There’s other people in this thread that have already tried that pairing and it works for them
RE: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-rt-review-closed-headphone.19393/post-707274
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Dan Clark Audio AEON RT Review (closed headphone)
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
There’s other people in this thread that have already tried that pairing and it works for them
RE: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-rt-review-closed-headphone.19393/post-707274
jannek
Active Member
If battery usage of the phone is not so important also E1DA 9038SG3 and Hidizs S9 (balanced connection) work with the Noire.
Oh, it's completely backwards from what I assumed.
Thanks for the correction.
That's still a bit hard to visualise & open to misinterpretation, maybe you can hand draw a rough line on top of the standard RT closed graph to illustrate the rough changes (graph from Oratory's measurements):
I'm not vested in this discussion, but I can just see confusion occurring by what is meant by "flat" and "linear", etc.
bboris77
Senior Member
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Just wanted to share my experience with these headphones and the JDS Labs Atom Dac/ El Amp II combo.
In one sentence, they sound fantastic - exactly like they measure. Like someone else said, they are like a planar version of the HD600 with better bass and soundstage. Ever since I sold my LCD2C last year, I have been missing that monstrous planar bass. The reason I sold the Audezes was because they were simply too heavy for prolonged use and because the mids were slightly too recessed.
I cannot overemphasize how comfortable the Aeon RTs are - they are featherlight for planars. The quality of materials and workmanship is at the level of the HD800S - lightweight but super strong. Everything essential was thought of and every gram of unnecessary weight has been shaved off. Like a formula one car.
As for the sound, the planar bass is here in full force. The sub bass is thundering but the mid bass does not bleed over into the mids, so they do not sound bloated or thick. The mids are natural sounding and the highs are just right without being too piercing (with 1 notch white pads). I have not tested the other pads. My HD800s has more piercing highs but does retrieve detail slightly better. The ability of the Aeon RTs to retrieve detail is comparable to any other high-end open-back headphones likely because they are closed back and filter out all the ambient noise, letting you concentrate on the music.
My HD800S will probably get "relegated" to my gaming rig as their soundstage is still unprecedented, but for the sheer enjoyment factor, the RTs give them a run for their money. Speaking of money, how @Dan Clark manages to sell these at one third of the cost of the HD800S will forever remain a mystery to me. I hope they continue to make them and sell them at this price for a long time as I truly believe they will become considered classics alongside headphones such as the Sennheiser HD600.
As an aside, for anyone that may be questioning whether the El Amp II (and the Atom) can run these properly - the simple answer is "Hell, yes.". I have been running them with the El Amp II without even having to switch to high gain yet. My volume pot is at 2-3 PM depending on the song being played. When I max it out in low gain, the volume level is too painful to listen to. My calculations, verified by @solderdude, indicate the Aeons are outputting peaks of 103 dB SPL even in low gain! This gives an average of 88dB SPL, enough to damage your hearing permanently.
P.S. @amirm, It still would be fascinating to see whether these amps retain their stellar THD performance when pushing 150mA into 13 Ohm headphones at 2V, for a total power of 300mW. Or maybe go all the way to whatever the current limit is on these amps (180-250mA), and see if performance remains exceptional and whether any thermal issues pop up. Manufacturers usually don't provide these figures as they tend to stop at 32 Ohms when measuring THD. It's something that I have not seen measured by anyone except @JohnYang1997 here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s-atom-headphone-amp.5262/page-58#post-183352
In one sentence, they sound fantastic - exactly like they measure. Like someone else said, they are like a planar version of the HD600 with better bass and soundstage. Ever since I sold my LCD2C last year, I have been missing that monstrous planar bass. The reason I sold the Audezes was because they were simply too heavy for prolonged use and because the mids were slightly too recessed.
I cannot overemphasize how comfortable the Aeon RTs are - they are featherlight for planars. The quality of materials and workmanship is at the level of the HD800S - lightweight but super strong. Everything essential was thought of and every gram of unnecessary weight has been shaved off. Like a formula one car.
As for the sound, the planar bass is here in full force. The sub bass is thundering but the mid bass does not bleed over into the mids, so they do not sound bloated or thick. The mids are natural sounding and the highs are just right without being too piercing (with 1 notch white pads). I have not tested the other pads. My HD800s has more piercing highs but does retrieve detail slightly better. The ability of the Aeon RTs to retrieve detail is comparable to any other high-end open-back headphones likely because they are closed back and filter out all the ambient noise, letting you concentrate on the music.
My HD800S will probably get "relegated" to my gaming rig as their soundstage is still unprecedented, but for the sheer enjoyment factor, the RTs give them a run for their money. Speaking of money, how @Dan Clark manages to sell these at one third of the cost of the HD800S will forever remain a mystery to me. I hope they continue to make them and sell them at this price for a long time as I truly believe they will become considered classics alongside headphones such as the Sennheiser HD600.
As an aside, for anyone that may be questioning whether the El Amp II (and the Atom) can run these properly - the simple answer is "Hell, yes.". I have been running them with the El Amp II without even having to switch to high gain yet. My volume pot is at 2-3 PM depending on the song being played. When I max it out in low gain, the volume level is too painful to listen to. My calculations, verified by @solderdude, indicate the Aeons are outputting peaks of 103 dB SPL even in low gain! This gives an average of 88dB SPL, enough to damage your hearing permanently.
P.S. @amirm, It still would be fascinating to see whether these amps retain their stellar THD performance when pushing 150mA into 13 Ohm headphones at 2V, for a total power of 300mW. Or maybe go all the way to whatever the current limit is on these amps (180-250mA), and see if performance remains exceptional and whether any thermal issues pop up. Manufacturers usually don't provide these figures as they tend to stop at 32 Ohms when measuring THD. It's something that I have not seen measured by anyone except @JohnYang1997 here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s-atom-headphone-amp.5262/page-58#post-183352
solderdude
Grand Contributor
For that to damage your hearing permanently you would have to listen at that level till your retirement for many hours a day every day.
You will have the urge to turn down the volume after a few minutes at this level anyway so that's unlikely to happen.
Occasional and very short peaks of 105dB won't damage your ears that quickly.
otherwise nice review and agree with the rest of it.
Amir already tested the current limit of the Atom (using 32 ohm). Just not with 13 ohm. The current limit stays the same but the output buffer will get a bit warmer. Distortion will, most likely, increase very slightly only to maybe 0.001% or so. It will remain far far below any audible limits.
Pinout on the headphone connectors is here, https://www.danclarkaudio.com/catal...ha-dog-and-mad-dog-custom-cables/category/91/
With an ohm meter it's easy from here...
How is the clamping force on the Aeon RT? In general I need more clamping force than most find comfortable. Most headphones sit very loose on my head after the initial clamping force wears down a little.
The only HPs maintaining a good clamp are the HD6XX. I find them quite comfortable in that regard (where many complain about the high clamping force). The K371 sits quite loose on my ears after just a few months of not too intense use.
Also the adjustments for cups is important. On the K371 I have to slide them to the smallest setting. On the HD6XX they are just ~18mm out. DT770 Pro, also smallest setting. With thicker Dekoni pads I get just enough clamping for a good seal.
Will this be a problem with the DC Aeon RT?
The only HPs maintaining a good clamp are the HD6XX. I find them quite comfortable in that regard (where many complain about the high clamping force). The K371 sits quite loose on my ears after just a few months of not too intense use.
Also the adjustments for cups is important. On the K371 I have to slide them to the smallest setting. On the HD6XX they are just ~18mm out. DT770 Pro, also smallest setting. With thicker Dekoni pads I get just enough clamping for a good seal.
Will this be a problem with the DC Aeon RT?
I would say the Aeons have higher than normal clamping force, but are still comfortable to most people because of the soft pads.
The headband/arc is made of memory metal so it should hold it's shape quite well.
So, on these the clamping force will stay the same over it's lifespan? That would be ideal for me, if the initial force is adequate. (seems it could well be, judging from what you're saying)
I also have HD 6xx. I think the HD6xx are extremely comfortable. I have never had any problems with clamp pressure. I think the Aeons are more comfortable than the 6xx. Its not an entirely fair comparison because I could use some new pads on the 6x and the aeons are new. Comfort and build quality are a strong point of the headphones for me.
Unless you have already got that dongle, I'd recommend Hidizs S9. DC03 got nasty multitone noise at 0 dbFS. https://www.l7audiolab.com/f/measurement-of-ibasso-dc-03/
There were some other fixes too, but I don't remember what it was.The firmware fixed an out of phase issue in any case
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