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Aeon 2 Noire

fredstuhl

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Hello,

first, sorry for my bad english :)

I have had the Noire 2 for 2 weeks and am very satisfied. I have adjusted it with the APO to Oratory. It has a super stage for a closed one, I'm really thrilled.
The PC is still optimised with Fidelizer Pro. The source material is Qobuz, I recently compared Tidal and Qobuz intensively and changed to Q.

I'm using it with the old JDS Labs Atom + Khades Tone Board.

But I'm wondering whether an RME ADI or another amp won't get even more out of the Noire. It's not about volume for me, but rather about even more details, depth and fullness of the music.

I don't miss anything with the Atom, but I still ask myself whether there is still a need for affordable optimisation.

Possibly through the RME ADI or maybe even a Feliks Elise (tube) amp.
Wouldn‘t worry about upgrading the amp - you want high power, low output impedance and noise below audibility threshold. After a quick search it looks like your amp has all of that. Stay away from tube amps. If you want to get more out of your great headphones by spending money on electronics, I’d rather aim for getting more amps and set them up at more places. The added convenience might help you to spend more time listening :D
 

Snoopy

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Wouldn‘t worry about upgrading the amp - you want high power, low output impedance and noise below audibility threshold. After a quick search it looks like your amp has all of that. Stay away from tube amps. If you want to get more out of your great headphones by spending money on electronics, I’d rather aim for getting more amps and set them up at more places. The added convenience might help you to spend more time listening :D

This is the way. More amps to use the headphones.

I believe tube amps are especially not that good with planar magnetic headphones.
 

DEleassar

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Thank you very much for your answers. The combi with the Atom is good and it's true, the Noire is such a great listener, really great stage for a closed one. Even songs in some albums that I didn't like to listen to, I like to listen to now. No sibilant highs, great bass, great midrange. Right now I'm listening to Hans Zimmer - Live in Prague (I already know the album by heart), but with the Noire it's really fabulous. I had the Beyerdynamic T90 before, no comparison. Now I'm going to sit back and enjoy the music.

I wish you all a nice 2. advent.
 

Snoopy

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Thank you very much for your answers. The combi with the Atom is good and it's true, the Noire is such a great listener, really great stage for a closed one. Even songs in some albums that I didn't like to listen to, I like to listen to now. No sibilant highs, great bass, great midrange. Right now I'm listening to Hans Zimmer - Live in Prague (I already know the album by heart), but with the Noire it's really fabulous. I had the Beyerdynamic T90 before, no comparison. Now I'm going to sit back and enjoy the music.

I wish you all a nice 2. advent.

I really notice the sibilant highs in my Focal Elegia since I got the Aeon 2 Noire.

Really enjoy the noire and I'm glad I didn't go with a cheaper version from Drop or the RT.

Now it's time to save up money for the DC stealth
 

Nikolay

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Good day, everybody!
I will really appreciate if someone can help me to make a choice. I understand that my question may sound irrelevant in terms of choice as I am trying to kind of compare apple to oranges, but nevertheless...I want to buy Aeon 2 Noire or Fir audio VxV. I understand that they are totally different form factor, but this fact doesn't make my choice easier. Where I live I don't have a possiblity to listen to any of these phones. I like soundstage, clarity, fun factor, bass, precise positioning...if anybody could give me any advice or had a possibility to experience both - I would really appreciate any information that will help me to make a choice. Thank You in advance)
 

RHO

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Good day, everybody!
I will really appreciate if someone can help me to make a choice. I understand that my question may sound irrelevant in terms of choice as I am trying to kind of compare apple to oranges, but nevertheless...I want to buy Aeon 2 Noire or Fir audio VxV. I understand that they are totally different form factor, but this fact doesn't make my choice easier. Where I live I don't have a possiblity to listen to any of these phones. I like soundstage, clarity, fun factor, bass, precise positioning...if anybody could give me any advice or had a possibility to experience both - I would really appreciate any information that will help me to make a choice. Thank You in advance)
For 1k I would go for the full sized headphones 100% of the time, given both are decent products.
If I were you I would go for the Aeon 2 Noir and later get the Blessing 2 Dusk or something like the KATO (both from Moondrop).
Good full size headphones always sound better than good IEMs.
 

Nikolay

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For 1k I would go for the full sized headphones 100% of the time, given both are decent products.
If I were you I would go for the Aeon 2 Noir and later get the Blessing 2 Dusk or something like the KATO (both from Moondrop).
Good full size headphones always sound better than good IEMs.
Thank You very much for the fast reply. It feels a little bit easier at the moment
 

DEleassar

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I'm currently listening to Daft Punk - Random Access Memories via Qobuz. Thought I knew the album. What the Noire reproduces there, is already phenomenal. Lose yourself to dance, terrific easily noticeable bass that massages the eardrums. Fantastic album with the Noire.
 

Snoopy

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I'm currently listening to Daft Punk - Random Access Memories via Qobuz. Thought I knew the album. What the Noire reproduces there, is already phenomenal. Lose yourself to dance, terrific easily noticeable bass that massages the eardrums. Fantastic album with the Noire.

Listening to the same album. My Singxer SA1 is running in high gain mode and I'm at probably 75% of maximum volume and there is no distortion at all. Bass sounds wonderful.

I don't feel like the noire are "screaming" at me. If I do this with my focal Elegia at high volume , I get exactly that feeling.

The Singxer has some 5.5-6 watts into 32 ohm. And the Noire sound beautiful with it.
 

Nikolay

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I'm currently listening to Daft Punk - Random Access Memories via Qobuz. Thought I knew the album. What the Noire reproduces there, is already phenomenal. Lose yourself to dance, terrific easily noticeable bass that massages the eardrums. Fantastic album with the Noire.
Good day to You, dear friend) Could You please tell me what kind of stage do the Noirs reproduce in terms of width, depth, height and instrumental positioning? Is it out of Your head experience? (Of course if the quality of the recording suggests grand stage)
 

DEleassar

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Good day to You, dear friend) Could You please tell me what kind of stage do the Noirs reproduce in terms of width, depth, height and instrumental positioning? Is it out of Your head experience? (Of course if the quality of the recording suggests grand stage)
Good evening, I'm having a bit of a hard time with the stage description, but I'm happy to try. The reproduction is very clear, without a curtain. The main voice in the vocals is reproduced quite centrally, already directly in front of you. The localization of the music in general is well locatable outside the head. In some places in songs I had also sometimes moved the head to the side, because I thought there is something. In final passages in a song, the width often goes on leaps and bounds (in a positive sense). The width is not more than shoulder width, depth is imho well present. Compared to the Beyerdynamic T90, which presented almost everything on one line, the Noire has a clearly locatable depth. Signal changes, e.g. drums that change from the right to the left side, are very well perceptible, or effects that come from further back on the left then closer to the left front. I found this very impressive with Muse - Simulation Theory - Algorithm.

It's not like a concert stage where you sit in the 1 - 3 row, but rather you are almost on stage. Nevertheless, the Noire is able to represent the music really great. I like it very much. Certainly there are certainly even better headphones, but I have no thoughts to add it or even change (Maybe someday to the Stealth). Unfortunately, I can not list more comparisons with other headphones. In any case, I enjoy every moment when I listen to music with them.
 

Nikolay

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Good evening, I'm having a bit of a hard time with the stage description, but I'm happy to try. The reproduction is very clear, without a curtain. The main voice in the vocals is reproduced quite centrally, already directly in front of you. The localization of the music in general is well locatable outside the head. In some places in songs I had also sometimes moved the head to the side, because I thought there is something. In final passages in a song, the width often goes on leaps and bounds (in a positive sense). The width is not more than shoulder width, depth is imho well present. Compared to the Beyerdynamic T90, which presented almost everything on one line, the Noire has a clearly locatable depth. Signal changes, e.g. drums that change from the right to the left side, are very well perceptible, or effects that come from further back on the left then closer to the left front. I found this very impressive with Muse - Simulation Theory - Algorithm.

It's not like a concert stage where you sit in the 1 - 3 row, but rather you are almost on stage. Nevertheless, the Noire is able to represent the music really great. I like it very much. Certainly there are certainly even better headphones, but I have no thoughts to add it or even change (Maybe someday to the Stealth). Unfortunately, I can not list more comparisons with other headphones. In any case, I enjoy every moment when I listen to music with them.
Oh thank You very much for such a detailed answer. I really appreciate Your effort and time dedicated to this reply. It seems like Noir will suit me perfectly. Again thank You very much!!!
 

Diatoun

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But I'm wondering whether an RME ADI or another amp won't get even more out of the Noire. It's not about volume for me, but rather about even more details, depth and fullness of the music.
I confirm.
I use my aeon 2 noire with a Qudelix 5k, PowerDac V2.1, a Topping 10s symmetrical + SMSL SH-8S and an adi 2 dac fs.
Nothing feels as good as the adi 2 dac fs, no idea what really makes the difference.
 

paudio

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I confirm.
I use my aeon 2 noire with a Qudelix 5k, PowerDac V2.1, a Topping 10s symmetrical + SMSL SH-8S and an adi 2 dac fs.
Nothing feels as good as the adi 2 dac fs, no idea what really makes the difference.
Do you feel like there is a lack of power at reasonable levels on the Qudelix? Have a used pair on their way to me. Balanced 2.5mm out of my Qudelix is the most powerful amp I own.
 

ehabheikal

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I received these today and I had to make this thread to gush over how fantastic they are!

I bought a pair of Hifiman Ananda as my first “audiophile” headphones, based on the usual subjective reviews and found myself struggling with the sound signature. Resolved this when I found AutoEQ and eventually oratory’s EQ for them (lots of discoveries regarding target curves and the research around listener preferences along the way).

Over time I realised I’d be better served with something closed and settled on the Noire for two reasons. Compliance to the Harman target is almost as good as the recently reviewed Stealth (on the go EQ options for iOS users are limited to the Qudelix 5k and it’s PEQ and that would mean yet another battery to charge) and their low weight and folding design makes them more useful than anything comparable.

View attachment 151115

After receiving them today, I was shocked by the low weight and excellent comfort. I get the impression that some manufacturers deliberately put out heavy and bulky designs to appear more “serious” (a lot like the cable manufacturers), but in my view an uncomfortable headphone is an inexcusable failure in design.

Build quality is good but the star of the show is the tonality: it’s sublime! Bar a bit of extra energy around 120hz and in the high treble (both of which are subtle enough to not be bothersome) they are perfect out of the box. I thought I might miss the soundstage of the Ananda but my fears were unfounded as they are remarkably open sounding for a closed design.

These are the first headphones I’ve ever heard that I am entirely happy with out of the box, though they do need some power. Dongle suggestions anyone?

Bravo to @Dan Clark and the team for delivering such a thoughtfully designed product. Given how impressed I am by the Noire, I can only imagine how good the Stealth is!
Sorry for the trivial request, can you link me the page where you got the frequency response above? Did they also measure distortion?
 

staticV3

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Sorry for the trivial request, can you link me the page where you got the frequency response above? Did they also measure distortion?
That page is the oratory Grapher tool, a web app where you can compare headphone measurements by oratory. Unfortunately it's in the process of changing servers and so currently offline.

However, the underlying data is the same as in oratory's PDFs, so you can use those in the meantime: https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/wiki/index/list_of_presets/
 

ehabheikal

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Fifoumed

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Hi,
I have an Elegia for night listening and am bothered when I compare it with my Quad Era-1 (both Oratory Equalized), even the Crinacle zero sounds better and more resolving... It's confortable, but not that précise and I seriously miss definition...
The DC Aeon 2 Noire is said to sound "open" for a closed back pair of headphones, and noticeably more expensive than the Aeon 2 closed.
As I like thé Oratory Eq and will apply it to get a Harman response curve, did someone try to compare the Oratory Equalised Aeon Closed 1, 2 and noire to know if, with Eq, the quality upgrade of the models through the years is clearly perceptible, and it's worth investing in the Noire ?
 

Rayman30

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Hi,
I have an Elegia for night listening and am bothered when I compare it with my Quad Era-1 (both Oratory Equalized), even the Crinacle zero sounds better and more resolving... It's confortable, but not that précise and I seriously miss definition...
The DC Aeon 2 Noire is said to sound "open" for a closed back pair of headphones, and noticeably more expensive than the Aeon 2 closed.
As I like thé Oratory Eq and will apply it to get a Harman response curve, did someone try to compare the Oratory Equalised Aeon Closed 1, 2 and noire to know if, with Eq, the quality upgrade of the models through the years is clearly perceptible, and it's worth investing in the Noire ?

If its detail retrieval that you are after, take a good look at Austrian Audio Hi-X60, imo they are both technically superior and handle EQ better. For reference, I have owned the Elegia, Aeon RT Closed and now the Hi-X60.

I would describe the Elegia as decently resolving, but they sound stuffy and small, tuning is a bit wonky for me and EQ did not do great, lacking body compared to the open back Focals.

I would describe the Aeon RT Closed as dry, very lacking in bass presence and mid range warmth, about as resolving as Elegia, maybe a touch less.

I would describe Austrian Audio Hi-X60 as bright and analytical, with high detail retrieval, slightly recessed mids and a bit dry, but after EQ much improved, and better than the other 2 in most ways. This is not fake detail either, I constantly find flaws with recordings, little things I have not heard before, and I own other sets from Audeze and Sennheiser. Now if you after a big sound that is a lot of fun, LCD2 Closed are great! just a bit heavy. I cannot speak for the Noire, but I suspect its only a mild improvement from Aeon 2 RT/X models.
 
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