Dan Clark Audio AEON RT Review (closed headphone)

[BostonJack]

So you think these are the better choice? vs the Drop version? The price is not that different so SQ is everything in this decision. I'm leaning toward these. The Drop warranty can be an issue.

The Drop model seems to have evolved towards "credits" vs. initial discount. I have bought 2 headphones: HD6XX and hifi man 4XX and found the quality to be fine. Seems like original manufacture with some small tweak (color of plastic in the HD6xx case).

Drop does have a history of delaying shipments and confusing or unsatisfactory warranty (as you noted). If it were me (and it might be me in a couple of months) I would order direct. The middleman here doesn't seem to be delivering much value.

[I bought a sheaf knife through Drop which I use for opening packages and repelling attacking bears - pretty simple, no quality issues.]

 

[BostonJack]

It has just barely enough headroom in my opinion to power my Aeon Flow2 Closed.
View attachment 110681

Qualitatively speaking, my experience with HD650 (Drop clone) driven Performance/balanced as show above is that they are definitely driven more than adequately. For the Aeon's, I would be doubtful. If you consult the review's sensitivity bar graph, the Aeon's are significantly hard to drive.

 

[quimbo]

Ordering direct gets you a 15% discount on future orders.

I have been using my new Aeon 2 Closed (with the perforated pads) for over a month now, no inserts, mostly from UsBridge Sig > BiFrost > Loki Mini > Lyr3. I wear them 6 to 12 hours a day depending on how many meetings I have. Very comfortable and non fatiguing sound. Added bonus is the closed do not bleed at all. My wife works 7 feet from me and cannot hear anything, unlike the Sennheiser HD 540 Reference and the AKG 240 SexTettt MP headphones which bled sound a little bit

They cannot be driven effectively using a Cowan Plenue Mk II

They can be driven effectively using the 2.5mm plug on a Fiio BTR5 DAC with a balanced cable

 

[Rottmannash]

The Drop model seems to have evolved towards "credits" vs. initial discount. I have bought 2 headphones: HD6XX and hifi man 4XX and found the quality to be fine. Seems like original manufacture with some small tweak (color of plastic in the HD6xx case).

Drop does have a history of delaying shipments and confusing or unsatisfactory warranty (as you noted). If it were me (and it might be me in a couple of months) I would order direct. The middleman here doesn't seem to be delivering much value.

[I bought a sheaf knife through Drop which I use for opening packages and repelling attacking bears - pretty simple, no quality issues.]

Thanks. That's the way I'm leaning

 

[tsanguine]

Tsanguine, another quick question: to connect the qudelix 5k to the aeon RT, are you using the 3.5mm unbalanced output?

I modded my pair and got rid of their connections. I'm using mono 3.5mm for each cup. I have a cheap Chinese 2.5mm balanced to dual 3.5mono cable. I believe I linked to it earlier in the thread.

 

[tsanguine]

Qualitatively speaking, my experience with HD650 (Drop clone) driven Performance/balanced as show above is that they are definitely driven more than adequately. For the Aeon's, I would be doubtful. If you consult the review's sensitivity bar graph, the Aeon's are significantly hard to drive.

If I push them to max, they are just barely at an uncomfortable volume level. This is with music mixed at a relatively high level. I could easily see it running out of power for some classical and others mixed at a lower level. I'm perfectly happy with the combination but it may not be for everyone.

 

[Shazb0t]

I would consider Drop if they offered the balanced cable, but looks like you can only choose the single ended.

 

[tsanguine]

I would consider Drop if they offered the balanced cable, but looks like you can only choose the single ended.

I posted this on page 17 if you missed it. USD$60.00 - XLR 4.4mm Hi-Res Silver Plated 7N OCC Earphone Cable For Mr Speakers Alpha Dog Ether C Flow Mad Dog AEON - lunashops online shop

 

[Veri]

I posted this on page 17 if you missed it. USD$60.00 - XLR 4.4mm Hi-Res Silver Plated 7N OCC Earphone Cable For Mr Speakers Alpha Dog Ether C Flow Mad Dog AEON - lunashops online shop

I've had good experience with Lunashops myself. good value...

 

[Shazb0t]

I posted this on page 17 if you missed it. USD$60.00 - XLR 4.4mm Hi-Res Silver Plated 7N OCC Earphone Cable For Mr Speakers Alpha Dog Ether C Flow Mad Dog AEON - lunashops online shop

I've had good experience with Lunashops myself. good value...

Yea, that doesn't seem like a bad value. My point was that when you order from Dan Clark Audio you can chose a balanced termination without any up charge. On Drop it looks like they lock you into single ended.

 

[Jimbob54]

Yea, that doesn't seem like a bad value. My point was that when you order from Dan Clark Audio you can chose a balanced termination without any up charge. On Drop it looks like they lock you into single ended.

DCA direct also let you select the "superior" $200 2m Vivo (single ended) cable gratis too. Now, I cant vouch for its sonic properties, but I can tell you its a far nicer sleeve than the scratchy hard nylon on the "lesser" stock cables. When combined with the closed back Ether CX, the microphonics were terrible, the Vivo is far better for that. On the Open Aeon its not too bad (but still feels horrid).

 

[Veri]

On Drop it looks like they lock you into single ended.

Ah, point taken.

 

[Frio]

DCA direct also let you select the "superior" $200 2m Vivo (single ended) cable gratis too. Now, I cant vouch for its sonic properties, but I can tell you its a far nicer sleeve than the scratchy hard nylon on the "lesser" stock cables. When combined with the closed back Ether CX, the microphonics were terrible, the Vivo is far better for that. On the Open Aeon its not too bad (but still feels horrid).

I bought the rt with xlr and got a cable by their new stock. It not nylon braided, just smooth, flexible rubber.

 

[Jimbob54]

I bought the rt with xlr and got a cable by their new stock. It not nylon braided, just smooth, flexible rubber.

Thank god they have changed the base level cable. It really was horrid.

 

[ririt]

Yea, that doesn't seem like a bad value. My point was that when you order from Dan Clark Audio you can chose a balanced termination without any up charge. On Drop it looks like they lock you into single ended.

I bought the rt with xlr and got a cable by their new stock. It not nylon braided, just smooth, flexible rubber.

is the XLR cable (regular without up charge) balanced?

 

[Jimbob54]

is the XLR cable (regular without up charge) balanced?

Yes

 

[nimar]

I’m new ish to the world of headphones, have always just used monitors at my desk when I worked at home alone, but now with a full house I picked up a pair of these Dan Clark’s and they sound wonderful with my aging audio lab m-dac but have been looking at increasing my listening options. Either stash some pi/hats with a wired headphone amp or get something portable like the topping nx4 to drive the Aeon RTs. Based on my understanding of the specs it looks like the nx4 should be able to drive them, am I misreading the numbers or does anyone else have this combo?

 

[Veri]

Based on my understanding of the specs it looks like the nx4 should be able to drive them, am I misreading the numbers or does anyone else have this combo?

Especially in high gain, it should work just fine.

 

[Dan Clark]

Dan Clark, can you please detail how you connect the AEON to the BTR5? I wonder it is through the balanced 2.5mm output of the BTR5 to get max power. However, how do you achieve it with the regular cable provided with the AEON RT? According to the DROP website (from which you can order the AEON) it is a dummer cable with a 1/4 termination.
I am looking forward reading your feedback

Hi... We offer 2.5 and 4.4mm cables on our site. For the RT these cables may not be cost-effective so the other path is to get an RT with the XLR cable and then you can get whatever adaptor you want to any termination, there are a few sources that sell almost any adaptor you need.

 

[Dan Clark]

Oh, these headphones look positively fascinating, and at a decent price too.
Guess picked right time to join the forum

Perhaps I should consider buying a better DAC/Amp while at it.

@Dan Clark , if I may ask, what do you think regarding the E1DA PowerDAC V2 amp ?
I'm kind of torn between them and MiniDSP's offering (I want DAC, amp and equalizer in one unit to save desk space) and this one is, well, inexpensive and seems to be generally well liked, but I decided to ask for professional opinion since I've discovered this thread and the manufacturer of the headphone is here in it

Sorry, I missed your question when you posted. Based on the specs this should be fine as long as you don't want to play really loud. But I do worry about the quality of low-cost electronics, and a rated THD of 1% is really high which asks the question as you lower power how low is the THD actually?

You're probably better off pairing the headphone with one of the better Topping pieces or some of the new Schiit gear.