Mr. Speakers ETHER Flow Headphone(?) Upgrade(?)

Got the Ether Open today, not sure if I like it more than the HD650 and not sure if I should also try Ether flow and I regret that I don't have an Elear on the hand to compare it. But I can confirm that the Ether is very comfortable and it sounds pretty neutral, not bright overall, but a bit more and deeper bass would be nice and the soundstage is rather flat. Somebody here wrote that with the Ether there is something left, right and in the middle and nothing in between; I can confirm that.

 

Just got a pair of the Ether Stat pads to try with Ether Flow. Man, this headphone has a large sound stage now...hd800 large. The sound is...a little tempered, a touch darker. Which I actually like. Otherwise I don't hear anything else different about the signature.

 

Ice-man - So they're worth the $80? Cheers and thanks for being an early-adopter!

 

If you feel that the original signature needs a bigger stage and a touch darker, then yes.

 

Cool. Think I'd like to try them. Thanks for the input!

 

No one (including myself) who listened to my Ether found it better than the HD650. So that Ether FLOW has to be MUCH (!) better than the original Ether to be a solid headphone. I can't really imagine it is so much better?

 

I was surprised when I saw the Flow still having similar shape pad as Ether.
I really thought Dan was going to increase inner size from past PMs on Ether open.
Anyways I still bought the Flow once it was out and found the differences not as much as I expected.
I believe he likes the type of bass in the flow.

Anyways the pad swap benifits are no surprise and IMO what the Flow should have come with to be competitive.
In fact they should come with both sets.
Dan needs to offer this for flow to remain competitive.

Oh, and I like the flow more than the hd650,
but when scaled up the hd650 would give any of those "almost TOTL" cans a tough time.

 

I sold my Ether and got hex v2 instead, it is soo much better. Also HD800 is so much better. And HD650 is a little bit better. Imo original Ether is just crap and everyone who listened to my Ether told the same. I might try the Flow, maybe it is so much better. Or maybe I should try C Flow? Is the C better than the open?

 

Has anyone else tried the Electro Stat pad swap? I just ordered mine yesterday. Curious how the sound changes.

 

If you are choosing between the Flow C or Open Flow the Open flow is a lot better.

 

I picked up my Ether Flows two days ago and haven't listened to them yet. I'm challenging myself to not put them on until they've had 200 hours of burn in. I'm nine hours in so far. I'm curious if they'll be at their peak from the moment I do finally put them on. If I put them on after the 200 hours and they still continue to sound better, then I'll assume at that point any perceived improvement is coming from brain burn in. I ought to have better tubes for my new-to-me Mjolinor 2 by then also. This setup will be the most expensive headphone setup I'll have ever heard and when I hear it for the first time I want to be getting the full effect, hopefully loving it from the first time I hear it.

Playing headphones for 200 hours while not listening to them may be a little doofy, but, you know... I feel like I'm doing this for Science.

 

True, but for a closed-back, the Ether C Flows is might good, at least IME, IMHO, yada, yada...

 

Opinions are awesome. It is what makes us unique and different individuals.

 

I broke down and started listening to these after 11 hours of burn in...

After reading the HF thread I was prepared to be swept up in a cocoon of warm and weightless Audio Nirvana by my new Ether Flows...

After reading some of the comments here I was prepared to end up curled up under my desk in the fetal position reconsidering some major life choices...

The actuality is somewhere in between but definitely more positive than negative. My particular pair on my particular system and to my particular non-golden relatively uninformed ears they sound really good... not life changing but really good. Rich, smooth, and very not harsh or sharp in the treble as I was bracing for. I'm not equipped to comment on dips and humps, FRs etc. I don't completely get lost in the music like I might with Utopias or something but these definitely don't seem to suck either. It's true that there's not much depth to the sound stage but apparently there was never going to be on this Mjo2 I'm listening through. I have some tubes en route that have been suggested as helping in that regard. I dunno.

Of course, like everyone else I'm using relative terms and unlike many/most on here these are the first $1.5KUSD+ headphones I've ever heard so my frame of reference is much less informed, for sure. I can't compare to HEKs, HD800Ss, etc. or defend these against Elears or 650s but I can at least say that I don't expect that these will ever be uncomfortable or annoying or fatiguing which is important to me as on a good day I may be using these for more than 12 hours at a time.

I'd enjoy it if these do open up as they burn in, but as things stand I was prepared for these to sound bad and am relieved to not be having that experience. I'm lucky enough to live in a city that has had some recent meets and may attend one out of curiosity of what some of the higher echelon HPs might sound like and to see if my particular Flows sound any different to someone that might have disliked another pair.

That's all I got...

Cheers,
-Bill

 

Your story is similar to mine.
I was convinced that these would rock my socks off, then I listened to them and they were actually pretty bad, which was incredibly disappointing.
They weren't godawful, but the sound was perhaps not what I enjoy and they felt average.
Not worth the 1695 GBP, so 2100 USD (yep) I paid for them.

I got told that I had to wait for roughly 150 hours before I could truly pass judgement, I did that, and they basically offered me the same type of sludgy mushy distant or "etherial" nonsense.
Then I read that you could only achieve a greater soundstage by swapping out cables and by using a much more expensive aftermarket cable.
Because I am a sheep I bought a Wywires red cable and I expected too much, once again, but nope.

All in all I wasted a boatload of money on these and I definitely regret not being able to audition them first.
I sold them for 1150 quid in the end, as the store I bought them from had a very short return period, and I tried to convince myself that I would definitely like them after I found the right set-up.

I ran them off a brand new and broken - not broken in, mind you, busted - Cavalli LC (I hear that's pretty common) and a loaner Schiit Ragnarok, which was miles better than anything else I had but couldn't fix the issues I had with the headphones.

They were the open Flows by the way.
I actually wanted to buy the HD800 for a couple of months before that, I shouldn't have misinformed myself.

 

I believe Dan will have broken them in for you for a couple of hours to make listeners feel happy at the beginning... but that's just my guessing. At least that's what AKG guys would do in the past.

 

I'm definitely sorry to hear that. Have you since found something that you enjoy?

I've seen him say that they do burn in their drivers for some time in their shop. I was under the impression that the 150-200 hour burn in was still a thing but I also don't doubt those who say that they didn't get improvement from burning in.


Also, I wonder if anyone would point out a recording that's available for online purchase and is known to be well recorded? As I try to get a sense of these headphones I'd like to rule out poor recordings as one of the variables. Right now I'm listening to Flacs of 'Under The Table and Dreaming' that I bought directly from the Dave Mathews site. I'd like to think that that's been well recorded but would appreciate any suggestions.

 

Yes, for audiophiles with good ears, 200 hours is required to hear the well-broken in sound, and even more. My experience with HD600 is that it won't sound pretty sweet until they are in their 1000+ hours. But HD600 is a dynamics driver, I believe the tight-stretched diaphragm in a planar should reach it's stable spot much sooner. I believe through burning in, there's also chemistry going on within the cable wires. So anyway, 200 hours breaking in is not a bad idea at all! But... man! You got good patience!