[ColdsnapBry]

Yes, experienced this on my sapele review unit. This is the only peak across essentially the entire FR, but it is minor at around 3 dB or less to my ears.

For the warmest-tilted possible setup I believe the original Aeolus perf leather pads will do the trick. As I understand it, the universe perf leather are stock now and have less of the midbass hump than the Aeolus pads, but I haven't heard these specifically.

Any way to tell which pads I have? My Aeolus was made September 2020.

 

[PopZeus]

Yeah, I do believe that the suede universe pads have a bit more treble bite than I care for, so I use the stock pads and will buy the leather universe pads when I need to replace them.

 

[Bimbleton]

Yes, experienced this on my sapele review unit. This is the only peak across essentially the entire FR, but it is minor at around 3 dB or less to my ears.

For the warmest-tilted possible setup I believe the original Aeolus perf leather pads will do the trick. As I understand it, the universe perf leather are stock now and have less of the midbass hump than the Aeolus pads, but I haven't heard these specifically.

Thank you for the detail. I particularly enjoyed your review on this set, thanks for taking the time to make that video!

 

[oldsweatyman]

Recently got my pair and am pretty satisfied, but, in all honesty, I miss the LCD-2C's bass and my perception of detail retrieval was kinda ruined when I tried the HD800S. With that said, I can't afford Verite's right now, so, I'm considering selling my Aeolus for an LCD-X or LCD-2 and just EQ to my taste. I really like that I don't need to EQ the Aeolus at all but at the end of the day if EQ is what it takes for me to max out my enjoyment I'll do it.

What's preventing me from selling my Aeolus is that I really want to try the Aeolus with tubes. I haven't heard tubes yet. Currently running the Aeolus with a Magnius/Modius stack. How much of a difference will, say, a Bottlehead Crack with Speedball make with the Aeolus? Enough to make me not want the LCD-X or LCD-2?

First post here. Much appreciated for all the info.

 

[arar]

I've been sticking with the suede pads for the last, er... month? Two? I'm bad at time. Anyway, as a treble-sensitive person with some tinnitus, I genuinely feel like the suede pads are a bit smoother in the higher frequencies. There was some very minor harshness to violins, for example, on the stock pads that I don't think is there with the suede pads. Wonder if that was the 6-7k peak?

The suede pads with a solid EQ bump in the low end to make them much warmer is the most pleasurable, effortlessly enjoyable sound I've probably ever heard with headphones and it's easy to just listen to music for hours on end, even at (way too) loud volumes. Not getting any sort of fatigue with these.

Can't help but still be curious what the Bifrost 2 + Jot 2 would sound with these, though. Warm/punchy enough that I wouldn't need EQ? That'd be awesome, though I would def miss some of the extra functions the Black Label has.

 

[ColdsnapBry]

Recently got my pair and am pretty satisfied, but, in all honesty, I miss the LCD-2C's bass and my perception of detail retrieval was kinda ruined when I tried the HD800S. With that said, I can't afford Verite's right now, so, I'm considering selling my Aeolus for an LCD-X or LCD-2 and just EQ to my taste. I really like that I don't need to EQ the Aeolus at all but at the end of the day if EQ is what it takes for me to max out my enjoyment I'll do it.

What's preventing me from selling my Aeolus is that I really want to try the Aeolus with tubes. I haven't heard tubes yet. Currently running the Aeolus with a Magnius/Modius stack. How much of a difference will, say, a Bottlehead Crack with Speedball make with the Aeolus? Enough to make me not want the LCD-X or LCD-2?

First post here. Much appreciated for all the info.

I don't think a tube amplifier will give the Aeolus planar quality bass or detail retreival of a LCD-X unfortunately.

 

[oldsweatyman]

I don't think a tube amplifier will give the Aeolus planar quality bass or detail retreival of a LCD-X unfortunately.

Well, yeah, I figured that much. I'm just living in a world where I feel like, based on other's reviews, there's some secret magic I've been missing out on from the Aeolus with tubes.

 

[Wes S]

Well, yeah, I figured that much. I'm just living in a world where I feel like, based on other's reviews, there's some secret magic I've been missing out on from the Aeolus with tubes.

It really depends on which tubes and which tube amp, but there is definitely some secret magic with the good ones, and ZMF dynamics.

 

[oldsweatyman]

It really depends on which tubes and which tube amp, but there is definitely some secret magic with the good ones, and ZMF dynamics.

Say, for instance, the bottlehead crack with speedball?

I managed to snag a pair of LCD-MX4's for $1600 on eBay. I will hopefully be building a crack and A/B'ing the MX4 with magnius modius and the aeolus + tubes to see what I like best.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Say, for instance, the bottlehead crack with speedball?

I managed to snag a pair of LCD-MX4's for $1600 on eBay. I will hopefully be building a crack and A/B'ing the MX4 with magnius modius and the aeolus + tubes to see what I like best.

The MX4s are superb and the only Audeze that can be used without EQ IMHO. Great complement to the Aeolus.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

Recently got my pair and am pretty satisfied, but, in all honesty, I miss the LCD-2C's bass and my perception of detail retrieval was kinda ruined when I tried the HD800S. With that said, I can't afford Verite's right now, so, I'm considering selling my Aeolus for an LCD-X or LCD-2 and just EQ to my taste. I really like that I don't need to EQ the Aeolus at all but at the end of the day if EQ is what it takes for me to max out my enjoyment I'll do it.

What's preventing me from selling my Aeolus is that I really want to try the Aeolus with tubes. I haven't heard tubes yet. Currently running the Aeolus with a Magnius/Modius stack. How much of a difference will, say, a Bottlehead Crack with Speedball make with the Aeolus? Enough to make me not want the LCD-X or LCD-2?

First post here. Much appreciated for all the info.

After a year old chopping and changing headphones like they were going out off fashion, I decided to stay trying new dac and amp equipment. I was using a Jotunheim with onboard multibit dac. I tried some other dacs and still wasn't completely impressed.

Someone I know, that has far more experience with audio equipment, suggested I step away from Schiit due to what he described as traditionally bloated low end and peaky highs on anything but their higher end gear. I initially thought he was a bit of an equipment snob and didn't believe him (even though I hated the modi and magni 2 years ago for their peaky highs). I picked up the Gustard H16 amp and ran it with both the Gustard X16 dac and Topping E30 dac (both of which sounded extremely similar)... Wow, what a difference. Suddenly my Aeolus had imaging and soundstage more akin to the Beyerdynamic T1 gen 2 which I've been using alongside it. The difference was really impressive.

I'm not trying to belittle Schiit at all, I really liked my Jotunheim. But next to the Gustard it felt bass heavy, congested, and lacking in detail in the highs.

Essentially, a good headphone becomes even better with the right equipment pairing. The right tube amp and tubes will most likely bring out something great. But you might also be able to get that from a different solid state pairing, of similar value to what you have now.

I paid £100 for my Topping E30 and £280 for my Gustard H16 (both barely used, not brand new). Really brought my Aeolus to life over the Jotunheim, which would have cost similar money. The Hot went straight up for sale. I'd be more tempted to upgrade from your Schiit amp before going crazy with tubes (that's can be a really expensive rabbit hole when it comes to tube rolling).

P.s. I've had a few beers! I may be waffling.

 

[PopZeus]

Well, yeah, I figured that much. I'm just living in a world where I feel like, based on other's reviews, there's some secret magic I've been missing out on from the Aeolus with tubes.

If you're looking for planar bass or more detail with tubes, that's not really why people find tubes so endearing. At least from my limited experience. It's more about imaging, staging, and dynamics. You will get absolutely slamming bass with a decent tube amp and the Aeolus, but it'll still be contoured with a mid-bass boost because that's the voicing of the headphone. It's alive and very punchy, and only lacking in detail when compared to more expensive headphones, but still it's high quality DD bass. So ultimately, very satisfying, but it just doesn't have quite that ruler flat response or leading edge that makes planar (Audeze) bass somewhat unique. What you also get with tubes are great body and imaging. Instruments just leap out at you. Vocals can seem alive at times. Most decent planars will give you plenty of macro and micro-detail, when paired with a proper solid state amp, but imaging is tidy and controlled. Again, at least with my experience.

I'm not trying to talk you out of getting a planar, but if you do decide to keep the Aeolus and try tubes, just be sure you know what you're getting into. Tbh, I love both for different reasons, but generally find SS >> planar less fussy and more convenient for short listening sessions. Usually I reserve the tube amp for when I have some time to settle in. I've pretty much stopped using the Aeolus with any SS amps, since my ears can't unhear the awesomeness of the combo.

But then again, I'm not this huge detail fiend, and I tend to value euphony, imaging and natural timbre over neutrality, razor-sharp dynamics, and gobs of detail. Don't get me wrong, I like detail and dynamics. I just stopped chasing after the best in class when it comes to those aspects. A lot of people in the hobby disagree with me.

 

[Pharmaboy]

Another question, and let me preface this by saying graphs and single reviewers shouldn't be the basis of judgement, yada yada....

I keep up with crinacle's graph database, and on it, he notes Aeolus to be 'bright neutral' (w/ univ suede pads). Most other reviewers, however, note the Aeolus to be smooth, and perhaps even lacking a bit of treble energy. I am quite treble sensitive myself. Does anyone find the Aeolus to be subjectively bright?

No way!

I use the perforated suede pads, described as more neutral than the stock pads. I've powered my blackwood Aeolus with 7 or 8 different amps, most SS (w/TOTL copper cable from ForzaAudioWorks). It never comes close to brightness on any amplifier.

Maybe brightness is possible w/an extremely bright amplifier + bright silver cable? IMO you'd really have to work at it to make the Aeolus sound bright...

(this from someone more treble-averse than most here)

 

[Bimbleton]

No way!

I use the perforated suede pads, described as more neutral than the stock pads. I've powered my blackwood Aeolus with 7 or 8 different amps, most SS (w/TOTL copper cable from ForzaAudioWorks). It never comes close to brightness on any amplifier.

Maybe brightness is possible w/an extremely bright amplifier + bright silver cable? IMO you'd really have to work at it to make the Aeolus sound bright...

(this from someone more treble-averse than most here)

Outstanding, thanks for the reassurance! Can’t wait!

 

[arar]

Bizarre. I turned off all my EQ (except for the BL's X-Bass toggle, because god damn it's good) out of curiosity due to the brightness talk and kinda got stuck listening like this for the rest of the day. And when I say stuck I mean I've been listening to music for the vast majority of the last 7 hours. These sound ****ing good all of a sudden? Don't get me wrong, they sounded good without EQ too, but now I straight up prefer and love these without the EQ settings all of a sudden?

I don't understand what's happened - slow brain burn in? - but I'm obviously extremely happy lol.