Preface

Ether Flow: Physical Impressions

Sound Impressions

Ether Flow vs Ether 1.0

Ether Flow vs Ether C 1.1

Ether C Flow vs Ether C 1.1

Final Thoughts

Before I hop straight into my impressions, I would like to just briefly describe my amazing opportunity to be one of the first to listen to the production Ether Flow. I came into LA on Friday thinking that it was a chance for me to catch up with guys such as Warren ( @warrenpchi ) and Maurice ( @moedawg140 ) while attending (the awesome) Cavalli Audio CIEM event down at The Source AV before heading on for the San Francisco meet.Now the initial plan was for Warren and Dan ( @Stillhart ) to pick me up from the airport and then move from there. The day before however, while conversing with Warren, he told me that the plan had to change. He proceeds to say, and I quote:“I’m expecting a special overnight shipment tomorrow… one that I know you are going to be interested in.”Now if you know this man Warren Chi, whenever he starts talking about cryptic stuff you know for sure he has something up his sleeve, something you’ll not expect but surely something good. For him to say it’s something I am interested in made it even more exciting.So when I finally checked in into my hotel in Marina Del Rey and was planning for lunch with Warren, he finally let slip what it was:“I am now holding, in my hands, the new Ether”You could totally imagine how my jaw dropped then. As a huge fan of the Mr.Speakers brand of products, and a proud owner of both the Ether 1.1 and Ether C 1.1, which the C I happened to bring along, I jumped out of my seat with this announcement. What came next was even more amazing to me.“Just so you know, we’re intending to bring Dan’s DAC-19, and my Liquid Gold (LAu), to your room so that you can AB the ETHERs. SURPRISE!”“Whut”Shock. Awe. Those were my exact feelings. This trip just became something extra. And to add on more Liquid Courage (see what I did there), Warren decided to bring along the Liquid Tungsten (LW) as well, along with his original Ether 1.0s, and left everything in my hotel room for a couple of nights to burn in and allow me the time to develop my impressions. And quickly in the afternoon, we set up what would probably be one of the best rigs in the world right now in the room.I started listening on the new Ether Flow without asking Warren or Dan the specifics, including the changes, as they knew about the project so I could try to keep myself in the mindset of a consumer who previously owned the other Ethers. From what I could tell from the outside, there weren’t any major changes for me. The new rims are of the dark blue shade, anybody that saw the Ether Electrostatic would definitely know the colour. The pads however, were of the angled pads used on the Ether C’s. I’m not exactly sure if it’s the same exact pads, but from what I could tell it is.Now, previously in the Ether thread, I commented that the straight pads on the Ether were better for me, not only did they sound better than when angled pads were on it, it was also more comfortable for me. I will now retract my comment, as having spent some time with the angled pads Ether Flow it was definitely more comfortable. Maybe having to swap the pads back and forth previously while testing the difference created a placebo in my head that the angled pads were worse off in comfort, but not anymore. It also helps that the overall weight of the Ether Flow to me felt very similar to the Ether, it is just that tad bit heavier (estimate around 5 to 10g), though I may be wrong about that.After discussing it with Warren and Dan, and as I did not (and dare not) pry open the Ether Flow to see what is inside, I found out the other changes. First off, there’s a brand new internal damping system. Secondly, the baffle is also brand new. Now these changes could not be judged physically, but would ensure there would be a change of sound.The Ethers were both equipped with WyWires Red Series cables and driven through the LW with the volume controlled to be as close to each other as possible (without the use of a decibel meter) to create an equal (or as close to equal) playing field. Tracks played from Tidal are of my own choice so there would be none of that “It’s good but I don’t know the music” kind of situations.Ether Flow >> Ether 1.0Impressions are done here. Thank you.Okay now. Just joking. The new Ether Flow to me felt significantly wider in soundstage. It’s depth in soundstage has improved as well. However, the one biggest change is the separation I can get from the new Ethers. It separates so well, and along with the ability to retrieve detail better, be more resolving, makes the overall music picture that much clearer. I really like my headphones to be clear, and hence this change alone would make me choose the new Ethers over the old.But there’s more. Yes. MORE. Both the bass and treble extension has improved as well, which was the second biggest improvement for me. The mids are just a touch richer, and I meant that in a good way, so it made the vocals sound that much more lush and fluid as to not make the headphones become coloured and maintain its neutral-ish signature with just that hint of warmth. I found no peaks whatsoever, at least on the model I was listening to. The bass impact has also significantly improved, hitting that much harder but never ever felt over the top.I did not want to mess with Warren’s Ether so I did not make the change from the 1.0 the 1.1 but from what I could tell having the 1.1 as my main headphone in my house rig it’s still a big step up even from the 1.1. The 1.1 to me tamed the treble peaks a little, not to say it was bad to me at the start anyways. But the Ether Flow is just an upgrade in all directions. If I were to give an illustration for the leap in performance, the Ether would be Economy seats on a flight, Ether 1.1 would be Economy Plus and the new Ether Flow is the First Class seats that everyone yearns for.Unfortunately when I wanted to do a thorough comparison between these two the LW started to have some bias issues so I had to switch to the LAu. What a sad situation. Okay no the LAu is still an amazing rig to test with and WAS my favourite amp of all time for a long while, until I heard the LW. To re-balance the playing field, both were equipped with DUM Balanced XLR cables.For the first time in my life, the Ether C felt congested to me. Maybe it was because the impending threat of being dethroned originated from its sibling, hence feeling like a much bigger change than when compared to other headphones. Now in no way the Ether C is congested at all when driven well, but that’s just the prowess of the Ether Flow. The soundstage width and depth felt night and day, and although this might hark back to the open vs closed discussion of headphones, the Ether 1.1 never made me felt that way and that is saying something.The Ether Flow maintained its advantage of having that more luscious mids I was referring to before but also having a smoother treble. The mid bass bump, while obvious on the original Ether, and less so with the Ether C, was definitely smoother and more controlled, thus sounding better to my ears. It’s still there if you listen closely, but it’s no longer as easy to tell when comparing the open and the closed side by side. The original sub bass difference in terms of quality and impact is no longer there to me as I felt the new Ethers had at least equal if not even better sub bass than the Cs. So if you had chosen the C because of that sub bass you might have to reconsider when listening to the Ether Flow.Moe, Andre (@shiorisekine) and I took a trip down to San Diego for a short meeting with Dan Clark at his office. From there we were told about the design philosophy behind the new Ether Flow series, and were given the chance to listen to the Ether C Flow.The Ether C Flow, to my ears, running through WyWires Platinum Series cables and the Liquid Glass, brought in mostly the same improvements of the Ether Flow. The amazing separation improvement is still there, so is the extension of the bass and treble regions. It felt like there is just more of everything, it being fuller, and the resolution and detail just got a rocket boost upwards while maintaining the same Ether C signature that most if not all of us love.Is the improvement starker than with the improvement from the Ether 1.1 to the Ether Flow? To my ears, they are not. To me, the leap shown by the Ether Flow is much higher. This, according to Dan, is due to the improved technology if you will, that was incorporated into the original Ether C and not the original Ether as it was develop during the Ether C’s development process, which was finally incorporated in the new Ether Flow, along with the new updates, making it, at least to my ears, the best edition of the Ether yet.We were told that the cups on the Ether C Flow were to be different that the current Ether C. However, due to difficulties during the production of said new cups, we did not manage to catch a glimpse of the new cups. It will still, to my knowledge, maintain as carbon fiber cups but the patterns on the cup would be different.I vaguely remember once, when talking to Dan Clark at CanJam London, that I told him that I felt the Hifiman HE-1000 was just slightly technically better, but I would have (and eventually did) chose the Ethers any day of the week. The combination of comfort and sound signature and quality made them just right for me, and made them being my favourite headphones of all time. No it is not the most expensive, and many might think there are others such as the Focal Utopia or the HD800 to be the best but to me the Ethers were able to perform with little to nothing but also have huge upside in terms of scaling when a nice rig comes along, packaged together with a superb comfort factor. To improve in both aspects made the new Ethers have more than enough to solidify my opinion. I no longer think there are any planar magnetic driver based headphones that are better than the Ether Flow. I have yet to be able to compare the Ether Flow side by side with my new favourite dynamic headphones, the Focal Utopia, so I shall not comment about that.I know I’ll no longer be satisfied with my 1.1s. That is for sure. When I had the Ether Flow in my room I always switched back after a while listening to the Ether 1.0s and Ether C 1.1s. I felt like I lost something every time I go away from the Ether Flow, just that little more clarity, that wider soundstage.Overall, the Ether Flow and the Ether C Flow is just that much better. If you had like the original Ether and Ether C sound signature to own one of each like me, or if you were a prospective Ether or Ether C owner and was thinking about it, the new one is just a no brainer. Anyone who didn’t like the existing Ether or Ether C should also have another go as this really is a head turner. I just can’t believe such a stark improvement could be made on the Ethers just about more than a year after it was introduced.Finally, I would like to congratulate @mrspeakers for coming out with such an amazing product. Thank you for the effort from you and your team for the community.