[Sonic Defender]

   
That's not a logical conclusion at all. Midrange and treble are a lot more important to SQ than bass, which is why so many audio systems can skimp on bass and still be highly regarded.
 
Having good bass alone is not enough to make any headphone listenable and certainly not enough to put a headphone on a par with other headphones with superior everything else. The fact that you only identified one user who thought the 560's bass was superior should also be food for thought. From everything I'm reading here the 560 is beaten and by a significant margin.

That's not what I meant at all; I guess I didn't make my point well. I was discussing the notion of a significantly better sounding headphone. If we were to for arguments sake divide the quality of sound reproduction into equal thirds, bass, midrange, treble, if we were to say that the 560 has slightly better bass, while the Ether was slightly better in the other two thirds, then you don't end up with a significantly better sounding headphone, just a modestly better sounding headphone.
 
Anyway I know that is a clumsy way of expressing my thoughts, but it is at least an effort. There is no way to apportion what aspect of sound reproduction accounts for what proportion of perceived sound quality as there is a great deal of subjectivity. Okay, so for the record I wasn't making such a grossly simplistic argument as that better bass equates to better sound.

 

[Max Minimum]

At CanJam we had several units that had to be rebuilt right before the show due to a tolerance problem, says the horse. More important is that at CanJam some of the phones weren't broken in, as they were by Nashville.

Thanks for confirming that.  I've read a number of your posts here and I really like how frank and direct you are with us.  It's great to get useful and pleasant feedback from manufacturers.

 

[DreamKing]

  I don't think Mr. Speaker does B-stock sales (though I can be wrong, I hardly ever see his stuff discounted).

 
Now that you mention that, I did find it strange I don't see his headphones selling in new condition anywhere I buy at besides his site and even asked Brian at razerdogaudio why he doesn't have Mr. Speaker headphones, as popular as they are. You're probably right.

 

[buson160man]

+1 you make a very good point. At the price of some of the headphones, one should not have to mod a stock set of a 1 k to 1.5 k $ headphones. They should sound nice out of the box, and if one wants to mod their cans, to stress, a particular sound signature cool. But the idea one must mod to make a stock set of cans sound good is almost absurd.

 Ditto for me. I have experienced this first hand. I had bought a pair of lcd2 v2s(pre fazor) and was largely disappointed in their sound feeling that while they sounded ok but  I expected more. Well I was largely using my preferred akg 701s for most of my headphone listening. I thought I would try to get more out of my lcd2 so I purchased a upgrade cable at the not considerable price of around 630 usd(two thirds the price of my lcd2) well while I was very pleased with the result I wasn't with the price. Come on 2/3 the price of the headphone for a cable? I agree absurd is the correct description.
But it is what it is at least now I am getting the performance out of my lcd2 v2 that I had hoped for when I bought it. Really the cable that audeze provides with their headphone is really a joke. They should give you at least a decent cable for what they charge.
 But I liked the ether so much that I bought them so I put my money where my mouth is.

 

[Pwn3r4Life]

IMO, HE-560 is a great buy. Fantastic price to performance. The ether is better, all around. The bass isn't as fast (unfortuneatley I didn't throw all of my bass test tracks at it) but it does sound more life-like and natural. I think they are tonally similar, not the same, but similar (albeit I'm drawing on an impression of the 560 that I also heard at a show in the summer of last year), but the Ether is much better, technically speaking. The Ether wins hands down on detail, clarity, and life-like nature of the sound.

Not knocking the HE-560. Like it has been stated, it is a great headphone. I'd be happy with that as my end game. But the Ether is a couple hundred dollars more and rightfully so. IMO.

Also, the build quality of the Ether is much better than the He-560. IMO. 560's build quality is what I'd expect in a $300-$500 headphone. Too much plastic that doesn't feel nice.

 

[Currawong]

  I have not heard the Ether yet.  I am mildly compelled to come to the defense of the PM-1, sort of.  Why, you may ask?  I split my fanboy duties between Mr. Speakers and Oppo, that's why.
 
I really like the PM-1 signature, especially for long listening sessions.  It is smooth, intimate, buttery and non-fatiguing.  (just what the hell does buttery mean in this context?  Uhhhh, ...).  Ok, ok, so the converse is that it is overly laid back, has a smallish sound stage, is boring, and has the last treble octave rolled off.  That about covers it.  If you like a smooth, laid back, non fatiguing headphone that still presents details, has a lovely midrange, a great way with vocals and acoustic instruments, you will probably like the PM-1.  If, on the other hand, you want detail, detail, detail or tonal neutrality or bass slam as opposed to bass extension  or the last word in treble air, then probably not so much.
 
Anyway, I suspect (remember - haven't heard the Ether yet, but have owned every other Mr. Speakers headphone, and have a decent idea of Mr. Speaker's voicing) that PM-1 and Ether will have little in common, other than some shared, non-controversial different but "good" traits like killer good mids and vocal presentation.
 
So....  Like or dislike the PM-1, it shouldn't affect your like or dislike of the Ether, or give you any real insight into the Ether.
 
All that said, the PM-1's don't get a lot of head time from me, as closed is usually better for me.  I may even trade (sell) the PM-1's for the Ether, if I like the Ether enough after hearing it.  If necessary, I might trade the Alpha Prime as well, though not sure (boils down to cash flow for me, plain and simple).  I also have a pair of the Oppo PM-3's.  If the Ethers are able to fill the spot I'm looking to fill - an indisputable TOTL headphone with voicing I like, I may switch my stable to Ether and PM-3's.  The PM-3's aren't as good as the Primes, but the PM-3's are awfully good, fill the portable need well, and the closed need well enough.
 
tl;dr:
I'm a Mr. Speakers and Oppo fanboy.  The PM-1's don't necessarily suck.  The PM-1's almost surely don't sound like the Ether (can't be sure, haven't heard the Ether).  I want to hear the Ether.  The Ether may cause me to shake up my stable a bit, which I haven't done in a while.  I ramble a lot, and what I say may or may not be helpful.

 
When I had the PM-1s here, I felt that they sounded like the LCD-X but with a smaller sound-stage, due to the smaller driver. Quite similar though. The overall tone of the Ethers is higher -- the bass is higher, the mids are higher and the treble is higher, except that the LCD-X I have here have a strong peak somewhere near 9 or 10 kHz (I forget exactly). That makes the PM-1 and LCD-X more like aamefford describes to me. Once I got used to the LCD-X, I liked them a lot, even to the point I liked them with slightly more dark and mellow amps. The Ethers too, maybe more so. With the Schiit RYgg, it was a bit too much of a good thing, but I was enjoying the insane level of reproduction of the Yggy to care at the time. 
 

 

  I liked the HE-560s, just not in their stock form. I haven't had a good experience yet hearing a stock HE-560, it makes me wonder why I would buy something of that price only to mod it afterwards to attain a more balanced sound. Ahem HD800 I'm looking at you too**

Ya, why do we need to buy aftermarket cables to improve the sound to suit our ears, expensive cans always have subpar material in their cables, because a lot of end users will want their own?

 
Let's forget about all the arguments for the moment and just look at it from a practical point of view. Headphone manufacturers spend the vast majority of the time working out the technicalities and "sound" of their headphones. Cable companies, single-person up to large spend most of their time working out the technicalities and "sound" of their cables. If the stock cables on headphones aren't that fantastic, it is more because it isn't their focus. Durability is often more important.  Dan, unusually, took the time to get a good cable made and it is enough I haven't thought that it needs improvement (though I do have a demo cable which has a very stiff and annoying jacket that wont be on the production version).
 

  This is getting to be like the EL8 threads.  Wildly different characterizations of the sound signature.  Some saying the Ether has great slammin' bass, others saying it's bright and anemic in the bass region.  Anybody read about these more widely than me, maybe at other sites, too?  Is there anything close to a consensus view on the sound signature of these 'phones?

 
It's very chameleon with gear, but the main thing was what Dan said, and I'm to blame for some of the confusion as my demo pair weren't burned in when I first wrote about the bass.

 

[potkettleblack]

   
When I had the PM-1s here, I felt that they sounded like the LCD-X but with a smaller sound-stage, due to the smaller driver. Quite similar though. The overall tone of the Ethers is higher -- the bass is higher, the mids are higher and the treble is higher, except that the LCD-X I have here have a strong peak somewhere near 9 or 10 kHz (I forget exactly). That makes the PM-1 and LCD-X more like aamefford describes to me. Once I got used to the LCD-X, I liked them a lot, even to the point I liked them with slightly more dark and mellow amps. The Ethers too, maybe more so. With the Schiit RYgg, it was a bit too much of a good thing, but I was enjoying the insane level of reproduction of the Yggy to care at the time. 
 
 
 

 
I thought the pm-1's were very close to the x's signature but overall of a lesser quality. Especially with the bass and speed.

 

[maverickronin]

I heard the Ether at AXPONA over the weekend and was particularly impressed.
 
First off, it's much lighter than any other new planar magnetics I've tried so people who have trouble with the comfort of the Audeze or HE series will have a much better chance finding this comfortable.
 
The sound is also much lighter and airier that than any other planar magnetics I've heard besides the HE1000.  (That list includes all of Audeze's current line up, the HE5, HE5LE, HE400i, HE560, HE6, PM-1, and the Abyss.  The Ether's tonality is roughly similar to 400i's and 560's but cleaner, clearer, and without any sharpness in the treble like all the HEs I've heard except for the 1000.  The bass doesn't have quite the same visceral slam as the LCD lineup and was maybe a tad less than the 400i and 560 but it still goes low and rumbles if called for by the track.
 
The soundstage is a bit bigger than all the other planar magnetics I've heard except for the HE1000.  The Ether has good balance between depth and width but it's not as large or as effortlessly open as the HE1000 or the HD800 (to mention a dynamic finally).
 
It has a bit of lushness in the mids, which to my ears is usually indicative of a bit of second harmonic distortion, but I found the sound cleaner than the 400i and 560, though not quite as clean as the LCD series.
 
Overall, I think a good summary of the Ether would be to say that it's sound is halfway between the LCD-3 and the HD800.  A less relatable comparison would be to call the Ether an HE1000 Lite.

 

[richbass]

looking at the price tag, a fair comparison would be with the he-6 having about the same sound sig..

 

[maverickronin]

HiFiMan didn't have a HE-6 at the show so I didn't want to make too many comparisons from an old memory.
 
You won't need HE-6 comparisons for much longer anyway.  I asked the people at the HiFiMan table why they didn't have an HE-6 and they said it was being discontinued and that there would be a new model between the 560 and 1000.

 

[YtseJamer]

  You won't need HE-6 comparisons for much longer anyway.  I asked the people at the HiFiMan table why they didn't have an HE-6 and they said was being discontinued and that there would be a new model between the 560 and 1000.

 
Interesting 

 

[YtseJamer]

  Overall, I think a good summary of the Ether would be to say that it's sound is halfway between the LCD-3 and the HD800. 

 
Sounds like the perfect headphones to me 

 

[Sonic Defender]

  HiFiMan didn't have a HE-6 at the show so I didn't want to make too many comparisons from an old memory.
 
You won't need HE-6 comparisons for much longer anyway.  I asked the people at the HiFiMan table why they didn't have an HE-6 and they said it was being discontinued and that there would be a new model between the 560 and 1000.

Not a surprise, that is as I expected and good to hear. If it is in the same price point as the Ether it will be good to have choices. Competition favours the consumer, generally speaking.

 

[YtseJamer]

  If it is in the same price point as the Ether it will be good to have choices. Competition favours the consumer, generally speaking.

 
X2

 

[potkettleblack]

  I heard the Ether at AXPONA over the weekend and was particularly impressed.
 
First off, it's much lighter than any other new planar magnetics I've tried so people who have trouble with the comfort of the Audeze or HE series will have a much better chance finding this comfortable.
 
The sound is also much lighter and airier that than any other planar magnetics I've heard besides the HE1000.  (That list includes all of Audeze's current line up, the HE5, HE5LE, HE400i, HE560, HE6, PM-1, and the Abyss.  The Ether's tonality is roughly similar to 400i's and 560's but cleaner, clearer, and without any sharpness in the treble like all the HEs I've heard except for the 1000.  The bass doesn't have quite the same visceral slam as the LCD lineup and was maybe a tad less than the 400i and 560 but it still goes low and rumbles if called for by the track.
 
The soundstage is a bit bigger than all the other planar magnetics I've heard except for the HE1000.  The Ether has good balance between depth and width but it's not as large or as effortlessly open as the HE1000 or the HD800 (to mention a dynamic finally).
 
It has a bit of lushness in the mids, which to my ears is usually indicative of a bit of second harmonic distortion, but I found the sound cleaner than the 400i and 560, though not quite as clean as the LCD series.
 
Overall, I think a good summary of the Ether would be to say that it's sound is halfway between the LCD-3 and the HD800.  A less relatable comparison would be to call the Ether an HE1000 Lite.

 
Thank you! And for all the wrong reasons!
 
I just woke my x's up to tell them the good news; that they are staying.
 
I also informed them they might have a brother on the way in the shape of a he-1000 or lcd 3f.