ETHER 2

PT Sandiford · Jul 10, 2020

The "hole" I mentioned in my impressions (quoted below) was the result of a driver defect. DCA replaced the driver and the chime has an appropriate presence after the repair. I was pleased before the repair and more pleased now.

All the best.

PT Sandiford said: ↑

Title: Late To The Party

I’m a lousy audio hobbyist, for many reasons, but (my AA moment) I am one and I drink audio the same as many forum denizens. I’ve spent about 50-hours with my new (to me) DCA Ether 2, after burn-in, and swept through six genres. My playback chain may not be up to forum standards but does represent a segment of hobbyists.

- It starts at an iMac running QOBUZ and playing ALAC/AIFF/FLAC files in VLC.
- From there I run through an AudioQuest Emerald USB cable into a Bel Canto e2.7 DAC.
- The DAC outputs through short Monoprice XLR cables (yawn) into a Liquid Platinum. (Electro-Harmonix 6922 EH).

There are several companies selling headphones at or around the $2k price and all have different strengths. I opted for the Ether 2 over others for several reasons (below) and have not been disappointed.

Pros :

Fantastic for jazz, small ensemble, solo artists and acoustic. This is where I spend most of my listening time.

Very good or excellent for Electronic

Good for EDM (I would enjoy fatter bass in this genre)

Very good sound stage and imaging

You can hear what is going on around you

Fine voicing, by real people

I’m a fan of this pack-in cable

Ear pad selection

Less than 300 grams weight

Excellent choice of materials

Packed in a travel case

Made in California

Cons :

Not bass-heavy enough, not OVER emphasized, for some metal heads and rap fans unless you pay another $80 for suede ear pads. Then maybe okay on this count.

Not my favorite for classical symphonic orchestra

Open back design can be heard by others around you…

…and you can hear them

About 100-hour “burn-in” time before they sound their best

Don’t sniff my ear pads, yo

Is there a headphone that can be marvelous at all genres at this price point? I suspect one is looking at two different headphones if one wants to be amazed by ALL genres of music.

Listening Impression : The Ether takes my breath away with solo artists, small jazz ensemble, and acoustic music. They are worth a place on my desk for electronic and EDM, also. However, the Ether is not voiced to catch all the instruments equally in the higher frequencies sometimes found in classical symphonic orchestra work. Where I noticed a hole was the Pittsburgh SO recording (Reference Recordings, qobuz link ) of Tchaikovsky Symphony #4, Finale @ 1:32. In this case there is a chime used several times in a 20-second span. One would risk their hearing on the preceding passage should they have the volume up enough to hear the chime with its intended presence. (I don’t “ride the volume”)

Imaging . My scale is as follows. (Ether 2 usually plays in the bold )

I’m in the 18th row, center, and the wave of violins in front of the upright bass section, playing from right to left, was amazing

She is singing right there, in front of me

I’m in the midst of the music

I can almost hear something outside my head, sometimes, maybe (I think)

There is a stage in my head

Three blobs

One blob: Mono in my head.

My setup is good but not great at 3D audio and besides, I’m “not all [of] that.“ Sometimes, with the Ether 2, a recording manages to present far outside the right or left enough to make me look if my wife caught me wasting time listening to music. Usually not. Most of the time the music is well staged, with some depth, in my head.

Summary. I feel it is unreasonable to expect this headphone to present all genres with the same visceral impact. The Ether is amazing at 80~90% of what I listen to. You and I need to decide where we want to compromise:

reduce ‘amazing’ a notch and find an all-in-one headphone

own two (or more) amazing headphones

live with a ‘hole where the chimes can hide’

spend serious car money on an amazing all-in-one

No regrets. None.
Click to expand...

purr1n · Jul 11, 2020

Sounds like it may have been wired out of phase.

Shoop_Ah · Apr 30, 2021

Vtory said: ↑

Previously in this thread, I said "Ether 2 really don't sound like planars".

While I didn't lie that time, I don't think the statement quite accurate. That's mostly because of the limited experience with "(neutrally) good" planars. I still like current-gen Audezes (LCD2C and LCD4) but they are far from what I consider neutral.

Anyway, after auditioning two higher HFMs (HE1000 v2 and Susvara) and comparing them with my E2 recently, I feel obliged to revise my initial impressions. Yes, they are doubtlessly very good.

Here are the summaries of my long listening notes (I heard them roughly three weeks ago, and completely forgot them until just before): also be aware that the upstream gears available at the store were kinda unfamiliar -- Chord Hugo TT (dac) and Allnic HPA-5000XL (amp).

Susvara surpasses E2 in terms of bass quality. Likely due to the single-sided magnet structure, E2 lacks hard-hitting and controlled bass with authority. Audeze and classic HFMs do this very well. To my ears, susvara is very close to classic HFMs regarding bass authority. Nonetheless E2 is fairly well-controlled for presumably weaker magnet, at least better than hek2.

Bass pitch and differentiation are great with E2 and susvara. Both of them were nearly on par. Maybe susvara is tad better or the opposite. They are superior to any other planars (or even any other headphones) I've ever experienced regarding "micro"-quality in bass. Note that I've not heard any of well-received "LFF Code" series (Code-5 and Code-X). No experience with AZ PMx2 either.

E2 simply sweeps in the midrange. Textbook clean, delicate and neutral midrange with a hint of sweetness. IMHO, HFM has been relatively weak in mids. To me this is one of the few minor weak points of susvara. Susvara reproduces better midrange than hek2 but seems to lose details and clarity by comparison (against E2). In addition, E2 has a more coherent and smoother mid-treble connection.

Susvara's treble is sharper, better-defined but a little tipped up. Slight sibilance is heard with some tracks. But all these don't sound bad at all. It's not weakness-level shit but rather philosophy/character. E2 has more relaxed and a bit laid-back (but not too so like hd650) treble by comparison. I like both. No clear winner.

Both susvara and e2 have nearly zero-veil over the entire frequency range. Sounds very transparent(-ish).

Head stage and instrument separation/placement are fantastic with both susvara and e2. Overall satisfaction will be largely depending on upstream gears.

Susvara and e2 have really good microdynamics, microdetails, and plankton. Nothing to complain to my ears.

In terms of perceived speed, susvara has faster transience, more sufficient decay, and less soft attack. E2 is by no means bad but definitely softer. E2 and hek2 are alike in this regard.

Regarding ergonomics, E2 is definitely lighter but it favors a certain shape of skulls. To me wearing comfort is great but to some it can be a disaster. What is worse, sonic quality of E2 highly depends on wearing fit and seal. On the contrary, susvara and hek2 have more options and flexibility including rotating swivel. They can satisfy more people.

E2 doesn't require as much juice and power as susvara. So, I am guessing that susvara may have more potential if a better amp is paired. Matched allnic tube amp was quite nice imo though.

I am not comfortable with susvara's price, easily out of my budget range. While I enthusiastically love susvara now, it is too overpriced by all means. However it's difficult to criticize different pricing strategy (also beyond my interest). Anyway, susvara shows me "contemporary HFM planar done right", and helps me identify where E2 exists in the continuum of current headphones on the market -- more like souped-up susvara combined with good traits of auteur/hd650.

Forgot this: stock cable is way nicer with E2.. E2 vivo cable (stock) is largely at the same ballpark with zmf atmos one. Hate hfm stock cables..

TL;DR

Susvara and Ether 2 are both awesome to me. Largely in the same ballpark. Few major weaknesses with both.

Susvara wins: bass, speed, macro-character

Ether 2 wins: midrange, coherence, tonality, cable

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for sharing your opinions on this thread and many other. I have a pretty big head and I am just slightly worried that the ether 2 wouldn't fit my head. For reference about my head size, on the Koss porta pro I only have an inch between the two black plastic pieces on the headband.

Vtory · Apr 30, 2021

Shoop_Ah said: ↑

I am just slightly worried that the ether 2 wouldn't fit my head. For reference about my head size, on the Koss porta pro I only have an inch between the two black plastic pieces on the headband.
Click to expand...

I am not that different with porta pro, so you won't have much trouble with Ether 2.

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