Aeon 2 closed vs open
(both of these headphone weight 325 grams for the record)
The boys at DCA have figured out some kind of secret sauce with regard to sound stage. The a2c really impressed me with it's ability to sound very much like an open headphone. When I close my eyes and listen to a2c I get a very believable and open sound stage. This makes the a2c just what I'd been looking for, being a closed planar that works well as a portable/transportable. With good passive isolation and a little extra thump on the bottom end, the a2c rounds out my collection and fills a void nearly perfectly for what I was looking for in a closed headphone. It's true that both of these headphones scale up with better power and will need a strong DAP or portable amp to sound their best. The ifi idsd bl connected to my Galaxy phone works exceptionally well and makes for an impressive portable setup in my case.
The Aeon 2 open while still maintaining a kinship with the a2c sonically, is a different beast altogether. Sound stage is even more impressive and is now clearly off the shoulder for width and the stage backs up a row or two giving a greater sense of the stage itself. When you really start to dig your teeth into the a2o, you'll notice a few things. This headphones tonal balance and fine detail retrieval is better than the closed version. Bass is tighter and doesn't have quite that "visceral" punch found on the closed version. But the extension is good and the texture of the bass notes are very well done. The transparency on the open can be jaw dropping particularly with high res recordings. Listening to Folk Singer: Muddy Waters (mfsl) was just stunningly good. I've heard this recording at least a couple hundred times, but a2o drew me in with it's ability to dig deep into the music and make it more believable.
Vocals are slightly more fleshed out on the open vs closed version of Aeon 2. With the open I could hear more natural guttural sounds listening to kd Lang Hymn of the 48th Parallel. Vocal resonance seems a little more natural, and had better timbre and more detail. Transitions particularly from bass to mids is just so effortless and seamless on the Open version. Late last night, after having put a good 60 hours on the Open, I heard something that I've only heard a few times with headphones. While listening to some of my very best recordings, I began to hear the music in more of a holographic/3D format (no, I was not smoking anything). Spatially, the music presented itself in more of a 3D sense than a 2D "wall of sound." I've only ever heard this with a few other headphones, but more often with good speakers. This happened with the he90 (thanks
@purk ) and with the ETHER 2. A2o is impressive but serves a somewhat difference audience than the closed version. There is something about the comfort of the teardrop shaped cups that just makes me say, "ahh" every time that I put them on. They are simply a pleasure to wear. And even as a self professed "lighter is better" headphone junkie, the new Aeon's at 325 grams are something that I can wear for hours with no fatigue.
At the end of the day, there are few things about both of these headphones that stand for me. I think that the crew at DCA could have done less with both of these releases and still they would have been successful. Let me elaborate. The a2c is one of the very best closed headphones I've heard. I feel that the performance of the a2c, in some ways is more impressive than EFC which robs some sales from a more expensive product. I feel like NOTHING was held back with these two products, even at the risk of cannibalizing a more expensive product from their own company. I don't see that this is a small incremental update to the original at all. In fact, when I look at the big picture, I think that the bar for sub $1k headphones is raised with these two releases.