Drop Aeon Open X

Hey guys. Just wanted to post a quick FYI in case it can help anyone else avoid some wasted time. Apoglies if it would be better posted elsewhere.

My Drop Aeon Flow X arrived today, unfortunately with issues;

1. They showed up with non-perforated ear pads. Not only that but the give on the ear pads seems to be what others describe the original aeon flow pads to be.
2. The box hinge is coming apart a bit (I could easily let this go but it lends to my thoughts below)

Honestly, they feel like new old stock. I am not convinced they are anything but aeon flows with a "Drop + Dan Clark" leather strip put on the headband (a piece that clearly is assembled as it's own piece, so would be very easy to do).

Drop simply asking me to send as return. No offer to send perforated pads. No way to confirm what I would receive if I placed a new order would include the updated pads on the website..... In fact when I asked how I would know if a new order would include the advertised perforated ear pads, I was told, "after reviewing your photos and the information on the product page, I have concluded that it is unlikely that any replacement sent to you would be any different".

Guess I am just returning and moving onto something else. Buyer beware, this appears to me like Dan Clark Audio is using Drop to move out his old Aeon product. Maybe my case is isolated, but proceed with caution.

I posted photos on the Drop discussion page, you can see here with the same thoughts above;
https://drop.com/buy/drop-dan-clark-audio-aeon-open-x/talk#discussions

 

Just to let anyone know, before I left Drop I spent a couple of days with Dan in San Diego tuning a new version to make the Aeon Open X. Should definitely be a new headphone and not returned stock.

We wanted a more "open" Open that still had warmth/weight/slam. Of the V1 Aeons, the Closed sounded far more open than the Open (crazy, I know) but could be a bit thin-sounding or strident on some music. The original Open v1 was so warm that it was just a bit too rolled off for me and others, definitely a super-lush listen. We gave the Open some more upper mids and a more "open" overall sound...but didn't totally change it into something different. Multiple strategies were tried while I was in San Diego by Dan and prototypes were taken back to the office with me, blind-tested to confirm final configuration.

In the end, the Aeon Open X has less damping over the driver and yes you do need the new perforated pads to hear the intended sonic changes. Amount of perforation and placement (in front of the ear vs. behind the ear) make a difference.

I heard a really nice Aeon v2 prototype when I was there, before it was officially released.
The Open X is closer to the Open v1 than the Aeon v2 prototype I heard.
The v2 does better to split the difference between the Open v1 and Closed v1 without having any of the issues from either.

The Aeon Open X is still a lush-sounding headphone, but with speed and attack to offer inner resolution you can concentrate on if desired.

I don't know how the Aeon Open X differs from the Aeon Open v1 "RT" (re-tuned) version Dan is currently selling on his site.

 

Not very impressed with Drop at the moment. Still waiting for the 2nd Elex ear pad.... months later.

 

This is my take on the Aeon Open RT, figured I would put it here as its nearly the same as the Open x, supposedly has a little more sub-bass and less treble after 4k, but about the same.



I had the Aeon Open 2 before and while I loved the build and technical performance, I never quite enjoyed itas much as I felt I should be for a headphone that cost 900 dollars. It was first entry into high endish audio and I had high expectations perhaps too high in retrospect.



Overall I found that while the Aeon 2 beat out my heavily Eqed Koss ESP 95/x in terms of detail (mostly just it had actual bass detail and better dynamics than the Koss which has a major weakness there), I honestly enjoyed the Koss more in many ways, the huge drivers made for a massive sound that was a lot of fun. I found the Aeon 2 to be basically unusable for me without heavy EQ because it was so freaking warm and had some odd 6kish spike that was rough for long term listening. I am a huge advocate for EQ, but at 900 bucks its a bit unfortunate to feel obligated to EQ something.



Thus I ended up selling the Aeon 2 but recently I found myself missing its comfort and its surprisingly natural sound for a planar, but there was no way I could justify that price for it. Then during the holidays the Aeon Open RT went on sale for 450 bucks (usually $499) and I just had to give a shot at that price. So after that long introduction do I think the Aeon Open RT is worth 500 bucks? Well, I must reluctantly and sadly say again “Only if you are willing to EQ”.



So the positives, I actually like the Aeon Open RT more than I did the Aeon 2 ironically enough. I find the RT to be more intimate and engaging sounding than the Aeon 2 was. It reminds a lot of the DT880 soundstage wise, which is say its pretty accurate and isn't quite as congested as the Sennheisers can be at times. I think its a little narrower than the DT 880 was though, kind of sits in the middle between a HD650 and DT880 which for me is ideal. This is actually one of the best soundstages I have heard for my taste. The slightly intimate soundstage combines with some wonderful planar speed to make for a reasonably exciting listen. I still think the infamous Mr. Speakers dynamic compression is on display, but some of that is due to the FR which can be fixed with EQ. It cant be totally eliminated but that awesome speed and nice delivery keep it from putting you to sleep.



At the moment you can also get the 300 dollar VIVO 6.3mm upgrade cable for free so I took advantage of that and its a very nice cable, definitely a big positive to get it included. Through some mix ups I also acquired a original Mr. Speakers XLR cable which I connected to a pretty shitty xlr-6.3mm adapter, and I must say the VIVO cable does sound better than the XLR cable though I cannot confirm that the adapter isn't just total shit and thus impacting the sound quality. With the VIVO cable everything sounds a little clearer and more focused, the original Mr. Speakers cable (or perhaps the adapter) sounds slightly blurred and diffuse in comparison. I don't know that the difference is worth 300 dollars, but if you can get it for free or discounted I think its a solid cable.



The original Mr.Speakers XLR cable is really pretty shitty, and I am glad that the newer stock dummer cables are much better than it because its bad. Was a interesting experience as I have never heard a difference between cables before.



OK so those are the positives but the giant negative is that the FR has a massive freaking flaw, the high treble/air frequencies are insanely boosted, like ridiculously so. Based on my playing around with EQ there is anywhere from a 8-10db boost from neutral past 9k all the way up to 17k and beyond. I think the Aeon 2 also had this flaw but I honestly didn't realize that was what was bothering me as I usually don't bother messing around with the air regions a huge amount, and when I do I definitely don't do 8-10db eqs there. But decided to try it with the Aeon RT and my goodness EQIng that region down made such a massive difference, all the annoying harshness and weirdly bothersome sounds went away.



Unfortunately I was never able to get this region to a good amount for me even with EQ, it was always either kind of dead or harsh, I guess with a lot of effort and narrow Q Eqs I could get it to a good level but I just cant find the motivation to do that, so this is a deal breaker for me. For older people or those with hearing damage this may be a positive as the boost will let you hear the details you cant anymore but I just cant take it. I may just be more sensitive here than average. I still hear up to 17.4k or so.



Outside of the air region like the Aeon 2 the RT has a LOT of upper bass though its less overpowering than the 2 was. Rt also has a less offensive amount of 6k energy, its really a very pleasant FR other than the insane air region.



Based on FR charts and my experience with the Aeon 2 I think the super air energy is something all the DCA Aeons have to some degree, so I think its safe to say the line is just not for me. Its a shame because the comfort and build are so damn good that I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't.

 

I would honestly suggest to leave it that way - Tyll (Inner Fidelity - grandaddy of the hobby) did not like the original Aeon so much without good reason.
Personally I owned the Aeon 1, 2 and Ether 2 and liked the Aeon 1 and Ether 2 the most with the 1 being the most "special" of the lot with a good tube amp - so much so that I am considering to snatch one up again.