For anyone wanting measurements and further impressions: forum.headphones.com/t/dan-clark-audio-aeon-2-open-closed-official-discussion/5716/252?u=resolve
I received a pair of these two weeks ago. I have no issues at all with clamping. I personally think they are among the most comfortable headphones I have ever owned, only matched by my very different Sennheiser HD800S. I do not find any problems with the treble response either and must say your choice of music is very different from mine, which consists mainly of classical, small combo modern jazz and folk. I use to power them one of three sources: Chord Hugo TT2/ Chord M-Scaler, Chord Mojo/ Poly and Questyle QP2R DAP. I decided to buy the Dan Clark upgrade Vivo cable, which is excellent. The headphones work well with all three of my power sources, but clearly they need a considerable amount of driving, which calls into question whether they are truly portable, as they are advertised to be. My user is almost exclusively at home, so this is no problem for me. I like these headphones a lot and have yet to find the need to use any of the tuning pads. They sound to me very neutral, with good bass response and plenty of subtle detail. Their soundstage is pretty good for closed back headphones. They do not match the wide soundstage of my Sennheisers, which are open back anyway. They certainly do not have the level of dynamism of my Focal Utopias, but those are well over three times as expensive and, in my view, almost unbeatable. To sum up, I highly recommend these headphones and their ingenious design, but to get the best out of them it is important to ensure that the setup used provides sufficient power.
Mr. Clark is one of the best in the game and one truly nice and cool person! I Love his products and it really helps that we have a similar ear as far as taste goes.
I love all of your reviews - with the crystal clear audio, the no-nonsense, easygoing style, and the good info. I really liked the simulated music. It doesn’t tell us what you’re hearing but in sharing with us what you’re describing (the track), I find the discussion more engaging.
Oh baby the celestee and nior headphone beef is cooking!🔥 lol im curious did you and DMS trade headphones for review, because the timing is fantastic 👏
Very much looking forward to the comparison with the Celestee! I'd appreciate it if you could explain how compromised the two of them might be with wearing glasses.
I currently have the Celestee and the Noire (A2C w/Noire pads) and I've been comparing them on the Celestee thread on Head-Fi if anyone is curious about additional opinions. I'm trying to decide which one to keep and it's extremely difficult to choose. Both are very enjoyable in their own way. From my experience, finding aftermarket cables for MrSpeakers/DCA headphones is fine. Never had an issue with not being able to get one with a few exceptions being some of the more budget companies and smaller companies. I find the stock cable that comes with the A2C is completely fine and I usually replace stock cables on all my headphones. The Noire is quite bright/spicy out of the box so I found the best tonal balance to be with the white felt filters; the better tonal balance of the white filters outweighed the over-damped sound for my personal preference. For comparison, with the regular A2C, I enjoyed with the black felt filters the most as a balance between being over-damped (white filter) and being too bright (black foam or no filter).
It is a great looking headphone, that folding mechanism is impressive. I would like one but I can't make myself spend that amount without hearing them first.
hi andrew, iirc hearing you saying the focal clears are you favourite headphone. I plan on picking up one soon and i'm wondering what amp an dac you like with it
One of my favorites... Susvara is my favorite haha. For sources, they don't take much to drive, so you can get away with fairly inexpensive stuff. I keep recommending modi/magni stacks but you can get whatever you want really, as long as it's not crazy stupid power meant for inefficient planars. I really like the Rebel amp for example.
I look forward to seeing your measurements on these, as Crin's look almost the exact same as the regular Aeon 2 Closed; which is odd considering the subjective opinions on them make it seem like the Noire has more bass quantity and ear gain.
Sounds like it may be similar to the original AFO, they 100% had sharp highs and that 'elevated bass to cover the lack of dynamics' thing going on. Now I'm just wondering how the soundstage compares to the other Aeons.
did u lose weight? Is the new aeon inefficient like aeon rt? I dont understand why they made it more portable if it is not efficient. I mean if that is what it takes to get the SQ right, then okay, but otherwise for an Aeon 3 I would love for it to be a touch more efficient for portable sources.
Hah! Thanks for noticing. Things had been going in the wrong direction for too long. Yeah efficiency is sort of a question mark with these. They seem to scale well off high current sources too.
What's a good closed back that's also not as bulky as a ZMF? I've been looking at the ATH-WP900 but I'll love to keep my options open. I use a HD650/R70X as a reference pair for the pc.
Agree with you , i have the same hesitations.I'm searching for the best and "light" closed back (to use also on the go).I think also to the Denon 9200 (much heavier and more expensive) and the audio technica ATH AP-2000Ti.The AEON seems great (but the design "more special" to use outside)
Tried the Focal Radiance, ZMF Aeolus and ADX5000. All great options. Focal Radiance: good bass, clear vocals but occasionally piercing treble. Easy to drive with even dongles. Aeolus: very liquid, smooth sound. Very fun listen. ADX5000: very clear, magical with some vocals. Quite treble-y. Comfortable and light
I think you're wearing them too high and forward. Try bring them down and back so that the front side of the pads lines up on the area between your ears and sideburns.
My first higher end headphones. Listening on Naim Unity Atom…disappointed at first. There is a break in period which I didn’t believe at first but they are definitely improving. Cliché but Joni Mitchell’s- A Case of You sounds totally new! Not super punchy…could be bec I’ve been listening to Beats. Using with iPhone 13 and ddHiFi TC35i (2022) as the Atom won’t play Master quality tracks from Tidal but not enough juice to push them…full blast is just a decent level for a quiet room…but Sistine Chapel Choir-Miserere…holy fuck…it’s like being IN the chapel!
The cool thing with the inserts is you could literally have a headphone that can sound like many headphones. I think the White insert is what most reviewers liked the most. I doubt these can beat out the Celestee which are great right out of the box
@@theodorezurla496 It should be interesting. I've got the Celestee and if you like that Focal Punch and Slam than look no further. I doubt the NOIR can do what the Celestee are capable of when it comes to detail... But who knows?
@@theodorezurla496 Yeah I'm in a similar situation with the Audeze LCD-XC coming on Monday. I want to be 100% sure I'm not settling for something if there is a better headphone in a similar price range. Call it having OCD with headphones I guess!!
Andrew don't use the white filters. Go black please. Just kidding, I'm a grey guy. Nice to ear your impressions about those headphones that I'm loving.
@@shadouxg7150 sure it does. Capable driver just I can’t seem to get the eq quite right unlike many other headphones like lcd x lcd 2c arya etc just want a good closed back with better frequency response out of the box And also i like planar qualities better like sound separation i find on focal headphones separation isn’t very good compared to good planars and planar bass is just the best for my taste. But that just my taste
I wear glasses with my Aeon 2 closed (same headphones, different pads/color). It may change the sound slightly because it breaks the seal a bit but, in my case, it isn't dramatic. It is also something that will be an issue, to some degree, with every closed, over-ear headphone.
@@joeljrichards Thanks so much for the response. Looks like closed backs aren't in the cards for me going forward then. I'll stick with IEMs for closed experiences. Don't want to invest in headphones that I can't wear headphones with without impacting quality.
I wear glasses all the time. I do not think you should be put off by his comments. It does seem silly to me that he wears a hat and yet takes off his glasses. That simply does not make sense to me. Rest assured, you should have no problems with these headphones as a wearer of glasses!
Aren't they using a female mini Hi-Rose connector ? It's probably the best connector you can use for a headphone, super high quality, robust and long lasting. The original Mr. Speakers T 50 RP modded headphones were using the same connector, in my opinion there isn't a better one to use on a headphone.
Personally I prefer 4 pin tiny xlr over hi-rose but just because they don't become loose over time and it's way easier to connect without faffing around with correctt orientation
I like the candy cane red and it looks like a giant candy cane grasshopper let me lick 😋😋😋😋😋 Andrew whispers but black is better 3:04 so you know which one's red 4:55 thanks now you got me addicted to this song if I got those I would probably not using a tuning filters just EQ so I don't get any sound dampening feeling and sound if that makes sense basically what I'm saying is so the headphones don't sound damp congested compressed if you know what I mean and definitely some Dekoni earpads if I get the open version
For anyone wanting measurements and further impressions: forum.headphones.com/t/dan-clark-audio-aeon-2-open-closed-official-discussion/5716/252?u=resolve
I received a pair of these two weeks ago. I have no issues at all with clamping. I personally think they are among the most comfortable headphones I have ever owned, only matched by my very different Sennheiser HD800S. I do not find any problems with the treble response either and must say your choice of music is very different from mine, which consists mainly of classical, small combo modern jazz and folk. I use to power them one of three sources: Chord Hugo TT2/ Chord M-Scaler, Chord Mojo/ Poly and Questyle QP2R DAP. I decided to buy the Dan Clark upgrade Vivo cable, which is excellent. The headphones work well with all three of my power sources, but clearly they need a considerable amount of driving, which calls into question whether they are truly portable, as they are advertised to be. My user is almost exclusively at home, so this is no problem for me. I like these headphones a lot and have yet to find the need to use any of the tuning pads. They sound to me very neutral, with good bass response and plenty of subtle detail. Their soundstage is pretty good for closed back headphones. They do not match the wide soundstage of my Sennheisers, which are open back anyway. They certainly do not have the level of dynamism of my Focal Utopias, but those are well over three times as expensive and, in my view, almost unbeatable.
To sum up, I highly recommend these headphones and their ingenious design, but to get the best out of them it is important to ensure that the setup used provides sufficient power.
Mr. Clark is one of the best in the game and one truly nice and cool person! I Love his products and it really helps that we have a similar ear as far as taste goes.
Maybe a closed-back planar headphone shoot-out (DCA Aeon2, DCA Ether c flow 1.1, Audeze LCD-XC)?
Agreed, also throw in the zmf Atticus and eikon as well.
And if somehow they can manage to get that Australis headphone.
+ LCD 2 closed guys
I love all of your reviews - with the crystal clear audio, the no-nonsense, easygoing style, and the good info. I really liked the simulated music. It doesn’t tell us what you’re hearing but in sharing with us what you’re describing (the track), I find the discussion more engaging.
Oh baby the celestee and nior headphone beef is cooking!🔥 lol im curious did you and DMS trade headphones for review, because the timing is fantastic 👏
Very much looking forward to the comparison with the Celestee! I'd appreciate it if you could explain how compromised the two of them might be with wearing glasses.
I currently have the Celestee and the Noire (A2C w/Noire pads) and I've been comparing them on the Celestee thread on Head-Fi if anyone is curious about additional opinions.
I'm trying to decide which one to keep and it's extremely difficult to choose. Both are very enjoyable in their own way.
From my experience, finding aftermarket cables for MrSpeakers/DCA headphones is fine. Never had an issue with not being able to get one with a few exceptions being some of the more budget companies and smaller companies. I find the stock cable that comes with the A2C is completely fine and I usually replace stock cables on all my headphones.
The Noire is quite bright/spicy out of the box so I found the best tonal balance to be with the white felt filters; the better tonal balance of the white filters outweighed the over-damped sound for my personal preference. For comparison, with the regular A2C, I enjoyed with the black felt filters the most as a balance between being over-damped (white filter) and being too bright (black foam or no filter).
Sooo which is it celestee or nior???? I'm in the same boat brother
@@theodorezurla496 Still trying to decide. I am waiting on some new DACs to come in so I can see which headphone has better synergy with my systems.
@@david1235102 so far what you leaning towards?
It is a great looking headphone, that folding mechanism is impressive. I would like one but I can't make myself spend that amount without hearing them first.
Just a notice about the Aeon lineup from Dan Clark Audio: The carbon on the cups scratches *very* easily.
So they haven`t fixed it yet? and the ear pads are glued on very stupid move.
@@hanifnejad the double sided tape is low tack and reusable, so you can remove them without damaging the pads and also regluing it.
@@IgorPorto Thanks i did`t know that, but what about the cups scratching does it still happen?
For people who buy uswd it's a benefit, you get a huge discount because of the scratches but it's just visual stuff the audio is still great
I loved the red.
Hey resolve, great first impressions video. What mic are you using? Sounds even better than before.
RE20
hi andrew, iirc hearing you saying the focal clears are you favourite headphone. I plan on picking up one soon and i'm wondering what amp an dac you like with it
One of my favorites... Susvara is my favorite haha. For sources, they don't take much to drive, so you can get away with fairly inexpensive stuff. I keep recommending modi/magni stacks but you can get whatever you want really, as long as it's not crazy stupid power meant for inefficient planars. I really like the Rebel amp for example.
@@ResolveReviews oh, my bad haha, my ears must be going. Appreciate your opinion, thanks alot
Dude has the best job
Reminder that you can just put the perforated pads on the Aeon Flow 2 Closed and it is the same headphone.
Except the colour. Honestly I wish Dan had gone with the all black design to begin with, the red makes it stand out too much outside
Not according to dms' video. It seemed to be made for a different target fr.
@@TareqASamra Pads are one of the most influential components to FR. So yeah it's probably just the pads.
@@TareqASamra On their own site it says it is just the color and the perforated pads that come on as standard. Those are the only changes.
@@TheHEADPHONEShow oh, especially for the ear gain. So both models have the same driver setup?
I look forward to seeing your measurements on these, as Crin's look almost the exact same as the regular Aeon 2 Closed; which is odd considering the subjective opinions on them make it seem like the Noire has more bass quantity and ear gain.
The measurements for these will likely be all over the place, mostly because of how variant the pads are.
Sounds like it may be similar to the original AFO, they 100% had sharp highs and that 'elevated bass to cover the lack of dynamics' thing going on. Now I'm just wondering how the soundstage compares to the other Aeons.
Soundstage on this one is decent for a closed-back.
Andrew what are your initial impressions on their soundstage? I'll be checking out your review , just curious.
did u lose weight? Is the new aeon inefficient like aeon rt? I dont understand why they made it more portable if it is not efficient. I mean if that is what it takes to get the SQ right, then okay, but otherwise for an Aeon 3 I would love for it to be a touch more efficient for portable sources.
Hah! Thanks for noticing. Things had been going in the wrong direction for too long. Yeah efficiency is sort of a question mark with these. They seem to scale well off high current sources too.
Looking at the Aeon X closed. Will those be a good entry to DCA sound?
Interested to see the final review. The lack of dynamics on Mr Speakers / Dan Clark always confused me.
Just take the dampening out and then they have great dynamics
I have Aeon 2 open and do not feel any lack of dynamics.
Hi there!
Is it possible to replace the earpads on this headphone?
Great video! HD58X next if you could please :)
vs arya please,
thank you,
Except the color only difference with a2c are the perforated pads. For A2c owners you can order pads from Dan.
What's a good closed back that's also not as bulky as a ZMF? I've been looking at the ATH-WP900 but I'll love to keep my options open.
I use a HD650/R70X as a reference pair for the pc.
Denon AH-D7200 and 9200. I love my 9200s. Sold my Stellia and Utopia they are that good
@@dill6078 thank you for your recommendation. I'll have a peek at them
Agree with you , i have the same hesitations.I'm searching for the best and "light" closed back (to use also on the go).I think also to the Denon 9200 (much heavier and more expensive) and the audio technica ATH AP-2000Ti.The AEON seems great (but the design "more special" to use outside)
Tried the Focal Radiance, ZMF Aeolus and ADX5000. All great options.
Focal Radiance: good bass, clear vocals but occasionally piercing treble. Easy to drive with even dongles.
Aeolus: very liquid, smooth sound. Very fun listen.
ADX5000: very clear, magical with some vocals. Quite treble-y. Comfortable and light
@@bentobox3140 Thank for your quick answer!I will take a look at these options
this vs sony Z1R?
i REALLY hope you compare this to the Celestee, will help me TONS
also was thinking about celestee but it has mixed reviews and I like planar more than dynamic drivers
I'm also curious about how this headphone compares to the Audeze LCD-X
Interested to see which pad you pick?
How about the stock pads, since they're glued on...?
I think you're wearing them too high and forward. Try bring them down and back so that the front side of the pads lines up on the area between your ears and sideburns.
Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 Noire or the Focal Celestee
My first higher end headphones. Listening on Naim Unity Atom…disappointed at first. There is a break in period which I didn’t believe at first but they are definitely improving. Cliché but Joni Mitchell’s- A Case of You sounds totally new! Not super punchy…could be bec I’ve been listening to Beats. Using with iPhone 13 and ddHiFi TC35i (2022) as the Atom won’t play Master quality tracks from Tidal but not enough juice to push them…full blast is just a decent level for a quiet room…but Sistine Chapel Choir-Miserere…holy fuck…it’s like being IN the chapel!
I’m an audio engineer. Can you please review the skull candy crushers?
Sure can. They're really bad for music production. Extremely bass boosted.
The cool thing with the inserts is you could literally have a headphone that can sound like many headphones. I think the White insert is what most reviewers liked the most.
I doubt these can beat out the Celestee which are great right out of the box
I'm curious for the final showdown between the celestee nd nior
@@theodorezurla496 It should be interesting. I've got the Celestee and if you like that Focal Punch and Slam than look no further. I doubt the NOIR can do what the Celestee are capable of when it comes to detail... But who knows?
@@JTB-- I also own the celestee just got them yesterday lol but I have 1 month to return so if they beat the nior then I'm not returning
@@theodorezurla496 Yeah I'm in a similar situation with the Audeze LCD-XC coming on Monday. I want to be 100% sure I'm not settling for something if there is a better headphone in a similar price range. Call it having OCD with headphones I guess!!
Andrew don't use the white filters. Go black please. Just kidding, I'm a grey guy. Nice to ear your impressions about those headphones that I'm loving.
Hi, by elevated bass do you mean more powerful but not necessarily impactful ?
Yeah that's one way of putting it.
@@TheHEADPHONEShow how compares with the audeze mm-500 ?
Thank you !
just ordered these to replace elegias
The elegia was good? Did u use EQ?
@@shadouxg7150yes i do and I think thats the main problem of the elegia. They need a LOT of eq for me to sound right with modern music.
@@tdg176Its good if it handles Eq well, does it?
@@shadouxg7150 sure it does. Capable driver just I can’t seem to get the eq quite right unlike many other headphones like lcd x lcd 2c arya etc just want a good closed back with better frequency response out of the box
And also i like planar qualities better like sound separation i find on focal headphones separation isn’t very good compared to good planars and planar bass is just the best for my taste. But that just my taste
@@tdg176 Celestee?
Wait so... you can't or shouldn't wear glasses with these? That's kind of deal breaker. I was looking forward to this headphones. Can anyone confirm?
I wear glasses with my Aeon 2 closed (same headphones, different pads/color). It may change the sound slightly because it breaks the seal a bit but, in my case, it isn't dramatic. It is also something that will be an issue, to some degree, with every closed, over-ear headphone.
@@joeljrichards Thanks so much for the response. Looks like closed backs aren't in the cards for me going forward then. I'll stick with IEMs for closed experiences. Don't want to invest in headphones that I can't wear headphones with without impacting quality.
You can wear glasses but, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't compromising the seal for the initial listening test.
I wear glasses all the time. I do not think you should be put off by his comments. It does seem silly to me that he wears a hat and yet takes off his glasses. That simply does not make sense to me. Rest assured, you should have no problems with these headphones as a wearer of glasses!
Reviews are weird.
Majorhifi says these lack low end
DMS says these have enough to satisfy bassheads and become the measuring stick for low end
I tend not to trust major hi-fi
You can only trust your ears.
link simulated audio
Sharp side? I'm out haha. I got the celestee yesterday, I like them but the clamp is pretty intense and the highs seem a bit fatiguing.
The clamp will loosen up over time.
Aren't they using a female mini Hi-Rose connector ? It's probably the best connector you can use for a headphone, super high quality, robust and long lasting. The original Mr. Speakers T 50 RP modded headphones were using the same connector, in my opinion there isn't a better one to use on a headphone.
Yeah I have no issues with them
Personally I prefer 4 pin tiny xlr over hi-rose but just because they don't become loose over time and it's way easier to connect without faffing around with correctt orientation
small plannars just don’t make sense unless you hate dynamic range
Yo they look like fricken driver clubs though.
👍🌟👍
I like the candy cane red and it looks like a giant candy cane grasshopper let me lick 😋😋😋😋😋 Andrew whispers but black is better 3:04 so you know which one's red 4:55 thanks now you got me addicted to this song if I got those I would probably not using a tuning filters just EQ so I don't get any sound dampening feeling and sound if that makes sense basically what I'm saying is so the headphones don't sound damp congested compressed if you know what I mean and definitely some Dekoni earpads if I get the open version