ETA O² headphones

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by k4rstar, Jan 21, 2023.

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  1. ChaChaRealSmooth

    ChaChaRealSmooth SBAF's Mr. Bean

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    We'll be doing a loaner. I brought this up to the staff a while ago, but we did drop the ball; IDK if anyone knows this, but most of the staff have more of a life than I do, and sometimes audio/SBAF needs to get pushed down the priority list. You can also partly blame me for not following up with them sooner, but I digress.

    Screenshot_20230126-162514.png

    As far as this thread is going, it's a train wreck and probably the worst thread on SBAF I've seen in years. Marv had to have been drunk front paging this.

    ^this 100%. That being said, I've sat back with my popcorn to watch the destruction to entertain myself.

    However, I feel bad for @tommytakis, @E_Schaaf, and the other members of the ETA team. Presumably this is not what you guys envisioned as far as a SBAF impressions thread and is not up to our quality of content that you guys have grown accustomed to reading on here.
     
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  2. Tekker

    Tekker Facebook Friend

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    Hey can you please reply to my pm? Thanks in advance
     
  3. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    please consider moving almost every single post in this thread to the entertainment area of the forum. There are really only 1.5 posts that should remain in this thread
     
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  4. 64616e

    64616e Requested ban; living in the 4th dimension

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    I think a loaner is a waste of time and money, I’ve held 2 of my own loaners privately within australia, ETA’s MC32ohm and the new O232ohm, I’ve watched all of the loaners from eta become a complete and utter shitshow, I don’t think eta should shell out models for people to trash and carelessly take weeks and weeks to send off to the next person, the MC/MS loaner has been around for more than 6 months and has only been through something like maybe 15 people.

    people who are keen to hear will shell out the small cost and loaner it within friends, wouldn’t have a clue what the loaner to purchase ratio is but it can’t be that good considering probably more than half just want to hear it and have no interest in buying or reviewing.
     
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  5. nishan99

    nishan99 Friend

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    This thread is cursed beyond salvation.
     
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  6. ChaChaRealSmooth

    ChaChaRealSmooth SBAF's Mr. Bean

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    I lost brain cells reading this and am permanently -5 IQ.

    Clearly you completely missed the point of the SBAF loaner program and need to read more and lurk more.

    I'd also like to know concrete examples of ETA loaners going to shit. AFAIK we had both Minis going around and that seems to be going pretty well. Unless someone suddenly stole them when I wasn't watching?

    You want to know what loaners going go shit means? Before COVID-19 happened we had a Ragnarok 2 kindly donated to us from Schiit. Someone literally opened the amp and broke the f'ing thing. On a $1.5k amp. I could go on about people stealing loaner units and other stories.

    And yeah, let's just endorse people blind buying all their gear with no impressions to triangulate off of.
     
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  7. YMO

    YMO Chief Fun Officer

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    Everyone Totally Autistic
     
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  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Can you be more specific to instances where ETA loaners became a shitshow? The ETA loaners on SBAF, the headphones seem to be received positively, very positively in some cases.

    How is thing a problem? (I'd argue that it's to carefully take weeks and weeks as opposed to carelessly as if anything, members have been complaining that the official loaner time of a week isn't enough time).

    It's always been this way. Are you implying there is a reason that loaners should go quickly so that anyone interested can quickly jump on it? Patience with respect to new gear has always been preached here. We discourage being the first to buy. There is a reason why Golden Schlongs have an L category for longevity. I'm often late to the show, sometimes very late. It's never hurt me. I'm hardly mad that I was late to the party with respect to stuff like the CFA Supermoon or iFi Gold Bar.

    When did loaner / purchase ratio become an important metric on SBAF? The idea behind the loaner was to get trusted ears, a community of people who've known and grown together over time, to offer their thoughts. To establish a panel of known people with slightly different tastes, to give their two cents on something. It's different from say the audio mags, where a personality / writer or two become the kingmakers. SBAF is quite unique and pretty cool in this way.

    At the end of the day, it's about friendships, hanging out with each other, arguing or trashing DACs while listening to them in larger groups, and drinking whiskies and scotch during the after party. This is what the Texas meet was about, and why the upcoming Bay Area meet is oversubscribed.
     
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    Last edited: Jan 27, 2023
  9. internethandle

    internethandle Almost "Made"

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    Folks I think the missing link here is this sentence in that post:

    Which would seem to indicate he's not talking about the SBAF loaner.

    I admit I am still confused how the results of his own private intra-Aussie loaner tour should dictate something about SBAF loaners.
     
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  10. Claritas

    Claritas Friend

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    Good review @k4rstar. Thanks!

    Here's the shortest possible summary:

    "Linear frequency response. Extremely sensitive. You can drive them from portable sources, like iPods or iPhones, or mp3 players, laptop headphone jacks, whatever" (9:44–9:53).
     
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  11. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    Some written impressions of the O2 (added to the first post):

    Overall I am positive on these sonically and I think ETA has come a long way since the GenG, which I did not like at all and actually opted to write nothing about. However the O2 has some sonic issues that I feel it should not have at its price point, provided a large part of the value proposition behind ETA headphones (at least how I perceive it) is performance and not aesthetics, build or brand name.
    • Overall linear frequency response. I have not seen any graphs, but I perceive a slight dip at 3-4khz and a little bit of tizziness at 5khz. This is not an uncommon tuning, it's not my favourite as it results in a loss of energy with electric guitars and female vocals, but it is a 'safe' choice that works for many source pairings and recordings. LTS v3 had a very similar tuning.
    • Very good lateral spatial impression of panning in processed studio recordings. This is largely due to the transient profile which I described earlier in the thread as a rounded attack, a sharp decay, a short sustain, and a normal release. The listener's attention is often drawn to what's happening at the edges of the soundstage, which clearly ends at the edges of your head. The sound does not expand 'out of the head' in either the forward or lateral plane. Despite the name however, the O2 cannot be considered an 'airy' headphone like an Audio Technica AD series or KSC75.
    • Good clarity, the differences in recordings and sources are made quite obvious. The O2 does not homogenize recordings in a 'gross' sense. However, it does commit some sins which make music less interesting to listen to than other dynamic headphone options, mainly:
    • Poor bass performance, probably the biggest issue with the headphone. The bass does not integrate well with the lower midrange, something that much cheaper headphones like the Koss do better. For this reason alone, it is legitimate to prefer something like the Porta Pro or KPH30i, as it is an extremely important part of music reproduction. This is why I would describe the response as 'monitor-like' or lacking in warmth. Actually, a lot of people seem to like this sort of thing, so I hope it does not come across as too negative.
    • Other than the integration issue, the bass trades depth for punch. By depth, I mean the natural resonance of a kick drum or tom is unfortunately absent, and this is clear in comparison with any of the dynamic headphones I have on hand. I think this is a combination of the transient profile (sharp decay) with what simply sounds like a hard bass roll-off at a certain frequency. The Mini O also has this problem. It is most clearly heard on real drums, but the issue extends to synthesized bass and acoustic bass instruments as well. FWIW, Grado 325x (not the vintage ones) had the exact same issue.
    • I pulled my punches in the video review, I cannot listen to these for very long with the rear grilles installed. There is some sort of resonance, similar to the effect of standing waves in room acoustics, that causes me fatigue with all but the most minimalist recordings. This effect is 80% gone when the grilles are removed, or listening to the Mini O. This is the biggest disappointment for me, as it feels like 1 step forward 2 steps back from the Mini O, yet it costs more.
    • Speaking of the Mini O, the headphones are extremely similar in sound, except for the aforementioned resonance problem. The O2 is 5 to 20% more refined and clear than the Mini O. It depends how much you want to exaggerate.
    In terms of sources, I just don't own any headphone amplifiers so I can't comment there. I did try a few different dongles, a few different computers and MP3 players. The O2 did change its character to reflect each one, in the end I liked using it the most with the Apple dongle from my iPhone.

    I think @ultrabike sensed my hesitation from the video review where I spoke about value. For me, these are difficult to recommend at $600. I hesitated because I am totally out of touch with what is on the market today. I would not call the value horrendous, I guess in a world of kilobuck cans, this may be what the start-up has to do to survive. That being said, I cannot help but feel the sonic flaws of these headphones are due to over-tuning. I think they would have benefitted from being beta tested by more folks, since the platform these headphones are built on seems to respond to minor tweaks and variations. I do not know the inner machinations of ETA, but I learned after ordering that Tommy had not heard the final version of the O2 when it went for sale. I was in disbelief over this, as he has very good ears, and could have provided some of this feedback.

    So, these have to tick a number of boxes for you (aesthetics, comfort, wanting to support a small company trying to grow) to truly justify the asking price. I hope that my impressions do not come across as too negative, because members here responded positively to the Mini S. I have not tried the Mini S, but going back and reading the Mini S impressions thread, I think most of what was said safely applies to the O2. I really wonder if others will hear what I hear, especially with regards to the grilles and fatigue.
     
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    Last edited: Jan 27, 2023
  12. willc

    willc Friend

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    Haters on my post should know I saw @Gazny at the ETA table selling their headphones. Marv saw this too and shouldn’t allow sockpuppets on SBAF.
     
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  13. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    @Gazny I guess I should ask, are you affiliated with ETA? It’s okay if you are, we can MOT you.

    Also, I'm getting PMs that @E_Schaaf is shit talking other vendors as well. Wtf is going on with this thread?!?
     
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  14. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    AE08876A-1B87-45ED-A238-EDF1BE838788.gif
     
  15. Gazny

    Gazny MOT: ETA Audio

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    I donate my time, many others do too.
    What constitutes a MOT?
     
  16. rfernand

    rfernand Almost "Made"

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  17. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    FWIW I help Gaz out with graphics for ETA stuff sometimes when I have the leeway to doodle, e.g for the logo and other bits. I do hope the brand thrives, but wouldn't necessarily count myself as an MoT or personally involved in the project. More a contracted freelancer I guess?
     
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  18. pure5152

    pure5152 Friend

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    Great review, but it is worth knowing that the pair is being loaned to @Gazny (for the upcoming bay area meet) and he didn't buy it himself, and that Gaz is considered an "ETA Consultant" on the official ETA discord and has been for a while. The fact that both of these things weren't mentioned in the review or clarified by Gaz and the fact that the review was overwhelmingly positive makes me feel a bit wary of trusting the impressions 100%, as there might be conflict of interest/bias.

    I reached out to Gaz about these concerns earlier on the discord saying it might be a good idea to add a disclaimer/clarifying statement to the review, but he didn't want to say anything/edit things. Just felt you guys should know and add a +1 to @willc's concerns.
     
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  19. E_Schaaf

    E_Schaaf MOT: E.T.A Headphones

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    What is and isn't an appropriate topic of discussion sometimes isn't common sense to me. I never try to mention specific products or brands by name when I'm offering my opinions about the pros and cons of different design methods and aesthetics. Of course I'm a real person with my own opinions, and even though I only try to communicate in good faith or humor, I accept sometimes it's not read that way. I'm sorry for any damage done or offense made. It took a long time to learn the new etiquette while transitioning to MOT from a hobbyist, and I accept that I'm still learning and make mistakes despite what feels like heavy self-censorship. I don't know specifically what context these rumors are coming from, and never meant any harm or trash talk in anything I've said, but I'll accept responsibility for whatever damage was done regardless and nip it in the bud anyway. Impact over intent.

    For the foreseeable future, I'm done with all text posting of any nature on any platform other than the ETA company website/blog and perhaps the occasional profile post. I'll reply only to questions about ETA products for the sake of info, description, and support. I won't be participating any more loaners or offering impressions. I can also be reached by DMs and email. I would rather have peace of mind that ETA is seen in a positive light, and I don't ever want to be the one holding that back. I don't want to be unsure about stepping on eggshells with every post despite my best attempts to model my behavior from other small-outfit MOTs, so it's better to be safe than sorry. I'm saddened by how this launch was received here. We had a lot of community support and things were otherwise looking up.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2023
  20. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    Hmm.. we winning friends and influencing people here?

    I'll have to admit it's been a weird thread to try to navigate.
     
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