Mr Speakers Ether/Ether-C

[Torpedo]

[spritzer]

Indeed, all the FOTM bullshit alerts going off. 

[TMoney]

Only time will tell, but it doesn't hurt to have an open mind.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/disruption-headphone-world

[purk]

Well this one is super nice IMO plus the price isn't too bad.  Then again I don't know how it will fare out of my Dynahi.  Out of the GS-1 Dynalo+, I like it better than the HD800 & HEK.

[velvetx]

Impressions from Wikia as well:

MrSpeakers Ether Flow (out of Eddie Current BW SC):

• Will just cut to the chase here as no I don't like closed back headphones so I didn't bother listening to the Ether-C Flow and have always felt the Ether open back is miles better than the C.  Just personal opinion so I won't be comparing the two.
• Really solid build quality like Dan's previous Ether iterations.
• If I have one thing to say that I believe Dan excels at is his understanding of people who have headphones on for hours a day.  The Ether Flow like it's predecessors is lightweight, very comfortable, and not fatiguing whatsoever.  Dan's headband is money and if any other company has super expensive headbands they should really try to get Dan to license them something because his are really good.
• As a big fan of the original Ether I feel that Dan has captured a sound that he works endlessly to continue evolving giving users the best experience possible.  While some other vendors take steps forward then many steps back I feel like Dan is like a freight train that continues to get better and better.  Kudos to you man and thank you for always doing your best to keep prices reasonable and have something for everyone.
• Now with the Ether Flow I hate to admit but I was hard pressed to hear the changes between the Ether 1.1 and the Flow (it's probably sound memory failing) but as soon as I can compare the two I will make sure to create another post comparing the two (maybe RMAF or if I get lucky and find someone to loan me both for a few days).
• I always remember the sound stage and depth being quite good but one thing i noticed that with the Flow it seemed to expand more than the 1.1.
• Bass was tight and solid with good tone.  For me the bass is where I focus and this is the differences I want to hear between the 1.1 and the Flow.
• What can I say at $1,799 I would take this over the HD800S but I think at a used price of around $700-800 I would probably take the original HD800 with @Sorrodje's SDR mod. Sorry just trying to save pennies however for those vendors who make $1.5k+ headphones I would say the Ether sets the bar at this price point and I feel it has been that way since Dan introduced it. 

 

@sorenb saw your comment to @TMoney and I have to say based on memory I don't think there is as much of a jump as potentially claimed.  I like the Ether open back but I am not totally convinced that there is much change to the sound subjectively from the original Ether to the 1.1 then the Ether 1.1 to the flow.  I would love a chance to have a shootout between the three and then make a final decision (as Adam always says let the blind tests roll).

[velvetx]

For those who wanted an opinion regarding the Ether E-Stat update:

MrSpeakers Ether E-Stat (out of BHSE):

• Unfortunately I know that the Ether E-Stat still is in the prototype stage and after talking with Dan he had mentioned he hasn't really been working on it due to the focus on the Flow (which to me makes business sense since more people own amps for the ether planar line than the e-stat line).
• As much as I wish this was good unfortunately it falls way short of living up to the legends the Stax 007 MK1 and 009.  
• It doesn't hold any of the properties that Stax are known for and feel like there is much room to improve upon.
• It's very flat, dull, and quite boring.
• Like the iteration at CanJam SoCal the bass again sounded fake almost like it was hollow rather than thick and visceral like with the 007 MK1.
• Personally not a fan of the 009 but even the 009 to me bested the ether e-stat here.
• Now that the Flow is launching I really hope Dan makes the E-Stat his next focus as I think Dan could have something big here.

A few things to me that make absolutely no design sense.  Doesn't want to use a Stax connector.  Made a removable plug.  Dan says no one makes the Stax connector but I told him guess what the boys from headamp seem to have them and aren't veering away.  If it ain't broke don't fix it.  Would be pretty disappointed to see Dan pull an Apple and make people buy a different amp just to listen to this headphone.

[purk]

1 hour ago, velvetx said:

 Would be pretty disappointed to see Dan pull an Apple and make people buy a different new Cavalli E-Stat amps just to listen to this headphone.

FIFY

[kevin gilmore]

dan wants the male stax plugs, which are slightly more work. And printable with a $800 3D printer.

any machine shop will happily make them for you out of teflon.

[Guss2]

4 hours ago, TMoney said:

Only time will tell, but it doesn't hurt to have an open mind.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/disruption-headphone-world

Yeah, it's strange seeing Tyll so smitten with this new group of headphones, specifically the Focals.

[sorenb]

@velvetx the 'TrueFlow' invention (apparently a rip off of some work done by ZGLISZCZ at head-fi) is likely too small in dimension to significantly impact/alter the sound.

I read Tyll's impression of the Audeze's fazor/non-fazor and Tyll characterize the difference as "modest" and although Tyll uses the term "improvement" I guess "difference" is the proper word here.

In rgrds to the Ether E - sad that he haven't had more luck on his first attempt - maybe more time invested in creating the driver rather than spending time re-inventing the wheel in terms of a 'special e-stat plug' and color schemes would be more fruitful

 

[kevin gilmore]

I've talked to a couple of people on this and their answers were pretty much the same.

If you are doing fluids and trying to do laminar flow, then great. For audio, pretty much a gooseegg.

It probably does sound a bit different, but not for those reasons.

[spritzer]

I agree, the design ideas behind this make very little sense to anybody but idiots on HF.  Any benefits doubtful and more likely to just sound different.  Now as we all know that is good enough to the tuberollers so why not for the headphone rollers...  For me this just shows the very tenuous grasp Dan has on electrostatic theory or rather how fucking clueless he is. 

Now for the electrostatic, it would be pretty trivial to make a 1k$ amp to drive it but does anybody really think he can compete against Stax in sound quality?  Does he have a clean room to assemble the phones or will they be a noisy mess like the King Sound and HE Audio garbage? 

 

[JimL]

5 hours ago, spritzer said:

 Now for the electrostatic, it would be pretty trivial to make a 1k$ amp to drive it but does anybody really think he can compete against Stax in sound quality?  Does he have a clean room to assemble the phones or will they be a noisy mess like the King Sound and HE Audio garbage? 

 

Not so sure about a $1000 amp, from the reports it sounds like it's a LOT less efficient than the SR007s - IIRC a couple  said that at "reasonable" listening levels on a BHSE the SR007s and 009s were "screaming loud".  Doubt even China could build a $1000 Circlotron clone. 

[Arthrimus]

17 minutes ago, JimL said:

Not so sure about a $1000 amp, from the reports it sounds like it's a LOT less efficient than the SR007s - IIRC a couple  said that at "reasonable" listening levels on a BHSE the SR007s and 009s were "screaming loud".  Doubt even China could build a $1000 Circlotron clone. 

I dunno, if you slap some output transformers in there (which likely isn't out of the question) you could probably get just about any amp to make them play loud. Prolly won't sound good though.

Edited July 20, 2016 by Arthrimus

[spritzer]

Yeah, that was my point.  Doesn't have to be good and if Cavalli or Woo are involved it sure as hell won't be.  We could easily do an opamp front end with high voltage output stage to easily drive them.  Just look at the Koss E.90. 

[JimL]

Ah, good point.  Silly me, thinking that quality was involved.

[spritzer]

Hehe...   

Seriously though, a good 1k$ amp can be done with some serious penny pinching and having most of it made in China.  I was actually planning on making a mini Carbon but Kevin talked me out of it. 

[dcpoor]

4 hours ago, spritzer said:

Hehe...   

Seriously though, a good 1k$ amp can be done with some serious penny pinching and having most of it made in China.  I was actually planning on making a mini Carbon but Kevin talked me out of it. 

That's very unfortunate for cheapskates like me.

[JimL]

If you're into DIY you should be able to build a good amp for less than $1k.

[nnotis]

I've been absolutely loving the Ether Cs since I got them in March. I'm still amazed that closed headphones can be this articulate. The fact that I can take them with me to work only sweetens the deal. My only complaint is that without EQ, the bass is lean and that 10Khz resonance is a little too hot. If the 'flow' improves frequency response while adding a little more resolution to boot, I'll be happy to pay Dan a bundle of money to mod mine.

[HemiSam]

I hope they are far better than their e-stats which did nothing for me out of my KGSHHV Carbon.  They were also really loud for anyone sitting nearby.  

Do the air flows leak sound more so than the average open pair of headphones?

HS

[wink]

The more open they are , the more the bystanders benefit.....  

[K3cT]

I'm curious about the Flow, I hope it fixes the bass problems that the original Ether (open) had where the bottom octave is completely missing. I also hope that the QC is more consistent as well because I'm 95% sure that the 4 or so pairs I heard sound slightly different from one to another. 

That being said, the tonality of these Ether cans is amazing and to me is the perfect antidote for people who like the HD800/S voicing but find them too bright or sterile. 

[CarlSeibert]

If I find a headphone too bright or too sterile, I most definitely would not like its voicing. Just sayin'

[JimL]

On July 26, 2016 at 0:03 AM, wink said:

The more open they are , the more the bystanders benefit.....  

Or maybe they'll sound louder if you turn them inside out...