Sounds like you love them!
Newbie question - would a regular style amp drive it or does this kind of headphone require specialized amps? I have the Emotiva Bas-X A-100 which is a headphone/speaker amp. It is able to output high current at low impedances.
Also can you compare the subjective impressions to the HD800S? Does it feel as clean or as layered or spacious?
That Emotiva is part of my office setup. It will power them fine. I've tried the jumper and it made the amp louder but didn't notice hiss. I only tested briefly but changed the jumper back because whatever difference there was, it wasn't big to my ears.
I even run my ÆON2 Flow Closed on a Quedelix 5K and it works fine. Just has to be balanced, in performance mode, and set to high output.
I kind of prefer open back headphones to closed, it usually gives more linear bass response and the sense of openess is great to not care too much about the soundstage
One of the frequent things about these I've heard is how open their closed cans are. I remember in reviews for the first ÆON Flow series the closed were generally preferred to the open versions and I think I remember comments about how the closed almost sounded more open than the open. I have never demoed any of their open cans though.
How old are the pads? I used to have an original Aeon Closed and Aeon Open. The closed were older and the pads did this. The opens were newer and had pads with more stuffing that never lost their shape. It may be time to buy a new set of pads.
I've had three pairs of their pads. I just got the perforated pads for my ÆON2 Flow Closed two days ago and they are all very squishy from the start. They can move around a bit inside of their leather and it can annoy my anal side but... they are also some of the most comfortable headphones I've ever had. Dan Clark even has a youtube video if I recall showing you how to massage them back into shape.
One of the main criticism I see on reddit and other forums about Dan Clark headphone is that while they are tonally great they are somewhat lacking in dynamics/impact/slam. Did you get any feeling of that on this headphone?
This complaint is mainly targeted at the older ether/aeon though so might not be applicable anymore.
I don't think they are lacking but I do prefer the dynamic punch that my Focal Elear has by just a little bit.