ETHER 2

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Ice-man, Oct 3, 2018.

  1. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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  2. eIndi

    eIndi New

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    I have an EARS. I am not very happy with the E2's treble, so I will most likely get both sets of pads and post some measurements.
     
  3. TMRaven

    TMRaven Friend

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    Dan's measurements of the pads on the Ether2. Black is stock, blue is suede, red is perforated pleather. Also note that these are not compensated, so concha gain is at play.

    [​IMG]

    This is my edited chart, so that the perforated pads are normalized better with the other two lines. Some features of his measurements coincide with what's been posted here: slight dip at 4k, slight peak at 8k.

    - stock pads follow the curve of the concha gain the best from bass all the way to 3k, however shows the largest dip to 4k.
    - the perforated pleather is slightly v-shaped in comparison. depending on your taste, it is either less shouty around 1-2k, or less full.
    - suede does the worst when it comes to having a sufeicient amount of gain around 3k-- only 6db up from the lowest point in midrange, where ideal is 10-12db. However, it does handle the 8k peak the best. 8k peak does not rise over the lower treble.

    All 3 pads showcase some the 2 main quirks the Ether 2 has, that have been measured elsewhere: The Ether2 has a slight depression at 4k, and slight peak at 8k. The Stock pads and perforated leather seem to both have their 8k peak at slightly higher than where 5k is. The Suede should be the smoothest here, as it is lower than 5k. The stock pad has the strongest dip from 3k down to 4k, at 6db down. The suede at 5db down, and perforated pleather at 3-4db down.


    Anyways these are just musings from a graph. Gotta wait 3 more weeks darnit.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2019
  4. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    Good to know. From my experience -- pad changes closely follow (properly ear-coupled) fr measurements -- both of newer pads will drive me mad, to different extents. To me it's likely that perforated pads lose midrange and suade ones lose high mids and lower highs. Of course it's possible that my loss would be someone else's gain.

    -2~-3 db around 7-8k may benefit some people probably? That range of the stock pads was non-issue for myself though.
     
    Last edited: Apr 9, 2019
  5. TMRaven

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    Yeah tbh the stock pads look like they have they best fr graph, they follow the path of the concha gain the best from bass all the way up to 3k. Suede looks like an Audeze.

    Historically I've always been a fan of headphones with slight depressions at 2k (hifiman, hd800),I don't think I'll mind the perforated pads at all. For me the bigger draw is the larger openings. I'm not sure I'll like the suede much.


    Edit: photoshopped dan's measurements so that perforated are better normalized with other two pads.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2019
  6. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    One thing to keep in mind is that the new pads, both suede and perforated, will require a couple of notches more on the pot to get to the same SPL level. It's just the physics of the material.
     
  7. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I'm telling you guys, stock pads + a very light damping material insert. Thin, low density foam, the sort of toilet paper where your fingers immediately poke through when wiping your butt, etc.
     
  8. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    Have you been able to try out the new pads?
     
  9. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    I have yet to even get a production unit in-house to test...
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2019
  10. eIndi

    eIndi New

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    Perforated pads look like they would resolve the issues I have with the 12 kHz dip and lack of clarity when combined with some TP. Very interesting. May can't come soon enough.
     
    Last edited: Apr 10, 2019
  11. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

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    Another Ether 2 impression.

    I've had them for a few days now. Yeah I pretty much think they're decent cans, but they lack treble presence for my tastes. They're certainly not unlistenable but I think timbre and tuning wise they're darker than LCD-3 or 4 and I see why they're divisive. Ether Flow owners won't see this as a direct upgrade since the tuning has changed to such a degree.

    Weight is awesome though.
     
  12. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Was using them at work today with Modi 3 and Vali 2. No issues with treble. The upper mid depression does make the cans slightly dark, but with the occasional sibilance depending upon recording.

    I really think the variables are the chain and the recording.
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2019
  13. TMRaven

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    Hey Purrin if you still have them, can you do one of those super detail csds where you take the noise floor down to like -50 db or -55 db, I forgot what it was.

    Seeing the midrange so clean on the CSD of the Ether2, made me wonder how it compared to the likes of others when the noise floor is so low.
     
  14. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

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    I should say for context I'm used to Utopia. I didn't notice a huge swing shifting sources on Ether 2, but Utopia is also not exactly a treble light headphone. I do boost the base on it but it still cuts through pretty easily. Again it's a good headphone for sure, just not for me.

    I really like Utopia’s punchy midrange for rock and its imaging.
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2019
  15. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

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    As usual, I think that it often comes down to preferences. I don't care for the Utopia. It's just too thin sounding for me and very fatiguing. It sounds good at first and is very technically impressive. But not a headphone that I can enjoy music with over the long haul.
     
  16. Magnetostatic_Tubephile

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    Utopia honestly did not even sound that good or impressive to me. I am still scratching my head if the particular pair was malfunctioning but all I heard was metallic timbre and artificial brightness. Also imbalanced mids, weird emphasis/coloration. Fatiguing too. Slightly modded HD800 is the real deal for technicalities IMHO. Loads cheaper too.
     
  17. lcmusiclover

    lcmusiclover Friend

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    Utopia image seems amazingly precise to me. 'That instrument, RIGHT THERE.'

    That said, I prefer E2 imaging for much of my favorite music. To me, Utopia image is somewhat more precise, but E2 kills it with way more depth, and pretty good precision. By comparison, the Utopia image seems flat.

    Your ears, my ears, right? :)
     
  18. Ash1412

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    I'd put it as great imaging and crap soundstage, since imaging implies sharp and differentiation while stage implies scale. But people do say shit like "wide imaging" and "tight soundstage", so YMMV.
     
  19. lcmusiclover

    lcmusiclover Friend

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    Yes, the terminology is vague at best. I tend to think of 'headstage' as the 3-d musical space the cans create/produce. To me imaging and staging (the way you're using it) kinda go hand-in-hand. If imaging is very precise, but staging is small or flat, the headstage doesn't seem natural to me. Same if the stage is larger and has depth, but imaging is imprecise.

    Summarizing, Utopia headstage seems very precise, but constricted and flat, while E2 headstage is larger and has great depth, but isn't as precise, though not very blurred, just not up to Utopia's precision. My ears prefer the E2 headstage.
     
  20. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    how long do the pads take to burn in?

    :)
     

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