Well, my initial impression with this set is very favorable. I think Tyll Hertsen did an outstanding job reviewing the Aeon Flow. He is a very experienced headphone guru and I have yet to read or watch a review by Tyll which was later confirmed by my own ears, to be in disagreeance. We obviously have similar taste and preference for headphone sound based on my own confirmations of his findings.
(If anyone is interested in Aeon Flow, I posted the links to Tyll's video review in the beginning of the thread.)
So it would be rather pointless for me to repeat what he said so I'll simply add the following.
The Aeon Flow comes with 3 insert-able tuning material pads that are inserted into the cups to "tune" the sound further to preference. From the black open foam type to the more restrictive 1 notch and 2 notch material that tames the treble and further dampens the sound to be very lush and laid back for fatigue free listening to
any music and recording "qualities" or lack thereof. I briefly tried all three and so far have not found the need to use any of them with the Violectric V281 amplifier.
I also find the Aeon Flow to indeed sound
somewhat similar to the Sennheiser HD600/650 (since I have that pair to compare to directly) in many ways but it is obviously a different brand/design headphone and is planar magnetic vs dynamic Senns .
What is similar? The similarity is in the rather smooth and unforced presentation. The HD600 have always been rather forgiving and perhaps even "boring" to some with which I personally do not agree with but can understand why an assessment like that can be made by comparison to some of the other more visceral and resolving headphones out there. I would never call the HD600 "boring" but rather a "midrange driven" headphone with the HD650 bringing some deeper bass skills to the game as well as sounding a touch more extended in treble but retaining the rather liquid midrange.
So I find the Aeon Flow as I sit here for the last few hours going through one of my playlists of reference recordings to get a nice "test drive" of the new to my ears Aeon Flows.
It is quite similar to the Senns in that liquid and rather engaging midrange but it stands above both Senns in the bass that is well resolved and has a rather nice kick to it. Not quite at the level of the Focal Elear but not too far behind. What it lacks in that last bottom octave it more than makes up for it with a rather taught but tuneful and well resolved bass. I don't listen to much house, trance or dance music so I don't need to be picking tooth fillings out of my mouth after a listening session to synthesized bass lines. It is definitely good enough, has enough kick when the recording calls for it naturally and with acoustic instruments.
Did I mention the midrange? Oh, it is quite beautiful on the Aeons.
Treble... Well, the treble and upper mids seem to be affected by the above mentioned tuning material inserts if one chooses and there in is the beauty of it all. If the partnering gear or the music recording quality is not up to par and you want to tune your Aeons to be a bit more forgiving, more lush and laid back, use one of the progressive tuning inserts. As I mentioned above, I don't feel the need for any of them with the Violectric V281 amp and my DAC.
Without the tuning pads in place, the Aeon Flow has a very smooth, musical, a bit warmish tonal balance but exhibits plenty of detail retrieval and treble extension without sounding veiled or rolled off too much. Very nicely voiced and tuned headphones, no glaring faults at all.
Kick back, put them on and get lost in music for hours on end without any grain, harshness or treble peaks that pierce your eardrums. The Aeon Flow is like an old friend who you can always count on for a fun and engaging conversation over a few beers no matter the place, time or location.
Summary. From what I heard this evening, I welcome the Aeon Flows to my collection and see myself spending quite a bit of time as I rotate through my headphones and listening sessions with various genres of favorite music and varying recording qualities. From some of my small but growing collection of high resolution various singing Divas to the grungiest Nirvana tracks, the Aeon Flow will be happy to accompany me on the musical journey. Two words will do to summarize. VERY ENJOYABLE.