Additional Ether Open Measurements

This post is going to explore some additional Ether open measurements. I borrowed one pair before from an anonymous donor and currently have a different pair on hand. I wanted to see how they compared, see what v1.1 changed, and try a couple other tweaks on the Ether open.

My impressions are largely the same as the last pair I heard, which you can find elsewhere on this site. This unit does not sound quite as full and fleshed out and is also a bit rougher sounding. Otherwise, very much the same.

All measurements are of the left channel only

Original pair for comparison (pair #1, only used for v1.0 measurements). Ignore distortion, especially low-end. Different, louder environment.






Here is what pair #2 looks like in a v1.0 configuration. Please note the 80dB scale of this graph! That will make differences between the two look smaller than they really are, as well as generally make the headphones measure more "flat" than they really sound (always the case).






Here is what pair #2 looks like in a v1.1 configuration. Measurably, any differences could be standard measurement variance. I did not find the v1.1 foam to be all that useful one way or the other.






Here is what happens when you take pair #2, v1.1, and put the Ether C angle pads on it (subjectively painful to listen to).






Here is pair #2, v1.1, with angle pads, but also with the Ether C large, white felt tuning disc slipped in the pads. This made them easier to listen to...and dead sounding.






Takeaways: Like almost any planar that's been measured across various units, the Ether is no exception to at least slight differences between each pair. I have heard it subjectively, and you can see some differences between the two pairs here. Whether or not it's enough to matter comes down to the end user.

Stick to flat pads on the Ether open, even if they do no favors to the already small, crappy stage.

Don't feel sad if you are still running v1.1

There are other front damping materials and configurations that will do a better job than anything supplied by MrSpeakers. But, ultimately, I think these are "OK" headphones priced way, way too high. Too many subjective problem spots that need to be ironed out.