Mrspeakers Ether C Measurements

Looks like they're still available but with the DUM cable at $1500. *Shrug*

 

Well, shit, looks like these didn't have the default front damping in place when I received them, nor did I have any clue what these were supposed to be like stock. I assumed they were bare like the Ether open. Nope! I've made a huge asshat of myself.

So...stock impressions, because I feel like an asshole and should make sure I get this right:

1. Went from "OMG WHY NOO" without any front damping to "Kind of mixed, but maybe something here" with the default front damping config.
2. Actually has bass and some thickness to it now but is still a bit too bright, rough, and sounds very shouty.

Tried some additional damping discs that were included:

1 Black felt - Helps, but not enough
2 Black felt - Sounds promising. Actually not bad. Not $1500, but actually pretty darn good for closed. My preferred configuration out of the stuff provided (haven't tried the TP someone tossed in there.
1 White felt - Nope, too dead sounding.

Lessons learned:

1. Ether C needs some front damping. Stock/1.1 is not bare. You risk death if you go that route. Please at least start with what was intended.
2. Please put loaner gear back together as it should be in a default configuration, and in case you can't, please specify what should be stock.

Apologies for getting ahead of myself and judging the product based on what it's not configured for out of the box! I will write more sometime later, but this isn't nearly as bad as I thought!

 

Quick new impressions with the "real" Ether C (i.e. correct front damping), so that I can pretend I never heard them the wrong way and posted about it.

This is using two black felt discs slipped under the pads. So, correct damping stock is stiff white felt directly over driver and the black open cell foam over that (cut out to fit the well around the driver). Put the pads back on, then use the larger, more rectangular black and/or white felt sheets slipped in the pads to your tastes. I prefer two black discs.

Without additional black felt discs, sound was too shouty and bright for me, but oh soo much better than what I incorrectly assumed was the right damping before (or even what they came as when I opened the package).

With those two foam discs, and I mean two per channel, tone all of a sudden became...really damn good, actually. There is a wee bit of brightness, and a hint of a midrange shout, but damn if this is not surprisingly neutral sounding (in a good way, not flat or clinical).

Timbre is still a bit rough but overall sounds fairly correct.

Sound is focused, fast, and clean sounding. Transients, leading edges, etc. well represented.

Clear sound from top to bottom.

Punchy and dynamic.

Downsides? Stage still sucks. Not as resolving as the HD650, but still very good, so maybe not a real downside.

Quick measurements to show I'm not crazy. The only things to note is the 5-7KHz spot sticks out a teeny tiny bit, and 1KHz still rings a bit too much. Otherwise, lots of good things going on.

Will post more detailed thoughts and a collection of measurements later.

 

Yeah, definitely frustrating. I still don't find them super duper great without additional damping, but once you dial it in, lots of positives.