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

Holey Crap, you’re not kidding. Just for an experiment I went from no inserts to the white ones, and the difference was startling. It really makes it clear how much influence headphone designers have beyond driver design. If I was listening blind and you told me they were different headphones I wouldn’t have been surprised.

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Agree with you comment about the planar’s need for a lot of power. I’ve found that to be particularly true with HiFiMan, and to only a little lesser degree with Dan Clark/Mr Speakers. I have his MadDog and Alpha Prime , both of which sound much , much better with the extra power in my Lyr 2 and Burson Soloist amps.

Also, think I read somewhere that the Aeon 2 takes at least 50 hours to burn-in and develop its true sound. So am looking forward to your thoughts in the days ahead.

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If somebody wanted to send me a loaner pair of Aeon 2 Open I would gladly compare to the Aeolus as well as the Aeon2C!

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Just got off the phone with the owner of Dan Clark audio and basically he told me to not to listen them right now and crank them up overnight and get to 50 hours or so before they really open up…

Right now we are at a little less than 20 hours and they are starting to sound “better”…

Alex

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I definitely noticed them start to come into their own after about a week.

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It not Voltage Swing that get these going, it is current they desire, you have very low impedance @ 13 Ohm. You need an amp that can flow current aka good amount of mA. Remember they are probably close to the same sensitivity of Aeon Flow open about 93dB/mW SPL sensitivity or 111.86 dB/V SPL.

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Definitely current hungry @angstorms !!! When they get it they perform.

Yup, thats why they worked on my high current DIY amp better than most of my amps…3x over the stock O2…

Also the OPA 1622 DIY also works very well…

Planars are planars and are a different beast over dynamics for sure…

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remember 1 Volt = 1 V = 110 dB SPL that is Chain Saw full bore loud, 115 dB is Rock concert near the front.

The Aeon Flow and Aeon 2

Listening Loudness Voltage Needed Current Needed Power Needed
Safe 85 dB SPL 0.06 Vrms 4.62 mA 0.28 mW
Moderate 100 dB SPL 0.32 Vrms 24.62 mA 7.88 mW
Fairly Loud 110 dB SPL 1 Vrms 76.92 mA 76.92 mW
Very Loud 115 dB SPL 1.78 Vrms 136.92 mA 243.72 mW
Painful 120 dB SPL 3.16 Vrms 243.08 mA 768.12 mW

Compared to Hifiman Susvera

Listening Loudness Voltage Needed Current Needed Power Needed
Safe 85 dB SPL 0.31 Vrms 5.17 mA 1.6 mW
Moderate 100 dB SPL 1.73 Vrms 28.83 mA 49.88 mW
Fairly Loud 110 dB SPL 5.49 Vrms 91.5 mA 502.34 mW
Very Loud 115 dB SPL 9.75 Vrms 162.5 mA 1.584 W
Painful 120 dB SPL 17.35 Vrms 289.17 mA 5.017 W

Compared to the Sennheiser HD650

Listening Loudness Voltage Needed Current Needed Power Needed
Safe 85 dB SPL 0.03 Vrms 0.1 mA 0.003 mW
Moderate 100 dB SPL 0.18 Vrms 0.6 mA 0.11 mW
Fairly Loud 110 dB SPL 0.56 Vrms 1.87 mA 1.05 mW
Very Loud 115 dB SPL 1 Vrms 3.33 mA 3.33 mW
Painful 120 dB SPL 1.78 Vrms 5.93 mA 10.56 mW
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At this price point I’d also take a good look at the DROP/Mr Speakers Ether CX Closed ($750) if you’re looking to add a closed set. I also have Aeon Flow v1 Closed. The Ether CX from Massdrop sound great.

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Yup, the DROP Ether CX is great. I even got mine for a few bucks less–$700-- during one of their special promotions. Anyway, the Ether CX is the reason I’m so interested in the Aeon 2, which is Dan Clark’s latest generation of headphone and is supposed to sound even better.

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I ran the Aeon 2’s over night at a high volume per Dan Clark audios recomendation and happy to report things are getting “much” better than day 1 and “0” hours for sure…

Bass is much better, tighter and really pretty well defined…I set up SPL levels for reference at 75, 85, 90 db and marked the vol pot so I could know where I was with a solid 1khz test tone.

Back to the Lyr 3 which was not a really good presentation several days ago, anf this am its really pretty nice. Yes they are not Clears, but still are decent for planars…

Unlike most dynamic cans these do seem to have to be broken in…50-100 hours…if they keep on this curve they will live up to the claims etc…

For Open cans the bass is really good…crank it up and the bass is machine gun stattaco like…with know audible distortion.

So will keep posting after a few more days…but I can recommend these now for sure…I ordered a set of balanced cables, dont expect much difference but I want to use the balanced out from my Jot.

Advice is burn these in for a few days before any critical listening for sure…

Alex

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Great review Alex.

My interest is in the Open Aeon 2 and was glad to read your overall recommendation of them, notably including your report on their bass.

Good choice on getting balanced cables and using them on your Jot. I have the Drop Ether CX and use them balanced on my Jotunheim–they have plenty of juice in the balanced output to satisfy the big power needs of Dan Clark headphones. Plus, they also have great clarity of sound which it seems you in particular especially like.

Look forward to your additional thoughts on the Aeon 2 Open in the days ahead.

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Lee,

At day 1 I would not have recommended these…but now its changing drastically…getting close to 40 hours listening and palying a random list of tunes…without replay gain…and so I am constantly adjusting the volume control, but at times I am not quick enough and the bass opening notes sometimes almost knocks my head off!! Its surprising how the bass is eminating from these cans…even at loud levels its very solid no driver distortation or break up that I can detect…

Ordered these yesterday: https://periaptcables.com/products/10-type-10-dual-mr-speaker?variant=13627729969257

$75 for 5ft with Hirose and 4 pin male XLR…

Alex

Note: Playing some old Dave Grusin tunes, Night-Lines, Theme from St. Elsewhere…very good wide open soundstage…pretty amazing once again…

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I agree. I’m at about 25 hours of break in and it’s amazing how much they’re changing from day to day. I"ve never had a set of cans break in in such a noticeable way. Pretty cool!!!

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Hi Andrew,

It sounds like you and Alex are having similar experiences–big change in sound signature with the different tone pad inserts, a big improvement in sound quality as break-in proceeds towards about 50 hours of usage, and you both like these headphones a lot.

Also, as I recall you have the Aeon 2 Closed, while Alex has the Open version.

Very interesting to hear your comments. Hope you’ll share more as your listening continues…Lee

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Looking forward to giving the Aeon 2 Opens a listen, maybe when the loaner program gets up and running again. It would be fun to compare them A/B/C to the Ananda and Aeolus.

Definitely think the Aeon 2’s get better the more run time they have. I am glad you guys are finding the Aeon 2’s enjoyable and I am not alone in appreciating their sound.

I am looking forward to what @Resolve thinks of the Aeon 2 Opens as well, his reviews are always very detailed and extremely well done. I think he would be the first YouTube reviewer to complete a review on the Aeon 2 Opens.

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Listening with Lyr3, Aeon2 Opens, and some older light jazz from Acoustic Alchemy, AArt and the Velvet Swing…really ethereal, open, spacious sound, three dimensional…light and airy material…clean articulate instruments…these cans with modern jazz are wonderful “now”…

I am at 3901 tunes out of 7174 on my random playlist! LOL.

Today I should get close to the high 30’s in playtime…

Al Stewart, Year of the Cat, and the tune is Year of the Cat…demos the wide soundstage these can produce…

Happy Easter!
Alex

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Anything new to report?

Also, how would you describe the “weight” of sound from the Aeon 2 CLOSED–thin to full/heavy?

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Anything new to report?

Also, how would you describe the “weight” of sound from the Aeon 2 OPENS–thin to full/heavy?