Mr. Speakers AEON

Chill the f**k out, dude

 

Could you describe a bit more about Aeon open's technicalities? (by comparing it with either other totl or semi-totl cans, for example, hd800/ether flow/hd650/lcd2/he500..)
Based on your and others' impressions, I have a full belief on the tonal balance.

Particularly what I am curious and wondering is resolving power and macro/micro-dynamics.

Little blurred imaging and slightly compressed dynamics were the biggest weaknesses of ether flows (to me).. I wonder whether aeon overcame these.

 

One of the most enjoyable aspects of AFO is it's ability to resolve fine detail without harshness or fatigue. For me it hits that sweet spot between transparency and forgiveness...not an easy feat. Compared to the 650 on a high end tube amp (Kenzie for me), even on the Magni 3 the AFO resolves better and has better bass quality and quantity. I just love the mids on AFO. It's great to see a headphone truly go toe to toe with the 650 on mids (which have been my favorites for mids for years).

The hd800 has a wider deeper stage than AFO. But the AFO matches the imaging ability which is impressive in it's own right. The AFO finally has better staging than all previous MS offerings. Not huge, but the stage is now big enough to allow voices and instruments to breathe and maintain their own space with no blending. This is huge for me. It's impressive what a difference this small change makes.

 

Thanks much.
AFO seems more promising than I expected.

Now I seriously consider to sell my flow...haha

 

I've been using Magni 3 with AFO. The value proposition is VERY good with this $99 amp as it is pretty neutral with a modest splash of warmth and the paring with AFO works well. And then yesterday I got a loan on Bottlehead SEX. This takes AFO up a notch or two in dynamics and finesse. Considerably better staging, mids go back two rows. The SEX is a $600 kit I think.

 

How would you compare the Aeon closed vs open in terms of their resolving abilities and mid range? I love how the closed version is more flexible, due to the fact I could bring them into the office, but it sounds like the AFO is the better sounding brother by a significant amount. Do you find yourself ever reaching for the closed version with the open now an option?

 

Open sounds better than closed.

 

I'm most curious about the sub bass on these. Dan said in one of his interviews that it takes a hit because it's open.

Did you (anyone who has heard it) find it to be lacking at all? There's not a ton in most music (organs and EDM excepted) so I'm not sure how much I'd miss it, but I do like a little rumble down low.

Everything else is described as almost too good to be true.

Thanks

Edit: I just found the excellent measurements and impressions from Hands...
Definitely worth a read

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...open-early-impressions-and-measurements.5257/

 

I might have had a burning fever, I admit.

 

Former Alpha Dog owner here.

That screw tunes the bass a bit but does nothing to tame the very high midrange distortion of the Alpha Dog (and other T50RP-based headphones). That distortion gives the middle and upper midrange a nasty, artificial brightness.

 

I see, actually it sounds just like I would describe AKG K712 Pro - unpleasing boost in 2-4kHz range.

Have you tried the included "muffling" pads? Even they should touch above 4kHz, which is just above upper midrange, but even then...

 

Got my AFOs today. Giving a quick listen with no pads and using the headphone jack on my MacBookPro. So far am impressed. My reference album is Voice by Hiromi. I've heard the trio live a number of times and the recording is pretty faithful and feels "live." I hear quite a bit of detail that has been glossed over with previous (admittedly not great) gear. Mostly the crosstalk between drums. Simon Phillips uses a huge kit and you'll get some sympathetic resonances and reverbs even before any is added in post. Anthony Jackson's Fodera has a particularly crunchy note attack and bloom due to the 36" scale and the hybrid body - it is chambered and about 3" thick.

Will compare them back-to-back with my Sines and hopefully get up to Schiit to get a small proper home setup.

Just heard some awesome kick drum head detail. I like these...

 

^^ Agreed. I am addicted to the way the AFO does micro detail without causing me fatigue. I'm a bit treble sensitive so it's difficult for me to find a nice balance between detail and non fatiguing signatures. AFO does it very well for me.

 

Your favorite between the two Aeons or of any Mr.Speaker headphone?

 

AFO is my favorite of all the MS offerings. I sometimes have a preference for EFO with well recorded jazz and acoustic pieces, but it's VERY close. Plus the AFO is insanely comfortable. The decision is easy, AFO for sure.

 

Been comparing with the Sine (1/8" cable) out of my laptop. Should have jumped on the iDSD BL Adorama deal last week - sigh.

Anywho, thankfully I really like both these headphones and they serve pretty different needs/use cases. The Sine is a bit more "exciting" in the presentation but that can translate to a bit edgy depending on the material. It also lacks the low bass extension of the AFO. They both resolve a ton of details on the instruments. Overall the AOF is a bit more open and relaxed in the stage. It is like a live show in a very good medium sized hall. The Sine sounds like a bit smaller/brighter room.

For my use the Sine w/Cipher is damn near perfect with the iPhone/Tidal. I can eq some of the high end out if I want and fill in a tad around 32hz. With the AFO I wouldn't change a thing. I'm running the black dampers which are the least effect (other than none at all). I probably could go without as well - I didn't find it strident and I'm pretty sensitive to nasty treble, despite years of loud guitar/bass amps and cymbals near my head. Thank gawd for discovering ear protection before it was too late.

Looking forward to getting a decent dac/amp to run these, but even going low-brau I'm impressed.

 

Literally tearing up, listening to the Tidal Master of Madman Across the Water. There is an acoustic guitar in the right channel of Levon I've never noticed before, alternating between picking counterpoint and strummed percussive parts. The strings are a massive wave, particularly the bass and cellos. Beautiful stuff. And good inspiration, have an 8pm downbeat at a local club doing two basses plus drums lineup. Living on the edge...

 

Thanks to @Bigferret I received my new (to me) closed Aeons today, and ended up be far too distracted at work enjoying them. First impressions are of a surprisingly precise and neutral/unflamboyant signature (no offense to the good folks at MrSpeakers, but I found the Ether Flows to have a highly opinionated signature).

Not quite the soundstage of what I'm used to at home with my Senn HD800SR's (duh), but amazingly nice for a closed pair of cans, and a delight to be able to get this level of sound at work without annoying everyone.

I'm looking forward to putting them through their paces over the next several days. Many thanks to Tom for a great transaction!

 

Got my AFO yesterday. I have to agree that Dan truly nailed it.

To me the sound was very familiar, like EFO had a baby with either senn hd6xx or zmf eikon. I own and am a big fan of all of those.

Mrspeaker-ish bright trebles (but only a tad bit) and top ends, but much smoother and cohesive mid-ranges, as a result timbres of acoustic instruments were way righter with afo, compared to efo.

Ironically this HP has very high level of tolerance - it sounds very fine even right out of iphone.
But also has decent scalability. It could easily discern better source (Gungnir Multibit vs jotun internal dac) and better amp (taboo 4 vs jotun) from lesser ones.

One interesting observation is that afo is quite sensitive to positioning around the ear, much more so than efo. Maybe unique earcup shapes are relevant.. but not quite sure.

In terms of ergonomics, afo is almost on par with efo. Afo is lighter, but efo used better ear pads and softer head bend. I can safely argue these two HPs destroy almost any other TOTL cans with regard to long time wearing comfort (this is as an important factor for me as sound quality), at least from my experience.

Really looking forward to how afo grows on me..

 

After 100 hours of break-ins, AFO sounds really damn good..
Last year I've also experienced EFO was also benefited by 100-120 hrs of breakin (Dan recommended 200hrs, but I couldn't feel significant changes after 120 hrs). No idea why though.

Midrange to treble did not change much. Bass and top octaves improved dramatically. Bass sounded cleaner, tighter, and had more controls. Top ends also extended more, so that sounds became much airier than out of the box.

Afo now is revealing much more potentials from my upstream gears (Gungnir Multibit and Taboo 4). I guess other decent dac (e.g. Amethyst) or decent SET tubes (e.g. AF, Kenzie, Stratus, ..) may do the equivalent (or perhaps better) magics to AFO, but Gungnir Multibit and taboo 4 combinations absolutely rocked with afo. Resolving, balanced, engaging and having pretty deep head-stage.

One pleasing bonus is the final sound of my rig had slightly blacker background. But this was observed only with Taboo 4, not with Jotenheim.

PS. Wearing tips for EFO also applied to AFO - Keep the head bend tightly contact to the skull, and this will enable more consistent sub-bass responses