Ether-C Flow Measurements and Impressions

Thanks to @GelockS for sending these.

The Ether-C Flow is a closed back planar magnetic headphone flagship from Mr Speakers. As far as the unique "Flow" technology, this is what Dan has to say (http://headphone.guru/mrspeakers-ether-c-flow-headphones/):

“We are dealing with waves, where atoms move back and forth in response to pressure changes. When the wave passes a right angle on a magnet, it experiences diffraction, which changes the direction of the wave from parallel to the driver to a quarter-spherical wave coming off the magnet edge, while the wave coming directly past the magnet remains parallel. This is an increase in entropy and the result is masking of fine details and increase in distortions. There are other effects as well, but the key point is we’re trying to acoustically replace the hard edges of the magnet with smooth passages that reduce these negative effects.”

Wow. Well, that certainly went a bit over my head. But suffice to say, that it appears the drivers are custom made and this is not just another mod of an existing headphone.

The cans look really nice, and the packaging is fantastic:



How about the sound?

Based on what I heard these maybe "version 1.1" (Don't know how many versions there are)

I would agree (somewhat) with the following statements (http://audio-head.com/MrSpeakers-Ether-C-Flow-Review/)

"I characterize as a shallow U-shape" - AudioHead
"Everything in between, from the mids through the mid-bass, is slightly laid back and thin." - AudioHead
"The complaints most often heard of the current C are that it doesn’t have enough bass and that it can be too bright" - AudioHead

I don't think think they are exactly U-shaped. They have more treble than bass. The mids may be somehow laid back in some areas and may be indeed a bit thin. Indeed the C's may not have enough bass.

If you care to read a perhaps different opinion, here is another take on it (maybe another version of the cans): http://headphone.guru/mrspeakers-ether-c-flow-headphones/

Anyhow. I did not like what I heard. To me they sound similar to how they measure (see bellow). Possible other folks may find these their top of the crop cans depending on version and personal preferences.

Frequency Response



Distortion Right



Distortion Left



CSD Right



CSD Left

 

Several measurements on the right and left channel (after re-seating on the coupler), which seem to be repeatable:



Distortion Right (not normalized to fundamental)



Distortion Left (not normalized to fundamental)



Impulse response Right



Impulse response Left

 

More relevant discussion may be found here (and elsewhere):

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...low-headphone-upgrade.2438/page-21#post-84607

Now I know what @Marvey and @Hands where talking about.

This is not a cheap shot at Mr Speakers. It is quite possible that these are old versions that went in the wild with issues. I really don't know.

 

I likely got confused with the versioning stuff.

If the pads are the problem, and that's a good possibility, maybe Mr Speakers should experiment with more consistent ones. Not all headphones respond the same to pads and stuff. But some planar magnetic ones do seem to exhibit strong dependence on pads.

Having pads deform consistently different between two channels may be part of the issue. Maybe there is still driver variability issues as well. This is pure speculation on my part though.

 

I think there is good feed back here:

1) Check pads. Make sure they are not the cause of these variations.
2) Check possible treble issues in the tuning. I know different measurement rigs yield different results. But this feedback comes from hearing the cans. Possible folks have different opinions about this. But it seems a consistent criticism.

The cans look fantastic though and are fairly comfy.

These cans are $1.5k. It's hard to be lax in performance demands with such a step price as @perkele alluded to.

 

More impressions here:
http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...low-headphone-upgrade.2438/page-22#post-85737

 

I'm not sure. I know my two HD202s are closed and use a port to control the bass. But the matching between all four drivers (2 per can) is pretty close.

The only thing I can think off currently is the pads. Also, ports can be very difficult.

These are the Flow C. It seems there is only one version.

Having consistent results can be difficult at first I guess. Having a strict process by which cans are exactly the same all the way down to the last detail is important IMO. Senn seems to be very good at this. Koss and Grado seem also good at this.

It could also be the driver construction. Not sure if it's easier to get consistent dynamic drivers vs planar drivers.

Not sure if bigger drivers interact more with the cup than smaller drivers either.

 

The channel imbalance is disturbing. Can you try switching pads (if that even works) to see if its the pads or the drivers or something else. I doubt it's your measurement technique with getting a good seal (I can see Jude screwing this up, but not you). The Ether Flow C I heard sounded like the right channel in the bass and left channel in the treble. Then again, it's difficult to hear channel imbalances, especially if they are in the bass.

Is Changstar / SBAF a magnet for random defects or what? It seems that folks always ship us defective gear.

 

Can do. Will do tonite.

Will verify dampening as well.

Yup. Will post actual picture tonite as well.