Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire

Both rigs land in the same place with different words. RTINGS files it Bass Amount “Slightly Emphasized (2 dB)”, Treble Amount “Balanced (0 dB)”, Sound Signature “Balanced”, and calls the sound “balanced, Harman-tuned … that can be subtly altered using the included tuning pads”. ASR measures a hump around 100 Hz, “some shortfall in the 2 to 4 kHz and some peaking past that”. Dan Clark Audio's own product page claims the tuning “almost exactly aligns to the “Harman Curve,” gently boosting bass and treble compared to ÆON 2 Closed”, with a deliberately “lighter” midrange — so the shape everyone measures is the shape the maker says it aimed for.

The peaks are real and both rigs find them. RTINGS scores the overall Treble Amount “Balanced (0 dB)” yet reports “some sharp peaks in the mid and high treble can introduce some extra sibilance and hiss into vocals and cymbals”, and ASR reports “some peaking past” a 2–4 kHz shortfall. Bloom Audio, reviewing the successor, states plainly that “the upper regions in Noire X are less peaky – you won't find those odd harsh tones or overly-crispy sizzle in the upper treble”, which is as close to an on-the-record admission of the flaw as the lineage offers.

⚠ vs. listeners — A top end that averages flat but carries narrow spikes is exactly the shape that reads as “air” to one listener and “sibilance” to another, so the split is not a contradiction in the data. The confound is that reviewers did not all hear the same headphone: three pairs of tuning pads ship in the box, ASR measured with none of them installed, and most long-term owners settle on a pad or on oratory1990's EQ preset before forming a verdict.

RTINGS measures the bass “Slightly Emphasized (2 dB)”; Headfonics describes “a slightly emphasized 80-100Hz peak and just a minor roll-off below 50Hz”; ASR found “expected bass response (and a bit more)” and EQ'd the 100 Hz hump down. The reason listeners disagree is physical rather than tonal: RTINGS scores the headphone poorly for frequency response consistency, warning that “other head sizes or features like long hair or glasses will affect the seal and consequently the bass response”. Headfonia also reports it “will happily accept a 3-4dB bass-shelf below 120Hz without any sense of distortion creeping in”.

This one is documented from the maker's side. Dan Clark Audio's own page says the perforated pads produce “a “lighter” sounding midrange and a soundstage that moves the “stage” a bit further from the listener for a wider and deeper space” — Headfonia quotes that line back and confirms hearing it. ASR measures the corresponding 2–4 kHz shortfall and considers it a cost, noting that “such a deficiencies robs you of spatial qualities”. Bloom Audio's review of the successor names the shouty minority directly: “where Aeon 2 Noire had a tendency for shouty vocals with some tracks, Noire X cleans up the shoutiness”.

There is no stage measurement, but the mechanism is on the record from both ends: the perforated pads are the only acoustic change from the AEON 2 Closed, and Dan Clark Audio designed them to move the stage “a bit further from the listener for a wider and deeper space”. Headfonics attributes the effect to greater bass-to-mids separation and treble extension rather than raw width, and notes the AEON 2 Closed by comparison “offers a more relaxed staging quality, a more intimate midrange, and slightly less top-end air”.

⚠ vs. listeners — One dissent, and it comes from the bench: amirm treats the same 2–4 kHz shortfall that lightens the midrange as a spatial deficit rather than a spatial gain, writing that “such a deficiencies robs you of spatial qualities”. Every listening source reports the opposite, so the graph feature is agreed and only its consequence is disputed.

Dan Clark Audio spec the drivers “channel matched to 0.5dB weighted 30-8KHz”, and amirm found “Fitment on the GRAS measurement fixture was instant requiring almost no effort including great channel matching”. RTINGS agrees with a caveat — “The L/R drivers are decently well-matched, though there's some frequency response mismatch in the treble region, which can subtly shift this range to the right”.

Dan Clark Audio spec THD “less than 0.3% 20-20KHz, 0.1% 100-8KHz”, and ASR's bench found distortion “more than I am used to seeing” in this class, though amirm judged it “of less concern” given the bass level. With his own EQ applied he reported that “Detail was superb now” — so the resolution ceiling is not the argument, the tuning in front of it is.

The load explains the sensitivity to amplification: 13 Ω and 92 dB per mW, which ASR describes as “half the sensitive of the median headphone” on an impedance that is “very low and flat which means your headphone amp better have good current delivery”. Headfonia is blunter — “it's that 92dB sensitivity rating that tells you more about the kind of power that you're going to need to throw at the Aeon 2 Noire”. Against dynamic-driver competition Headfonia still hears it as “a more restrained sense of attack and punch by comparison”.

About 327–328 g with a Nickel-Titanium (Nitinol) memory-metal headband and teardrop pads. Headfonics calls it “one of the most comfortable circumaural planar magnetic headphones in the market right now, period”; an owner on the Headphones.com forum switched to it from a rival for exactly this reason, reporting “Very comfortable and non fatiguing in sound, no sound pressure on ears.” Even enthusiasts note the clamp: Headfonia found “the sense of grip courtesy of the Aeon 2 Noire's clamping force is ever so slightly tight”. RTINGS' poor frequency-response-consistency score is the same story measured — how this headphone sits on your head varies more than most.

Headfonics compared the Noire directly against the non-perforated AEON 2 Closed with an air conditioner running two metres away and found “the level of isolation and clamping factor was relatively unchanged” — so the perforated pads change the tuning, not the seal. Against the HiFiMAN HE-R10D he found the Noire “isolates a lot better”, crediting more lateral pressure and less porous pads.

The folding mechanism is the standout: Headfonia calls it “surely the most ingeniously-designed folding mechanism on any pair of cans currently on the market”, halving the headphone's size into a case small enough for a carry-on. The cable complaints are broad rather than isolated — an ASR forum owner reports “The stock cable works fine but is a bit too springy and sometimes doesn't connect properly so that the signal gets quieter”, and a Head-Fi reviewer files the Hirose connectors under cons because aftermarket options must be DCA-specific.

Dan Clark Audio's own store still lists it at $899.99 and “now shipping”, alongside the pricier Noire X that replaced it; Headphones.com carries it at the same $899.99. RTINGS supplies the sharpest value dissent by comparison — against the FiiO FT1 it notes that “Despite being a fraction of the price, the FIIO perform better in many sound-related tests and their frequency response deviates less from their sound profile”. The clearest read of the buying public is the ASR thread's own poll: of 210 voters, 43.3% rated it “Fine” and 34.8% “Great”, against 17.1% “Not terrible” and 4.8% “Poor”.