Dan Clark Audio AEON RT Review (closed headphone)

[Jimbob54]

Okay so went out of my way to register to this forum to share my experiences with these bizarrely highly rated headphones, just like one of the previous commentors here said.

Spending this very late night writing this review, so others don’t do the same mistake.

TL;DR: I can’t wrap my head around paying $500 for these headphones. Value is a complicated conversation but from the points below you will see what i mean. I unfortunately did spend that money and contemplating returning them. Just a lot of effort as i ordered overseas. Don’t get me wrong they are good but nowhere near as good as the measurements would suggest. I have DT770s (250ohms) and with a simple highpass shelf to take the edge off the highs (or few Specific EQ tweaks), DT770 Pro’s sound same Or even better than DCA’s through my Zen DAC V2’s. That’s a $150 rrp headphone….

I am a mechanical engineer, so very well know the value of measurements in context of evaluating things, especially to make things objective. However, I believe problem here is we just don’t have all values quantified. Freq response, THD, Phase response etc. sounds like don’t cover the whole listening experience. I unfortunately don’t know about audio enough to point what’s missing obviously but here to say my experience does not match what Amir is suggesting here.

Let me also give you some references so you know my start point and you can try to gauge yourself to it. Natural sounding - to me- is my JBL LSR305 speaker in an untreated, mid sized room. I know it’s not a good reference point, it’s not a studio environment, but thats what i have. Unless you were sitting next to the mixing engineer when the music you are listening to was being mixed, or you own a unechoic chamber with some perfectly flat speakers or a perfectly treated room with room compansated speakers, i am here to tell you your reference point isn‘t perfectly flat either. Outside of my studio monitors I have as
main gear:
HD6XX, 58X, X2HR, Hifiman HE-X4, DT770 Pro, iFi Zen Dac V2
and the others category:
Creative Aurvana Live, HD280, Bose QC25, XM4’s, AirPods Pro, PowerBeats Pro, Shure Se-215, Koss portapro.

With all that context here are my thoughts:

First listen, they are not bad. Nothing vowed me, they were… alright. Nothing special. I did hear a lot about `lifeless` sound of these so i was expecting a worse sound i guess so i was a bit relieved. But that’s hardly good, basically happy they weren’t terrible lol.

So i started playing around with EQ to get them to be flat to Harman curve. Well since the measurements come so close, there really isn’t that much to EQ but i could not get them to work with EQ’s i tried doing myself. Then came here to use Amir’s settings. They did marginally help make a difference, but honestly hard to tell and can’t even tell you if it was for the better either. After a while i sorta started hearing what people meant by lifeless. (Not as bad as they make it sound to be, if i dind’t have other gear around, i would not call them lifeless by any stretch.) My best guess was somehow missing base - another context i do EQ all my headphones to Harman curve, and generally happy with how they sound that way. However these still felt like they were missing bass?? Even tho they are tuned to the same target? Not sure how that’s possible…

Anyway long story short adding a high bass-low mid lift between 25hz and 650hz of 3-4db did bring `life` back to these. And the iFi’s TrueBass just makes them fun. Luckly they take EQ well, i suspect due to low distortion.

But so here is the problem: these don’t sound right without these seemingly non-Harman EQ’s to my ears, with all the reference points i have above, most of which are Harman tuned. Hence the reason i say measurement don’t sound like they really reflect how these cans sound… Once those extra adjustments are there, i could call them really good. But again these are $500 cans (down from $800???), and DCA’s with EQ barely match DT770 Pro’s($150) also with EQ?

Here are quick comparisons for people who have these other cans:

DT770: closest to DCA’s, with a high freq shelf to take DT770s edge down a 3-4dB. (And 7dB peak at 3,5kHz + 3dB at 5,5kHz, and a -10dB dip at 9kHz) Bass is very close between the two, mids sound better on Beyers with no adjustments needed.

HD6XX: No EQ hands down 6XX wins, just sounds… more organic? realistic? more like the JBL monitors? with a tiny bit of a bass shelf for 6XXs (to 50Hz), no contest overall 6XX sound much better. But closed back vs open back so there is that.

58X: same as 6XX Tonality wise.

X2HR: no EQ, I’d take DCA Aeon’s, if many wasn’t a thing… They are just better on low mids and highs. But again, not saying much X2HRs are like $150. Not sure if i got a lucky and got a pair with super low distortion, but once i EQ X2HR’s to Harman curve from Rtings measurements, boy they are head and shoulders better than DCA’s, on par with 6XX if not better.

Hifiman HE-X4: these are pretty much only good for light jazz and classical without EQ. Almost as good as DCA’s with EQ but very genre dependent. However these headphones take EQ like nothing i ever heard and the bass SLAM is another level. (Yes i did demo Audeze LCD 2 and X’s) Not sure how but DCA’s, even though they have the same tech, and approx same size driver, they just can’t punch that hard even with a bit bass shelf. Mids/highs are a wash… with a $130 headphone lol.

For the over all value for the money conversation, that’s a bit hard as to some this is chump change, to some it’s not much but they don’t value audio to spend as much and to some they value the hobby but they just are limited from their income and this is their yearly splurge. So my advice is to hear them if you can. And if you can’t, just avoid these and buy something you CAN demo before buying.

So there you are. Obviously everything i said is subjective, but that sorta the point. I really don’t think subjective data used in measuring headphones today isn’t enough to describe and quantify the sound we hear and the way our brain process‘ the sounds we receive.

I wanted to hear these because they were on Tyles’ wall. I followed him when he was first stating out on Youtube and he was THE ONE. Mainly because he measured headphones. So i suspect both Tyle and Amir might have some bias from measurements? Maybe not. These are my opinions…

Which is why long winded subjective opinions don't really go down well round here.

It's not that you're wrong. Or right. It simply holds no value for anyone else.

 

[someguyontheinternet]

You mean this one:
https://headphonedatabase.com/oratory/headphones?ids=170,297
View attachment 143116
Don't forget about Oratory's headphone graph comparison tool, it's at the link above, you can use it to compare any headphones he's measured.

Interestingly the measurement on Crinacle's website for the Noire looks more similar to the Aeon RT:

Maybe one of them measured with the stock inlay filter and the other didnt?

 

[RHO]

Interestingly the measurement on Crinacle's website for the Noire looks more similar to the Aeon RT:

View attachment 146736

Maybe one of them measured with the stock inlay filter and the other didnt?

The Aeon 2 closed is not the same headphone as the Aeon RT.

 

[someguyontheinternet]

The Aeon 2 closed is not the same headphone as the Aeon RT.

I am aware.
The Aeon 2 closed graph is only there because I was looking at it when I was taking the screenshot.

 

[thewas]

One of the headphones I like the most are the Meze 99 Classics which measure terribly.

Mind you, the first production years measured not so bad, until they later changed to larger earpads.

 

[Robbo99999]

Which is why long winded subjective opinions don't really go down well round here.

It's not that you're wrong. Or right. It simply holds no value for anyone else.

(as well as inconsistencies in the post and just some plain strange ideas)

 

[ErenAU]

Well, I do own the Beyerdynamic DT770 (250Ohm) too and I can't agree with you on the sound in any way. They do not sound anything like the DCA Aeon RT. Specifically in the mids, the Aeons are way better. Much more neutral and balanced with the bass and treble. On the Beyers the mids sound muffles and too for back.
The HD6XX sound completely different from the DCA. The HD6XX sound warmer with more mid-bass and less sub-bass. Treble on the DCA is better in my opinion. Overall they are equally good, just very different.
The build on the DCA is way better than both the DT770 and HD6XX. It's much more a luxurious.

Hi mate, fair thoughts and obviously we are in subjectivity territory so everything goes.

But i don’t think what you are saying too different than what i am trying to convey? 6XX do sound differnt, can’t quantify with FR curve only but you are right they do, they just sound more `natural`. Again this is my natural, and i gave references to help that. Not sure what your `natural` mean. What are you basing your reference on? Because if you are doing one relative to the other, well that’s no way knowing which is truer to the recoriding, hence can’t place `natural` accurately…
And again for the value discussion, as you said `overall they are equally good, just differnt` i am inclined to agree, here lies the problem $200 vs $500. (I guess you can charge whatever you feel like, especially in hobby world)

Which is why long winded subjective opinions don't really go down well round here.

It's not that you're wrong. Or right. It simply holds no value for anyone else.

Haha, this is absolutely true, and i don’t expect necessarily members here to accept my subjective opinion. This was more for the person who comes here off google and reads comments. I know i was one: not a member, just want to make a purchase decision, a decision that’s relatively expensive for me. So trying to help that person.


All this reminds me, i should edit my post with 1-) I got the Drop variant, so Aeon Closed X. And 2-) I listen Jazz, metal, pop, and rock. This is important because i honestly found song to song, most headphone vary in performance as some songs just hit the peaks and dips or distorted frequencies more often and hard than the others or hit the headphones shortcomings and glare bad or vice versa! — again, based purely on what I hear, subjective…

But outside of that, I can not be wrong. Because this is an opinion piece and i know for a fact what i think of them haha. This does not mean my opinion will not change though. Still spending time with all my gear vs the Aeon X’s and doing A-B test in various songs. That i listen to!

 

[GaryH]

TL;DR: I can’t wrap my head around paying $500 for these headphones. Value is a complicated conversation but from the points below you will see what i mean. I unfortunately did spend that money and contemplating returning them. Just a lot of effort as i ordered overseas. Don’t get me wrong they are good but nowhere near as good as the measurements would suggest.

The measurements don't suggest they're good, only the commentary on the measurements here, which is baffling.

 

[RHO]

The measurements don't suggest they're good, only the commentary on the measurements here, which is baffling.

Have you ever heard them?

 

[Migel83]

Hello,
Quick question, does anyone know what the Dummercabel contains?
That is, whether it is a silver or copper cable.

I made one with the Sommercabel Cicadia So14 and found it to be a little less good.
I think the headphones are very good, but this dummy cable is really awful, it gets twisted every time and that's really annoying.

 

[RHO]

Hello,
Quick question, does anyone know what the Dummercabel contains?
That is, whether it is a silver or copper cable.

I made one with the Sommercabel Cicadia So14 and found it to be a little less good.
I think the headphones are very good, but this dummy cable is really awful, it gets twisted every time and that's really annoying.

Doesn't matter if it's copper or silver. Shouldn't make any difference to the sound.
Check your soldering and connections (polarity).
I also have Sommercable to build my own balanced cables for the Aeon RT. (If I find the time) I'm not worried in the least that the cable will have any impact on the sound if build well.

Edit: Hmmm, looking at the cable you used, maybe, just maybe, the impedance has some influence. The Aeon RT is very low ohmic. And you are using 0.14mm² wire.

 

[Migel83]

Doesn't matter if it's copper or silver. Shouldn't make any difference to the sound.
Check your soldering and connections (polarity).
I also have Sommercable to build my own balanced cables for the Aeon RT. (If I find the time) I'm not worried in the least that the cable will have any impact on the sound if build well.

Edit: Hmmm, looking at the cable you used, maybe, just maybe, the impedance has some influence. The Aeon RT is very low ohmic. And you are using 0.14mm² wire.

Hello,
Thank you for your answer.
It is this one that you can supposedly also use for headphones.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/sommer_ci...iZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6NCwibGFuZ3VhZ2UiOiJlbiJ9

Otherwise, I usually use the Viablue Epc 2. Should the cable have been thicker than 0.14mm?
I wanted to use a pure copper cable for planar headphones as a test to see if there are any differences.

I don't think it's necessarily bad, most of what I've heard is that the brightness of the R/T's has decreased somewhat.
Which meant that the mids and highs didn't come to the fore quite as nicely, slightly masked.
And the bass became a little firmer.
I just remembered that the white One emergency filters were in, so I might have to use the black one to compensate.
I haven't tested that yet.

As far as soldering is concerned, I'm sure I did a good job.

If the difference is somewhat glaring, then the Dummer cable should be a silver cable, I think.
Since silver generally plays up a bit brighter.
I don't want to cut it open just to see what it is.
Was under the assumption that someone might know.

 

[RHO]

Hello,
Thank you for your answer.
It is this one that you can supposedly also use for headphones.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/sommer_ci...iZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6NCwibGFuZ3VhZ2UiOiJlbiJ9

Otherwise, I usually use the Viablue Epc 2. Should the cable have been thicker than 0.14mm?
I wanted to use a pure copper cable for planar headphones as a test to see if there are any differences.

I don't think it's necessarily bad, most of what I've heard is that the brightness of the R/T's has decreased somewhat.
Which meant that the mids and highs didn't come to the fore quite as nicely, slightly masked.
And the bass became a little firmer.
I just remembered that the white One emergency filters were in, so I might have to use the black one to compensate.
I haven't tested that yet.

As far as soldering is concerned, I'm sure I did a good job.

If the difference is somewhat glaring, then the Dummer cable should be a silver cable, I think.
Since silver generally plays up a bit brighter.
I don't want to cut it open just to see what it is.
Was under the assumption that someone might know.

I use this one : https://www.thomann.de/intl/sommer_cable_sc_stage_22_highflex_gn.htm
I strip it and use only the conductors. You'll need twice the length of your desired cable length.
After stripping I twist then per pair and sleeve them with paracord. But that part is a PITA.
Then I twist the 2 sleeved wires up to the Y-split. From there on is straight to the Hirose 4-pin connectors.
I'm still at the sleeving stage. (Maybe I went for a too small sleeve)

Can you measure the resistance of your cable from the 4pin XLR to the 4pin Hirose (headphone side)? I don't think 0,14mm² is too small, but I could be wrong about that, since the headphones themselves are very low-ohmic.

Silver or copper, they sound 100% exactly the same. The cable material (in case of a good conductor, which silver and copper are) make no difference in sound, what so ever. None!

 

[holicst]

I have DT770s (250ohms) and with a simple highpass shelf to take the edge off the highs (or few Specific EQ tweaks), DT770 Pro’s sound same Or even better than DCA’s through my Zen DAC V2’s. That’s a $150 rrp headphone….

I am not sure if the Zen DAC v2 can sufficiently power this DCA headphone, based on its specs.

 

[Migel83]

I use this one : https://www.thomann.de/intl/sommer_cable_sc_stage_22_highflex_gn.htm
I strip it and use only the conductors. You'll need twice the length of your desired cable length.
After stripping I twist then per pair and sleeve them with paracord. But that part is a PITA.
Then I twist the 2 sleeved wires up to the Y-split. From there on is straight to the Hirose 4-pin connectors.
I'm still at the sleeving stage. (Maybe I went for a too small sleeve)

Can you measure the resistance of your cable from the 4pin XLR to the 4pin Hirose (headphone side)? I don't think 0,14mm² is too small, but I could be wrong about that, since the headphones themselves are very low-ohmic.

Silver or copper, they sound 100% exactly the same. The cable material (in case of a good conductor, which silver and copper are) make no difference in sound, what so ever. None!

I did not convert to 4 pin Xlr, but to 6.3 mm jack, as the hybrid amplifier only has a 6.3 mm output.
I didn't measure anything during assembly.
I didn't think it was necessary because I knew which cables went where.

If there was anything that wasn't good, it was that I used silver solder from Viablue.
It's a bit of a shit to solder.
Maybe I'll try it again the next days with normal solder.

Your summer cable doesn't look bad either - I'll keep that in mind.

Yes cable sound phew the differences are quite minimal.
I agree with you there.
On the Fostex headphones, the silver cable was a positive improvement in the end.
But I think the difference is almost minimal with planar headphones, since they already have extremely good resolution.
I think I should experiment with the filters that come with it, I think that might be more useful than spending the afternoon making up cables .

But the Dummercabel is a stubborn ass in the form factor.
Thanks for the information.

 

[RHO]

Yes cable sound phew the differences are quite minimal.
I agree with you there.

I do not agree with you.
The differences aren't minimal. They are nonexistent.
The differences in statements between "minimal" and "nonexistent" is substantial.

 

[Migel83]

I have now taken out the white felt mats and replaced them with the black foam ones and connected the summer cable from me.
I get the same result as with the Dummercabel with the white felt mats from the sound side.

It may happen that you have to change the mats if you use a different cable.
I don't know 100% why.
Maybe it has something to do with the cross-section, cautiously speculated.

 

[edahl]

@Dan Clark you sending @amirm one o'them Stealths?

 

[amirm]

@Dan Clark you sending @amirm one o'them Stealths?

I actually received two. Review just posted: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...alth-review-state-of-the-art-headphone.25920/

 

[Monstieur]

The Harman target hurts my ears. I find the Aeon 2 Closed has the right amount of treble. It needs a huge sub-bass boost to feel tactile. It was my daily headphone for a long time until I replaced it with an LCD-XC which has more tactile sub-bass after EQ. I had to apply a high shelf of -3 dB from 2 kHz as well as the LCD-XC had too much treble!