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Drop Dan Clark Audio Aeon Closed X

Robbo99999

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Im not sure you can use EQ preference on a third unit (Z) to determine it measures closer to unit X or unit Y measured by someone else on which the two EQs are based. I get what your thinking is , but that is making a leap or two too many to give any real weight to in my book. One EQ might just be preferable to that listener full stop regardless of how it was derived.

What if unit Z measures slap bang between X and Y if it was measured by Resolve ?
I get what you're saying too, but it doesn't matter, every piece of evidence that comes by can add weight to a theory - until it doesn't, ha! But, the likelihood you can draw a conclusion becomes ever greater with each piece of evidence that points toward fitting a theory.

I mean. We had Dan Clark himself in this very forum say both headphones were similar, not identical. Now, he may have done that to boost the sales for the RT, I can't be sure, but that statement is a lot more credible than that of a Drop employee.
If that's how he worded it then there's quite a lot of wriggle-room in that statement. It suggests that there would be noticeable frequency response differences between the two, albeit not necessarily massive. You'd kind of doubt that he would make such a vague statement if they were identical apart from "paint job/aeshetics".
 

Atratusnex

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I get what you're saying too, but it doesn't matter, every piece of evidence that comes by can add weight to a theory - until it doesn't, ha! But, the likelihood you can draw a conclusion becomes ever greater with each piece of evidence that points toward fitting a theory.


If that's how he worded it then there's quite a lot of wriggle-room in that statement. It suggests that there would be noticeable frequency response differences between the two, albeit not necessarily massive. You'd kind of doubt that he would make such a vague statement if they were identical apart from "paint job/aeshetics".
But on the other hand, if he didn't just mean “drop logo on the headband” and “different packaging/cable/ filter aka felt “ than the drop statement could be their next big shit storm. Someone here seemingly tries to play the HIFI community (either dca by inferring difference that doesn't exist/ lying to drop or drop lying ( excuse me" misunderstanding" ) to us , let's hope the right one takes the fall and this story gets cleared up for good.
 

Jimbob54

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I get what you're saying too, but it doesn't matter, every piece of evidence that comes by can add weight to a theory - until it doesn't, ha! But, the likelihood you can draw a conclusion becomes ever greater with each piece of evidence that points toward fitting a theory.


If that's how he worded it then there's quite a lot of wriggle-room in that statement. It suggests that there would be noticeable frequency response differences between the two, albeit not necessarily massive. You'd kind of doubt that he would make such a vague statement if they were identical apart from "paint job/aeshetics".

Indeed - the measured variation on the resolve units is my main concern more than what the most common FR is . Dont want to find there is large variances between many units on DCA headphones- would somewhat take the sheen off.
 

Robbo99999

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But on the other hand, if he didn't just mean “drop logo on the headband” and “different packaging/cable/ filter aka felt “ than the drop statement could be their next big shit storm. Someone here seemingly tries to play the HIFI community (either dca by inferring difference that doesn't exist/ lying to drop or drop lying ( excuse me" misunderstanding" ) to us , let's hope the right one takes the fall and this story gets cleared up for good.
Yeah, I don't know....but it would be good to have some serious clarity from both parties involved - DCA & Drop.....afterall they're responsible for pushing out these headphones, they should be able to say if they are acoustically the same as the Aeon RT or not. I'm certainly not gonna chase the reps for answers because I'm not invested in the answer, but I will help by plotting different frequency responses together once we get more measurements of the Closed X. Also, if we're gonna be using EQ it doesn't matter too much if they're the same as the Aeon RT or not, as @Jimbob54 said the channel matching or unit to unit variation could be an issue based on what we've seen, and additionally the only other thing is you want an easy to manipulate smooth frequency response if you can (free from nasty sharp peaks & dips), Aeon Closed X has been ok on this very last point apart from maybe some worrying high peaks in Sample#1 from around 10-13kHz. The jury is still out on unit to unit variation (& channel matching) though with only 2 samples measured, once @TheHighContemplator & @aandres_gm have sent their units to Oratory then that will be a total of 4 headphones measured from various sources on Harman compatible GRAS measurement rigs....and at that point if we have 3 units correlating closely to eachother whilst Sample#1 (pictured in this thread) is the outlier then we can start to definitely say that the headphone is meant to be as the 3 last units measured with Sample#1 being a somewhat faulty outlier.
 

Robbo99999

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@Atratusnex , (your links to Resolve's reviews earlier) what's the deal with Resolve's David Attenborough impressions! :p
HiFiMan_HE400se_1_Pub.pngSundara_2_pub.png
Headphones as found in the wild, save the headphones!
World Wide Fund for Protection of Headphones.png
I do kinda like it though!
 

Atratusnex

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Atratusnex

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batfunk

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Back to Topic.My Aeon closed X is on the way(shipped by DHL, bad surprise from Drop)... Do you use Headphone Amp XLR output for this model or 6.5mm output is sufficient ? (my amp is connected in RCA, XLR is used by Power amp).
If XLR is really better(more power and better measurements) , is there a cheap european alternative to Dan Clark home cable(like Amazon basics line) ? It's way too expensive(200 dollars ? Come on...)
Thanks !
Damn, I'm Just like a kid waiting for Xmas day lol
 

Jimbob54

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Back to Topic.My Aeon closed X is on the way(shipped by DHL, bad surprise from Drop)... Do you use Headphone Amp XLR output for this model or 6.5mm output is sufficient ? (my amp is connected in RCA, XLR is used by Power amp).
If XLR is really better(more power and better measurements) , is there a cheap european alternative to Dan Clark home cable(like Amazon basics line) ? It's way too expensive(200 dollars ? Come on...)
Thanks !
Damn, I'm Just like a kid waiting for Xmas day lol
What amp?
 

batfunk

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What amp?
SMSL SP200. I Will use some times Headphone Jack from my Denon x4500 too

Ps:Xlr dan clark cable is selled 109 euros in Europe(Thomann site). Still expensive...
 
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Jimbob54

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SMSL SP200. I Will use some times Headphone Jack from my Denon x4500 too

Ps:Xlr dan clark cable is selled 109 euros in Europe(Thomann site). Still expensive...
Well if I remember rightly the xlr out on the sp200 isn't balanced so zero difference to the 6.35mm.

So definitely save your money on the balanced cable.
 

batfunk

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Well if I remember rightly the xlr out on the sp200 isn't balanced so zero difference to the 6.35mm.

So definitely save your money on the balanced cable.
Thanks Sir ! I Will keep that Money to pay import taxes et DHL application fees... :-(
 

doug2761

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Thanks for all the work measuring the Aeon X and posting the EQ settings. I'm using the EQ settings based on Sample #2 and really enjoying the results. I had been using Oratory's Aeon RT settings which I also found very enjoyable; lots of clarity but a bit thin sounding. Definitely sound more correct with the Aeon X filter settings. Interested to follow the discussion to learn more about the differences between the X and the RT. I had a pair of the RT's and couldn't get them to sound right. Piano music seemed to have a few notes that were too piercing to me. Maybe unit variation or user error. Aeon X with sample #2 EQ settings is sounding good.

Short update: I bumped up the 2.2 kHz filter slightly to add a little bit more sparkle. Just a little .2 db increase seems to work a bit better to my ears.

And additional thoughts... I'm wondering if the first filter for Sample #2, the one at 568 Hz, is a bit too wide or a bit too strong. After lots of listening, the overall tone sounds a bit too dark for my tastes in longer listening sessions. Changing that filter seems to get me closer to what I like. The more I fiddle with the filters, the closer I'm getting to Oratory's settings. Totally subjective viewpoint. Both sound great and much better than stock but I think I'm back to Oratory's for much of my listening with the swap over to Sample #2 when I want a bit darker tone. Having EQ is super useful. Still interested to see how Aeon X measures directly to Aeon RT.
 
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garrettwp

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I just received my Aeon X Closed from drop. Got them during the recent sale. I am using the Qudelix 5K as my DAC with it’s parametric eq for certain listening sessions. It only has 10 bands which filters would you suggest to use for sample 2? Any recommendations on 105 settings to try? Is the 11000 needed?
 

Robbo99999

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I just received my Aeon X Closed from drop. Got them during the recent sale. I am using the Qudelix 5K as my DAC with it’s parametric eq for certain listening sessions. It only has 10 bands which filters would you suggest to use for sample 2? Any recommendations on 105 settings to try? Is the 11000 needed?
Congrats on the purchase! Re the EQ, my EQ of Sample#2 uses 11 filters, but as you've noticed 2 of those filters are at 0dB and are filters for you to customise the bass and "air" of the headphone....so given you've only got 10 filters at your disposal then instead load up all the filters apart from two customisation filters at 105Hz & 11,000Hz, that will take up 9 of your filter slots. The EQ with those 9 filters is following the Harman Curve "exactly":
DCA Aeon X Closed Sample 2 EQ.jpg

Listen to it like that, then if you want to increase or lower the bass then add the 105Hz Filter as your 10th filter, then you change the Gain of that filter to suit your bass level. If the bass level seems fine then you can always experiment with using the 11,000Hz as your 10th filter, and you'd change the gain on that to adjust the perception of "air" in the headphone. But if it sounds fine without tweaking those 2 customisation filters, then you can of course forget about them.

(Some further details and the EqualiserAPO file attached to end of following post: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...n-clark-audio-aeon-closed-x.26711/post-934592 )
 

raistlin65

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SMSL SP200. I Will use some times Headphone Jack from my Denon x4500 too

Ps:Xlr dan clark cable is selled 109 euros in Europe(Thomann site). Still expensive...

You'll be fine. I've been using them on my HiBy R5 Saber in single ended mode with a few db of sub bass boost, and haven't felt like there's any problem driving them.
 
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TheHighContemplator

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Congrats to the new owners. I haven't found any need to adjust the 11,000hz filter, @garrettwp . I also use a 100hz/Q1 filter with a +3db boost. Sometimes, depending on what I'm listening to, I drop it down to +1db.

An update, or lack thereof, on sending my set out to Oratory: I waited 7 days for a response and messaged him again to see if we can still get the measurement process going. Hopefully he's just busy and will get back to me soon. Fingers crossed.
 

Robbo99999

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Congrats to the new owners. I haven't found any need to adjust the 11,000hz filter, @garrettwp . I also use a 100hz/Q1 filter with a +3db boost. Sometimes, depending on what I'm listening to, I drop it down to +1db.

An update, or lack thereof, on sending my set out to Oratory: I waited 7 days for a response and messaged him again to see if we can still get the measurement process going. Hopefully he's just busy and will get back to me soon. Fingers crossed.
Yeah, he has been busy recently, he took significantly longer to measure my HD560s I sent him vs the two K702 I sent him earlier - I think he's just busy, and he said he did have a queue of headphones prior to him measuring my HD560s. He normally replies to messages eventually, but can take over a week sometimes - he probably gets a lot of messages! Wait another 7 days and then maybe send him a message under a new title, I feel that sometimes the messages become unrecogonised sometimes if they're in the same conversation thread - if he still doesn't come back to you, then just wait, don't keep sending.
 

elbbubria12

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Thanks for all the work measuring the Aeon X and posting the EQ settings. I'm using the EQ settings based on Sample #2 and really enjoying the results. I had been using Oratory's Aeon RT settings which I also found very enjoyable; lots of clarity but a bit thin sounding. Definitely sound more correct with the Aeon X filter settings. Interested to follow the discussion to learn more about the differences between the X and the RT. I had a pair of the RT's and couldn't get them to sound right. Piano music seemed to have a few notes that were too piercing to me. Maybe unit variation or user error. Aeon X with sample #2 EQ settings is sounding good.

Short update: I bumped up the 2.2 kHz filter slightly to add a little bit more sparkle. Just a little .2 db increase seems to work a bit better to my ears.
My first post...but felt like i needed to piggy back on the thanks as well. Also using Sample #2 with Aeon X Closed, and holy @#$%!. Might continue to play around with the 105 and 11k but sound pretty damn good at the moment. Thanks to all of you for your EQ work and testing! @Robbo99999
 
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