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
I definitely noticed them start to come into their own after about a week.
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.
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…
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 |
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.
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.
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
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.
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…
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!!!
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
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.
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
Anything new to report?
Also, how would you describe the “weight” of sound from the Aeon 2 CLOSED–thin to full/heavy?
Anything new to report?
Also, how would you describe the “weight” of sound from the Aeon 2 OPENS–thin to full/heavy?
Listening to the Aeon2C today at my workstation desktop setup, and I have to say these headphones have a good synergy for my SMSLSP200 THX amp, generally when at my desktop I use my MCTH amp with my other cans. However when listening to the Aeon2C the stage widens, more detail can be heard and the bass is much tighter. I would say this is likely a big part of the extra current that this THX amp provides. Once again an important factor to take into account with the Aeon’s. Listening to Lana Del Rey right now and pretty much every song seems to grab more detail, and an overall better sounding performance for these headphones. I can’t stress enough the more current these hungry little planars get the better they sound, you can really notice a difference from low gain on the THX amp to high gain as well.
Are you still using the tuning inserts? My Opens just arrived and I’m starting the burn in process.
Hey Everyone, this is my first post here. I’ve been active of SBAF and Headfi for a while, just discovered this place. Anyways, my Aeon 2 Open’s just arrived and I’ve put maybe 6 or 7 hours into them. My main headphone for comparison is the LCD2C through a Soekris 1541, Lake People RS08 and an iDSD Micro Black Label.
So far, I’m on the fence about the sound. My impressions are without the tuning inserts. They are decently articulate overall and the bass impact is pretty good. The staging is very intimate and somewhat boxed in. I have a slight hearing imbalance so headphones with wide stages actually bother me because the soundstage feels lopsided. So, this staging is actually my preference but I’m an odd case and if you are used to very open staging, these headphones will probably seem too closed in to you. They are about as open sounding as the ZMF Eikon’s I had which had semi-open cups.
Things I like … the detail is very good for the price. It picks up some little details that the Audeze’s miss. The soundstage has good depth and it doesn’t suffer from the two blob effect that many planer’s are hindered by. Bass impact is quite good but not as impactful as the LCD2C. That headphone is downright thunderous sometimes. Overall, the tuning is pretty cohesive. Timbre is maybe a hair unnatural and steely but again, this is right out of the gate with no burn in. Build quality is stellar, as is the comfort. They are so light and comfortable that I might be willing to ignore some of the tuning funkiness. The Audeze’s sound amazing but after an hour, I have to take them off because of the weight. If you value comfort, the Aeon’s are tough to beat.
Things I don’t like. At the moment there is some noticeable recession in the mids that causes vocals to seem thin and a tad distant. This is especially evident when songs get busy. Without any tuning inserts, the highs can be a little splashy and grainy which can cause some singers to sound a bit nasally. This is mostly heard on the iDSD BL but it is a new unit and the splashy quality is said to disappear after burn in.
The overall signature is a little dark and warm but in a pleasant way. It’s not a fatiguing headphone. The highs are maybe a tad more elevated than my preference but I’m sure the inserts can help to dial that out.
I’ll post more impressions as they burn in. I’ll also test the inserts more. I tried the lightest one (black foam) and I didn’t notice much of a difference. If they don’t change with burn in, I might not be willing to recommend them but if the burn in can fix the above issues, I’d say that they are good buy.