Dan Clark Audio AEON RT Review (closed headphone)

[John B]

Happy to report my THX 789 on its lowest gain setting is plenty loud for my classical listening needs. Any validity to the break in period with these? They already sound good.

 

[Robbo99999]

Happy to report my THX 789 on its lowest gain setting is plenty loud for my classical listening needs. Any validity to the break in period with these? They already sound good.

"Burn-In" / "Break-in" is all a myth with speakers & headphones. However, over hundreds & hundreds of hours the pads of headphones can start to change shape potentially fitting your head better and/or pad thickness would reduce slightly - both of which can change the sound of the headphone, but you probably wouldn't describe that as "Burn-In"/"Break-In" as that's just pad wear. Burning-In & Breakin-In of drivers is not a thing.

 

[John B]

"Burn-In" / "Break-in" is all a myth with speakers & headphones. However, over hundreds & hundreds of hours the pads of headphones can start to change shape potentially fitting your head better and/or pad thickness would reduce slightly - both of which can change the sound of the headphone, but you probably wouldn't describe that as "Burn-In"/"Break-In" as that's just pad wear. Burning-In & Breakin-In of drivers is not a thing.

Makes sense, other than adjusting to the sound profile I’m not sensing anything unusual due to driver type and it’s damping. Pro tip: I just listened to Rimsky’s Coq d’or finale. - If you buy these headphones be sure to budget for spare underpants!

 

[RHO]

I noticed that after a while with these headphones, brain-burn-in caused me to hear bass on dynamic headphones and IEMs with a DD for bass much louder and punchier. While at first I found these DCAs to lack any punch in the bass, that also went away after some time.
Makes me wonder how to evaluate what reviewers say about certain headphones. If it takes just a fairly short time for my brain to adjust to the bass on these headphones and influence my experience in such a dramatic way (I really like/want a punchy bass in my music), how does that influence the judgement on some headphones for a reviewer? If they don't like something within the first few hours, will they keep listening? Will they like it more when they do? Does their judgement stay the same?
I know my judgement changed over the course of a week or so.

 

[Robbo99999]

I noticed that after a while with these headphones, brain-burn-in caused me to hear bass on dynamic headphones and IEMs with a DD for bass much louder and punchier. While at first I found these DCAs to lack any punch in the bass, that also went away after some time.
Makes me wonder how to evaluate what reviewers say about certain headphones. If it takes just a fairly short time for my brain to adjust to the bass on these headphones and influence my experience in such a dramatic way (I really like/want a punchy bass in my music), how does that influence the judgement on some headphones for a reviewer? If they don't like something within the first few hours, will they keep listening? Will they like it more when they do? Does their judgement stay the same?
I know my judgement changed over the course of a week or so.

Yeah, I think you do get used to the new bass levels/quality, so you set yourself a new normal.....and professional reviewers would have a problem evaluating headphones depending on what headphone they've currently got their mind burned-in on! I think if I was a reviewer I'd have a selection of headphones in my case EQ'd to the Harman Curve, and I'd try to work out which one was average in bass quality and burn my brain into that before listening to a new headphone.....that way I could say if it was better or worse than the average.....but it's complicated because that might not be the best headphone to burn your brain-in with for other areas of the frequency response (or other reasons). At the very least I think it would make sense as a reviewer to burn your brain-in with at least a Harman EQ'd headphone anyway (assuming you didn't hate the Harman Curve), that way you've got an objective "best case" to compare against when listening to stock headphones that you would review. It's a good point though.....brain burn-in is a thing so depending what you've burned your brain-in with will affect your immediate impression of the next headphone you wear. (That's why I think it's important that reviewers keep a representative selection of headphones).

 

[Hemi-Demon]

It the Ether C Flow Closed available on the Dan Clark website, the same as the Ether C Flow 1.1? I want to buy a pair, but I am a confused on the latest model? Is the model on the Dan Clark site a Ether C Flow Closed 2? Thanks

 

[Jimbob54]

It the Ether C Flow Closed available on the Dan Clark website, the same as the Ether C Flow 1.1? I want to buy a pair, but I am a confused on the latest model? Is the model on the Dan Clark site a Ether C Flow Closed 2? Thanks

I think the Ether C Flow (as sold on the DCA site today) is the 1.1. If I recall correctly there was a kit you could get to make the Ether C Flow 1.0 a 1.1 so I assume everything since that ( a while ago now) has been 1.1. I'm sure @Dan Clark can confirm though.

 

[Riaz-Ahmed]

Long term follower/reader/admirer of ASR and in particular @amirm but have just joined to start posting so be nice

A few months into my audio(phile) journey now...

I have purchased the AEON Closed RT second hand, should be arriving tomorrow.

Based on the ASR's review, I bought the Topping EX5 to drive my Fiio FH7 IEMs to listen to music on Tidal HiFI (via Tidal Connect on Volumio rPi4). What an amazing combination!!! The sound is out of this world.. well to me anyway I am using the bass filter with the bi-flange tips. I have probably burned them in for 30 hours now and the sound just keeps getting better.... or is it that my ears are now getting used to high quality music.

Hoping to get an amazing experience of the AEON Closed RT with the Topping EX5 -- can't wait to try it out.

Wil report back once I have had a listen.

Hopefully will get some time.... here in the UK we're heading into a mini-heatwave and my kids will probably keep me away from my desk!

Cheers

 

[Veri]

Long term follower/reader/admirer of ASR and in particular @amirm but have just joined to start posting so be nice

A few months into my audio(phile) journey now...

Looks like you've already got some solid gear enjoy!

 

[Robbo99999]

Long term follower/reader/admirer of ASR and in particular @amirm but have just joined to start posting so be nice

A few months into my audio(phile) journey now...

I have purchased the AEON Closed RT second hand, should be arriving tomorrow.

Based on the ASR's review, I bought the Topping EX5 to drive my Fiio FH7 IEMs to listen to music on Tidal HiFI (via Tidal Connect on Volumio rPi4). What an amazing combination!!! The sound is out of this world.. well to me anyway I am using the bass filter with the bi-flange tips. I have probably burned them in for 30 hours now and the sound just keeps getting better.... or is it that my ears are now getting used to high quality music.

Hoping to get an amazing experience of the AEON Closed RT with the Topping EX5 -- can't wait to try it out.

Wil report back once I have had a listen.

Hopefully will get some time.... here in the UK we're heading into a mini-heatwave and my kids will probably keep me away from my desk!

Cheers

Nice! You'll probably want to use EQ with AEON Closed RT, but it should be excellent once EQ'd! (Oratory's EQ's if you're not aware, but you probably are: https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/wiki/index/list_of_presets#wiki_full_list_of_eq_settings.3A I think they're the best EQ's around.)

 

[Riaz-Ahmed]

Thank you so much for reminding me about that @Robbo99999 - awesome resource !!

Yes, I have seen Oratory's EQs before and was using this during my in-ear selection to see which over ears would need the least complex eq'ing.

It was the ASR review and Randy's review that helped me make the biggest headphone related purchase (ever!!)

(sorry if Randy is not liked around here but I find him funny and pretty informative)

@Robbo99999 how is Amir's suggested EQ different to Oratory? I know Amir likes his sub-bass/lows, as do I

I guess I'll find out when I try them both!

By the way Volumio users, I have been using Volumio2 parametric equalizer plugin which is pretty good.

I have been looking around for a hardware based EQ product. Not sure if miniDSP is in my price range though...

 

[Brianc]

Is the Massdrop Closed X the same headphone as the RT? And has anyone here paired either with the JDS Labs Atom?

 

[Riaz-Ahmed]

Is the Massdrop Closed X the same headphone as the RT? And has anyone here paired either with the JDS Labs Atom?

I think Dan Clark himself has said they are slightly different in this thread somewhere. Sorry I can't remember. You can do a thread search and see what he says.

 

[Veri]

Is the Massdrop Closed X the same headphone as the RT?

I think Dan Clark himself has said they are slightly different in this thread somewhere. Sorry I can't remember. You can do a thread search and see what he says.

I thought it was just about confirmed they're the same thing. For us Europeans, the Drop isn't that attractive after duties/VAT. The RT headphones are supposedly the same thing without the drop branding.

 

[Robbo99999]

Thank you so much for reminding me about that @Robbo99999 - awesome resource !!

Yes, I have seen Oratory's EQs before and was using this during my in-ear selection to see which over ears would need the least complex eq'ing.

It was the ASR review and Randy's review that helped me make the biggest headphone related purchase (ever!!)

(sorry if Randy is not liked around here but I find him funny and pretty informative)

@Robbo99999 how is Amir's suggested EQ different to Oratory? I know Amir likes his sub-bass/lows, as do I

I guess I'll find out when I try them both!

By the way Volumio users, I have been using Volumio2 parametric equalizer plugin which is pretty good.

I have been looking around for a hardware based EQ product. Not sure if miniDSP is in my price range though...

The differences between Oratory EQ's & Amir EQ's - they have a different methodology and Oratory also measures more than one unit if he can (but he doesn't write on the pdf how many he has measured for any particular headphone, but you can ask him re any specific headphone how many units he's measured of it). Oratory's method is different also in that he measures each headphone many times with slightly different spatial positions of the headphone on the dummy head (in terms of positioned slightly differently each time) - so as to replicate how the frequency changes with different positions and then he averages out those measurements into an average curve, with the idea being you end up only EQ'ing elements that remain between all the different seating positions, so hopefully makes it more representative for when you wear it on your own head. He also measures the bass as best case scenario, as he argues that as a user you would naturally adjust the headphone so it fitted your head properly and gave the best bass, so he would ignore some bass measurements that were way too low as outliers. He described his methodology somewhere, let me see if I can find it....damn, can't find it, but he often posts on his reddit his methodology. He also uses somekind of graphical based program to EQ accurately to the Target Curve, using no more than 10 EQ filters. He includes a few "user customisation" filters that he lists on his pdf that can be tweaked by the user to their own preference....he describes the filters that be tweaked as for instance: bass / shoutiness / airiness (for example). He also listens to the headphone to make sure there's not any negative effects of his EQ, and it might influence some of his decisions re how he EQ's to the Target Curve.

In terms of how Amir does his EQ's. He measures the headphones a few times to validate what kind of frequency responses he's getting and then chooses the one measurement that he finds most representative of the headphone, which is the measurement he publishes in his reviews. He will then listen to the headphone at stock on his reference tracks and then decide what kind of EQ it needs.....and he will look at his measurement in terms of how it deviates from the Harman Target to help him decide what kind of filters to add.....then he'll listen again to validate that the EQ filter improved his experience......so he'll tweak like that till he's done. Amir eyeballs the filters in terms of how to fit them to the Harman Curve, rather than using a graphically based program to see the exact effect the filters are having on the measurement.....so Amir's EQ's are not as accurate to the Harman Target as Oratory's by virtue of the eyeballing, but Amir does validate all his EQ filter choices with listening. Amir measures just one unit rather combining multiple units.

I think you can see the different approaches there between Oratory & Amir. I mean you can always try both.

 

[Riaz-Ahmed]

Such a super awesome explanation @Robbo99999 very much appreciate the detail you have gone into.

Thank you so much again!!

Huge thumbs up and high fives to the guys for their efforts. Without them us budding audiophiles would not really take EQ serious enough or do it blindly hoping to get the perfect output. With these approaches and measurements we get the best out of our equipment.

I know this has been posted before in this thread (i think) but look at the gain from applying the right EQ:

From 66 to 97... that is a huge leap.

This is what Amir states in his review:

It has taken us a dozen or so headphone reviews to get us a stellar specimen in the form AEON RT. Tonality is almost good enough without any EQ for those of you who don't have access to EQ. With EQ, it rises another class and delights

So is 66/100 an acceptable preference rating @Robbo99999 or do you think Amir might have gotten a higher measurements with his rig and set up at the time of review without EQ?

 

[Brianc]

Such a super awesome explanation @Robbo99999 very much appreciate the detail you have gone into.

Thank you so much again!!

Huge thumbs up and high fives to the guys for their efforts. Without them us budding audiophiles would not really take EQ serious enough or do it blindly hoping to get the perfect output. With these approaches and measurements we get the best out of our equipment.

I know this has been posted before in this thread (i think) but look at the gain from applying the right EQ:

View attachment 141602

From 66 to 97... that is a huge leap.

This is what Amir states in his review:

It has taken us a dozen or so headphone reviews to get us a stellar specimen in the form AEON RT. Tonality is almost good enough without any EQ for those of you who don't have access to EQ. With EQ, it rises another class and delights

So is 66/100 an acceptable preference rating @Robbo99999 or do you think Amir might have gotten a higher measurements with his rig and set up at the time of review without EQ?

"From 66 to 97... that is a huge leap. "
My AQ Nightowls went from 19 to 95 with the Oratory settings. Superb soundstage now. I didn't care for the other EQ settings I found online.

 

[Riaz-Ahmed]

"From 66 to 97... that is a huge leap. "
My AQ Nightowls went from 19 to 95 with the Oratory settings. Superb soundstage now. I didn't care for the other EQ settings I found online.

wowsers @Brianc !! 19 to 95 WTF. How is that even possible? Can a product be that bad out of the box and with EQ become a totally different and better sounding product???

How can one trust future IEM/headphone products from say the likes of AudioQuest ,in this case, if this is what EQ does to their phone?

Even John Darko 'praised' the phones here in 2017: AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon: additive-free headphone listening | Darko.Audio

This is why the work Amir, Oratory and the other audiophile bods who publish their findings do, is so important to us consumers and hobbyists who are really oblivious unless we subscribe to the likes of ASR and various YouTube channels to learn the truth about these products, maximising our investments and getting the best out of them. I certainly am woke now!

Man, there should be awards and proper recognition for these guys. We owe you guys big time!

Sorry, got a bit carried away, this London sunshine is making me emotional man on a Friday. Time to log off and get some refreshments

 

[Brianc]

wowsers @Brianc !! 19 to 95 WTF. How is that even possible? Can a product be that bad out of the box and with EQ become a totally different and better sounding product???

How can one trust future IEM/headphone products from say the likes of AudioQuest ,in this case, if this is what EQ does to their phone?

Even John Darko 'praised' the phones here in 2017: AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon: additive-free headphone listening | Darko.Audio

This is why the work Amir, Oratory and the other audiophile bods who publish their findings do, is so important to us consumers and hobbyists who are really oblivious unless we subscribe to the likes of ASR and various YouTube channels to learn the truth about these products, maximising our investments and getting the best out of them. I certainly am woke now!

Man, there should be awards and proper recognition for these guys. We owe you guys big time!

Sorry, got a bit carried away, this London sunshine is making me emotional man on a Friday. Time to log off and get some refreshments

I guess that depends on whether you equate divergence from a target with "bad". The Nightowls are of premium build quality, very comfortable, and have low distortion. Their tonal balance uneqd is very dark though (the Oratory settings boosts the presence region of 2khz by 10db!) BTW, Audioquest no longer makes headphones.

 

[Riaz-Ahmed]

I guess that depends on whether you equate divergence from a target with "bad". The Nightowls are of premium build quality, very comfortable, and have low distortion. Their tonal balance uneqd is very dark though (the Oratory settings boosts the presence region of 2khz by 10db!) BTW, Audioquest no longer makes headphones.

Apologies @Brianc, I shouldn't have used the word 'bad' to describe its characteristics out of the box, this was misleading and shows my lack of understanding still. I'm still a noob in this audiophile world.

yes, the objective is the target curve (or one of the curves) or close to it as possible and then tuning to your individual preference.

They are premium quality headphones just probably not tuned to everyone's taste.

Thanks for explaining @Brianc and not biting my head off for explaining it incorrectly