Mr. Speakers Ether

Eq works best with balanced armatures imo

 

I'd be down for an extensive write-up on EQ

 

What does that even mean?

 

If you listen to Vinyl, you can only hardware EQ, not software EQ. That's what Marv means.

 

Oooooh, sorry. I was confusing records with recordings. All cleared up now!

 

I just wanted to chime in with some impressions since I've been back in town a couple weeks now. My chain has been SMSL M8 > Mjolnir 2 tubed > XLR exclusively, with a Gungnir Multibit thrown in for a few, glorious days. I've been using a homemade XLR cable with mogami wire, but couldn't tell a difference with the DUM (and sold it). I also want to mention I got a good, open box deal with full warranty, so I'm coming at this from a perspective of having paid under $1200 after selling my DUM cable. This is the pair @purrin measured/impressioned, in case it's found these vary like Audeze's down the road.

I'm new to high end, with the second best open headphones I've owned the HE-500 (franken AD2000, r70x, HE400, DT880, HD598 being others) so please keep that in mind.

Comfort/Build: A big reason I chose these to take the plunge. Comfort is important to me as I do a lot of work looking down at my desk, rather than up at my computer monitors. They are super light, especially for a planar. If the HE-500 is a football helmet, these are a knit cotton winter hat. The slidey adjustment things inspire enough confidence, and they can lock in place with a screwdriver so they don't adjust themselves. The "memory metal" support arches are really strong and flexible and I'm not worried about anything build wise going wrong after my warranty is up.

The pads are similar to the alpha pads, if the thickness was in between the thinnest and thickest part all the way through (no slant). Still love these little snap in connectors, even though they aren't the cheapest or easiest to DIY. The travel case is nice and light, and had no worries it would protect it in the mail, but for $1500 I would have liked to see some sort of epic storage box a la Sennheiser/Audeze/Hifiman.

Power: They're really easy to drive, with my volume knob in the same place as my portable closed backs or the franken AD2000. Unsure if these truly benefit from the high current of the Mjo 2 as some planars, as I still need to build a SE cable to test with lesser amps.

Sound Quality: I'll try my best articulating here. Simply, these are the best headphones I've ever owned, but my experience in this tier is limited.

Soundstage/imaging: The width is really good, similar or maybe even a tad better, than the HE-500 and franken 2000. I hear a very clear center image, and with a lot going on instruments seem well separated. I actually think these isolate just a little, more than any other open I've had. They're still very much an open of course.

Bass: The bass quantity is right where I like it. I don't want to try and use a word like neutral, but it fills in well. I have never felt these "thin" but the bass definitely isn't the star of the show. It does it's job, sounds clean and not bloated, and stays out of the way. To compare the closed backs, the quantity is similar to the MSR7 or NAD HP50. It also doesn't extend as low as other planars (HE400 and 500 to me), and I would go as far to say the HE-500 bass is overall better. I don't like lots of bass though, these THx00 are getting to be too much for me even, so keep that in mind.

Midrange: I have no idea how to articulate midrange, but it's really good. Guitars and other stringed instruments sound really detailed, and just natural and enjoyable. Same for vocals, especially female vocals. I think I've listened to Adele belt out those higher notes too many times since I got these.

Highs: Certainly present, and I don't interpret any roll off anywhere. I find the HE-500 and MSR7 both to get slightly fatiguing after a couple hours, and the Ethers are just below that threshold. Don't know what more to say, they add to the positioning and detail without being too much.

So yeah, I like them and probably won't sell them like I do much of my gear as I learn what I like. They're probably a little overpriced, especially compared to the HE-500 which I enjoyed 85% as much, but diminishing returns and all that.

Hope this helps just a little, happy to clarify anything or answer any questions

 

I hope I can add a bit to the thread with my MAXX134 Mods. I'd love to hear the tonal change the Audeze Leather or Dan's New angled Pads but I followed Maxx's vegan option....

FFS I payed $115 for the Audeze microsuede vegan uk price....
Best thing I have done with my ETHERS...
My bigger head was hurting with the normal pads, these are like the soft embrace of the women you love....but no harshness and the sound makes sense. Please don't tell my wife..

I tryed the top and bottom felt Mods nice but the side felt pieces really bring it together.
The thinner 1.1 mod with the diamond cut out. I am still in 2 camps with this and the side felt pieces. I may open up the the hole as I think I like the highs more than bass focus.


If you can borrow Dan's or Audeze angled pads try them. The felt and foam cost 10 Dollars and are easily reversable. Just take your time removing the black foam stuck down.

Microsuede Angled and simple sticky 1mm felt. I won't go back to original, I love how it feels now and they now sound fantastic to my ears.


I won't bla bla about audiophile terminology because I don't know how and I never see how that matters.. ears do.

But give it a try and good luck regardless...



Oh forgot the SBAF link :
http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/ether-mods.1107/

 

So I have the Ether/Ether C loaner and did some listening last night vs. my HD800S.

For reference, my chain: iPad -> Wyrd -> Yggdrasil -> XP-10 -> DSHA-4.

Quick impressions

Pros:

• Ether bass is fantastic. Waaaaay better than HD800S bass. Going back and forth you can really hear the distortion on the 800S. The Ether feels like it is clear an octave lower than the 800S. The bass quality and amount feels just about perfect with the Ether. The Audeze cans I've heard hit a little harder, but the Ether is totally fine.
  • Going back to the 800S makes you sad how mediocre the bass is. It isn't bad, but the Ether shows how much better and clearer bass can sound. The 800S really falls apart in the bottom octave.
• Comfort is surprisingly good. While the headband felt kind of finicky at first, the comfort once these are on my head is very good. I like the 800S fit and feel better, but the Ether is well above average when it comes to comfort.
• Soundstage is better than what I've heard from Audeze.
• Distortion is low, and you can totally hear it. These are very clear sounding headphones and they handle power pretty well.

Cons:

• The Ether really should be $995, not $1499. If these were under a grand, I'd think about buying a pair.
• Cable length is too short. I guess its the DUM balanced cable that came with the loaners. Not all of us listen at our desks. The 800S cable is 3 meters and the DUM cable really should be that long as well.
• The Ether sounds thin to me. The 800S treble and mids are better balanced to my ears. The Ether doesn't sound bright, but the balance throughout the range just isn't there the way it is with the 800S. This is the biggest fault of the Ether, IMO, and its what will keep me from buying one.
  • If Dan an co can fix the treble and mids balance in whatever they come up with to succeed the Ether then they might have a real winner.
  • Also, Sennheiser, give me a damn TOTL planar magnetic already!
• The 800S soundstage is much better. The Ether doesn't stage poorly, but it isn't in the same league as the 800S. Going from the 800S to the Ether I missed the staging right away.

I'll play with the mod pads and Ether-C this weekend.

 

If you can't play with the loaner to much.
Audeze microsuede. The comfort.. and sound.. try the side mods with the felt. If you are allowed do the top bottom in built stock foam..

Just the pads and felt makes such a big difference. I would love to see what your impressions of the 800S/ Ether are then...

A quick trip to a local craft shop for 1mm sticky felt and some fiddley fun..

God luck mate

Dave

 

I did some more listening to the Ether and Ether-C this weekend.

The Ether is a good headphone that is close to being a great headphone that I would buy. I'm actually going to miss it when I ship it on to the next participant in the loaner program. They make a nice compliment to the HD800S because each headphone has different strengths. Between the two I'd choose the 800S over the Ether, but it isn't the easiest choice. It is fun to listen to a song on one of them, then listen to the same song on the other.

On a whim I decided to the the @Hands ceremonial HD650 comparison. To my ears the (stock) 650 is a better tonally balanced headphone, but the Ether blows it out of the water in bass, detail, and soundstage. Easy win for the Ether for me, I found the Ether a substantially more enjoyable listen, but different strokes for different folks.

The HD6X0 are the value kings for high end headphones IMO. I listen to them almost every day out of my Crack 2 at work. As good as they are though, I like the 800S and Ether quite a bit more. That being said, the planar Ether would be a bad match with the high output impedance OTL Crack 2.

I played around a bit with the Ether C. They sound fine to me, maybe more tonally balanced than their open brothers. I will abstain from going in to detail because I'm not generally a fan of the sound of closed headphones. All things being equal, there is no way I'd choose the closed Ether-C over the open Ether. Thankfully I don't listen much in noisy environments so I can get away with only using open headphones.

 

My thoughts in video form:

 

"Playnars" - OJNeg

@OJneg You should do your videos Filthy Frank style to score the meme points.

 

The loaner Ethers have been sent to the next person on the list, so figured I'd post my impressions.

It's not the first time I've heard Ether headphones. The Mr Speakers table at CanJam and THE Newport Audio Show have always paired them with $$$ amps (Woo WA5, Cavalli LG, Zesto Leto) and they've always sounded great. The challenge was how they performed with mid-fi gear, as I think this will reflect the majority of consumers interested in purchasing Dan's headphones. I'm focusing on the open Ethers, as I feel it's a stronger contender compared to the C.

The good.

Amazingly light and comfortable for planar magnetic headphones. This in itself is an achievement and a big plus for those who like the Mr Speakers house sound. No complaints with the mids and treble and the overall presentation is detailed, airy, with good instrument separation.

The bad.

Sadly, the Ethers fell flat compared to how they're presented at shows. On my setup the sound was dry and the bass was anemic compared to my LCD-2F, HE-6, and Denon 7k - all hard hitters in the low-end. In a word, unengaging.

I really wanted to like them, especially due the the weight and comfort. I would still recommend them to people who can afford high-end amps (the overall sound and bass impact seemed to improve tenfold), but with anything less you may be disappointed. The C has a similar sound with the same pros and cons as the open variety, just a little more congested.