Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire Review

[Dan Clark]

I'm just getting confused with reading all the pluses & minuses here, could you re-phrase this to make it less ambiguous. (There's a lot of conflicting + & - signs).

More caffeine. Fixing the OP.

 

[Jimbob54]

I'm just getting confused with reading all the pluses & minuses here, could you re-phrase this to make it less ambiguous. (There's a lot of conflicting + & - signs).

Pretty sure they are all reductions, no gains.

 

[Dan Clark]

Pretty sure they are all reductions, no gains.

I had put in some "+" as a very unclear shortcut to "frequencies greater than..." My editor is going to fire me.

 

[Jimbob54]

I had put in some "+" as a very unclear shortcut to "frequencies greater than..." My editor is going to fire me

 

[jdjung]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one using a white and one black filter, as this combo has been my default since I received my Noires. I apparently have the same tastes as Dan Clark! I can see the reasoning to have these brighter stock with no filters. You can more easily lower the highs using filter pads but doing the reverse would be more challenging. I love the fact that we can tune these to our taste. I have fallen in love with my pair and love the carbon fiber side panels. These are also the most comfortable headphones I own.

As an aside, I believe the default should be the with the more neutral foam inserts installed and instructions on removing them if you want higher frequencies. This would make it easier for dealers and reviewers. I would not discontinue not including the pad filters.

 

[Robbo99999]

I had put in some "+" as a very unclear shortcut to "frequencies greater than..." My editor is going to fire me.

Cool, that's a lot better now, easy to read! (Do you want to put a minus sign in front of the 2dB though for the Black Felt).

 

[CedarX]

EDIT: In general the reductions are strongest for the peaks and troughs and less in between.

Does it mean that these Felt filters have a small dynamic (compressor) effect? In others words, they cannot be simulated exactly with a simple EQ?

 

[Dan Clark]

Does it mean that these Felt filters have a small dynamic (compressor) effect? In others words, they cannot be simulated exactly with a simple EQ?

No, it's simply that they will absord a degree of reflected energy as well as the initial wave and thereby reduce the effect of standing waves, so the effect on reflections is magnified relative to the initial signal.

 

[PeteL]

I'm not sure why you can't plug your preferred headphones into whatever source you need:

I can, that's why I chose efficient headphones

Hardware-wise, I can do that with just a carefully-chosen dongle and a couple of adapters, even with my current-demanding DCA headphones (and it's even a balanced connection). I haven't used it personally, but if you need portable flexibility with multiple streaming signal sources, I read that the Qdelix 5k dongle does that pretty well, and also makes installing an EQ for particular models of headphone pretty easy if you don't want to have to build an EQ from the ground up. And by using the Qdelix dongle, it means you've got standard endpoint EQ for most possible source devices.

Yes I could buy a Qdelix, I doubt it would power these Noire properly but I can be wrong. I use a decently powerful "dongle" A Bluewave Get. Sounds great

With regard to having to EQ headphones vs. buying a headphone with an acceptable EQ off-the-shelf, I guess most of the world finds buying off-the-shelf good enough. But it raises the question: are you buying headphones as a general electronics consumer (based on a blend of various convenience and interface features), or as an audiophile (based first priority on sound quality)?

Indeed sound quality is very important to me, that's the first priority, along with confort.

I think I agree with you that it is hard to find a headphone that is FR-wise a jack-of-all-trades. But as a result, I find the idea, um, threatening to lose or forego the ability to fine-tune things after the purchase. I mean, I'm kind of amateur on the electronics-side of being an audiophile, but the whole thing of careful listening, and perfecting playback as I get better at the listening, is the REASON I am an audiophile. I think that having to buy headphones based on my preferences for comfort, dynamic range, sensitivity, affordability, etc. AND ALSO with the exact FR curve I need to fit my own HTF and music preferences would be an impossible game of 3D chess that I wouldn't enjoy. It would be lightning-strike-lucky if I it worked. I'm much happier getting something with vaguely Harman-compliant FR curve and EQing it later, as long as the other comfort, interface, SQ and cost features meet my need.

In other words, as primarily an audiophile consumer, the ability to EQ makes things simpler for me, not more complex. And I can adapt as I go along.

I don't really get your point, A good sounding headphone should sound good for any music preference. Yes it's about what sounds good to you and it's totally OK to use EQ to fit your "own HRTF", I use EQ myself but I don't have one for all my sources.

 

[JanesJr1]

I can, that's why I chose efficient headphones


Yes I could buy a Qdelix, I doubt it would power these Noire properly but I can be wrong. I use a decently powerful "dongle" A Bluewave Get. Sounds great

Indeed sound quality is very important to me, that's the first priority, along with confort.

I don't really get your point, A good sounding headphone should sound good for any music preference. Yes it's about what sounds good to you and it's totally OK to use EQ to fit your "own HRTF", I use EQ myself but I don't have one for all my sources.

My short answer is that I've never heard a headphone or IEM that I was satisfied with out of the box. Maybe I misunderstood you, but on my first reading, I thought you were hoping (1) for a headphone you didn't have to EQ, and (2) if you DO have to EQ, you want a headphone you could hook up to almost anything with a common EQ profile. Maybe that wasn't your point, but if it was, then I think (1) kind of depends on the listener, and (2) is pretty much possible one way or another.

Lest it go unsaid, if you were aiming at a universal EQ engine -- ie (2) --, I agree! If I didn't do all my headphone listening out of my laptops, I'd probably have that Qdelix. (I have read several posts on ASR saying that the Q will handle DCA phones ok, but I haven't tried it myself.)

 

[PeteL]

My short answer is that I've never heard a headphone or IEM that I was satisfied with out of the box. Maybe I misunderstood you, but on my first reading, I thought you were hoping (1) for a headphone you didn't have to EQ, and (2) if you DO have to EQ, you want a headphone you could hook up to almost anything with a common EQ profile. Maybe that wasn't your point, but if it was, then I think (1) kind of depends on the listener, and (2) is pretty much possible one way or another.

Lest it go unsaid, if you were aiming at a universal EQ engine -- ie (2) --, I agree! If I didn't do all my headphone listening out of my laptops, I'd probably have that Qdelix. (I have read several posts on ASR saying that the Q will handle DCA phones ok, but I haven't tried it myself.)

OK, I get your point. Some of these headphones designers do put a lot of effort and ressources in tuning their product to a certain tonality that they think would please the buyer. If you make something that absolutely need your customer to purchase an other device to enjoy it, well all these efforts are a failure. On this specific, Yes I did see some find it satisfactory with some dongles, but Amir said the ADI-2 is barely enough. The sensitivity numbers are what they are despite what some could say. My own experience is that sound quality takes a massive hit when trying to drive such a low sensitivity and low impedance with something that have anemic power, I feel that some think that since it's loud enough, it's good, but bass punch and dynamics gets heavily impacted if the Voltage output allows for loud level but the device can't supply the current. I didn't try the Qdelix but I did try similarly powered dongles with difficult to drive Planars. No EQ will save insufficient power.

 

[Verig]

There are reviews of immensily powerful headphone amps here. And at the same time people insist on driving a railroad nail with a dongle. What are those powerful amps with great reviews needed for? They are just snake oil, no one needs power? Look at the headphone sensitivity chart here, these are one of the worst you can find anywhere. So if these don't need a proper amp... what does?
I agree with PeteL, "loud enough" does not tell how the amp performs.

 

[staticV3]

I agree with PeteL, "loud enough" does not tell how the amp performs.

I'm fairly convinced that having more Amp headroom does not increase sound quality in any way.
In my experience, a weak Amp playing at 90% will sound identical to an overkill Amp playing at 10%, if you do proper level matching.

Though should you have measurements showing otherwise, then I'd love to see them!
The obvious diferences in "authority, dynamics, slam, impact, ..." that people claim to hear when they upgrade their Amp should be child's play to measure.

 

[Verig]

I'm not talking about headroom as in simply unused power. Most small amps I've tried just clip horribly and you have loud because of that. Volume and dynamics should scale smoothly and every dB will require a lot more than the previous one.

Your example tells about two amps that can handle their job. One barely, the other very well. That does not tell us anything.

 

[Verig]

Qdelix outputs a bit more than specced and in balanced mode it's actually quite powerful, as I said earlier. But that 13Ohm load will be a limiting factor.
I'm sure it will work for some, depends on music taste and loudness habits too, but just saying that dongles work is not very good recommendation.

 

[majingotan]

I'm not talking about headroom as in simply unused power. Most small amps I've tried just clip horribly and you have loud because of that. Volume and dynamics should scale smoothly and every dB will require a lot more than the previous one.

Your example tells about two amps that can handle their job. One barely, the other very well. That does not tell us anything.

I have a KT88 triode-strapped SET amp with 300 ohm impedance at the headphone jack that runs my Aeon X Open (13 ohm impedance load). On paper, this should be clipping like no tomorrow and zero bass response due to impedance mismatch, but this didn't happen due to the high power output of the KT88 tubes (4 watts at 300 ohms impedance load and 4.5 watts at 32 ohm load) and can drive my Aeon X Open to over 110 dB SPL without breaking a sweat and yes the bass has zero roll-off whatsoever, goes incredibly deep with vibration sensations at very high SPL level.

On my audio chain, my Aeon X Open has less distortion than my DAC and my SET amp and despite the atrocious distortion numbers, my ears still couldn't hear any horrible distortion artifacts at 2.5% THD (my SET amp) and my DAC in NOS mode (NOS DAC generates horrible distortion at high frequencies). Music sounds just like music coming out of a transparent chain. I'd even bet that on a proper DBT volume matched test, none can tell the difference between a NOS DAC (e.g. Holo Spring 3 in NOS mode) and SOTA DAC (e.g. D90LE). Because my ears are that horrible in detecting non-clipping distortion, I opt for an amp that has linear power (i.e. does not obey ohm's law) from 32 ohms to 300 ohms

 

[ThatGuyYouKnow]

I am rather eccentric in that I prefer a headphone amp to not have a lot of headroom when driving a headphone, because it prevents a possible catastrophe from playing at max volume due to a glitch. I guess I just don't fully trust audio manufacturers.

 

[PeteL]

I'm fairly convinced that having more Amp headroom does not increase sound quality in any way.
In my experience, a weak Amp playing at 90% will sound identical to an overkill Amp playing at 10%, if you do proper level matching.

Though should you have measurements showing otherwise, then I'd love to see them!
The obvious diferences in "authority, dynamics, slam, impact, ..." that people claim to hear when they upgrade their Amp should be child's play to measure.

Indeed Amir do not measure that, and I do not know what math give you that if you are at 90% you have enough headroom. 90% is what you set the output voltage to, and it gives you the "level" or perceived loudness. But do you at least agree with the basic principle that if you have peaks 20 dB louder than the average level in your music, your amp will need to developp 100X more Watts momentarily compared to what is needed to have the same perceived loudness level of a continuous 1k tone (where sensitivity is specced), If it can't you will have transient clipping or dynamic compression? Do you also agree that bass notes also need many times more power for the same perceived volume because they are way louder in the mix due to Fletcher munson? Do you also agree that no matter where you set the voltage level (that's what a volume control do), that if an amp cannot momentarily supply the current, that voltage will drop momentarily according to Ohm's law?

 

[amirm]

but Amir said the ADI-2 is barely enough.

I said it was just enough, not barely enough. The former says you are good with the ADI.

 

[PeteL]

I said it was just enough, not barely enough. The former says you are good with the ADI.

OK, sorry for the misquote. I think enough is the keyword here I did not fully expected a major semantic difference between "just" and "barely" english is my second language. Anyway, yes no doubt the ADI is enough, we where talking about dongles.