(OLD, PRE-CORRECTION) MrSpeakers ÆON - Impressions, Review, and Measurements

Yes, very correctable. I have about about +1db at 125hz, +4db at 250hz, and +1db at 500hz on my iTunes EQ. I suspect with parametric EQs and/or EQs with more bands, you can get an even smoother transition there.

 

Depends on how skillful you are with EQ to a degree. In my experience, yes and no. Alleviate, yes. Eliminate, no.

 

EQ'ing up and adjusting the preamp down does the same thing, but it's more accurate. EQ'ing the rest of the frequencies down could lead to more inaccuracies with the EQ. That's at least been my experience with graphical EQs. Parametric EQ's might handle it differently.

 

Really disappointing the pads are adhered. Would be interesting to see these modded.

 

Adhered pads were necessary to get the best performance. Other companies have taken the same path, ie pm-3.

 

I've been talking to Dan about the possible upper bass, lower midrange suckout. He said that covering the vents would bring the that null while lowering bass extension. I didn't specifically listen for bass extension differences, but I couldn't tell much of a difference in the tonal balance when covering up the vents via electrical tape vs opening them. I even kept the headphones on and peeled off the electrical tape to provide an instant a/b test, but still couldn't tell anything. I'm thinking electrical tape just isn't robust enough of a material to affect the sound all that much. Dan warned not to go stuffing the vents though, as it could displace the material inside the ports, leading to f'ing up the tuning. So far EQ is my best experience.

Would it be any trouble to get measurements of just messing with covering the vents and measurements with just EQ applied with no other mods?

 

Excellent review. I'm also curious to hear what you settle on for the modifications...

Did you bother EQ'ing either the Elear or the PM-3 to "correct" the signatures to your liking?

 

I do EQ all my phones to my liking on what I view as an ideal and balanced frequency response. For the Aeon that constitutes +2db at 125hz, +4db at 250hz, and +1db at 500hz (iTunes EQ so limited bars.) On the Elear I do +3db at 32hz, and +3db at 4khz. For the PM3 I do -1db at 125 and 250hz, and then I do +2db at 4khz, 8khz, and +1db at 16khz.

Obviously for the sake of a comparative review, I won't use any EQ at all, but beyond that, I can't EQ comfort into the Elear and PM3. I also don't view EQ (especially iTunes' EQ) as an ideal situation, I much rather solve the problems acoustically than digitally, just to reduce any possible risk of non-linear distortions.

 

MrSpeakers is going to include a press-in foam piece with future units (and mail it to people who've already received one), for just this purpose. The downside is that it makes the cup shallower, and will hit some people's ears, apparently, but it's cool for them to provide the option.

I got these headphones in today, and I'm not going to try to write up a big thing, but a couple of quick thoughts:

1. That lower-mid dip definitely gives them a lean sound (without any foam or TP), but how bothersome it is really depends on the music. EDM or hip-hop, where the bass tends to be deeper, sounds great; rock sounds a little lifeless.

2. The treble is where I'd want it -- it's not dark or recessed like the NAD HP50 that this will be replacing, but it's definitely not bright or harsh, either. It has that airy, open, but relaxed sound of the HD-580. The only thing that sounds maybe questionable is that there's a noticeable breathiness to voices.

3. Comfort is amazing. I ordered these largely on the basis of early reports about the comfort, because I'm taking them to work and my existing work HP50s are just not suitable to wear for long periods. The improvement here is huge. Big, open earcups don't press on anything, the headband distributes weight evenly, they're light. All in all, they're the most comfortable headphones I own, right out of the box.

4. They definitely need some power, and wouldn't be well-suited for driving straight out of a phone; of the headphones I was comparing them to, only the HD-650 needed the amp cranked up higher to get good volumes. Fortunately, the travel case for them has a little pocket that just about perfectly fits a Fulla 2, which will work well for my at-work purposes.

5. Overall first impression of the sound quality is that despite a couple of problems, it does an awful lot right. I haven't listened to a lot of closed headphones, but these are way better than I thought closed headphones could be -- there's no congestion or closed-in feeling at all.

 

This is great news!! I'm looking forward to this because

This is a big problem for me. I tried EQing as per @TMRaven 's advice, but the lower midrange filled up only a little bit and received an unpleasant glare. No good for distorted guitars I can't wait to hear what these foam pieces do.

 

The foam pieces won't fill in the lower midrange as much as an EQ.

 

@Hands

You mention that the Aeon is tuned like the alpha dog. If you were to choose one, which would you choose?

I own and love the dog. Also, it is the most handsome can I've ever seen. Very aggressive and beautiful looking can. For me, it is much better looking than the Aeon.

 

Didn't he pull the same stunt with the mad dogs back in the day? something something mad dawg taming kit.

 

The Ether 1.1 tuning kit as well.

I'm all for manufacturers including tuning kits to tweak the sound, but shouldn't this have shown up during the development of the headphone? It feels like we are supposed to be beta testers all over again.

 

From Dan:

"Finding the balance of clarity, size, comfort, tone that works for the most people is always hard. I felt ear contact might simply be a show stopper for some so I ruled out the foam because it'd make us add too much extra depth to the ear pad, but I think this made me fail to consider just putting it as a user-installable tweek in the box. We did have a specific foam part already made. "

Dan already did have the inserts when developing the headphone, but decided not to include them because it would compromise the comfort of the Aeon.


I much prefer the added ear space without the inserts and being able to tune the sound myself via EQ. However, the foam inserts are very cheap and easy to install and take off, so I guess it was an oversight to not just include them to begin with.

 

When he does this for every other headphone he puts out... I'm gonna need some finger quotes around the word oversight.