ETA O2 Loaner Impressions Thread

I've been going through my Genesis G, O2, and JAR66XXX. Quite privileged to have these choices. The Focal Clear is sort of moving away from the pile. They each provide their own flavors for my tastes. The O2 is a very optimized On-Ear. The E+ pads are awesome for comfort and fit. Just driver grill is all I feel. The Senn being the most balanced in presentation and overall tonal balance. The physical presentation of the ETA driver(s) is just different.

 

double 6, triple X JARs. @M3NTAL does it right.

 

I thought I would tr to write some impressions after a few months of owning a pair after giving a listen to the ETA line up at Pacific Audio Fest back in June.

Chain iPhone or Eitr/ OG Modi Multibit (OPA2156) -> Torpedo III->ETA O2

Most of my time was spent pairing the O2 to a ECP Torpedo III, and I spent only a portion of my time on the iPhone. It sounded great off a phone but most of it was to troubleshoot the discrepancy between listening on a mobile device compared to listening to a desktop amp.

I don't know if it is the sensitivity or the low impedance, but the O2 revealed the gremlins in my PC based system. It showed how much of a detriment having the USB input on the original Modi Multibit connect to a computer with a GTX3080 and big power supply. Switching from USB to Spdif using A Schiit Eitr fixed my issues, and desktop amplification sounded better than off a phone. If something doesn’t sound quite right off a desktop rig with the O2, I would urge to give it another try after going over your system another time.

The O2 is a really fun tuning,

• Oodles of clear bass. I think the Gen-G goes deeper, but at the cost of being looser. The O2 enjoyably teases out a lot of nuances in the lower registers.
• Great for Voip as it doesn’t emphasize people going “Ugh” into the microphone but still having O2 bass quality.
• I am able to enjoy the bass alongside the treble. I thought that bass performance would always compromise treble since my experience with the original Fostex TH900.
• Mids to me are slight north of neutral. Present, but I don’t think it’s emphasized. I like pairing the O2 with the ECP T3 for a midrange, positive lush tweak.
• I noticed that snaps, crackles, and pops baked into a recording are rendered much softer compared to a HD600. There were some tracks where a HD600 will render the sound as distortion, but on an O2 it felt more like a saturated microphone instead.
• The stage is much closer to the ear, but there is separation. The sound stage on the O2 feels like I’m not hearing much room reflection in the audio track which contributes to a closer to your face sound.
• On ear comfort. The O2 is more comfortable than the Grado SR-60 I owned 20+ years ago, but it isn’t something I can wear all day. I’m wondering if my ears don’t quite work with on-ears as the vast majority of people consider it to be very comfortable. This is the main reason I will stick with the Gen-G over a O2.
• I also spent some time pairing the O2 with a DNA Sonett 2. I don’t know why but I actually do enjoy listening from the 100 ohm output. This goes against all the advice I read online but I really do enjoy it.

 

Very similar to @Northwest I have decided to write some impressions after ownership for a short while, also through an ECP Torpedo III.

DDC: Talking Dog PurrUSB1
DAC: Theta DS Pro Gen V (modified)
Amp: ECP Torpedo III

Bass:
Very fun. Good instrument character and nuance between frequencies / amplitudes. Does not extend into sub-bass quite as well as other headphones I own (mostly transplanted vintage planars), but still very satisfying until you know better. Perhaps not best suited for electronic bass, imho, which can sound muddy at times or even a bit over the top (pressurization of eardrums is actually fatiguing). With organic instruments, however, it is very natural and textured to my ears. Nice thump. Great for Rock, Classical, Jazz, etc.

Mids:
I'd call this neutral. Extremely neutral. While we're at it I will just say the entire bandwidth response is extremely natural sounding to the point I'd claim benchmark worthy. O2 also reproduces deep male vocals very well which other headphones of mine struggle with (55mm pinched ortho's exhibit slight suckout in low-midrange within the housings I use). Low level detail retrieval is well above par comparing to HD6x0, HarmonicDyne Athena, HE-6se v2, Arya V2 (non-stealth), as well as vintage ortho's. I find O2's retrieve a lot of detail at lower volumes than what I typically listen at. This is good for me due to O2's particular tuning tendencies to sound honky at louder outputs (I would consider this in the realm of slight midrange “glare” within a certain region).

Treble:
Nicely delicate with very good character. I would consider the treble a little withdrawn, but I realize this is actually more or less neutral and my reference headphones are the ones who are (tastefully) accentuated. Overall: satisfying.

Imaging and Soundstage:
Imaging is very good. Delineates left and right to very high degree, dissecting the recording and putting all sounds in their own space. Soundstage is intimate, fairly large, with very nice depth while simulataneaously soundingly like a thin stage. I should explain. While the stage seems shallow, sounds can still sorta seem like are coming from a good distance away within a shallow space??? Hard to describe. YH-100 transplants can have sound echo through a grand hall and have a grandiose sense of space, whereas O2's even with a larger image don't sound as “grand”. Sound reverberates in a shallower plane in front of you. I heard this on Édith Piaf - La Vie en rose. This gigantic hall goes on and on with YH-100's.

Image Saturation and Macro:
I find the pads failing to seal and the open-back nature of the enclosure to both be double edged swords. If I cup my hands over the backs of the housings I feel like midrange coloration improves (that was possible?) and it sounds a bit more signal saturated with more room acoustics. I honestly wonder what a closed version of this headphone would sound like. That said, I feel as though O2's are a teensy bit washed out and lack weight to the sound. It fails to convince me of the realism to the reproduction that my reference headphones do despite O2's high detail retrieval and natural tuning. And due to the lack of sub-bass I feel macro is hurt a bit with certain kinds of music.

Comfort and Build Quality:
These are uncomfortable for me, sadly. I needed to shove a little cotton under the front and back of the pads to lift my ears off the driver grills. I tried to use as little as possible so my ears still touch the grills, but barely. Some days it hurts to even put them on, other days I can wear them for a few hours no problem. The rear driver housing screens are 3D printed and very very thin and actually flex. I am afraid of poking my finger through one of the screens. Also the headband makes cracking noises when I pull the cups apart to put the headphones on. I'd appreciate better BQ, personally, not sure how that would equate to price. I realize Hifiman gets away with pretty cheap builds, too, but O2 seems really esoteric and niche. It reminds me of using dust covers for Electrostats and what not; you gotta get the white gloves out. With my favorite YH-100 transplant I have removed the dust screens within the earpads in order to increase clarity. As a result I use a rubber band to keep the pads sealed and store the headphones in a large zip lock bag. We all make certain sacrifices for the sake of the hobby. That said, I feel the drawbacks of the O2's design compared to what I currently employ don't outweight the sonic benefits of the design.




Overall:

Really great headphones. Benchmark quality in regards to general performance (neutrality, detail, imaging). Great thump down low that can really pick apart bass tones. Picks apart midrange nuance just as well. High class midrange if not ever-so-slightly on the honky side at times. Recommended for any music recorded and mastered for ultimate realism. Little washed out and weightless are my largest gripes with "for fun" music, but I would also like better BQ. I would take O2's over any Hifiman offering mentioned irrespective of price range very easily.