Dan Clark ÆON CORE Headphone Review

[listener650]

Andrew got his review of these up finally! Interested to hear if any owners here agree/disagree with his takes.

 

[Robbo99999]

I remember that HD560s and K371 are directly on the edge of this being an issue, any higher pads are problematic. Guess it makes sense to wait and see if any official distribution comes our way.

I think I remember Dan Clark saying that for these type of shaped headphones you can wear them at a slight angle so it avoids the jawbone issue under your ear if you're prone to suffering from that creating seal issues.

 

[Pictus]

Andrew got his review of these up finally! Interested to hear if any owners here agree/disagree with his takes.

I don't own any of them, but I'm more interested in FiiO's upcoming models: the FT15(closed-back/planar)
and the FT9(closed-back/dynamic); let's hope they represent a true evolution of the FT1.
In any case, when looking at the reviews, the Sennheiser HD 480 PRO comes out on top. It costs less than
half the price, is more comfortable, and can also be used with an OTL tube amplifier.

 

[HalSF]

The bursting upon the scene of the undoubtedly excellent Sennheiser HD 480 PRO as the new closed-back all-conquering hotness will last for a short honeymoon until the qualms and quibbles and second-guessing and audiophilia nervosa kicks in, and restless discontent reasserts itself in headphone land.

 

[Selkirks]

The bursting upon the scene of the undoubtedly excellent Sennheiser HD 480 PRO as the new closed-back all-conquering hotness will last for a short honeymoon until the qualms and quibbles and second-guessing and audiophilia nervosa kicks in, and restless discontent reasserts itself in headphone land.

The 480 Pro is built for utility rather than hype, it offers good sound and comfort. It lacks the exciting flair of the Aeon 2, Noire X, or XO, but the comfort makes it easier to wear for hours at a time. Maybe the core is different but the higher-priced DCA headphones feel more like impulse purchases.

 

[Zim]

I don't own any of them, but I'm more interested in FiiO's upcoming models: the FT15(closed-back/planar)
and the FT9(closed-back/dynamic); let's hope they represent a true evolution of the FT1.
In any case, when looking at the reviews, the Sennheiser HD 480 PRO comes out on top. It costs less than
half the price, is more comfortable, and can also be used with an OTL tube amplifier.

Depends on preference. The 480 is warm so anyone wanting something more accurate would be better off with the Aeon Core. And comfort entirely depends on your head. Literally tried on both headphones yesterday and the Core is way more comfortable for me.

 

[MRC01]

With 0.316 W for 94 dB and 17 ohms, I get a voltage sensitivity of 2.3 V for 94 dB.
Someone check my math? Because that seems very low sensitivity (high voltage required). If correct, this will need an amp with both high voltage and good current delivery.
For comparison, it's about 16 dB quieter than the old original HD600, at the same volume setting (voltage output). And the HD600 itself has lowish voltage sensitivity.
My specs say the HD600 requires 0.23V for 90 dB, which is 0.3645V for 94 dB, and 20*log(2.3/0.3645) = 16.
Some say the HD600 requires only 0.175V for 90 dB, which is 0.2765 for 94 dB, in which case the Aeon core is 20*log(2.3/0.2765) = 18 dB quieter.

 

[NTK]

With 0.316 W for 94 dB and 17 ohms, I get a voltage sensitivity of 2.3 V for 94 dB.
Someone check my math?

It is 0.316 V for 94 dBSPL, not 0.316 W.

 

[MRC01]

It is 0.316 V for 94 dBSPL, not 0.316 W.
...

Ah, thanks. That makes more sense. I misread "V" as "W". It's only about 3-4 dB quieter than the HD600.

 

[staticV3]

Ah, thanks. That makes more sense. I misread "V" as "W". It's only about 3-4 dB quieter than the HD600.

For 94dB, the HD600 needs 327mV and the Aeon Core 316.

So when you plug them into the same Amp without touching the volume knob, then the HD600 will play 20*log10(.327/.316)= 0.3dB louder than the Aeon Core.

 

[MRC01]

For 94dB, the HD600 needs 327mV and the Aeon Core 316.
So when you plug them into the same Amp without touching the volume knob, then the HD600 will play 20*log10(.327/.316)= 0.3dB louder than the Aeon Core.

Looks like I just missed a decimal place - the HD600 is 0.3 dB louder, not 3 dB louder. Darn slide rules!

 

[ngs428]

Reviews are stating that there is a wider soundstage on the Aeon Core vs the Noire X. The AMTS in the Noire X was supposed to improve soundstage, so I am surprised it is not better. Dan Clark himself stated the soundstage was wider on the Noire X due to the AMTS.

Thoughts on the soundstage on these 2 headphones?

 

[6speed]

Is there such a thing as a hifi iPhone dongle that can drive this headphone sufficiently?

 

[NTK]

Is there such a thing as a hifi iPhone dongle that can drive this headphone sufficiently?

The E1DA #9039S as measured by @Rja4000 can drive 3 V into 16 Ω using balanced connection. That should give you about 114 dBSPL max. Loud enough for me. There may be other dongles that can do as well or better (I didn't check).

 

[Feelas]

Not sure if it was debated in the topic, but are Aeon Cores actually better value than Noire X in general?

And how is the sentiment about driver endurance, etc.?

@6speed: if you count in Qudelix 5K as a dongle, I bet it would drive those nicely.

 

[HalSF]

The Aeon Core is the first Dan Clark headphone I’ve owned or even heard, so I can’t attest to value in terms of comparative DCA sound quality. All I know is that it’s 200 bucks less expensive than the Noire X and sounds fantastic.

I’ve been using the Qudelix T71 dongle for portable listening and it provides excellent volume for most music. The Fosi DS2 (which Dan Clark has said he’s using to listen to the Aeon Core while traveling) is also pretty good.

 

[ngs428]

Not sure if it was debated in the topic, but are Aeon Cores actually better value than Noire X in general?

And how is the sentiment about driver endurance, etc.?

@6speed: if you count in Qudelix 5K as a dongle, I bet it would drive those nicely.

Here is a comparison. I am thinking about going with the Core over the Noire X.

Dan Clark Audio AEON Core vs Noire X Comparison Review

Dan Clark Audio AEON Core vs Noire X Comparison Review

majorhifi.com

 

[Feelas]

@Dan Clark - I'd like to as about the issues with QC w/ regards to reversed polarization, discussed on Polish Audiofanatyk blog and on Head-Fi topics. Is there anything ongoing to make sure those are not happening?

On Audiofanatyk, he actually ran the test for two different samples, one (P00748) has the reversed polarity issue on one driver and the second (P00948) is polarized correctly, but has higher THD than the first one.

It would be slightly offputting to order a pair for $899 overseas and have to RMA due to reversed polarity. In this price point, cutting back on QC is not a good idea.

 

[6speed]

If one speaker is wired in reverse polarity, you get weird combing issues when the sound from each speaker combines in the room. You don't have that with headphones, so why does it matter?

 

[Feelas]

If one speaker is wired in reverse polarity, you get weird combing issues when the sound from each speaker combines in the room. You don't have that with headphones, so why does it matter?

This is not factually correct, just rewire one driver in reverse and you get a very weird one-sided stereo field with botched bass, hard to explain the result other than calling it "weird".