First review on Head-Fi so I'll keep it short. I am reviewing from the perspective of how the headphone makes me feel and am not too clued up on the technical stuff...although not too bad either.
Some perspective first regarding my journey and philosophy (not completely shared with my wife I might add!). I started getting into headphones a couple of years ago when a small bonus prompted me to take a punt on a pair of K702s which were a steal. I had some Beyer T50ps before that which I blew up. The 702's were a revelation and I am sorry to say, the bug bit me. over the next couple of years I had the following headphones and gear for different purposes, some of which I still have, others I sold.
K702
K712 Pro - still have and will never get rid of
Oppo PM3 - Still have
Fidelio M1
Fidelio M1BT - Still have for the gym
Fidelio L2
Parrot Zik2.0
Meridian explorer
Audiolab M-Dac
IFI iDSD - great amp, underrated
Chord Mojo
Dragonfly Red
Anyway...onto the Ether C
I had been looking for an end game headphone for some time and had many months to audition a number. Oppo Pm1, HD800S, LCD 2 and LCD 3 and so on. The HD800S was the only headphone that really made me feel the investment was worth the performance improvement over my K712s and I was about set on that direction. I had only two real issues - one was the look, sorry I just don't like them, and two was the openness of them for use in a noisy house full of kids.
Luckily being a regular watcher of inner fidelity reviews I caught Tyll;s review on the Ether C. Wow, could it be that good and look that good as well, and be closed???
So thanks to local dealer, I was able to spend a good session listening to them, driven just off my Mojo, and I was blown away. So quickly onto the sound...
Bass 9/10
Um...I listen to classical and acoustic mostly and the bass is wonderfully extended. Instrumental bass is rich and full and adds power and dynamics to music I had not heard before. It has definitely improved after 100+ hours of run in, which I expected. I would say though that there is no artificial slam to drums on some genres so this is not going to excite the Beats crowd. The bass is just very real and present, and it is what it is. I do find a little boost on pop music can add something.
Following the Inner-fidelity review, I did play around with the tuning filters but I still preferred them 'au naturelle'.
Mids 10/10
If you want a headphone that sounds like the voice is in the room with you...buy these. Perfect mid range, liquid smooth. One thing I noted was their is no hardness at all. Often headphone, in my experience, tend to peak on certain frequencies, these do not. Beautiful. I have spend several session with the LCD3, the Ether's are light years ahead in the mids.
Treble 10/10
Wonderfully extended and detailed. The clarity and resolution, which no doubt helps the soundstage, is simply astonishing. When I first listened to these, I checked that the cups were not perforated at all and decided that some kind of witchcraft must be going on to get this type of sound from a closed headphone.
To sum up
If you want a closed headphone that sounds open (and I mean these make my 712s sound muddy and congested), you want first class looks and build quality and coupled with sound that simply makes you smile (my measure of a headphone by the way), then get these and you will never look back. The only headphone, excluding electrostatics, I have heard that come close are the HD800S but they had drawbacks for me. If I had the money to own both, I would though.
I took these to my office for a day to let people listen, even the most die hard believers that Apple earbuds sound the same as TOTL headphones had to concede these are something very special indeed.
So....onto the new amp!
Some perspective first regarding my journey and philosophy (not completely shared with my wife I might add!). I started getting into headphones a couple of years ago when a small bonus prompted me to take a punt on a pair of K702s which were a steal. I had some Beyer T50ps before that which I blew up. The 702's were a revelation and I am sorry to say, the bug bit me. over the next couple of years I had the following headphones and gear for different purposes, some of which I still have, others I sold.
K702
K712 Pro - still have and will never get rid of
Oppo PM3 - Still have
Fidelio M1
Fidelio M1BT - Still have for the gym
Fidelio L2
Parrot Zik2.0
Meridian explorer
Audiolab M-Dac
IFI iDSD - great amp, underrated
Chord Mojo
Dragonfly Red
Anyway...onto the Ether C
I had been looking for an end game headphone for some time and had many months to audition a number. Oppo Pm1, HD800S, LCD 2 and LCD 3 and so on. The HD800S was the only headphone that really made me feel the investment was worth the performance improvement over my K712s and I was about set on that direction. I had only two real issues - one was the look, sorry I just don't like them, and two was the openness of them for use in a noisy house full of kids.
Luckily being a regular watcher of inner fidelity reviews I caught Tyll;s review on the Ether C. Wow, could it be that good and look that good as well, and be closed???
So thanks to local dealer, I was able to spend a good session listening to them, driven just off my Mojo, and I was blown away. So quickly onto the sound...
Bass 9/10
Um...I listen to classical and acoustic mostly and the bass is wonderfully extended. Instrumental bass is rich and full and adds power and dynamics to music I had not heard before. It has definitely improved after 100+ hours of run in, which I expected. I would say though that there is no artificial slam to drums on some genres so this is not going to excite the Beats crowd. The bass is just very real and present, and it is what it is. I do find a little boost on pop music can add something.
Following the Inner-fidelity review, I did play around with the tuning filters but I still preferred them 'au naturelle'.
Mids 10/10
If you want a headphone that sounds like the voice is in the room with you...buy these. Perfect mid range, liquid smooth. One thing I noted was their is no hardness at all. Often headphone, in my experience, tend to peak on certain frequencies, these do not. Beautiful. I have spend several session with the LCD3, the Ether's are light years ahead in the mids.
Treble 10/10
Wonderfully extended and detailed. The clarity and resolution, which no doubt helps the soundstage, is simply astonishing. When I first listened to these, I checked that the cups were not perforated at all and decided that some kind of witchcraft must be going on to get this type of sound from a closed headphone.
To sum up
If you want a closed headphone that sounds open (and I mean these make my 712s sound muddy and congested), you want first class looks and build quality and coupled with sound that simply makes you smile (my measure of a headphone by the way), then get these and you will never look back. The only headphone, excluding electrostatics, I have heard that come close are the HD800S but they had drawbacks for me. If I had the money to own both, I would though.
I took these to my office for a day to let people listen, even the most die hard believers that Apple earbuds sound the same as TOTL headphones had to concede these are something very special indeed.
So....onto the new amp!
