I think my concern for hearing my surroundings through the 1990s is more me than the headphones–I tend to wear them for open world heavy-action games where spatial information matters, and as a result my attention tends to be more focused on the game than it might be for something more casual. 
I kinda feel like 1990, LCD-GX and 6xx are all similarly open. Elex is far more open, and Utopias are like wearing nothing but earpads, lol.
Since you have Elegia, you’ve already got a sense of what Elex is all about, at least in a general house-sound sort of sense, and very much in terms of the build. I used my Elex a while back to play Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and that was excellent. I specifically went closed-back (1770 Pro) for Alien: Isolation because I did not want any outside distractions. I pre-arranged for my wife to text me from the couch for any interruptions, lol.
The biggest argument against Elex might simply be to add more variety to your collection. Then again, if you like the Elegia, you’ll like the Elex. I got a friend of mine into headphones and those were his first two cans, and he’s been perfectly happy with those (he just ordered Eikons, though–hooked him! lol).
lol yeah, part of me says just grab the Elex and you should be happy. And another part of me says, experiment with other sound signatures.
Beyers put me off a little because of the brightness they tend to have and these days I seem to be more sensitive to bright headphones, so I’ve tried to stay away from them. I was told the Tygr ones are not as bright.
I have not had any problem with the focal Elegia, so the Elex would be a safe pick, specially if it’s as transparent as I’m reading in here. The Sundara are also transparent from what I gather from the comments here, and all hifiman in general, for that matter. Figured Hifiman XX Edition, Ananda, or Sundara, or Focal Elex, or Clear, or Audeze GX, or, depending on the brightness, DT 1990 pro
I’m sure I just missed some above.
Anybody have any experience with the ZMF Aeolus?
If anyone walked up to me and said the tygr was bright even remotely… I would think their ears were completely broken or they have the worst case of treble sensitivity on the planet lol. Its barily even a V signature only like that due to a small peak in the mid to upper highs
Sounds like you got some good suggestions so far though.
Ended up finding a used Focal Elex for what I think was an acceptable price and it’ll be here on Thursday. On the plus side, it won’t stick like a sore thumb since I already have the Elegia, and I like the comfort and look. Part of me still is itching for the Edition XX.
Guess next up is the monoprice Liquid platinum.
Aeon 2 open arrived today so hopefully I can try them out soon!
Thank you so much, everyone!
3 Likes
Congrats! Post some impressions here once you get some time with them. Would love to hear if they meet expectations!