ETHER 2

Question for you guys.

I'm currently putting together an E2 review, but with this unit I'm experiencing some extreme 'planar crinkle' when getting the seal right. To the point where I hear it even if I move my head left or right slightly (where the seal pressure likely changes slightly). Is this something anyone else has experienced? I'm wondering if this unit is potentially borked, causing it to perform strangely as well. My overall impression is that it performs exceptionally well but its tonality is too dark with a cut above 4.5khz - like all of the treble is cut by about 5dB. I could post measurements but not sure this is the right thread for that, I'm mainly wondering about the crinkle issue.

 

Not that extremely. At least much less than lcd2c or all stax lambdas I tried before. All these phones have similar trait like you described though.

Tonality-wise, E2 is clearly dark. But if you think E2 is way darker than verite (I remember you wrote something about verite haha). It is also possible that you are having a defective unit. If that's the case, you'd better sending the unit to the factory and getting it fully investigated -- to ensure your review would be about a representative sample.

 

Thanks, yes this unit is definitely considerably darker than the Verite.

Doing this makes it sound more normal:



And just for reference, I like warm headphones, but this unit sounds super muffled compared to the Verite. I'll hold off on my review until this gets figured out.

 

I said verite, because non-defective and representative ether 2 should have similar brightness with verite with universe pads. What you stated reminded me of the traumatic experience with the "defective" unit which I got initially -- yeah it sounded very muffled.

My unit got fixed later. My unit (after fix), another unit (loaned from a local sbaf member), and review unit on a limited loaner tour have all similar treble responses and far from sounding muffled. At least I can confirm the first two units.

You seem to contact MrS to resolve issues!

 

Mine have never done this, even a little.

 

Yea, mine as well.

 

I've been enjoying my set of E2 for about a month now. Very addictive sound, find myself reaching for them a lot (even though I do like my Empy more overall). However, I find the clamping force to be very fatiguing. Have owners here experienced them loosening up over time or am I just doomed with my massive head? Now that I've experienced the Empyrean suspension wings, it's spoiled me for all other headphones in the comfort department.

 

Agree with @Hands on driver tensioning being an issue with driver crinkle. Beta models did exhibit this but the issue with corrected with production models. It shouldn't sound like the traditional "stax fart" that we all know and love.

Re: Clamp...the break in and wear on the pads will reduce clamp to a modest degree. This will occur slowly over about three months. Suede pads will lessen the clamp instantly with the softer material.

 

Having enjoyed Ether 2 + DSHA-3F for a week, I dare to say this is the best amp money can buy for ether 2 today.

As I previously posted, ether 2 has both easy and hard aspects in terms of matching amp. Any amp can pull decent pleasure from this headphone. But I couldn't feel it a full potential. BW was clearly the best among the bunch I threw in (from all price spectrum) but still there was something to be desired.

Now I am with 3F. Certain benefits were already expected to some extent -- and they were achieved satisfactorily. But even excluding them, a whole new world popped up.

Noticeable improvements came from the following aspects:

• Transience has been hugely improved. Before 3F, I thought ether 2 was a bit behind super-fast competitors such as verite, susvara, or utopia. Even paired with 3F, I think those three (although driven sub-optimally) faster than E2, but not so much any more.
• With 3F, leading edges of bass instruments don't sound as rounded as before. This, combined with a bit squared my dac's transients, generated very lovely level of tightness -- with great authority and control. Really textured and nuanced bass, lots of plankton as bonus. Susvara has been my reference in this criterion. Now, I am not sure which one I like better. That better.
• Macro-dynamics and viscerality. This was totally unexpected, as 3F has relatively low gain and passive gain stage. Ether 2 is inherently a current-hungry load (low impedance + sub-par spl efficiency) so always requires juice -- not quantity but quality (most modern head amps suffice in terms of required power for practical loudness). This amp just turned ether 2 into very hard-hitting transducer, which I've never perceived until recent.

I still like organic presentation of bw and may prefer tone of ether 2 + bw to 3f. Also, total sound from this combination is a departure from neutrality. Nevertheless gains from everything else were simply overwhelming enough to offset overall satisfaction. If an amp has all these technicalities AND bw tone, it's even a superior winner, yet I've not heard such thing. Maybe 300B SJR wo nfb can be a candidate though.

Anyway for now to me 3F is the most awesome amp for ether 2.

 

Just an update on the borked E2 issue, I received a replacement pair today.

The tonality is improved by quite a bit with a proper elevation in the treble. It sounds way less muffled as a result. There's still quite a bit of unevenness in the treble with a cut at 5-7khz, but it sounds (and measures) way better.

Unfortunately the crinkle is still there, just as bad as with the other unit. I'm honestly at a complete loss for what to do about it. It may be that it just doesn't properly seal with my ear/head shape and that causes constant pressure shifts that cause the crinkle. Another possibility is that it doesn't work with beards! I know that sounds silly but that could also affect the seal consistency.

But from a pure experience perspective, I'd never be able to use this due to that issue - it's that bad. I'm very curious if the new pads will help with that problem.

 

Do you experience the crinkle when you press the cups against your head while playing music?

 

Yup. I experience it even when I tilt my head from side to side while playing music.

I'll have my girlfriend try it and see if she has the same experience (she doesn't have a beard...)

 

Hahaha...time to let go of your beard for greater cause
I guess the seal is creating a good amount of pressure and little shift with music playing and seal pressure is what is causing this.I have heard it in planers but only if you press the cups while playing music.
Or is it coming from headband like those Sony’s headphones?

 

It's definitely the pressure/seal. I tried wearing sunglasses and it improved. That's right... I now have audiophile sunglasses. It's not snake oil I swear!

 

All you need is some oil that can impart audiophile level density to your beard then you will have something called audiophile beard
On a serious note I hope you point out these things in your review so that buyer can make informed decision.

 

Treble with the perforated pads seems much improved. No measurements for now, my neighbors are partying and background noise is too high.

 

Nice, can't wait to get my hands on a pair of the new pads.

 

Just got a set of the new pads for display in our showroom and a set for my pair at home. Wasn't too hard to apply the new pads and wearing them on head, the two new pads were quite comfy.

The wax paper on the new pads that you put on the old stock pads didn't fit exact. Mild frustrations in life.

 

Does it get rid of the wet fart treble of the stock pads?