Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire Review

[vazakh]

Another symptom is sound crackling and the balancing issue "fixing itself" if the volume is loud enough. This is several years late but I found out how to solve this.

I disassembled the unit by taking off the ear pad and carefully unscrewing the housing, and wiped the electrical contacts with an alcohol tissue. In particular I did this with the rectangular piece which lays on top of the speaker, it has 2 or 3 contact points on it. One thing to notice here is that these two parts are held together by a single screw in the casing. From the bottom-up, it's the second screw inside the ear-cup. It's likely that the contacts could become weaker over time due to dirt and/or the screw becomes loose over time. I've confirmed that when the screw is screwed in lightly but not all the way in I can experience these issues. Once I've re-assembled everything and tightened up the screwn, it's working perfectly. I guess the design could be improved a bit in this regard, but it's working solidly now.

Cheers!

There was a problem with the channels being unbalanced (the resistance of the left was 27 Ohms, the right - 13 Ohms). I solved the problem with the help of this video:

 

[MbphotoX]

We use Molex not JST and it is never related to channel imbalance. If a Molex connector fails you have no output on one channel, not imbalance. We don't use LEMO on the cups, either, it's a Hirose-style connector.

Imbalance in the AEON line was a historical issue related to the original mechanism for getting contact to the driver which could result in an intermittent or high-impedance connection, this was the source of imbalance. The problem wasn't huge but it was the biggest support issue for AEON, so the system was totally redesigned in early 2024 to use the approach we developed for Stealth, Expanse and E3, which has been extremely reliable. As a result channel imbalance for AEON 2 made after March 2024 and 100% of NOIRE X is an order of magnitude lower than older units and is no longer a material support issue.

Hey Dan
How can one tell the manufacturing date? Is it in the EAN code?

(Contemplating getting a used Aeon2 Noire but hesitant about your "we repair for first owners" policy.)

 

[Jimster480]

Hey Dan
How can one tell the manufacturing date? Is it in the EAN code?

(Contemplating getting a used Aeon2 Noire but hesitant about your "we repair for first owners" policy.)

I had no idea that was ever a policy! I bought a used Aeon Flow Closed like 8? (maybe more?) years ago now and have never had an issue... had to replace the pads and maybe the headband.... but I bought the parts straight from DC and installed them myself!

 

[MbphotoX]

I had no idea that was ever a policy! I bought a used Aeon Flow Closed like 8? (maybe more?) years ago now and have never had an issue... had to replace the pads and maybe the headband.... but I bought the parts straight from DC and installed them myself!

My question was regarding the apparently common failure of those headphones, where channel imbalance would occur as a result of internal contacts failing.

Dan said in the post I replied to that they would extend the warranty and repair/replace headphones for affected owners.
Since this seems to be a manufacturing issue, I don't quite understand why people purchasing a used pair would be exempt of the warranty?

 

[MbphotoX]

@Dan Clark

Any plans in the future of bringing that AMTS tech into something like Aeon line up and would cost about 1/2 or less than the Flagship planars? (they're too expensive for a lot people). A smaller AMTS with the same planar surface volume as current Aeon headphones would solve these resonance peaks and provide a more natural timbre to our ears

did you get the Noire X?

 

[Illtrick]

After careful inspection I'm not under the impression that my issues on my particular pair are in any way related to connector degradation.

I often encounter channel imbalance and have corrected it by cleaning the actual diaphragm. What I observe is that the screws that are used are of a rather soft metal where tiny little shards shed off when tightened into the screw bosses. Those shards then work their way into the diaphragm shorting small sections of the traces. It's been 3-4 times now that I've had to disassemble one or both the drivers to clean off the shards. The debris is visible to the naked eye though quite tiny.

First I use a little camera lens air blower to blow off anything easy followed by gently "dabbing" the diaphragm with the sticky side of blue painters tape. The second technique is very effective as long as you are gentle, I'm sure you could easily damage the diaphragm if done improperly.

The first few times I clean them out I assumed the source of the shards was manufacturing or something else, it wasn't until the most recent time that I noticed just how soft the screws were and how easy it was to create little shavings/shards, so from now on I'm also cleaning and inspecting the threads on the screws before reassemble.

If I notice significant imbalance I'll crank the volume and sometimes the force of the diaphragm moving actually displaces the shard, temporarily eliminating the short and returning volume balance.

 

[Robbo99999]

After careful inspection I'm not under the impression that my issues on my particular pair are in any way related to connector degradation.

I often encounter channel imbalance and have corrected it by cleaning the actual diaphragm. What I observe is that the screws that are used are of a rather soft metal where tiny little shards shed off when tightened into the screw bosses. Those shards then work their way into the diaphragm shorting small sections of the traces. It's been 3-4 times now that I've had to disassemble one or both the drivers to clean off the shards. The debris is visible to the naked eye though quite tiny.

First I use a little camera lens air blower to blow off anything easy followed by gently "dabbing" the diaphragm with the sticky side of blue painters tape. The second technique is very effective as long as you are gentle, I'm sure you could easily damage the diaphragm if done improperly.

The first few times I clean them out I assumed the source of the shards was manufacturing or something else, it wasn't until the most recent time that I noticed just how soft the screws were and how easy it was to create little shavings/shards, so from now on I'm also cleaning and inspecting the threads on the screws before reassemble.

If I notice significant imbalance I'll crank the volume and sometimes the force of the diaphragm moving actually displaces the shard, temporarily eliminating the short and returning volume balance.

Holy Shmoly, that's detailed! I wonder if @Dan Clark would want to know about this or comment on the reality of it. (It smells like it could be paranoia or indeed real in some cases, but it's good the manufacturer to know or comment). You'd also think it wouldn't be a problem unless you're taking your headphone apart & putting it back together a few times or if it comes that way from the factory.