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Drop Dan Clark Audio Aeon Closed X

solderdude

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People can't 'decide' this. They can only go on published or independently measured specs.
12dB difference is rather wide range.

Its a bit like the Carver amp. Carver states 75W but buyers get to decide whether the actual output power is 75W or 5W or something in between (75W vs 5W is a 12dB difference)
 

Jimbob54

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People can't 'decide' this. They can only go on published or independently measured specs.
12dB difference is rather wide range.

Its a bit like the Carver amp. Carver states 75W but buyers get to decide whether the actual output power is 75W or 5W or something in between (75W vs 5W is a 12dB difference)
Never heard of phantom power? ;-) 60 whole watts of it somewhere in that Carver.
 

Robbo99999

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People can't 'decide' this. They can only go on published or independently measured specs.
12dB difference is rather wide range.

Its a bit like the Carver amp. Carver states 75W but buyers get to decide whether the actual output power is 75W or 5W or something in between (75W vs 5W is a 12dB difference)
Point I'm making is the Drop DCA Closed X has not been measured for sensitivity anywhere (open to stand corrected on this), so people can either believe the Drop specs for the product or think it's closer to the Aeon Closed RT.....either way I'm not interested in arguing "semantics" with you.
 
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Jimbob54

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Point I'm making is the Drop DCA Closed X has not been measured for sensitivity anywhere (open to stand corrected on this), so people can either believe the Drop specs for the product or think it's closer to the Aeon Closed RT.....either way I'm not interested in arguing "semantics" with you.
People can also believe that the RT and X models are the same (or different). But belief don't make it so.
 

raistlin65

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Could be the method. Could be someone made an error.
Amir measures at 400Hz which is not the same as between 300Hz and 3kHz.
The difference is 5dB.

Sometimes my measurements are 1 or 2 dB off from Amir's measurements which is mostly because look for average levels in the 300-2kHz range.
Never 5dB though.

Do planar magnetics tend to vary that much in sensitivity based upon the frequency response?

I'd always guess that sensitivity variance based on frequency with dynamic headphones was related to their impedance changes. But that is a big assumption on my part.
 

solderdude

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index.php

At 400Hz the left channel is 97.4dB/V the right channel is 99dB/V, at 3kHz the right channel is 91dB/V.
That is about 8dB variance depending at which frequency one measures.
On average (between 300Hz and 2kHz the sensitivity is around 97.5dB/V

The sensitivity could be increased by: more windings closer together, lower impedance, membrane-magnet distance smaller, higher magnetic strength.
Playing with these variables the sensitivity between an HE6 (90dB/V) and Ananda (113/dB/V) can easily span 23dB.

The problem with DCA is that Dan does not specify such basic numbers so we have to depend on measurements of others.
No idea who determined the Closed X would be 90dB/mW. In that case Dan increased the efficiency substantially for that model only.
 

Robbo99999

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People can also believe that the RT and X models are the same (or different). But belief don't make it so.
Indeed & of course
 

JanesJr1

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Amir hasn't measured this headphone yet (you mentioned his sensitivity figure). 1000mv = 1 Volt. But anyway, you'd use the specs for the Closed X from here:
and you'd plug them into a headphone calculator here:
and you'd get the following:
91dB SPL requires 1mw and 0.11 Volts and 8.9 millamps current:
View attachment 182394

94dB SPL requires 2mw and 0.16 Volts and 12.6 millamps current:
View attachment 182397


104dB SPL requires 20mw and 0.5 Volts and 40 millamps current:
View attachment 182399

114dB SPL requires 200mw and 1.58 Volts and 126 millamps current:
View attachment 182400

So that should give you an idea how to use the calculators and where/which numbers to input.
Super helpful... thank you!
 

boogie

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@Resolve & @TheHighContemplator, everyone else in this thread & especially owners of this headphone - I've created two new EQ's for this DCA Aeon X Closed headphone now that @Resolve has provided a measurement of a second sample. Find attached at the end of the post the EqualiserAPO config files for both EQ's.

Following see a comparison of the measurements of Sample#1 and Sample#2 compared along with the average curve created from the two (blue line):
View attachment 157855

Following are the two new EQ's I've created.

DCA Aeon X Closed - Sample #2 EQ:
This one is using just the Sample#2 measurement. Since the channel matching was good on this unit in contrast to the first sample that Resolve measured, then it's probably a little more likely this particular measurement is more representative of any given unit out there in the wild. I've kept Q values for the filters low and not been too crazy about matching the Harman Target with super close accuracy because this is an EQ based off just one measured unit, therefore for other units out there that will have this EQ applied it would make no sense & be counterproductive to use narrow sharp filters - the EQ needs to be more broad ranging, hence wider & lower Q filters.
Adjust the Gain(dB) of the two Shelf Filters to personal taste, one is for bass and the other for air/treble - at 105Hz & 11000Hz respectively.
View attachment 157854

DCA Aeon X Closed - Average of the two Samples EQ:
This is an EQ of the Average Curve (blue line in first pic of this post) of Sample#1 & Sample#2. So this EQ is assuming that both samples that Resolve has measured are representative of the spread of units that could be seen out there in the wild. I feel that Sample #2 is gonna be a more accurate reflection of headphones out there, due to it's good channel matching....sample#1 seemed a little faulty in my view.....having said that I'm providing this average EQ in case sample#1 was representative of what could be received by the customer.
Adjust the Gain(dB) of the two Shelf Filters to personal taste, one is for bass and the other for air/treble - at 105Hz & 11000Hz respectively.
View attachment 157857

Owners of this headphone should feel free to try both EQ's and it would be interesting to see what you owners think to both EQ's in terms of which one you think sounds best or most faithful to the Harman Curve (try to match the volumes/loudness first) - this might provide some elucidation into if sample#1 was somewhat faulty or not. If the EQ for Sample#2 is preferred (not the AverageEQ), then this starts to provide indications that Sample#2 is more representative of headphones out there than Sample#1. Looking forward to hearing your impressions!

EDIT: if you add boost to the Shelf Filters during your customisations then make sure you cover the extra boost by increasing the Negative Preamp (making it more negative), otherwise you will get digital clipping.
On my X closed, sample 2 is the superior option by a long shot. Truly sounds amazing, Emu teaks taking a break now, thanks for sharing!
 

raistlin65

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The problem with DCA is that Dan does not specify such basic numbers so we have to depend on measurements of others.
No idea who determined the Closed X would be 90dB/mW. In that case Dan increased the efficiency substantially for that model only.

Dan apparently told Brent that Aeon RT Closed are 91db/mw

"Specs for the Æon RT Closeds aren’t currently shown on the Dan Clark Audio website, but Clark told me they have a rated impedance of 12.5 ohms, and he estimates the sensitivity at 91dB."


So Dan might have told Drop the same thing for the Aeon Closed X. Or Drop simply used that number because it looks better than the 86db/mw Brent measured for the Aeon RT.
 

solderdude

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No idea why @Dan Clark doesn't do an actual measurement instead of giving a fictional 'estimation'.
 

Robbo99999

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On my X closed, sample 2 is the superior option by a long shot. Truly sounds amazing, Emu teaks taking a break now, thanks for sharing!
That's good to hear, always good to have created something for somebody that they can get some value from! Also, it's another pointer that "Sample 2" could be closer to the truth of most units out there.
 

doug2761

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Phoney

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Robbo99999

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Oratory updated his list of EQ Presets and added the Aeon Closed X. Happy days https://www.dropbox.com/s/sevdlrhlqqkdg92/Dan Clark Audio Aeon X Closed.pdf?dl=0
Hey, well that's good! Was that your unit that he measured? Have you got it back yet & tried it?

After just eyeballing the measurement, it's got some traits of both sample #1 & #2, praps just some standard unit to unit variation to explain the differences that we have seen so far. In fact it probably looks more closer to the average of Sample #1 & #2, blue line in following pic, although I've only eyeballed it, I'd have to import & compare in REW to be sure.
index.php

Just gave these settings a brief try. Sounds really good. Different than the sample 2 EQ. I can see swapping between these two depending on what I'm listening to. Cheers to you Oratory for measuring and publishing and this thread for pulling it all together.
 

vole-boy

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I've been lurking around this thread for a while, and this week took possession of some second hand, as new, Drop Closed Xs sourced from a well known online auction site. I've given myself a crash course in Linux equalization (EasyEffects is GOOD), and for the last days have been auditioning the various EQ options (Oratory's vs Sample 1 vs Sample 2 vs Flat). For me it's very (and surprisingly) clear what hits my preferences: Sample 2 wins easily (just a really full, expansive sound and great bass that I can't get enough of), Oratory's settings by comparison sound a little teenier drier and better behaved (less open, a bit tinny up top and lacking in bass), then Sample 1 (a bit lacking in...something, to use the technical term :rolleyes:) and then no EQ. I like a bit of a full bass, so I'm guessing that people who go for precision would be more impressed by Oratory's EQ. I haven't AB'd these settings at all, so I'm not sure if these observations are at all helpful, but if nothing else it's another vote in favour of sample #2 over sample #1. I'll repeat the massive thanks to everyone who's been measuring and EQing and corralling information here. It's really, really appreciated!
 

vole-boy

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I should add that I also tried applying Oratory's EQ settings for the Aeon RT. I quickly unapplied them.
 

Robbo99999

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I've been lurking around this thread for a while, and this week took possession of some second hand, as new, Drop Closed Xs sourced from a well known online auction site. I've given myself a crash course in Linux equalization (EasyEffects is GOOD), and for the last days have been auditioning the various EQ options (Oratory's vs Sample 1 vs Sample 2 vs Flat). For me it's very (and surprisingly) clear what hits my preferences: Sample 2 wins easily (just a really full, expansive sound and great bass that I can't get enough of), Oratory's settings by comparison sound a little teenier drier and better behaved (less open, a bit tinny up top and lacking in bass), then Sample 1 (a bit lacking in...something, to use the technical term :rolleyes:) and then no EQ. I like a bit of a full bass, so I'm guessing that people who go for precision would be more impressed by Oratory's EQ. I haven't AB'd these settings at all, so I'm not sure if these observations are at all helpful, but if nothing else it's another vote in favour of sample #2 over sample #1. I'll repeat the massive thanks to everyone who's been measuring and EQing and corralling information here. It's really, really appreciated!
Another person that prefers Sample#2 then. The differences we're seeing might just be down to unit to unit variation. It could well be that Sample#2 measurement is more representative of most units out there, which is why you might like it more as it might match your unit closer. This idea would be even further validated if for example you knew you liked the Harman Curve, from perhaps Harman EQ's you've used on a variety of other headphones.
 
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