Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 - Open & Closed - Official Discussion

Yes absolutely ā€¦ I spent the last hour with the same predicament ivanku ā€¦ I think with the perforated pads it is more dependent.

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Hi all,

This whole discussion is excellent as Iā€™m starting to consider getting a pair of the Aeon 2 Closed and from what I can tell, I would be very happy with them. One side question - has anyone compared the Aeon 2 Closed with the Aeon RT Closed that are on the Dan Clark Audio site? Iā€™m wondering if the $300 price difference is significant enough to justify? Any insight would be very much appreciated.

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@anon36506748 are you referring to the original Aeon Closed be the Aeon 2 Closed?

They might be, itā€™s been difficult to get more information beyond whatā€™s on the Dan Clark Audio site. They are retuned versions of the Aeon Flow but also appear to have the new folding form factor and case.

They are listed as the Aeon RT for $499 at https://danclarkaudio.com/aeon-2/aeon-flow-open-back-headphone.html

Edit: Guess you learn a lot if you read the entire webpage. The description is ā€œĆ†ON Flow RT is a retuning of our award-winning open-backed ƆON Flow Open and Closed headphones.ā€ Guess it doesnā€™t have the compact folding like the new ƆON 2 have, but perhaps good enough?

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My understanding is the Aeon 2 C is significantly better than version 1. I own them and definitely enjoy them. There can be some unit to unit variation I have heard. You may want to reach out to @taronlissimore and @andrew the sponsor of this forum as they may have an open box Aeon 2C for a very good price.

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20 characters! :wink:

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Hi @taronlissimore
Any updates on when my Aeon 2 closed will ship?

Hey, @JoeyGun you may want to email Taron directly through the headphones dot com website or during normal business hours as he is usually available there and very active. @taronlissimore should get back to you!

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Cool cool, got his reply. One day left before I get my Aeon 2 closed!

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Price dropped for anyone interested! I eat shipping and fees!

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If anyone is interested I have listed my Aeon 2ā€™s for sale.

Aquired a pair of Audeze LCD 2ā€™s and much prefer the wider staging of an open back headphone.

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Your comparison is really interesting, especially the comparison with Elegia. Iā€™m bumping back and forth from Elegia (now discounted to euro 500) and Aeon2C in my mind but canā€™t decide for one over the other. While the Elegia comes with a great price and a build quality thatā€™s really great the sound of the Aeon2C especially with perforated pads seems to follow a little more my personal preferences. Actually not a big fan of dynamic drivers. The best thing would be try both but where I live I have no possibility at all to do that. Thank you so much for your notes and for sharing.

I have both.

To me, the Elegia is a big warm soft down pillow. The Aeon 2 Closed is a nice cool firm memory foam pillow.

Either is nice, depending on what you like. Iā€™ve found after listening to the Aeon for a while the Elegia sounds just a bit too warm and boomy, but it definitely has its charms if you like that sort of thing :wink:

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Thank you so much for your hints. Iā€™m more into planar sound than in dynamic driver and because of neck pain I prefer memory foam pillow too. Being on budget the soft pillow keeps on calling me even if I know I want the memory foam. Out of jokes one thing for sure is that both are well built and pleasing headphones.

Just received my Aeon 2c Noire. These things are gorgeous! Comfort is great. Besting my current favorites ibasso SR2 because of the ear cup shape. No sound impressions just yet as I want to burn them in per their manual/mfr comments. I donā€™t have a definitive position on that debate, but I figure letā€™s play on Danā€™s turf and give it the benefit of the doubt.

Did I mention these are beautiful headphones?

@Lothar_Wolf I got 'em! I feel like they should just be framedā€¦

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Post some pictures please! Iā€™d like to see them

I just got some Aeon RT opens with the VIVO cable upgrade (included for same price as stock cable!). Iā€™m enjoying them so far quite a bit. They would probably benefit from some burn in too. The Aeon 2 was just out of reach for me, as I used my most recent stimulus $ for these. I think they match well with my Schiit Lyr 3/Bifrost 2 combo.

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Iā€™m very curious to hear your impressions! Iā€™m considering a HP roster shakeup and the Noire are on my radar. Also seconding @robsonā€™s request for pictures :smiley:

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Initial impressions on the Noire. Please note Iā€™ve not used any of the felt inserts. Iā€™ll tinker with those later once Iā€™ve become accustomed to the stock signature. All listening done on BF2/Lyr 3 with stock tubes.

Build and comfort
Build is solid with no real standout qualities. I am concerned about the longevity of the ear up fold mechanism, but thatā€™s pure speculation. The Aeon folding mechanism has been around for a while now, and my limited research hasnā€™t found rampant complaints about this failing.

The included 1/4ā€ terminated cable leaves a bit to be desired. Itā€™s not a bad cable like those included with Hifiman products, but itā€™s vacuum cleaner sheath isnā€™t appealing. It did remain kink free and was pliable, but felt cheap.

Comfort is really quite good. Clamp is a bit light, but survived my ā€œwill you fall off if I look downā€ test. The Noire actually bested my previous favorite headphone for comfort, the iBasso SR2. The feature that allows this is the elongated ear cup cavity. You know, they actually resemble a human ear, as opposed to the circular cavities of the SR2. This can however lead to hotspots as the bottom of the cup touches the jaw. Itā€™s not as bad as the Hifiman Arya, but it is there. Personally though, it did not bother me. This is the first headphone to give me the ever elusive ā€œforgot Iā€™m wearing headphonesā€ feeling.

As to be expected, the glossy finish does pickup fingerprints. Thank you DCA for including a cleaning cloth :slight_smile:.

Treble
Ouch. Starting here because this is the most stand-out part of the sound. Itā€™s sharp. Like oh god someone save my poor ears sharp. After hearing this, I looked for measurements to confirm. Found an oratory measurement for Aeon 2 Closed with perforated pads. This should be identical as DCA confirmed the Noire is just an A2C with perforated pads and a black paint job. As we can see from the measurements, there is some spiciness occurring around 6k and Thai-levels of spiciness after 10k. This spike is really making it difficult to enjoy some songs. I imagine the inserts help alleviate this.

Mids
Mids, especially vocals, were a bit difficult for me to judge. Especially when A/B-ing with the 6XX. At first, I believed the cans to be mid-deficient. However, after an extensive listen (several hours), I was never dissatisfied or distracted by the vocals. Upon reflection and some time listening ā€œcriticallyā€ and more A/B with the 6XX, I believe the confusion came from differences in how tracks were recorded. If a vocal sounded distant, it was because it was recorded that way. While the 6XX presents all mids as ā€œin your headā€, the Noire does not. Iā€™ll further elaborate on this in the soundstage section.

As for timbre, I found it to be fantastic. 'nough said.

Lows
If the treble was an ouchie, this section is a yummy :smiley:. Iā€™m picky when it comes to bass. Iā€™m not a bass-head, but I like my headphones ā€œfunā€ and for me, that means accurate and plentiful bass. I want to hear the bass and feel it. The Noire delivers. Some may wish to give it a couple db more in the 70-105 region, but personally I found this too much. Plus, any time I can get away with not eqā€™ing a can, Iā€™ll go for it.

Detail, Soundstage, and Imaging
Perhaps due to the elevated treble, but these cans sound more detailed to me than any other headphone Iā€™ve tried with the exception of the Arya and HD800s.

Most reviews will say something like "soundstage is good for a closed-back headphone. Well, soundstage is excellent compared to other open or closed-back. If the 6XX is on stage, the LCD-GX is 1st row, the Noire is 3rd. Whatā€™s important to note, is that while sounds is pushed back, itā€™s not reduced in texture, detail, or audibility. Overall, this is another excellent quality for the Noire.

Imaging Iā€™ll admit is a bit difficult for me to judge when listening to music. I can tell you where I hear the music from, but I donā€™t know if thatā€™s accurate. To overcome this, I listened to a few orchestra videos on Youtube. When Solos were played, it was quite easy to identify sound sources.

Movies and games
After a gaming/movie binge that lasted much longer than Iā€™d care to admit, the Aeon Noire have put a smile on my face. Bass is satisfying, detail and imaging are really pronounced and dynamic range is balanced perfectly to my taste. Watching the documentary ā€œSpitfireā€ on Netflix, the dogfights were a blast and the ā€œthump, thump, thumpā€ of the gunfire were deep, controlled and satisfyingly punchy.

Playing Elite Dangerous, the exliration of fly-by during combat, the various weapons fire, and the -usually less-noticeable- system sounds were all a pleasure to listen too. Itā€™s best summed up in the tired cliche, Iā€™m hearing things Iā€™ve not heard before, or were too mundane to draw attention previously. Psychosomatic? Maybe, but I Love it.

Conclusion
DCA has released a great looking, and sounding headphone. Itā€™s portability, aesthetics, and overall great sound signature make this a worthy headphone to have in anyoneā€™s stable. The only detractors, are the piercing highs, and the absurdly long and ā€œcheapā€ feeling cable. Both of these short-comings can be fixed, and personally, Iā€™d rather have a long cable than a shorter one. But then again, Iā€™m not taking these headphones far from a desk.

I hope someone finds this useful and please feel free to ask any questions. As always, I do not claim to be an expert or even an audiophile, but sometimes a laymanā€™s perspective ainā€™t so bad :wink:

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Excellent reading and impressions.
Iā€™ve received my Noire today.
Iā€™m trying them with my ā€œevaluation tracksā€ and impressions are good and in line with my expectations.
Fit for me is perfect. They are incredibly light and comfortable on my head, no problems with the clamp force which is perfect for me.
First impressions on sound are good, given that the music I listen to hasnā€™t by itself piercing picks on highs.
Fun kind of listen with good bass emphasis and appreciable soundstage for a closed back headphone.
The cable is really disappointing, itā€™s the only negative note. It does it job and doesnā€™t tangle but looks really cheap, something in the style of the cable that come with my Sundara and that Iā€™ve replaced as soon as I had the chance. The same will happen with this one but given the overall care that the headphones shows Iā€™d expected a cable with a little more quality.

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Really glad you included some impressions for Gaming/Videos, as thatā€™s my main interest in getting a pair of these to compliment my open-back headphones. Looking forward to the continuation of your review!

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