them, they will fix it, they are always very fast and right on the ball with that, but I'm worried about shipping time with covid, or if they have supply shortages.

 

[jnak00]

I'm surprised they charged import fees. If it's a replacement or repair you should not have to pay those. I think they (DCA or Drop) marked the documentation wrong when they sent them back to you.

 

[dan3952]

I'm a Canadian who hasn't worked in Canada since 2017. Any headphones I'd had that were made in China had contained a hidden tariff that the importer had to pay. You might see if there's a duty in place between Canada and France or Canada and China. Think Focals are still made in France. The HiFiMans had obviously come straight out of China; there was Chinese on the box lid and in the instructions. There's tariffs on amplifiers, speakers, and headphones, between Canada and the US, and vice versa, I believe. Each protects their own business. Too bad NAD and PSB don't make really nice headphones.

I have Shanling ME700 IEMs coming tomorrow. It's the first set of premium IEMs I have bought and cost about half of what Meze Rai Pentas go for.

Not sure what my next headphones will be, as my speakers out resolve the cans I have now. Ether 2s are up to $2200 and after reading the reviews, it sounds like they would have flaws, for me. Not the least of which is dynamics (going from something more than double the weight).

I had tried to find an Audeze showroom in Orange Cty after my Los Angeles job in 2018 but there wasn't one.

Biggest soundstage I have ever experienced, has been with the HiFiMan Aryas. I could hear sounds above me and behind me.

Hope I could replace Ether 1.1 open earpads with something like Dekonis. It was only by dumb luck that the Arya ones had sealed well. I don't mind modding Dan Clark or Audeze products (I had replaced the earpads and headband on the latter product). Focals were so well made that I don't know if I would even attempt changing out the earpads myself. I don't think I would be ordering anything new from Audeze or Dan Clark Audio right now, they are operating at reduced capacity due to California's stricter lockdowns (people who live on the coast, are more receptive to that than in Texas).

After sometime, I've come to learn the subtle things the Ethers do really really well. I'm on my second pair, my serial number 17s did have a channel imbalance. I sent them away to get fixed, they just sent me back a completely different pair, losing my low serial number and the older mr.speakers headband. I was pretty upset

New pair do sound different. They are VERY sensitive to placement. When you get it right, the imaging blows me away. Soundstage is still small, bigger than a t50rp, but very small still

After using the Ethers straight since I got them, I recently swapped back to my 4xx. The 4xx sound stage is big, instrument seperation is fantastic. They are a very fun headphone, but the lows bleed into the mids, there isn't a lot of texture anywhere to be had.

My open alphas are absolute detail/texture monsters. The mids feel like you can reach out and grab them. The lows leave a lot to be desired however.

So with time I've grown to really like my Ethers. They are a headphone that just does. If that makes sense. They are good for everything, you will have a good experience doing or listening to anything, good or bad files. The majority of my time is spent gaming

Still 2 downsides,
1: soundstage, Dan knows that, so I have faith for future products. Imaging is bare none.
2: The return experience. Losing my original pair was a big one for me. How insanely long it took just for them to send a different pair, I had to pay shipping to (which I'm fine with, I get it) and then the border charged me import fees (I'm in Canada), and the worst part, there's a terrible sticky sound coming from the new pair on the right side from day 1. Like the sound of when you stick or unstick scotch tape on something. I already contacted them, they will fix it, they are always very fast and right on the ball with that, but I'm worried about shipping time with covid, or if they have supply shortages.