Drop + Dan Clark Audio Aeon Open X Headphones Reviews | Drop

Drop + Dan Clark Audio Aeon Open X Headphones

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K.max

Feb 28, 2020

Verified Buyer

Warm signature overall audio but amp picky

Very intimate sound eventhough they are open back very warm vocal based signature .very very amp picky and on some amps with hi gain alot of distortion and others no I am still to figuring out why distortion on some and no on others I think the output voltage plays a role .and I recommend balanced cable and powerful amp for these cans.

Recommends this product? Yes

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Mar 19, 2020

K.maxThey are very low impedance headphones so they are most likely quite sensitive (like IEMs). High gain in most amps introduces significantly more noise/distortion to deliver higher power. Another thing to consider is the damping factor. If your source has high output impedance it might struggle to drive these cans correctly. Preferrably you'd want something like the SMSL SP200 or Drop's THX 789 which have close to 0 output impedance AND enough grunt to drive current-heavy headphones :)

K.max

Mar 21, 2020

parowOOzThank you for explaining.

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Nov 24, 2020

K.maxOK, I need to make a correction to my previous post. I had incorrectly listed the damping factor as a potential issue with these headphones. Planars have the same impedance across their entire frequency range therefore there is no danger of a high impedance source changing their frequency response/tonal balance. Sorry for that part. However if you have a source with a high impedance you will need that source to have more power to drive these low impedance cans to same volume levels as lower impedance amps. The difference can be substantial depending on your amp of choice. Once again sorry for presenting incorrect info. Live and learn :)

(Edited)

K.max

Nov 27, 2020

parowOOzThank you for explaining.

Aug 19, 2021

parowOOzhi , i have bought the ifi zen dac V2 to power them , they'll be my first pair of audiophile headphones and the ifi my first amp . May i ask if you think this dac will be ok in regards to the issue you explained ?

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Aug 20, 2021

ZourfloxHi there ! So, on the plus side, the Zen DAC V2 has less than 1 Ohm of output impedance which is good. iFi as a manufacturer has a good reputation and their devices are rated rather positively so the quality of sound should not be an issue. For the more iffy side, as I understand it, the device can be powered from either the USB connection or a separate 5V power supply which is apparently not included with the Zen. The stated power output from this DAC, as per iFi's specifications, has been measured while the devie was powered using such a power supply. It is also said that these numbers can change if you are powering the Zen from the USB port. I'm gonna assume power ratings will be lower without the additional 5V power supply. This MIGHT be an issue depending on how loud you listen to music. The Aeon Opens don't have high efficiency which means they need more power to reach a certain loudness level compared to headphones with higher efficiency. Yep, that's another variable I've just added to the mix but it had to be done. Moving on with the subject, if you do not have the additional 5V power supply you might run into issues of headphones playing too quietly for your taste. The worse thing that can happen is the amp in Zen starts clipping. What that means is that the amp is basically overdriven - your headphones need/request/require more power/voltage/current than your amp can handle. Depending on how the amp inside the Zen has been engineered it can produce popping sounds, the sound might be "fuzzy/muddy" or "flat" compared to what the headphones should sound like (hard to know without having listened to said cans on a more powerful headphone amp in the first place), audio might be cutting out or in extreme cases it can cause damage to either headphones or the amp itself. Wouldn't worry about those extreme cases happening with Zen + Aeons. The loudness issue and the not ideal sound signature are a real posibility though. To sum up - if you are going to power the Zen from the USB you might not get the best out of these cans. They might either be too quiet or the amp might start clipping in more demanding situations. Good news for you is that you will have a few ways of remedying those issues if they indeed show up :)

Buy a balanced cable for Aeons with a 4.4mm pentacon plug. Balanced outputs in trully balanced amps (which the Zen has) produce more power so it might solve potential issues.
Buy the external 5V power supply to get the power output stated in the Zen's specification sheet. Those numbers should be sufficient to drive Aeon's without issues.
Since the Zen has RCA out you can just buy a separate, more beefy headphone amp and use the Zen as a pure DAC.

Hope that helps ! Sorry for the wall of text :D If you have any further questions feel free to ask. I'll do my best to help.

(Edited)

Aug 21, 2021

parowOOzi really don't mind the wall of text as i think it far better to have all the infos than not all of them ! you helped me quite a lot, i'm verry thankfull for your help and i hope i will not have any of the extreme cases you stated so i'll be extra careful with volume levels. i think the most intresting option right of the batch is adding a beefier amp as the capabilities of the zen dac seem good. let me know if there is an amp you know would be good enough under let's say 100 dollars ? kind regards mate haha and thanks again !

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JohnAcon

422

Aug 22, 2021

ZourfloxHey, i have the Open X and the Zen Dac V1. They are definitely not too quiet with the zendac. Also in the new Z-Reviews video he tested usb power vs external and found no difference(for the V2). Still the Aeons sound can benefit from a better amp, though i don't think you will find one below 100$

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Aug 22, 2021

JohnAconhi there :) thank you for the reply ! i was thinking of spending a bit more and getting the schiit magnius, it's around 200 dollars and can deliver a good amount of power but if you tell me that they're not too quiet i might not need a biger amp ! did you experience any clipping and do you find yourself cranking the knob to the max to have decent volume levels ?

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JohnAcon

422

Aug 23, 2021

ZourfloxDecent volume is for me at 50% and i never go above 75% any higher and there really is a little clipping, but 75% is definitely loud enough for me anyways

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Aug 23, 2021

JohnAconok thank you very much. i'll definitly buy an amp so i never see an issue like that, i dont' want to risk any damage to the headphone.

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Aug 23, 2021

JohnAconi ended up buying the THX AAA 789 😅 haha that 3 watts Se and 6w Bal ! i i will be using my zen dac as pre amp with the rca output. i think the true bass button might be verry good sounding on the thx 789 !

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JohnAcon

422

Aug 24, 2021

ZourfloxIn that case you will be disappointed, it only works for the amp part of the zen dac, at least for V1

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Aug 24, 2021

JohnAconohw ok.. that's not cool, i'll see if someone tried it on the V2. thanks for letting me know i won't be disapointed once i get it :)

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Aug 25, 2021

ZourfloxHello again ! I see you've gone with Drop's THX amp. Good choice ! It's really good and can be considered an "end game" amp :) As for the TrueBass button, don't worry too much about it. There are many ways you can get the same effect so it's basically a non-issue :) Hell, the Aeons come with different damping pads so you might even get same effect with the right combo. Experimenting with your gear to find the best settings is part of the fun :D You have a very nice set of audio gear, time to enjoy it ! Hope you have a lot of fun with your new toys ! Edit: Did a little digging about the Zen and it looks like you've made a very good decision choosing to go for Drop's THX Amp. Zen has real trouble powering low impedance, low efficiency headphones. Now, the review I'm talking about is about the V1, not the V2. However, the V2 only introduces a new XMOS chip for MQA decoding and an "upgraded crystal clock". Which means the amp is very likely the same in both versions. A small quote from AudioScienceReview (superb source for objective reviews btw) Zen's test: "I was very surprised how much performance dropped when testing with my Ether CX 25 ohm headphone, again in balanced mode. Turn up the volume past moderately loud and the sound starts to get distorted. Turn it up a bit more and bass notes cause momentary muting, and distortion is abundantly audible. Now "normal" listening may be before all of this happens but still, I would not recommend low impedance headphones with this amplifier."

Full review here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/ifi-zen-can-review-headphone-amp.25224/ The Ether CX have higher impedance ( 23 Ohms vs 13 Ohms) and almost identical efficiency ( 94db/mW vs 92db/mW ) compared to Aeons. What that means is that Aeons are harder to drive and Zen's amp would have an even harder time driving them correctly. If I may suggest your next upgrade I'd replace the Zen with a better DAC :)

(Edited)

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Aug 26, 2021

parowOOzagain thank you so much for your i sight on the gear i bought ! even if i did some research and watched a lot of reviews it's still not easy to make the good choice when it's the first gear you're buying ! i can still return the zen dac so if you know a dac in the same price range that would be better i would be verry happy to know about it. i am receiving the Aeons in less than 2 hours normally so you can imagine how much i'm thrilled haha ! one thing i like a lot about the audio comunity is the people like you just giving their honest thoughts about things without being agressive. i'll edit my reply when i receive them to let you know what i think about them.

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Aug 28, 2021

ZourfloxHi again ! Topping E30 is a very good DAC and should even be cheaper than Zen. Measures really well and once again can be considered "end-game" DAC, unless you would like to go full balanced in the future. Careful there, one user on this very site has accused me of being toxic and aggressive :D Jokes aside, I am by no means an expert and I am still learning new things. Whenever I can help I try to lend a hand. I almost quit this wonderful hobby because of bad advice from unreliable sources. Made a few stupid buying decissions and lost faith in this whole audiophile world. If I can spare someone the same fate then I'm happy, they are happy - win-win :)

(Edited)

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