Headphone Reviews

In my recent MrSpeakers Ether C Flow review, I found it was a very neutral headphone, but was somewhat uneven and had a bright spot in the 6-7kHz area that bothered me. In the end, it was that bright spot that had me feeling the previous Ether C was the better headphone. It too is somewhat bright and less neutral, but I feel it's more refined sound made it a better headphone once EQed to have a bit more bass. I continue to feel this way.

As many of you know, I have a policy with manufacturers that if a headphone makes the "Wall of Fame" I will need to keep it as a reference for evaluating future headphones, and will return the headphone once a better reference appears. This is an important policy as it allows me to have all the headphones I need for my work. Manufacturers are happy to oblige, of course.

Which bring me to this week's sticky wicket. After wrapping up my Ether C Flow review I began to think about returning the Ether C Flow, as it had not made the "Wall of Fame." I found myself somewhat unwilling to do so. Even though the headphone has that mid-treble bright spot, it's also the most neutral sealed headphone I've heard. I began to feel that I would need it to evaluate future headphones in that category.

It began to dawn on my that making the "Wall of Fame" wasn't just about my personal likes or dislikes exclusively. It's also about being a reference headphone of a particular type and price range. Even if I personally have some dislikes about a headphone, if it's worthy of being a reference headphone, it's worthy of a "Wall of Fame" slot.

Secondly, I felt the Ether C Flow was an excellent choice for audio professionals in need of a neutral sealed headphone. Expensive, yes, and there are lower cost choices that may serve very nearly as well, but in the price range I do think it's the most neutral and useful for audio pros. In my review, I think I didn't weigh that application strongly enough. Audio pros certainly come to InnerFidelity for advice, I'd be shirking my duty if I didn't serve their interests. I do believe the Ether C Flow is better than the Ether C for audio professionals due to it's solidly neutral presentation.

Anyhow, I'm going to correct my error and put the Ether C Flow on the "Wall of Fame" as the most neutral sealed headphone in the category, and preferable to the Ether C if neutrality is of primary concern.

My apologies to InnerFidelity readers and Dan Clark and the employees of MrSpeakers, this is a reference level headphone and I should have seen beyond my personal preferences and recognised this at the time of review.