Aeon 2 - Noire

Just announced today (12/28/2020)...

Dan Clark Audio - Aeon 2 Noire

https://www.danclarkaudio.com/aeon-2-noir.html

ÆON 2 Noire is the latest edition of our award-winning ÆON 2 Closed headphone. Featuring a bold metallic black paint ÆON 2 Noire sports a perforated ear-pad to deliver an all-new sound. In fact, ÆON 2 Noire's tuning almost exactly aligns to the “Harman Curve,” gently boosting bass and treble compared to ÆON 2 Closed. The result is a “lighter” sounding midrange and a soundstage that moves the “stage” a bit further from the listener for a wider and deeper space

ÆON 2 Noire orders will ship the first week of January, 2021.

I have not heard these at all and I would be surprised if anyone here has already. The most surprising thing that will likely split hairs here is the Harman Curve.

 

This the original Aeon 2 Closed colored black but using the perforated pads of the Aeon 2 Open. Oratory 1990 measured this configuration already and it is very close to the harmon curve getting a rating of 93/100. It has a little bit of a 1k dip and too much energy from 5k-10k for the harmon curve as well as more upper and midbass and less subbass (which is a positive IMO).

I think it will sound quite bright for many people here as harmon is often said to be bright and this is even brighter. Brent Butterworth liked this setup a lot though, he gushed quite hard in his review.

Anyone who likes a slightly modified Harmon curve will enjoy this setup and its likely one of the best closed headphones at its price point. I had the Aeon Open 2, and on a technical level it was really impressive, easily one of the best headphones under 1k, but I thought it had a odd frequency response that really needed EQ to be enjoyable. Extremely detailed though.

This FR seems friendlier in that it doesnt have the big 5.5k spike (Still has one but not NEARLY as bad!) and the bass is less overwhelming.

I would also warn if you are younger, the Aeon 2 both open and closed have a stupid amount of energy in the air region as you can see in the measurements and I found it to be quite annoying without EQ. If you cant hear 15-17k well probably wont be a issue.

 

Thanks for the info. If in fact it is the Aeon 2 Closed with the Aeon 2 Open pads, I wonder why the jump in price.

The only Harman Curve headphones I ever heard were the NAD HP50's which I found a bit dark. It did have that slight mid scoop mentioned that seems to open up the soundstage. It is more or less a loudness contour.

However, I can see where perforated pads is going to increase that brightness. The opens were bright enough and needed some of that front damping to be enjoyable.

 

I think its the same price as the regular one, both are 899.99 on the website. Everything is 15% off at the moment so its a bit cheaper. If you happen to be a Club member already its 25% off atm ($675), which is quite a nice deal. Think technicality wise this should be at the top of the pack around $700. Build quality is unquestionably top of the line, puts other planars to shame.

Nice of him to offer this since most reviewers seem to prefer this configuration.

I think this is probably the best offering DCA has at the moment with the discount, even for those who are not huge fans of harmon if you are willing to EQ its quite a nice starting point FR wise. Easy to EQ to your preference. Arent too many great closed headphones out there.