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Old 01-02-2018, 10:06 PM
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Default MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Closed Mini-review

For the last few days I’ve had the new Aeon Flow C headphones connected to my A&K player running a playlist on repeat to break them in a bit. They now have about 100 hours on them, and today I finally spent some serious time with them.

Overall these are great headphones:

The midrange and treble are balanced, smooth but with plenty of detail, and clear even at high volumes. By comparison, my other closed over-ears, the Shure SH1540, also sound well balanced, but start to get a bit congested and less clear at higher volumes.

Bass, although clear and well defined, is a bit light. These phones come with one set of tuning pads which are intended to boost the upper bass a bit. I’ve gone back and forth with them a couple of times, but if there’s a change, it’s too subtle for me to hear so far. I don’t find the bass a serious drawback, but of all my headphones they have the lightest bass.

Isolation is excellent, the best I’ve heard in a closed over-ear phone in some time. Not up to IEMs of course, but still very good.

Fit and comfort are also excellent. Adjustments are easy, head pressure is fine, they stay comfortably secure during movement, and don’t become fatiguing after a couple of hours. One other important factor for me, I find some headphones get in the way when I lean my head back in a soft chair, but these don’t bother me at all.

Imaging and sense of space are wonderful. Instruments are clearly delineated in their own space. More than my open headphones, however, the soundstage is in the head rather than in front of me.

The cable is very nice: flexible and not in the least bit microphonic. The connectors are also solid and tight. I usually get Moon Audio cables for my headphones, but am debating the necessity with these.

In summary I’d say these are excellent closed headphones for the price. They’re not the last word in bass or soundstage, but the balance, smoothness, detail and comfort make up somewhat for that lack. For serious late night listening I’ll still default to the Senn HD800 or the Westone IEMs, but for casual listening when I just want to pop on some over-ears in a slightly nosier environment, these will be the ones I’ll reach for.

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Old 01-02-2018, 10:59 PM
PHC1 PHC1 is offline
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Thanks for the write up Tony! I am really enjoying my pair of Aeon Open Flow for sure. It is a very pleasant sounding and very comfortable set, almost feather-weight on the head. I often use it for my late night listening sessions when I am getting tired and don't feel like wearing the heavy stuff.

I find the tuning pads are mostly effective at blocking out the upper mids and highs and have virtually no effect on the bass. I typically don't use any white, restrictive tuning pads other than the open mesh black. I find the balance of the black pad of allowing the detail to come through but not sounding closed in just right for my taste and my gear. They do scale up nicely with the higher gear driving them as well. Enjoy!
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Old 01-03-2018, 12:45 AM
greekgod greekgod is offline
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Thanks for the review. I was a bit worried these might be too light in the bass which is a real deal breaker for me. If they have less bass that the Senns HD800 then that would be a problem for me.
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Old 01-03-2018, 12:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greekgod View Post
Thanks for the review. I was a bit worried these might be too light in the bass which is a real deal breaker for me. If they have less bass that the Senns HD800 then that would be a problem for me.
They are not as bass savvy as your Fostex. In fact my TH-X00Ebony slams with bass much harder. The Aeon are a bit more even across the board so if sub bass is important to you, I'd say these may not be to your liking.
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Old 01-03-2018, 03:14 AM
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...if sub bass is important to you, I'd say these may not be to your liking.

I couldn’t agree more. The closed are great headphones, and they excel with chamber music, folk, jazz - but if you want to,rock out with serious bass, look elsewhere.
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Old 01-03-2018, 03:31 AM
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Default MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Closed Mini-review

Quote:
Originally Posted by PHC1 View Post
I find the tuning pads are mostly effective at blocking out the upper mids and highs and have virtually no effect on the bass. I typically don't use any white, restrictive tuning pads other than the open mesh black. I find the balance of the black pad of allowing the detail to come through but not sounding closed in just right for my taste and my gear.

Serge, FYI, the closed version only came with one set of black pads and instructions to use them to increase the upper bass. I didn’t find they made much of a difference but will try them again just in case.
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Last edited by Antonmb; 01-03-2018 at 03:56 AM.
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Old 01-03-2018, 03:55 AM
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Serve, FYI, the closed version only came with one set of black pads and instructions to use them to increase the upper bass. I didn’t find they made much of a difference but will try them again just in case.
Oh that makes sense. I’m sure the closed and open versions have a somewhat different tonal balance. I can’t imagine pads making much of a difference in the bass region but I am not the designer. I also can’t imagine someone needing the white double pads mine came with as that is like listening to speakers with blankets over them...
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Old 01-03-2018, 03:57 AM
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Oops, I see iPad spell check changed Serge to Serve .
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Old 01-03-2018, 03:58 AM
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Oops, I see iPad spell check changed Serge to Serve .
I’ve been called worse...
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Old 07-03-2018, 10:01 AM
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Good write-up, Tony. I use my Aeon Cs at my desk at work for everything from streaming podcasts, listening in on conference calls (skype), to listening to lossless audio on my hard drive. They do a great job of blocking out any background noise (even though there really isn't too much in my office) and are comfortable to listen to for hours on end. I find that I enjoy the sound signature very much even though they're a bit light in the bass. I think if they did have a more prominent bass and kept the rest of the signature as-is that I would get a bit too distracted with the music and not focus as much on work. I haven't ever tried them with the tuning pads, though, so I can't speak to what effect they have.
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