[50sQuiff]

What do you mean?

It was a joke. Apparently not an obvious one.

Tyll's a legend but I don't understand where he's coming from with a claim that the AFO is a better headphone. Better value, perhaps. But's it's inferior to the EFO in every respect, to varying degrees.

 

[lentoviolento]

It was a joke. Apparently not an obvious one.

Tyll's a legend but I don't understand where he's coming from with a claim that the AFO is a better headphone. Better value, perhaps. But's it's inferior to the EFO in every respect, to varying degrees.

ah ok, i didn't understand, english is not my first language.
why you say that?? i only listened to EFO once for a short period, but i don't remember EFO having the slam and bass AFO has. maybe i should a/b them. i read that EFO is more fatiguing also

 

[lentoviolento]

Now i understood the joke i'd pay to make a comparison

 

[BillOhio]

I'm an Ether Flow owner who hasn't heard the AEONs but Tyll isn't the only one who prefers the AEONs. I can listen to my EFlows all day though and not be fatigued by them. YMMV.

 

[Alcophone]

ah ok, i didn't understand, english is not my first language.

There's this idea of people sniffing glue to get high, he was alluding to that in a wonderfully abstract way

why you say that?? i only listened to EFO once for a short period, but i don't remember EFO having the slam and bass AFO has. maybe i should a/b them.

You should. When I did, it was very obvious (with the right songs) that the EFO has both more bass and better bass extension. It's possible that some of the included pads change that to some degree, but at least the one-notch one sounded muffled to me, so it wasn't an option for me.

Tyll's a legend but I don't understand where he's coming from with a claim that the AFO is a better headphone. Better value, perhaps. But's it's inferior to the EFO in every respect, to varying degrees.

I think the AFO looks better and more refined. It is also lighter and has included tuning options. The case is less ugly too.
Other than that, I agree.

 

[lentoviolento]

some find treble to be fatiguing on EFO.. that is too bright.. AFO is warmer i think

 

[gto88]

Had experienced bright speakers, and finally understand how fatigue it can be.
I will from now on look for warmer HP.

 

[Yourmomm]

Had experienced bright speakers, and finally understand how fatigue it can be.
I will from now on look for warmer HP.

Yep. Except others, like me, (and I'm sensitive to treble) don't find the EFO's fatiguing in the slightest... Now the hd800s, that's a different story...

 

[fiascogarcia]

Had experienced bright speakers, and finally understand how fatigue it can be.
I will from now on look for warmer HP.

I use the Open Flows with the slightly warmish Liquid Carbon. No fatigue with the standard ear pads, but the electrostatic ear pads were a little too bright for me.

 

[Rowethren]

I use the Open Flows with the slightly warmish Liquid Carbon. No fatigue with the standard ear pads, but the electrostatic ear pads were a little too bright for me.

I tried loads of pads and ended up with the Audeze Vegan pads and they are really great. I would definitely recommend them if you want a smoother sound. Very hard to get hold of these days though unfortunately...

 

[fiascogarcia]

I tried loads of pads and ended up with the Audeze Vegan pads and they are really great. I would definitely recommend them if you want a smoother sound. Very hard to get hold of these days though unfortunately...

How do they fit? What kind of modification required? Thanks!

 

[ostewart]

And here's my take on the Ether Flow

http://www.soundperfectionreviews.com/2017/12/review-mrspeakers-ether-flow.html

 

[Rowethren]

How do they fit? What kind of modification required? Thanks!

They are a bit loose but other than that they fit fine by default. The have a hard plastic ring inside them that seals the pads against the headphones so they are still okay despite being a bit big.

 

[franz12]

There's this idea of people sniffing glue to get high, he was alluding to that in a wonderfully abstract way


You should. When I did, it was very obvious (with the right songs) that the EFO has both more bass and better bass extension. It's possible that some of the included pads change that to some degree, but at least the one-notch one sounded muffled to me, so it wasn't an option for me.


I think the AFO looks better and more refined. It is also lighter and has included tuning options. The case is less ugly too.
Other than that, I agree.

If I remember correctly, Tyll said he likes slight bloom in upper lower and lower mid range with slightly warm sound signature, but without veiled treble. Assuming Ether Flow is more neutral, I guess that might be one reason why he likes AFO more.
Well, one qualification to be a good reviewer is that one should have ears which are representative of general public. IMO, general public likes slight bloom in that range (think about hd650). Though audiophile would prefer EFO.

 

[RollsDownWindowsManually]

I'm really enjoying my EFO after a few weeks with it. When I come back to it after trying any other headphones in my collection I'm immediately reminded why I bought it, the clarity and balance is astounding.

Going from HD800 to Ether Flow Open I'm immediately satiated with the now-present low end and bass impact. There is weight to the midbass and midrange that isn't there with the HD800. Electric guitars sound distant on the HD800, but that's part of their soundstage effect. On the EFO the crunch of heavy metal guitars is up-front and more satisfying to me. Upper treble on these two sounds similar, main differences are in midbass and midrange. For some classical recordings the EFO's advantages aren't utilized very well and the HD800's soundstage can shine through. For my tastes it's the EFO all day though, even for classical.

Going from Aeon Closed to EFO the midrange is so much more natural and the bass is incredibly punchier, thicker, and more satisfying even if the AFC does have flatter extension into the bottom octave. While they're both on the bright side of the tonal balance spectrum, I perfer the thick/bright combo of the EFO quite a bit to the thin/bright of the AFC. Again the midrange on the EFO really comes through in a pleasingly aggressive way compared to the somewhat veiled upper mids on the Aeon. If I don't want to be overly engaged in the music and just want some background noise the Aeon is good though - the EFO demands your attention especially with the sometimes zingy treble (recording dependent) whereas the Aeon, especially with filters in place just kind of lets you relax while you focus on some other task.

Going from Alessandro MS2 to EFO I feel like clarity is several magnitudes better, although these actually sound similar in tonal balance. There is a good bit less bass impact and more of a nasal tonality to the MS2 though. The MS2 has a thinner/brighter sound overall and soundstage is less expansive.

In summary I'm pretty pleased with the EFO still and while I found my pair a bit too treble hot and borderline sibilant when I first got mine (something I didn't notice when I heard a demo pair in the store), now that I've listened to it for a few hundred hours and A/B'ed it with my other phones extensively, I find it to be about right for me. Whether the change be from psychacoustic compensation, pad settling, or mechanical burn-in, I'm not sure. Just some honest impressions, I get no benefit from hyping these and actually have gotten a bit of ridicule for preferring them to the utopia, haha.