Dan Clark Aeon 2 Noire Amplifier?

[paudio]

The headband has two screws, which I tighten periodically and they just loosen up. I don't walk with them, headphones are for me a work (desk)/bed thing. If I'm outside I use Airpod-type objects.

Might need to put some very light thread locker or something.

I do not get sub bass when pressing the ear cups harder, I just tried it, being intrigued by your question. In fact it's the opposite, the bass gets worse and the highs get overpowering.

So no issue with seal/too much you think? I've had issues where pressure is created on my Austrian Audio HI-X60 and take a minute to dissipate and for bass to come in full.

I tried all the pads they give (each for at least a month, just to try to get rid of habituation). Subjectively, my impression of bass improves if I use the most absorbent pads. Of course they cannot improve the bass, they just cut the highs, it's all in my head, but there you go. Still, I remain of the opinion that it cannot do very low bass, basically at all. There's like a cut-off there, it goes off a cliff.


Very tough question. I think all my other headphones do more satisfying bass, but in terms of "liking", I feel stumped. I guess the closest would be between the ATH50xBT (which is very strong but too much) and the ATH-DSR9BT (which is a little lean but very controlled). For sure, I "like" the bass of my Paradigm 95F speakers, through RoomPerfect. It's really good.

But look, to a large extent I'm sure it's my misshapen head. I don't fret it too much. Headphone nirvana is hard to get into.

Looking at https://www-l7audiolab-com.translat..._sl=en&_x_tr_tl=fr&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Not 100% about conversion but I think at 16ohm the Gryphon can only output 3.5Vrms which I think is only 380mw. This is below DCA recommendation by about 50%.

At low volume on the Gryphon if you do sweeps with this https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/ where is the cliff? Do you get the same cliff at low volume or only high volume?

 

[symphara]

So no issue with seal/too much you think? I've had issues where pressure is created on my Austrian Audio HI-X60 and take a minute to dissipate and for bass to come in full.

No, I typically adjust them before a listening session and the seal feels right to me.

Looking at https://www-l7audiolab-com.translat..._sl=en&_x_tr_tl=fr&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Not 100% about conversion but I think at 16ohm the Gryphon can only output 3.5Vrms which I think is only 380mw. This is below DCA recommendation by about 50%.

At low volume on the Gryphon if you do sweeps with this https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/ where is the cliff? Do you get the same cliff at low volume or only high volume?

I had to switch to a Macbook for the sweeps (I normally use an iPad Pro, but apparently it doesn't support some web music API) but there's something odd. The sweeps are very loud. Playing music is not. In fact I can play music all the way to 0dB on the ifi, which is max volume on the macbook (even more, the ifi has a "turbo" mode which it goes into when you keep turning the knob). The sweeps however are in a completely different ballpark, even -10dB feels unbearable. The bass drops heavily between 30 and 20Hz on the sweeps, on the highest volume I can manage. The lower the volume, the drop starts happening sooner (for a comfortable volume, 40Hz). There's no cliff per se with tones (just my impression with music), just a very pronounced drop.

Basically, if I set the volume to something that sounds ok (loud-ish) at 1kHz, there's little sound under 40 and just about nothing under 30.

 

[oleg87]

Not 100% about conversion but I think at 16ohm the Gryphon can only output 3.5Vrms which I think is only 380mw. This is below DCA recommendation by about 50%.

I would not look to a new amp to solve the issue. If runs out of power headroom it will start distorting, but it's not like the bass response would just be missing at lower listening levels. Something else is going on.

 

[paudio]

No, I typically adjust them before a listening session and the seal feels right to me.


I had to switch to a Macbook for the sweeps (I normally use an iPad Pro, but apparently it doesn't support some web music API) but there's something odd. The sweeps are very loud. Playing music is not. In fact I can play music all the way to 0dB on the ifi, which is max volume on the macbook (even more, the ifi has a "turbo" mode which it goes into when you keep turning the knob). The sweeps however are in a completely different ballpark, even -10dB feels unbearable. The bass drops heavily between 30 and 20Hz on the sweeps, on the highest volume I can manage. The lower the volume, the drop starts happening sooner (for a comfortable volume, 40Hz). There's no cliff per se with tones (just my impression with music), just a very pronounced drop.

Basically, if I set the volume to something that sounds ok (loud-ish) at 1kHz, there's little sound under 40 and just about nothing under 30.

<25hz it's more felt than anything. What do you get using different cans that you like the bass on?

 

[paudio]

I would not look to a new amp to solve the issue. If runs out of power headroom it will start distorting, but it's not like the bass response would just be missing at lower listening levels. Something else is going on.

I would agree. I think the distortion would be nasty pretty quick?

Ifi says the Gryphon is <1ohm output impedance so shouldn't be any bass rolloff there? It's many more times lower than the headphones.

Comparing the ATH-DSR9BT the Noire has a lot less of a midbass hump. ATH50XBT has a bit more high bass and sub bass but DCA wins out at 20hz

It's probably hard to compare a corrected speaker system to headphones in terms of bass. Certainly we can compare headphones though.

Looking at the three XBass settings you would want to use just Bass. This is adding a rise starting at 1k reaching 1db at 200hz, 2.5db at 100hz and up and away up to 10db at 20hz.

So you know what frequency information you are missing in the songs that you normally hear? The Aeon have a lot of room to EQ. Maybe the XBass isn't the right kind of EQ that you need. Should be no shortage of sub bass with it on?

Mine are still in the mail. Didn't seem like anything was missing during audition while listening to LORN or Jfly or idealism. My Austrian Audio Hi-X60 bass was more polite.

 

[LordOishi]

K7 has tons of power. That's what I auditioned them on. It's like 2w per channel balanced.

Great thanks. Bit confused about the stock cable provided with the Noire, does it come with a balanced cable as standard or do I need to find an aftermarket solution? If so what might you recommend? Thanks again for reply.

 

[Jimbob54]

Great thanks. Bit confused about the stock cable provided with the Noire, does it come with a balanced cable as standard or do I need to find an aftermarket solution? If so what might you recommend? Thanks again for reply.

The million dollar question! If you buy from the DCA website you select the cable and termination. For retailers I think you will have to ask before buying. I have looked at a few sites and one is silent on cable termination and the other says 3.5/6.3mm single ended. My guess is any 3rd party retailer that doesnt specify will be selling a single ended 3.5mm/6.3mm screw on adapter but maybe @Dan Clark can confirm what gets sent to retailers as stock.

 

[LordOishi]

The million dollar question! If you buy from the DCA website you select the cable and termination. For retailers I think you will have to ask before buying. I have looked at a few sites and one is silent on cable termination and the other says 3.5/6.3mm single ended. My guess is any 3rd party retailer that doesnt specify will be selling a single ended 3.5mm/6.3mm screw on adapter but maybe @Dan Clark can confirm what gets sent to retailers as stock.

Interesting, I'd be getting delivery to UK so hopefully postage doesn't add a huge amount. On the selection from the DCA site (and sorry if this is obvious, coming from a standing start knowledge wise), is it the "4-pin XLR 2m DUMMER" I need to select which is free or is it one of the paid ones? And you wouldn't happen to know if I can use this cable with the Fiio K7 and get all the power benefit from the balanced set up there? Thanks!

 

[symphara]

I would agree. I think the distortion would be nasty pretty quick?

Ifi says the Gryphon is <1ohm output impedance so shouldn't be any bass rolloff there? It's many more times lower than the headphones.

Comparing the ATH-DSR9BT the Noire has a lot less of a midbass hump. ATH50XBT has a bit more high bass and sub bass but DCA wins out at 20hz

It's probably hard to compare a corrected speaker system to headphones in terms of bass. Certainly we can compare headphones though.

Looking at the three XBass settings you would want to use just Bass. This is adding a rise starting at 1k reaching 1db at 200hz, 2.5db at 100hz and up and away up to 10db at 20hz.

So you know what frequency information you are missing in the songs that you normally hear? The Aeon have a lot of room to EQ. Maybe the XBass isn't the right kind of EQ that you need. Should be no shortage of sub bass with it on?

Mine are still in the mail. Didn't seem like anything was missing during audition while listening to LORN or Jfly or idealism. My Austrian Audio Hi-X60 bass was more polite.

My Noires give almost no output at 20Hz. Nothing usable anyway, I can barely hear it.

By the way, everything I wrote before, regarding the test tones, is with XBass II on. If I turn off the ifi bass boost, the bass is much thinner. I could not use the Noires at all without the ifi bass boost.

I can’t really EQ them, I use them with an iPad. What I personally did was
- tried (for a whole year) to get used to their sound; forum luminaries often say that plebs like me don’t like ”accurate” reproduction because we’re used to ”innacurate” reproduction; therefore in 2022 I used no other headphone for music; this effort was however unsucessful
- switched the music I mostly used to listen with headphones, from stuff like Max Richter and A Winged Victory for the Sullen, which sound thin and insubstantial on the Noires, because that deep electronic bass is not there, to acoustic jazz, which sounds good and lets the headphones shine

Overwall there are things they’re good for, but these are not my ”end-game” headphones for sure.

PS: mine came with a regular cable (I bought it from a retailer in Switzerland) and I ordered a balanced cable from someone who makes them to order on Etsy.

 

[Jimbob54]

Interesting, I'd be getting delivery to UK so hopefully postage doesn't add a huge amount. On the selection from the DCA site (and sorry if this is obvious, coming from a standing start knowledge wise), is it the "4-pin XLR 2m DUMMER" I need to select which is free or is it one of the paid ones? And you wouldn't happen to know if I can use this cable with the Fiio K7 and get all the power benefit from the balanced set up there? Thanks!

Yes, that's the balanced free option. Be careful, shipping will be specified at checkout but not be small but be prepared to take a hit on vat and customs charges ONCE IT GETS TO UK DELIVERY CO of around 30 % of amount paid to DCA.

To use that with the k7 balanced you need a male 4.4mm pentacon to female 4 pin XLR adapter. Probs another £30 plus from ebay /alo express etc.

 

[LordOishi]

Yes, that's the balanced free option. Be careful, shipping will be specified at checkout but not be small but be prepared to take a hit on vat and customs charges ONCE IT GETS TO UK DELIVERY CO of around 30 % of amount paid to DCA.

To use that with the k7 balanced you need a male 4.4mm pentacon to female 4 pin XLR adapter. Probs another £30 plus from ebay /alo express etc.

Excellent thank you. I'll do some number crunching in that case as I can get them domestically as well. Final one from me! Would I be equally served with using SE to the E30 L30 ii stack or is the balanaced option generally better for the Noire? (i think i've phrased that right!)

 

[LordOishi]

My Noires give almost no output at 20Hz. Nothing usable anyway, I can barely hear it.

By the way, everything I wrote before, regarding the test tones, is with XBass II on. If I turn off the ifi bass boost, the bass is much thinner. I could not use the Noires at all without the ifi bass boost.

I can’t really EQ them, I use them with an iPad. What I personally did was
- tried (for a whole year) to get used to their sound; forum luminaries often say that plebs like me don’t like ”accurate” reproduction because we’re used to ”innacurate” reproduction; therefore in 2022 I used no other headphone for music; this effort was however unsucessful
- switched the music I mostly used to listen with headphones, from stuff like Max Richter and A Winged Victory for the Sullen, which sound thin and insubstantial on the Noires, because that deep electronic bass is not there, to acoustic jazz, which sounds good and lets the headphones shine

Overwall there are things they’re good for, but these are not my ”end-game” headphones for sure.

PS: mine came with a regular cable (I bought it from a retailer in Switzerland) and I ordered a balanced cable from someone who makes them to order on Etsy.

Howdy! Is it possible to share here the balanced cable you got from Etsy and / or the contact at Etsy?

 

[Jimbob54]

Excellent thank you. I'll do some number crunching in that case as I can get them domestically as well. Final one from me! Would I be equally served with using SE to the E30 L30 ii stack or is the balanaced option generally better for the Noire? (i think i've phrased that right!)

Balanced isn't inherently better. Just that the voltage out of any given amp is twice as much from balanced out vs single ended. What the DCA headphones need is current. I can't tell you which would give more current, L30 single ended or k7 balanced, someone else might.

The danger is, if you apply heavy eq and like to play loud, you will clip the amp during musical peaks.

I'd definitely pick the one with the higher clipping point into 16 ohms if you like to play loud given neither are mega bucks

Edit the L30 v2 sails past the fiio for power delivery at 16 ohms https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/topping-l30ii/

You'll find the k7 stats at the same place.

 

[LordOishi]

Balanced isn't inherently better. Just that the voltage out of any given amp is twice as much from balanced out vs single ended. What the DCA headphones need is current. I can't tell you which would give more current, L30 single ended or k7 balanced, someone else might.

The danger is, if you apply heavy eq and like to play loud, you will clip the amp during musical peaks.

I'd definitely pick the one with the higher clipping point into 16 ohms if you like to play loud given neither are mega bucks

Edit the L30 v2 sails past the fiio for power delivery at 16 ohms https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/topping-l30ii/

You'll find the k7 stats at the same place.

Super, most helpful. Thank you!

 

[symphara]

Howdy! Is it possible to share here the balanced cable you got from Etsy and / or the contact at Etsy?

Of course, the shop handle is "cxnnected". He ships from London.

 

[LordOishi]

Of course, the shop handle is "cxnnected". He ships from London.

Local to me even better. Thank you!

 

[symphara]

Local to me even better. Thank you!

You're welcome. I found my invoice, when I wrote the previous response I was on my phone and for some reason it would only find the shipping confirmation.

So I got a 2m, gray, braided, 4.4mm jack, with rhodium-plated connectors. As far as cables go this one is beautiful, it's a bit shiny grey, pretty cool, doesn't really tangle (it's quite thick), nice build quality as far as I can tell, no issues. Not cheap either but such is the audiophiliac life.

 

[LordOishi]

You're welcome. I found my invoice, when I wrote the previous response I was on my phone and for some reason it would only find the shipping confirmation.

So I got a 2m, gray, braided, 4.4mm jack, with rhodium-plated connectors. As far as cables go this one is beautiful, it's a bit shiny grey, pretty cool, doesn't really tangle (it's quite thick), nice build quality as far as I can tell, no issues. Not cheap either but such is the audiophiliac life.

They look great! Assuming that's that the main appeal, the cosmetic aspect rather than any sonic advanatage?? Cosmetic is good for me as I'd want it to fit into my battlestation set up so the colour customisation is super helpful.

 

[symphara]

They look great! Assuming that's that the main appeal, the cosmetic aspect rather than any sonic advanatage?? Cosmetic is good for me as I'd want it to fit into my battlestation set up so the colour customisation is super helpful.

I didn't buy them for the cosmetic aspect (it's just a nice-to-have for me) but because I wanted balanced cables for the Noires, hoping it might help. This particular cable maker was the quickest way for me to obtain such an item.

For example, the company I had bought the Noires from (DCA distributor in Switzerland) told me it was on special order and over a month waiting.

 

[LordOishi]

I didn't buy them for the cosmetic aspect (it's just a nice-to-have for me) but because I wanted balanced cables for the Noires, hoping it might help. This particular cable maker was the quickest way for me to obtain such an item.

For example, the company I had bought the Noires from (DCA distributor in Switzerland) told me it was on special order and over a month waiting.

Makes sense to me. Thanks again!