Drop Ether CX Review (Closed Planar Headphone)

[djwkyoto]

What connector does your existing cable have? Any full aftermarket with those hirose won't be cheap. Did you get the one with the xlr termination?

Yes, the cable is 4-pin XLR from the Hirose connectors, which is again adapted from XLR to 3.5 mm unbalanced to connect to the headphone amp.

I could go with an XLR to 2.5 mm adapter, I guess, but I also hoped to lose the weight of the XLR connection inbetween. (And I would also have to buy one.)

 

[djwkyoto]

@djwkyoto The cheapest cables I can find in Europe are like 125€. You'd be better off buying a 2.5mm cable for another headphone and soldering the Hirose connectors onto it. Would only cost 30€ or so, but would require soldering skills and equipment naturally.

Soldering equipment is available, only my skills have become a little bit rusty, I fear. But you're right, this would be a way if I can't find a cable on the cheap.

Is the pin configuration for the Hirose connectors known?

 

[staticV3]

Is the pin configuration for the Hirose connectors known?

Source

 

[djwkyoto]

How about one of these eBay-sellers? Does anyone have experience with the quality of their products?
Apart from soldering this looks like the cheapest way.

7N PCOCC Silver Plated Headphone Cable for Dan Clark Audio Mr Speaker Ether | eBay

C able: 8 cores Copper Silver Braided Earphone. Just give us the opportunity to resolve a problem. Color for the connectors:Show picture. We will try our best to reduce the risk of the custom duties.

www.ebay.de

 

[staticV3]

How about one of these eBay-sellers? Does anyone have experience with the quality of their products?

Those come from China.
You can get good quality cables from there, either via eBay or AliExpress.
But you wrote that you didn't want to import

 

[djwkyoto]

Those come from China.
You can get good quality cables from there, either via eBay or AliExpress.
But you wrote that you didn't want to import

Yes, you're right, I would prefer not to import. Seeing the prices though I am unsure again.

Or I might take up some soldering again at work and getting used to the thought of just trying it myself!

Thanks everyone for your input, it's been really helpful. Have a nice evening (or what time of day it is at your locations ).

 

[kaiba]

Wondering if anyone else gets distortion with the Ether CX in really low bass, possibly bad recordings? Suddenly heard buzzing/fluttering/sputtering/breaking up/flapping-ish noises in "Maltex - Lost":

I'm using Equalizer APO + Aqua ~ AutoEQ>"lef with bass Over-ear (Oratory1990)" +2db boost extra boost added to 64&105Hz &+1db extra @166Hz @ fairly low volume - 100% OS, & xDuoo xd05 bal volume dial at ~2.5 + gain, or, ~4 w/out gain switch on. My Sony z7m2, dynamic drivers, also have some driver buzzing in that song, but only at much higher volume, and with ~+8db total, 200Hz & under, extra low-shelf boosts; & even then, it seems a bit more instantaneous vs the Ether CX's buzzing extending over many notes until it sounds staticy. Maybe, this is a planar thing? Unless, that buzzing is a part of the, possibly _bad_, recording (also exists in other videos of that song on yt) & the Ether CXs are just showing it how it is, while the Sonys dynamic drivers show the start of the distortion, then have a hard time continuing that sound & partly smooth it over?

 

[usern]

@kaiba have you applied appropriate amount of digital negative preamp to account for the boosts in EQ?

 

[kaiba]

@usern the ether cx autoeq has -4.70 preamp. -3.94 for the Sony z7m2's eq.
I've only had these 2 headphones for a couple of days, along with the dac amp, & they are my first >$50 headphones!, & first planar speakers of any kind. Hoping that there isn't anything wrong with them as I purchased them used - both appear like-new, along with the amp.
Trying that song on 2 different 30mm & 40mm drivers bluetooth headphones, & IEMs; no distortion.

 

[usern]

@usern the ether cx autoeq has -4.70 preamp.

Is it before or after you added extra +2dB and +1dB boosts? Try setting preamp to -11 dB and see if there is still distortion. These headphones should have no trouble with any amount of EQ

 

[kaiba]

@usern, thanks for the help. Experimenting with preamp, both down & up - nothing (don't think there's clipping). Connecting to motherboard instead of amp - hmm, can't get volume up on Ether CX high enough to tell; but can on the z7m2s (seem less power hungry than the Ether CX, even though ~double the impedance?.. guess v=ir; increasing resistance lowers the amount of current needed to reach the same volume, &/or dynamic drivers on the Sonys are more efficient than the planar drivers on the Ether CXs?); only, possibly, a little bit of crackling (might just be staticy noises common in electronic music - which I prefer those musicians didn't add-in; feels/sounds like dirtying the sound!) ~ nowhere near the distortion off of the amp... So, decided to experiment with the amp - low & behold, connecting to the xDuoo's unbalanced output = no distortion! This used xd05 bal amp came with a 3.5mm to 4.4mm-balanced (4 black rings) adapter already in the balanced output; so, I've been connecting into that (rough thought probably along the lines of - "balanced", it must be better...). I believe that the Ether CX has a balanced xlr, but not sure if its included 3.5mm adapter is bal, or unbalanced? Or, if the 4.4mm balanced adapter's 3.5mm side is bal, or not - would I even get both left & right channel audio to the headphones if there was a miss-match? I'm coming from diy speakers experience where banana plugs for speakers, rca - xlr - fiber for inputs, & neutrik speakon for subwoofers; don't remember having to think/learn about balanced vs unbalanced while I was in that realm years ago...

As a preliminary review; I didn't notice that much of a difference in sound quality between these 2 expensive headphones vs cheapo ones. Or, of that much of a sound quality difference between the xDuoo xd05 bal dac amp & motherboard's realtek alc889... However, after listening to them, for a couple of days, the sound quality seems to be improving - maybe this is like turning up the playback speed on video - you have to get used to it; adjust to the higher sound quality to hear the little details that aren't muddled together like on 30/40/50mm driver headphones? When I got these, I immediately didn't like the play in the Ether CX's Hirose xlr connectors - headphones don't draw much current; but still... ~afraid of some plasma arcs with that looseness! Haven't tried the Ether CX's tuning pads, yet, but plenty with eq'ing. The Ether CX is clearly clearer in sound than the Sony z7m2 - the Sony's have a bit of added grain/texture & less separation (though, getting clearer the more I listen - mind burn-in vs driver burn-in) ~ morphing together of sounds like on cheaper headphones; but, get deeper, louder, into the lower frequencies than the Ether CX or cheap headphones. Before I bought these together, I was actually looking at the Ether CX & assuming that they would blow away the z7m2's - with the loser probably being re-sold to recoup some of the cost of buying these as a set - however, it's currently much closer than I thought - I may even be leaning towards the Sonys... for some things; like bass-heavy music, the rumbling depth of the Sony headphones wins. In clarity focused things, like music with vocals (which I rarely listen to), the Ether CXs win. Though, I haven't tried it yet, I have a feeling that the Sonys will sound better for watching movies. The race is close; may take months - if I don't just decide to keep both, like lots of headphone collections loons I see, in signature areas under posts, in these forums . For comfort; I prefer the z7m2's earpads & clamping pressure, but vastly prefer the Ether CX's headband - though, I keep on having to adjust it ~ probably need to tighten the screws a bit.

 

[Acerun]

I ended up selling my CX because of distortion on too many tracks to be honest and I picked up a ether flow open and have never had that problem again with plenty of bass IMO, and more detail. But they are open.

 

[kaiba]

I ended up selling my CX because of distortion on too many tracks to be honest and I picked up a ether flow open and have never had that problem again with plenty of bass IMO, and more detail. But they are open.

Definitely don't want open - that's what speakers are for! Headphones should be closed only - useful whenever you don't want to disturb others. Though, have never tried open back headphones, so...............

Not hearing any distortion with the Ether CX now that I switched to the xDuoo's unbalanced connection (maybe at really high volume, that I don't want to attempt?) - still not sure why the balanced output was doing that.

 

[Mauro]

ETHER CX is among the best sounding closed back headphones I have tried..if not the best. Congrats @Dan Clark
Treble is very well tuned. Not far from audio systems with Revel speakers in a direct comparison.
I also like very much felt filters to tune the treble to my liking without using DYI paper filters.
EQ in the bass is an easy job..but I also enjoy them without.

But now I want to buy the E3. It’s not fair Dan..

Now we need an Aeon Noire with an external Bluetooth dongle as the Deva. That would be a game changer

 

[Malaj]

Wondering if anyone else gets distortion with the Ether CX in really low bass, possibly bad recordings? ?

Plays fine on my ether c flow. Annoying track though the the start and stops all the time. Get that stutter stress going

 

[MusicLover2112]

ETHER CX is among the best sounding closed back headphones I have tried..if not the best. Congrats @Dan Clark
Treble is very well tuned. Not far from audio systems with Revel speakers in a direct comparison.
I also like very much felt filters to tune the treble to my liking without using DYI paper filters.
EQ in the bass is an easy job..but I also enjoy them without.

But now I want to buy the E3. It’s not fair Dan..

Now we need an Aeon Noire with an external Bluetooth dongle as the Deva. That would be a game changer

Just got my E3 and I can't go back; these truly do sound like more accurate HD650s to my ear. Might even sell my Ether CX...

 

[Mauro]

Just got my E3 and I can't go back; these truly do sound like more accurate HD650s to my ear. Might even sell my Ether CX...

Could you please compare the two and tell usa bit more? Thanks for sharing!

 

[MusicLover2112]

Could you please compare the two and tell usa bit more? Thanks for sharing!

Comments here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...3-headphone-review.50062/page-25#post-1955233

 

[Mauro]

I looked back and found the answer... CX should not use the ETHER pads, you get a 6K spike and it borks the upper midrange.

Comparing the two CX is smoother in the midrange while C Flow has more bass power, lower distortion, throws a deeper soundstage, and is more revealing. Both handle EQ with ease, C Flow needs a little more up top while CX needs more below.

Oratory's measured response for C Flow looks pretty much like what I'd post and he got a near ruler flat response with the PEQ so go there if you want to see vs the CX data Amir has posted.

One thing that is fun with ETHER C Flow is THD, which is even lower than CX. Here're two plots, brown is the CX at 104dB at 1Khz. This maps pretty well to Amir.

ETHER CX THD, 104dB @1Khz
View attachment 138982

ETHER CX THD, 104dB @1Khz
View attachment 138981

The lower THD is the Flow tech working, though as you see it was improving on something that was already pretty good...

Anyhow, stick with the CX pads on the CX and if you want to fiddle with the sound use the tuning inserts or EQ.

Hello Dan, when you say deeper soundstage..are you referring:
- as amir in his review to filling the holes in the ear gain region
- to other voicing/EQ settings (looking at oratory measurements for flow 1.1 hole at 2khz and peak at 6khz for example wrt CX)
- some driver or other mechanical properties like inner earpad hole size/reflective material for surfaces

I would be curious to know your supreme point of view as I am always looking for a deeper soundstage and a more informed purchasing process