Activities:Casual Listening, Critical Listening, Movies & TV
Music Genres:Classical, Hip-hop, Jazz, Metal, Rock, World
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You Must buy these
I love these headphones, they have a warm sound signature. They are definitely one of my favorite headphones I've purchased. Extremely comfortable. Excellent build quality!
Lightweight, comfortable, great looking, and sounds amazing!
Of course I want headphones that sound amazing - and these definitely do - but build quality, comfort, and appearance are also very important to me. These headphones check all these boxes and at a price point that's hard to beat! I definitely recommend these headphones and they should be at the top of your list for your next mid-priced closed headphones. I use these for music listening and to my ears, rock, classical, and jazz all sound great.
Music Genres:Classical, Electronic, Hip-hop, Jazz, Metal, Rock, World
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Detailed, Good Soundstage and imaging, Comfortable, Seems Well Made
I bought these cans since I wanted closed cans with good soundstage and imaging while also hoping to hear some of the "hifi" magic.
TL;DR: I got that, happy with the purchase even though they were, to my standards, quite expensive, even though there was a $430 sale when I bought. Not ideal for all my music but, on balance, better than any other cans I own (AKG K371, Shure SHR-440, Moondrop Quarks). Details below.
Sound Stage:
I don't own any open cans but of the closed cans I've personally listened to I definitely get the biggest sound stage and best imaging with these. Just a bit outside my head with pretty clear instrument separation. I usually evaluate soundstage by listening to Miles Davis's Kind of Blue album and comparing to what I experience on my speakers: each instrument on a clearly separate part of the soundstage that is slightly wider than my listening room. With these cans I get a similar experience except that the soundstage is smaller: slightly in front of my head and slightly wider than the phones themselves.
Frequency Response:
I won't go into too much detail since I don't feel qualified, but to my ears they have nice, balanced bass extension, relaxed but detailed midrange and good treble detail. It doesn't work that well for songs some that I like to listen very loudly. E.g. on White Stripes, Seven Nation Army I like the guitar to scream through to my soul (technical term, I know), and I don't quite get that with these. But then, the only place I reliably get that is on my hifi speakers, and I can't listen that loudly in my current residence. Even though I miss that aspect when listening to White Stripes I still enjoy the music due to the other things these cans do well, I just don't get the visceral enjoyment from some songs that I know is possible.
Detail Retrieval:
I'm definitely hearing more in my music than ever before, and I find it very enjoyable. Instrument transients (e.g. string plucks, drum hits) come through very clearly, both on the attack and the decay. Subtle ambient sounds come through. I also find that sometimes things that sounded like one instrument before is now clearly two different musical lines, or what sounded like a simple double-time beat is actually two subtly different drum beats talking to each other. It is this aspect that makes me feel that I got value for money since I don't get that with my other less expensive but still well regarded cans (e.g. AKG K371).
Comfort:
Comfort seems to vary between people, but I find these cans highly comfortable. I won't spend any time listening to uncomfortable cans -- it is a mininum requirement for me. I have a round, medium-large head shape and fairly large ears, and I'm close to bald.
For me the first priority is that the earcups are large and deep enough that my ears are not pinched anywhere and don't make contact with the grill. Tick.
I'm also quite sensitive to headband pressure, probably due to my lack of hair. The suspension strap works very nicely for me. I did have to adjust the tension on the one side using a screwdriver since the once side was much looser than then other, but now it is good. Tick.
Like some have reported I do find the clamp force slightly high, but I only notice that after some hours of wear. I hope it reduces over time. I have not tried bending the headband open, I feel a bit precious about doing that to, what I consider, pretty expensive cans ;)
Amplification:
People seem to have very varying opinions on the need for amplification with many headphones. My experience: On my Pixel 4a's headphone socket it plays loudly enough for me, but the sound quality is appreciably worse than when using my Schiit Magni+. On the Pixel the sound stage is not well defined, and the sound is much clearer and more "open" with the Magni+. I did find the sound on the Pixel OK for listening while doing tasks around the home, but definitely not for critical listening. I also used a Schiit Fulla E on my home-office PC (I need the microphone input), and while I did not listen critically I did find myself noticing sound stage and details in music when taking a cognitive break from my work, so I'd say a Fulla E should do fine as in inexpensive "first" amp to try.
Music Genres:Electronic, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop, R&B, Rock
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Great sound at this price point
The Aeon Closed X are a great set for the money. I would say you probably get about 80-90% of the sound of the more expensive Noire with these. Don’t really see the need to upgrade to the Noire if you have these!
I was currently using the Beyerdynamics DT 700 Pro & DT 900 Pro, both of which I really like. I also have the Sennheiser HD 560S. The Beyer sound signature sounds great to me and the Sennheisers were a great addition.
However I decided to look into purchasing a pair of Planar headphones and after researching I figured I would pick up a pair of the Drop + Dan Clark Audio Aeons.
I am by no means any type of expert, but these have to be one of the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn. Solid build and to me a great warm sound, bass is more than adequate. Might have to spring for a pair of the open back soon!
Music Genres:Electronic, Hip-hop, Jazz, Metal, Pop, R&B, Rock
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The Upgrade I Wanted
I started my headphone journey with the DT770 Pro X and while I did enjoy them, at times the sibilance was painful and I struggled to use them for long periods while I was working.
I started looking for an upgrade that had more balance but that was also a little less clinical and a little more musical - enter the Aeon X.
These have been everything I was looking for since the moment I put them on. Warmer, engaging and just enjoyable to listen to. Even when powered directly from my MacBook’s headphone jack while I’m out, these sound immersive and wonderful.
The amp and balanced cable is definitely overkill in terms of requirement for these, I have the volume pretty low at all times, however the DAC does help with the detail retrieval. I’d say these would run well off a dongle like the QUDELIX-5K rather than needing a full stack. The comfort is also incredible, earcups are super plush and clamp force doesn’t feel tight but they’re very stable.
Ultimately I wish I’d started with these rather than buying the Bayers. They’re amazing and I can’t see myself upgrading to another closed back for years. My only criticism would be that the pads were slightly rolled when I got mine, but that’s easy to fix if you google it and from what I’ve read DC support are great if you need replacements.
if you’re considering these, do yourself a favour and just get them.
It's well balanced quality headphone. Had Hifiman Sundara, Edition XS, Ananda Stealth and HE6se V2 headphones and Sennheiser HD 600, so I make comparison to these and say Drop + Dan Clark Aeon Closed are all wrapped into one. Not annoyingly or overly bright and has the right amount of bass. These look and feel like they will outlast the Hifiman headphones sound output and construction with ease. Hifiman's QC lacks